Economist.com Cities Guide: Atlanta Briefing - August 2006

News this month

All bets are off

Georgia's bad-tempered Republican primary came to a dramatic close on July 18th when Ralph Reed lost the nomination for lieutenant-governor to Casey Cagle, a state senator. Mr Reed, a former head of the Christian Coalition, a conservative lobbying group, won 44% of the vote, against Mr Cagle’s 56%. A handsome, formidable politician, Mr Reed was expected to be a shoo-in, but he was wounded by links to Jack Abramoff, a disgraced lobbyist at the centre of a federal investigation. In the late 1990s Mr Reed received $5.3m from an organisation run by Mr Abramoff, allegedly to lobby against casinos, according to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. At the time Mr Reed said that gambling destroyed families, but he may have been paid with money from rival casinos looking to block new competitors. He has not yet been charged with a crime.

Mr Reed's contest with Mr Cagle was notable for its nastiness, with each candidate bombarding voters with malicious television advertisements impugning the other. Mr Cagle will start the next leg of the race after August 8th, when Greg Hecht, a former state senator, and Jim Martin, a former state representative, face each other in a Democratic run-off. Mr Cagle's chances of defeating his Democratic opponent look good—most of the state's voters are Republicans. In the race for governor, Sonny Perdue, the Republican incumbent, is heavily favoured against Mark Taylor, the Democratic candidate and current lieutenant-governor.

Goodbye, Cynthia?

The state primary yielded another surprise: Cynthia McKinney, a controversial Democratic congresswoman from Georgia's fourth district, earned less than 50% of the vote, forcing her into an August 8th run-off with Hank Johnson, a lawyer and former DeKalb County commissioner. Insider Advantage, a conservative polling group, released a poll in late July showing that Mr Johnson led Ms McKinney by 46% to 21%. The two candidates split the district's black vote, but white voters heavily favoured Mr Johnson over Ms McKinney (both of whom are black). In the end, it may be Republican voters who fell the congresswoman: since Georgia does not require voters to register with a party, Republicans can “cross over” to vote in the Democratic primary, and help defeat Ms McKinney—precisely what happened in 2002. She regained her seat in 2004.

Ms McKinney is known for her passionate denouncements of the White House, putting her at odds with Georgia’s conservative voters. She prompted outrage in 2001 when she demanded to know whether George Bush had known about the September 11th attacks in advance. More recently she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “Our president and vice-president...invited oil company execs to meet in secret and write the nation's energy policy, and we are all paying the price.” In March she attracted nationwide attention for allegedly striking a policeman, after he blocked her at a security check in a congressional office building. She accused him of stopping her because she was black.

What bubble?

As cities across America fret over a possible housing bubble, Atlantans are busy digesting news about their own hot property market. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's annual report on home sales, ten different zip codes in Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta, saw new-home sales increase by at least 50% between 2004 and 2005. The priciest homes, meanwhile, were selling in one part of Forsyth, considerably north of the city of Atlanta. There the median sales price for a home was $733,950, compared with metro Atlanta’s median of $169,900 for existing homes and $204,830 for new homes.

Meanwhile building continues apace. The Atlanta Regional Commission, which co-ordinates planning for the 28-county greater Atlanta area, issued more residential building permits in the first five months of 2006 than any other American metropolitan area, even fast-growing ones such as Orlando and Houston. Fulton County alone issued more than 8,000 residential building permits—a 22% increase over the same period in 2005.

Contract wars

As usual, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is at the centre of several disputes. The city of Atlanta, which runs the airport, is seeking bidders for a duty-free shop in the international concourse, which is expected to sell $10m in goods each year. But David Franklin, a businessman, and his partners sued in July, claiming that their firm won the contract in 2002. The city had cancelled the contract after a competing firm challenged the bid in court.

Complicating matters is the fact that Mr Franklin was once married to Shirley Franklin, Atlanta's mayor; they divorced in 1986, but have two children who work for Mr Franklin. Ms Franklin has said she will recuse herself from any business decision involving her ex-husband.
The airport is embroiled in two other suits as well. One firm is contesting the selection of a rival team to manage the airport’s indoor billboards. The airport is also the target of a lawsuit from Leo A. Daly, a firm once chosen to design a new international terminal; Ben DeCosta, the airport's general manager, fired the firm in 2005 after cost over-runs approached $140m. He is now seeking new designs for the terminal.

On the trail

The many cyclists and hikers who enjoy the 60-mile-long Silver Comet Trail have been shaken by a recent, brutal murder on the nature path. Jennifer Ewing, a 54-year-old mother of three, disappeared while riding her bike on July 25th. The next day, police found her body 40 feet off the trail, apparently bludgeoned to death. Michael Ledford, on probation for a 1991 rape charge, was charged on July 28th with her murder.

Regional planners fear that the publicised search for Mrs Ewing and the grisly nature of her death will discourage Atlantans from using local nature trails. The Silver Comet Trail, which runs from Smyrna in Cobb County, west of Atlanta, to the Alabama border, allows no motorised vehicles. Prior to the murder, only three incidents—all relatively minor—had been reported on the trail since January 2005, according to police. Ed McBrayer, head of the PATH Foundation, a non-profit group that has helped develop many of Atlanta's trails, defended Silver Comet but advised users to refrain from enjoying it alone.

Catch if you can

August 2006

Folk Fest 2006

August 18th-20th 2006

This celebration of folk art, produced largely by self-taught artists, pays tribute to a southern tradition that draws on mostly rural experiences. It includes pieces from well-known Atlanta galleries, such as Barbara Archer and Mason Murer, as well as from galleries in Chicago, Texas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Florida and Canada. Prices range considerably, so patrons tend to be both new and serious collectors. On August 18th there is a “Meet the Artists” party from 5pm.

North Atlanta Trade Centre, 1700 Jeurgens Ct, Norcross, GA 30093. Tel: +1 (770) 279 9899. Open: Fri 5pm-10pm; Sat 10am-7pm; Sun 10am-5pm. Entry: $15 for all the festival; $7 for Sat or Sun only. For more information, see the website.

More from the Atlanta cultural calendar