Atlanta mayoral hopefuls talk with Airport Area Chamber

By Kelly Yamanouchi

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Candidates for mayor of Atlanta spoke about everything from the prospect of a second airport to making downtown more attractive for businesses during a Thursday luncheon with airport-area business leaders.

Notably absent from the discussion held by the Airport Area Chamber of Commerce was Mary Norwood, one of the leading candidates in the race, who was due to appear but was unable to make it to the event at the Georgia International Convention Center near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

The three candidates who participated — Lisa Borders, Kasim Reed and Jesse Spikes — often returned to key civic issues such as crime, the city budget and city pension obligations. But moderators also asked wide-ranging questions that gauged the candidates’ perspectives on some of the issues that matter most to businesses.

Borders called Hartsfield-Jackson “the key economic engine for the southeastern United States,” saying that “it is run very well.”

“Having it run longer — 24 hours a day — would be very helpful,” she said, adding she would never attempt to privatize the airport.

Reed said he opposes building a second airport and would like to further develop air cargo at Hartsfield-Jackson.

“I envision us as a strong partner for Miami, servicing central and South America,” he said.

With the city’s equal business opportunity ordinance set to sunset in 2011, the three candidates at the event said they would support continuation of the ordinance, which is aimed at ensuring access to business opportunities for female- and minority-owned firms.

“We as a community must remain committed to the prosperity of everyone in this community,” Spikes said.

Borders said she would remove the sunset date on the ordinance, adding that she has never had a relative work for the city of Atlanta and will guarantee that none of her family members will have a contract with the airport or the city.

Reed called the equal opportunity ordinance “such an essential part of the Atlanta way,” and he said the threshold for minority joint venture participation should be lower.

Separately, Spikes touted his background as a businessman as preparation to fix the city’s finances, which required the City Council to approve a tax increase in June to close a $56 million budget gap and end furloughs for city police officers and firefighters.

“I own a business, I’ve prepared a budget, I know what it means to read a balance sheet,” Spikes said.

“We need people [in City Hall] who have spent their lives dealing with complicated financial issues,” he said.

In a discussion on how to bring businesses back to downtown Atlanta, Borders said the city is not enforcing the panhandling law “the way we should,” and she pointed to her public safety plan as a way to improve safety in downtown.

Reed said revitalization of downtown “will be business-based in time,” but it should start with universities. He advocated for providing space for the Atlanta University Center.

“I believe that by concentrating young people in the downtown area, and specifically in the Underground area, that we can begin Atlanta’s downtown revitalization in a serious way,” Reed said.

In response to a question about adding a gaming development downtown, Reed said he would “approach gaming very slowly,” voicing concerns about the slow economy and “some very serious moral issues with respect to gaming that I would have to work through personally.”

Borders said she would be comfortable with gaming if there were a dedicated revenue stream for public safety “and all the other vices that come along with gaming.”

Spikes said whether to move forward with such a gaming project “needs to be evaluated in how we see the context of development downtown.”