State Sen. Vincent Fort told the Atlanta school board Monday the dispute between the City of Atlanta and the school district over the Beltline debt should not be a popularity contest.
At issue is a $162 million contract to help fund the Beltline, a green space project converting dilapidated rail lines into a 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit.
For more than a year, city of Atlanta leaders have been in negotiations with Atlanta Public Schools over that multimillion dollar contract to partially fund the Beltline that all agree is now — in a post-recession world — unsustainable.
They disagree on what to do about it. City leaders say the Beltline can’t afford to make $162 million in payments agreed upon before the recession hit, and want to overhaul the deal. APS says the city’s failure to live up to its end of the Beltline bargain harms the school district.
In recent weeks, then-APS Superintendent Erroll Davis has threatened a lawsuit to enforce the contract. In response, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed compared of Davis's stance to a hostage situation and called the Beltline "the most popular public project in the entire city of Atlanta" – more popular than the Atlanta Public Schools.
Fort, D-Atlanta, told the school board the dispute should not be about the popularity of the Beltline compared to APS.
“Anybody who would make it an either-or ought to be ashamed of themselves,” he said.
He said the district and the city need to meet and negotiate in good faith.
Reed now represents the city and Davis the school district in negotiations. A date for the two to meet and continue negotiations has not been set, school officials said Monday.
But Fort told the school board he plans to “speak for the children” in the dispute.
“I love the Beltline. I like to walk on the Beltline. When I get in better shape I’m going to run on the Beltline and I’m going to ride my bicycle on the Beltline,” he said. “But I love the children more.”
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