Reed keeps campaign-like pace as mayor

By Eric Stirgus

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed stepped out of the car at 8:17 a.m., beginning a 13-hour workday.

First stop, the Westin hotel on Peachtree Street. Reed spoke to a group from Claflin University, which was the alma mater of his parents, Junius and Sylvia Reed. On this day, Reed would make six speeches, welcome remarks and join in a conference call with Vice President Joe Biden about economic stimulus projects.

Tuesday marked Reed’s 100th day in office. In that time, the mayor has taken on a dizzying schedule that has involved more than 60 speeches, 350 events and workdays that typically end long after sunset. On Friday, Reed will deliver his state of the city address.

Reed is aware many Atlantans don’t know him. He spends a lot of time introducing himself and his agenda. Some introduce the mayor at events and mispronounce his name (it is Ka-Seem). He’s out to improve relationships with groups who have felt disenfranchised from City Hall.

“It’s a much bigger job than I thought,” Reed said while riding last week to a groundbreaking ceremony at Chastain Park. “Until you have the job, you don’t really know.”

Reed has touted a near 20-percent drop in major crimes such as murder, rape, robbery and auto theft among the early accomplishments of his young administration. He also has taken credit for 44 percent of the city’s recent $1.6 billion bond underwriting for airport projects going to minority-owned firms.

Critics have countered that Reed’s vow of a “new generation of leadership” is no different than the previous mayor, with policies that involve working with the same downtown business leaders. Reed, a 40-year-old raised in Atlanta, managed both mayoral campaigns of his predecessor, Shirley Franklin, and promoted many of her policies when he served in the Georgia Senate.

“It’s the third term of Shirley,” East Atlanta resident Dave Walker, a City Hall critic and watchdog, said during a recent City Council committee meeting. “We’re not getting any creativity.”

In response, Reed said that’s talk from “the cheap seats.”

Repeating a theme he uses in regards to finishing ongoing city projects, Reed said, “Now is the time to provide stability. That might not be as flashy, but I’m not a flashy person anyway.”

A true measure of Reed’s effectiveness will come in three weeks when he unveils his budget and likely will announce his picks for police chief, fire rescue chief, city attorney, chief financial officer and public works commissioner.

Some council members have resisted the mayor’s plan to give raises only to police officers this year, suggesting it will hurt the morale of other city workers. One civic group held a news conference to criticize Reed’s process for hiring a police chief; it argued the mayor had been too secretive and hadn’t followed through on his campaign pledge to put a member of the city’s Citizen Review Board on the search committee. Reed agreed to one of the group’s demands: holding a town hall meeting that involves the top candidates.

The mayor vowed not to raise taxes this year, but his staff warned of layoffs if the city can’t make deals to sell City Hall East and lease its jail to Fulton County. Reed told council members he will take a pay cut this year.

Reed’s first 100 days have been more subdued than Franklin’s. She passed ethics legislation, negotiated a budget with the City Council that raised taxes and cut nearly 800 positions and created the “pothole posse.”

Those who have had a frosty relationship with City Hall said Reed has made inroads by meeting with them. Reed spoke at the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation luncheon a week after the group filed a lawsuit against the city.

“It feels like a fresh, new start after the last eight years,” executive director Barbara Payne said.

Reed said he’s comfortable with his busy public pace. He’s had plenty of time to govern. Mayoral aides regularly block out time for him to talk to his staff or read documents. Most of his staff members are in their 30s and 40s, and have worked with him before, but a few are holdovers from the Franklin administration.

Reed said he doesn’t have many new initiatives, but he has considered a few ideas, including a suggestion to offer a property tax credit to retirees who volunteer their time at City Hall.

At Chastain Park, Reed told the group it had a strong ally who would maintain Atlanta’s green canopy. Studies have shown Atlanta has less green space than nearly every major U.S. city. On parks and recreation, Reed’s focus was to push the timeline to complete the Beltline project and open 22 shuttered recreation centers, fulfilling one of his most ardent campaign promises. However, Reed will focus on Beltline funding after he first deals with rising pension costs. Reed hoped to reopen the centers and hire groups to manage their programs by the end of the year.

After the groundbreaking, Reed was driven by a member of his security detail down Interstate 85, sometimes going as fast as 90 miles per hour, to a meeting in which police commanders discussed weekly statistics and crime-fighting strategies. Reed listened as commanders talked about deterring loitering to combating neighborhood burglaries. During his campaign, Reed promoted the hiring of 750 police officers in his first term, an average of nearly 190 cops a year. His budget, still in the preparation stage, has proposed hiring 100 in the next 12 months.

After a meeting with his lobbyists, Reed traveled to the Georgia World Congress Center and spoke to a group attempting to bring the 2017 Rotary International convention to Atlanta. The mayor regaled the city’s attributes.

“We’re mighty competitive in Atlanta and we like to win,” he said.

Reed huddled with Jim Lientz, the state’s chief operating officer, before leaving. The mayor has spoken frequently about the importance of improving relations with state leaders, and he believed he’s made headway.

“You haven’t heard of one anti-Atlanta bill this year, and this is an election year!” Reed said, chuckling.

Reed next returned to City Hall for a TV interview and more meetings with staffers. He began the day dressed in a dark blue, light blue shirt and a blue necktie; he now was clad in a white shirt and red necktie as he headed to Buckhead’s St. Regis Hotel to speak to a business group. Later he went to East Lake, where he was invited to watch the Masters golf tournament.

Shortly after 6 p.m., the mayor had returned to Buckhead for another event. A press event at a Midtown hotel followed, kicking off the Atlanta Jazz Festival.

At 8:30 p.m., Reed returned to the St. Regis for a fundraiser for Emory University research on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. He was treated to a few moments of conversation with Muhammad Ali. “I’m literally speechless,” Reed said.

Several people approached Reed to chat him up and arrange meetings. The mayor next walked out of the hotel ballroom and went home.

Reed had an early schedule to deal with the following day.