Word: atlantas
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Shirley Franklin isn't standard mayor material. For starters, she's a woman, which makes her the first female mayor Atlanta has ever had; in fact, she's the first black woman ever to run a big Southern city. All of 5 ft. 1 in. tall, Franklin is a divorced mother of three who dyes her hair platinum blond. Before she campaigned for mayor, Franklin had never run for an elected office. Outkast played at her inauguration...
When Franklin took office in 2002, Atlanta needed somebody a little out of the ordinary. Her predecessor, Bill Campbell, had completely blown the public's trust in city government. Two of his top aides pleaded guilty to charges of bribery, and Campbell is awaiting trial on a seven-count indictment for, among other things, bribery, tax fraud and corruption. Franklin inherited an $82 million budget deficit, which was about 20% of the entire city budget and $37 million more than she had been led to expect. Atlanta's homeless population was exploding, the city's infrastructure was fraying, the streets...
...restore faith in the local government, Franklin shepherded through the city council a new ethics code for municipal employees. She corralled 75 private firms to conduct studies of Atlanta's budgetary, infrastructure and homeless problems and perform a massive audit of the city government--pro bono. She organized a task force she called the Pothole Posse to go after the city's crumbling streets. She kept a running tally of cracks that were filled, combining good stewardship with quality political theater...
Franklin, who was Atlanta's city manager from 1982 to '90 and served several key roles on its 1996 Olympics committee, is not just a rampaging reformer but also a skillful and diplomatic negotiator. Working with county and state officials, she managed to pull together a complex set of loans and agreements that will bring about $3 billion in upgrades and repairs to Atlanta's leaky sewers...
Pleaded guilty. Eric Rudolph, 38, to the 1996 bombing at the Atlanta Olympics and attacks on abortion clinics in Atlanta and Birmingham, Ala., and an Atlanta gay club, leaving a total of two dead and more than 150 injured; as part of a deal to serve four life sentences instead of facing execution; in Atlanta and Birmingham. Rudolph, who was caught in May 2003 after spending five years hiding in the North Carolina woods, disclosed the location of 250 lbs. of dynamite he had hidden there. His primary motivation, he said in a rambling, unrepentant statement released after his pleas...