As Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and her staff move forward with a program they believe will improve the quality of life downtown, some folks are attempting a last-minute effort to curtail the plan.
The mayor's staff and law department worked late last week to review and sign a contract allowing a company to put metal kiosks around downtown and charge vendors $500 a month to sell their items inside them.
But Councilman C.T. Martin wants to see the contract first. He wants to make sure that the city grants a waiver to the half-dozen or so disabled military veterans believed to be vending on Atlanta's streets. He's also concerned that most vendors currently operating can't afford the rent and it will drive them out of business.
"Those guys don't have the money," Martin said. "We've got to balance this out."
Martin said that if he finds the contract inadequate, he would consider drafting legislation that would address his concerns.
A city official shepherding the program said the rent is reasonable and they've tried to assist vendors by steering them to programs that provide small-business loans and other assistance. The official also said disabled veterans will get to lease a kiosk for $250 a month.
"We have made every effort to help [vendors] transition successfully," said David Edwards, senior policy adviser to Franklin.
Martin's other concern is the company that the city agreed to work with, General Growth Properties, filed for bankruptcy in April. The city is working with a company subsidiary that is not part of the bankruptcy.
Atlanta has been trying for about two decades to better regulate the estimated 30 permitted street vendors who have set up shop downtown and near its sports venues. Many downtown residents and business leaders have complained some vendors are pushy and sell counterfeit goods and their stands are eyesores.
Edwards hopes to begin the program in August, with about 20 metal kiosks in Woodruff Park.
"It's going to change the look and feel of downtown," said Edwards.
Dave Walker, a longtime vendor who became a City Hall gadfly partially because of this issue, calls the city's effort a "war" on them. He points to a state statute first written in 1868 that exempts disabled veterans and the blind from paying an administrative fee or occupational tax to peddle their wares in any city or county.
"It is an attempt by downtown civic organizations and the mayor's office to break the law," Walker said of the city's efforts.
Walker, a military veteran, claims a disability, but he won't specify what it is.
Edwards said the state law doesn't include lease agreements.
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