Candidates attack each other by mail

By Eric Stirgus

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta mayoral candidates Mary Norwood and Kasim Reed have stepped up their attacks on each other and they're using the U.S. mail.

Here's the latest:

On Reed

Norwood sent the second direct mail piece to voters in the past week charging that Reed has not paid his property taxes on time "19 times in a row."

Reed owns two properties in the city. The candidate said he is a minority investor in Cascade Investors, which owns a vacant lot and another property on Fairburn Road in southwest Atlanta. The company is registered at Reed's address and incorporated with him as the agent.

Fulton County tax records show Reed has paid about $837.59 in late penalties on the two properties he's owned since 2002. He's paid $826.46 in interest, the records show. The records show Cascade Investors has paid $8,252.67 in late penalties and interest on its two properties since 2007.

Reed has a letter from his bank stating that it erred in not paying the taxes he paid on time in escrow on one of his properties. The candidate said late Friday there may be some errors regarding penalty and interest payments on his other property.

Reed, a former state senator, said the ad contains several inaccuracies about his record, such as he's voted to raise his own pay and he's repeatedly supported property tax hikes. The candidate said he's only supported tax increases when they've been approved by a voter referendum.

"(Norwood) consistently and patently misrepresents the truth," said Reed. "These Karl Rove-style attacks that she makes in her direct mail pieces do not stand up to a reasonable standard of truth."

On Norwood

Reed mailed a glossy flier noting an October 2008 AJC investigation that found Norwood led all city council members with $57,715 in reimbursement for out of pocket expenses for printing, mailing and postage for invitations to her town hall meetings.

It also highlights Norwood's votes in 2008 and 2009 against the city budget, which the Reed camp says threatened public safety.

"Atlanta deserves more than common political games," the ad says.

Norwood campaign manager Roman Levit said the money was used to communicate with constituents.

"You don't get much more legitimate than that," Levit said of how the money was spent.

"It's just about as low as a candidate can get," he said of the Reed ad.

Here's a breakdown of how much money in late penalties and interest Reed has paid on the two properties he owns:

Year   Penalties   Interest

2002        $0         $60.29

2003        $0         $87.16

2004         $0        $39.67

2005         $0         $63.29

2006      $9.36     $106.70

2007      $14.74   $60.68

2008       $813.49     $408.67

Source: Fulton County Tax Commissioner's office