Franklin: Stimulus may mean 40,000 jobs for area

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, fresh off a midweek trip to Washington, said the city could begin digging dirt within days of a federal stimulus package becoming law.

At a City Hall news conference Thursday, Franklin said the White House believes the $800 to $900 billion package now before Congress could create 30,000 to 40,000 jobs in the Atlanta region. Other metro Atlanta cities have also identified tens of millions of dollars in projects that could bring more jobs.

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RICH ADDICKS / raddicks@ajc.com

‘Should we get these funds … we can put that money to good use creating jobs, repairing infrastructure and building new infrastructure,’ Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin said.

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“Should we get these funds … we can put that money to good use creating jobs, repairing infrastructure and building new infrastructure,” Franklin said.

The city itself created a wish list of nearly 60 “shovel ready” projects costing more than $1.8 billion that could qualify for funding through the stimulus package. Several other metro Atlanta cities also submitted project lists to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, an advocacy group for municipalities across the country. In all, 10 Georgia cities have requested more than $2.6 billion.

Tom Harris, finance director for city of Alpharetta, said the city got a memo in December from the mayors group asking for a “ready to go” list of projects.

The city already had a list assembled and spent a week going over it before submitting $61.4 million worth of projects.

“We try to have that list ready at all times,” Harris said, “So we didn’t have to create a lot of new projects. We’re very aggressive in finding money to supplement our citizen commitment.”

Alpharetta’s requests include repair and renovation to dozens of roads, a community center, new police vehicles and an indoor shooting range.

In Cobb County, Marietta and Acworth have submitted $12.3 million in project requests.

Acworth put in for $3.9 million to fund four street improvement projects. Acworth predicts it could create 90 jobs in the process.

Agencies within Marietta have asked for $8.3 million to finance 19 projects, which they say would bring 162 jobs. The city wants to widen 1,500 feet of busy Roswell Street between Olive and Fairground streets. Other projects range from wireless access and solar panels at city schools to road, sidewalk and water-sewer improvements. These projects were already part of the city’s capital improvements list, said Marietta spokesman Matthew Daily. “If they’re approved now, it would just allow us to move forward with them at a quicker pace,” he said.

Elsewhere, Athens wants $82.7 million to, among dozens of projects, renovate its police headquarters, replace the jail’s roof and create a $16 million library expansion. It estimates the work would create more than 1,200 jobs.

In Atlanta, Franklin said federal money would not be used to fill holes in the city budget, at least not when it comes to general operating expenses. But some could be used to address needs.

Public safety projects would be high on her priority list, the mayor said. Her request includes $20 million to hire 200 cops.

Each project on the city’s list fits into one of dozens of funding categories expected to be included in the final version of the bill, which could be approved as early as next week. The legislation is likely to include various pots of money for infrastructure, energy, health care, education, tax cuts and more. The money, too, would be doled out through existing programs and formulas across several different federal agencies. Some will go directly to states; some to cities; and some to school districts.

All of that is to say that the process of getting money from the Washington to the states and cities is complicated and not yet clear.

“What we were looking to do is work with Congress to get money out the door quickly and efficiently and effectively,” Melody Barnes, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, said in a conference call with reporters Thursday. “That includes using all the tools in the toolbox.”

In some cases, she said, money goes to governors, “other places money goes to the mayors, to school districts. We try to use existing formulas to make sure we are using methods we know work and are already in place.”

Joe Basista, Atlanta’s commissioner of the Department of Public Works, said using existing programs and formulas would enable the city to move quickly. There are dozens of projects, he said, that are ready to go, meaning locations are identified, and engineering is completed or not even necessary.

“We have hundreds of miles of existing streets that are beyond their life,” Basista said.

Franklin said she expects that the city will have to compete with other cities for the money. Both the House and Senate versions of the bill require money to be committed within 90 to 180 days, Franklin said that’s good news for Atlanta.

“We love that requirement,” she said. “That means we go to the top of the list.”

Franklin was in Washington on Wednesday with a group of other big-city mayors for a briefing at the White House and to urge Congress to act quickly. The mayors’ trip to Washington on Wednesday was part of the administration’s effort to get the plan moving.

“This is important,” Franklin said, “to the city, to the state and important to the national economy.”

— Staff writers Kay Powell and Doug Nurse contributed to this article.