In his first term as president of Atlanta’s City Council, Ceasar Mitchell has tried to expand his job description beyond his official tasks of appointing committee chairs, directing legislation and presiding over the full council’s meetings.
He convened a campus safety task force after a wave of crime around downtown college campuses. He pulled city officials together with executives of ParkAtlanta to hammer out changes to the city’s on-street parking enforcement, including updated equipment. Mitchell also pushed for tough anti-truancy legislation with threats of heavy fines , which proved controversial among some parents.
In recent weeks, he made another move that irritated critics, pushing for changes in the city council’s policies that could, in some cases, shorten the time given to public comment.
With the City Council preparing for a debate about the role Atlanta should play in building a new Atlanta Falcons stadium downtown, Mitchell could play a key role. He says he wants the $1 billion stadium plan to be thoroughly vetted, but quickly.
A City Council committee is expected to question Mayor Kasim Reed’s team about the stadium on Wednesday.
After butting heads with Reed in 2011 over the timing of pension reform, Mitchell now seems receptive to the stadium proposal and voices support for another key Reed initiative: a plan to use $250 million or more in bonds to repair sidewalks, roads, traffic signals and other fraying infrastructure.
Mitchell spoke to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday about negotiations over raises for city employees, a perceived lack of awareness about the City Council’s as the legislative branch of city government, and other topics.
AJC: What will be the city council's top priorities this year?
Mitchell: We are continuing to stay focused on the city's finances, making sure we're providing for city services through our role in authorizing the budget. We want to at least bring some finality to the question of employee compensation. We are hopeful that at some point in the near future, we'll be able to close that issue.
The city’s cash reserves put us in position to consider, in a meaningful way, an infrastructure bond that would be larger than anything this city has done for above-ground work. And this would not just be for downtown and Midtown; it would be out in the neighborhoods. We need to make sure we identify needs in every corner of the city. You have bridges downtown that need work. We’ve also got to synchronize our streetlights.
AJC: You've spoken in the past about the need to improve the public's perception of the City Council. Are you worried that the approval ratings might be headed towards historically-low congressional levels?
Mitchell: (Laughs) Our reputation really comes from how we interact with people in our community. Councilmembers will tell you, when they go to community meetings, people aren't shy about telling them how they're doing. But one of the key objectives I've had is to elevate the council's image in the larger community as a collective body. We have not told our story enough. People don't have a great sense of what we do, how we make a difference every day. And our process is sometimes a difficult one.
One of the things we’re trying to do is be more outward-facing. We now have a Facebook page, we have a presence on social media. We are redesigning the website. Part of the challenge is just making people aware of what we do. Some people can have vigorous debate in private. We don’t have that luxury.
AJC: You recently pushed for legislation that puts a three-minute time limit — per person, per legislative item — on each citizen's public comment during City Council meetings. Each person can talk for five more minutes at the end of the meeting. That legislation has been blasted on some local blogs. Why change the rules?
Mitchell: Previously, I gave the prerogative to each committee chairperson to set their own policies. The result was varying practices on their parts. Some chairs would allow for open comment, with no time limit. Other chairs would have a limit.
There were complaints; the public comment process seemed to have no basic structure. We’ve always affirmed the right of the public to comment, but we wanted to bring consistency to our committee process. We really have not limited the rights of the public. We’ve increased the level of decorum. This is about creating some consistency.
AJC: The city council's finance/executive committee is scheduled to hold a public meeting Wednesday on the proposed retractable-roof stadium for the Falcons. What are your plans for the stadium process over the next few weeks or months?
Mitchell: We want to be very clear on what the infrastructure needs are, and we want to be very clear on what the impact will be on the surrounding community. I want as much education and discourse as possible, but we also want to make sure this process contemplates a beginning and it contemplates an end, in a reasonable amount of time.
We want to make sure that we don’t miss an opportunity to create and finalize a deal that lets us continue this wonderful partnership we have with the Atlanta Falcons. The simpler the deal, the less time we’ll spend.
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