Mayoral candidates go on attack in final TV debate

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By Eric Stirgus

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta mayoral hopefuls Mary Norwood and Kasim Reed attacked each other's records Sunday night during their final debate before Tuesday's runoff election.

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mayoral candidates Kasim Reed and Mary Norwood prepare for their final debate at the WSB studios in Atlanta, Ga Sunday, Nov 29, 2009. The mood in the room was filled with tension and the candidates did not acknowledge one another until one minute before the live debate.

Elissa Eubanks, eeubanks@ajc.com mayoral candidates Kasim Reed and Mary Norwood prepare for their final debate at the WSB studios in Atlanta, Ga Sunday, Nov 29, 2009. The mood in the room was filled with tension and the candidates did not acknowledge one another until one minute before the live debate.

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Norwood accused Reed, a former state senator, of being a political insider, but the sharpest attacks came from Reed. He said Norwood, a two-term city councilwoman, constantly "got it wrong" by, for example, voting along with the rest of the council in favor of pension plan changes in 2002 and 2005. The changes now mean the city is spending more than $100 million a year on its pension plans. Reed also complained Norwood's vote against a property tax increase last year resulted in furloughs of police officers.

"Where have you been, Ms. Norwood?" Reed asked rhetorically.

Norwood has said she voted against the tax increase because city officials have not given her information she's requested. Norwood reiterated that complaint Sunday and said she's been an "outsider" at City Hall.

"Mary Norwood is not part of the current regime," she said.

"And not getting very much done," Reed immediately replied.

Norwood asked Reed whether he can truly make positive changes at City Hall. She accused Reed of taking campaign contributions from "special interests" and being endorsed by "every politician you can find."

"How can you with a straight face promise to clean up the mess at City Hall?" she asked.

At one point during the debate, she called Reed the "protege" of Mayor Shirley Franklin. Reed worked as Franklin's campaign manager for both of her mayoral victories and served as her transition co-chair.

The 30-minute debate was shown live on WSB-TV. Three recent polls suggest the race is a dead heat, and the candidates are battling fiercely to encourage their supporters and the few undecided residents to vote again Tuesday.

Norwood has argued she will bring changes in how the city deals with code enforcement issues, better track its finances and be more responsive to citizens.

Reed has promised to beef up the city's police force, reopen all of the city's recreation centers and get more help for the city through his connections at the state Capitol.

During the debate, Reed was asked to outline how he'll pay to hire 750 police officers in his first term. Norwood has said she'll increase the police force by 10 percent in her first term. The department currently has about 1,650 officers, according to Police Chief Richard Pennington.

Reed said he'll use some of the money from this year's property tax increase and do a better job of collecting revenue that's owed to the city. Norwood declined to address Reed's plan. She focused on her plan of assigning more officers to beat patrols and keeping repeat offenders in jail.

Reed grilled Norwood on her robo-call business, which he said she's used questionably on her mayoral campaign and to gain city contracts. Norwood said it's been used once for the city for about $1,100. Norwood said the business is mainly used by political candidates and noted that Reed once used it in one of his state Senate campaigns.

"Thank you for helping me get elected, so that I can become mayor," Reed said to Norwood.

Both candidates planned to crisscross the city and have rallies Monday evening.