Living Wage Ordinance Independent Review Commission Members Announced

Group to consider merits of proposed higher wage for employees of City contractors

ATLANTA, January 8, 2004 - Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin announced today that Dr. Walter E. Massey, president of Morehouse College and chair of the Living Wage Ordinance Independent Review Commission, has appointed the members who will serve on the Commission.

The members are: John Ahmann, partner, Dowling Langley Ahmann; Betsy Baker, former executive director, Georgia Council for the Arts; Leona Barr-Davenport, president and CEO, Atlanta Business League; Clint Dye, president and CEO, Atlanta Urban League; Julie Hotchkiss, associate professor of economics, Georgia State University, and associate policy advisor, Federal Reserve Bank; Allegra Lawrence, partner, Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; John Rogers, president and CEO, Invesco; Tisha Tallman, regional counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund; and Kathleen Womack, attorney, Kathleen Womack PC.

"The Living Wage Commission is comprised of some of the best minds from the business, civic and academic communities in the metropolitan area," said Massey. "I am confident that, working together, we will be able to make a solid recommendation to the mayor and City Council."

The Commission, created by Mayor Franklin last year, has been charged with studying the viability of enacting a living wage ordinance in Atlanta. If enacted, such an ordinance would require certain groups of employers who hold City contracts and conduct business with City government to pay their workers a minimum per hour wage plus health benefits and vacation and sick leave, or a higher minimum wage without such benefits.

In addition to reviewing presentations by noted economists, the group will hear public comments on the living wage issue at two meetings scheduled for Friday, January 23, and Friday, February 13, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the Atlanta City Council Chamber. Anyone wishing to speak should sign at the Council Chamber on the day of the meetings prior to 9 a.m. The Commission also welcomes written testimony sent to the attention of the chairman.

Dr. Massey will be available to answer questions from credentialed media from 10:00 a.m.- 11:00 a.m. on Friday, January 9, 2004, at the Davidson House Executive Center, 833 Fair Street, on the Morehouse College campus. Please enter at the Milton Street gate.

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