Economist.com Cities Guide: Atlanta Briefing - August 2005

News this month

Forty years on

On August 6th up to 20,000 people took part in a march to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which struck down laws in southern states designed to keep blacks from voting. Many marchers voiced concern that some key provisions—which require re-authorisation in 2007 when they expire—will not be renewed in the face of conservative opposition. These include provisions requiring Georgia and eight other states to get federal approval before making any changes to congressional districts.

Jesse Jackson, a leading civil-rights activist, helped organise the march, which was attended by Shirley Franklin, Atlanta’s mayor; two former mayors; and John Lewis, an Atlanta congressman and civil-rights movement veteran. Mr Jackson chose to march in Atlanta because the state recently passed a bill requiring voters to show a picture ID, a law that must be approved by the federal government under the Voting Rights Act.

Beg to differ

A proposed ban on begging within the downtown “tourist triangle” continues to inspire popular protests as well as skittishness on the part of Atlanta’s city council. It has twice delayed a vote on the issue, which is now scheduled for August 15th. The bill would make it illegal to accost people within a designated area that includes many tourist destinations, such as the Georgia Aquarium, which is set to open in November.

Much anger has been directed at Bernie Marcus, a noted philanthropist and the co-founder of Home Depot, a home-improvement retailer. He is financing the construction of the aquarium with $200m of his own money. Mr Marcus has said that failure to pass the begging ban would hurt the city both physically and financially. City leaders are hoping the aquarium, a new Coca Cola museum, and other planned hotels and restaurants will help to revitalise Atlanta's struggling convention and tourism industries. Visitors are “either going to have a good experience or a bad experience”, Mr Marcus said. “If they're accosted, if they're annoyed, if they perceive a threat, they are not going to come back again. And they're going to tell their friends not to come back again.”

Delta's death march

How bad have things become for Delta Air Lines? Bad enough for the beleaguered airline’s stock to fall 15% on July 27th, after an internal memo surfaced from the chief executive, Gerald Grinstein, warning that recent cost-cutting measures would not be enough to protect the company from bankruptcy. Stock fell another 13% on August 9th after a Merrill Lynch analyst, Michael Linenberg, lowered Delta from “neutral” to “sell”, predicting that higher fuel prices would drive the airline into bankruptcy. Mr Linenberg thinks that Delta will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy by October 17th, when more restrictive banking laws come into force.

Prospects for Delta, which lost $388m last quarter, remain bleak. Fuel costs could rise by $1 billion this year, which would wipe out concessions wrested from pilots last year. But some observers question whether rising fuel costs are entirely to blame for the airline’s woes. In July it came to light that a former chief executive, Ron Allen, had been paid $500,000 a year for unspecified consulting duties after being forced into retirement in 1997; and he receives a $765,000 pension annually for life. Meanwhile, AirTran Airways, Delta’s main low-cost rival in Atlanta, reported a tiny profit in the second quarter of 2005.

Hawk balk

The nine owners of the Atlanta Hawks, the city’s moribund professional basketball franchise, are in turmoil. Eight of them wish to remove the ninth, Steve Belkin, from the post of team “governor”—where he controls the purse strings—so that they can proceed with a $70m deal to acquire Joe Johnson from the Phoenix Suns. Hawks management has lobbied hard for the move, but Mr Belkin opposes it and, as governor, has the power to block the transaction.

This battle is just the latest incident in a continuing war over control of the franchise. The fight has moved to the courtroom where, on August 9th, a judge ruled that Mr Belkin could not be removed and recommended that the eight dissident owners—who own 70% of the team—seek approval from David Stern, the NBA commissioner. Two days later, Mr Stern filed an affidavit in support of the eight owners, who will continue their effort to oust Mr Belkin. With ownership like this, it's no wonder the Hawks had the fewest wins in the NBA last season.

What a gas

Where’s the cheapest petrol in the metropolitan area? As oil prices creep toward $65 a barrel, a network of websites has sprung up to track fuel prices in America’s cities. On August 12th, AtlantaGasPrices.com reported that Atlantans were paying $2.44 a gallon, very close to the nationwide average of $2.47 and considerably higher than the $1.67 of a year ago. So far, the higher price at the pump does not seem to be worrying local consumers—car sales in Georgia approached record highs in July.

And for the record, the cheapest reported fuel, at $2.27 a gallon, is sold at a QuikTrip station in Sandy Springs, just north of Atlanta.

Catch if you can

August 2005

“Of Ballots Uncast: The African-American Struggle for the Right to Vote”

Until March 7th 2006

On August 6th 1965, Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, sweeping away laws in Southern states designed to prevent blacks from voting. It was one of the most important accomplishments of the civil-rights movement of the 1960s, and the Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site is a fitting place to host an exhibition celebrating the act's 40th anniversary.

The display focuses on the events leading up to the signing of the act, with a handwritten draft of a speech by Johnson and a replica of the “jelly bean test”—according to folklore, blacks who wanted to vote had to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar.

Martin Luther King Jr National Historic Site Visitor Centre, 450 Auburn Ave, Atlanta 30312. Tel: +1 (404) 331-5298. Admission free. Open: daily 9am–5pm. The exhibition’s website publishes further information.

More from the Atlanta cultural calendar