Mayor-elect Reed: ‘You will see action’

On Monday, Kasim Reed will become Atlanta’s 59th mayor. Last week, Reed sat down for an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in his transition offices at City Hall that overlook the mayor’s office. Here are excerpts.

Q: What are your plans for your first week in office?

A: What you are going to see in the first week is a focus on police, identifying what are the resources that are needed to provide a pay increase, to improve morale and to address the challenges around violent crime in our city. ... You will see us trying to identify a set of solutions to the pension challenges. I envision a number of town hall meetings, focusing on our needs in the police and fire space and our needs we have around the pensions. Because what I don't want to do is govern by edict. I want to have conversations. You will see me move in the first week to open all of the recreation centers by the end of the first year.

Q: Your inauguration plans seem pretty modest. Can you talk about that?

A: We canceled the inaugural ball. I made that decision because people are hurting and because of the times that we're in. What we are doing is we are using the dollars that were raised from inaugural activities, instead of spending that money on a gala, we're going to open City Hall and have a citizens' day. I'm going to leave my inaugural speech and I am going to go to work, just like everyone else is. And in the evening, I'm going to open up City Hall to any city of Atlanta resident who wants to come and see me.

Q: When Mayor Franklin took office, she spent about a half-million dollars. Do you have any benchmarks on how much you will spend?

A: We will spend far less. I don't want to misquote a number but I'll provide it to you. [A figure was not provided by press time.] We will take every dollar that's not used and spend it on recreation centers. ... No government funds are going to be used for my inaugural activities. I believe we are very close to opening the recreation centers without any government dollars. Now, the operational dollars, we're not there yet, meaning the staff and support.

Q: As far hiring a new police chief and new chief financial officer, do you have a timetable?

A: Through 120 days, we will have all our major hires made. The major hires include the police chief, they include the CFO, they include the city attorney, they include the Public Works commissioner. ... We are going to do that in a transparent way.

Q: (Mayoral opponent) Mary Norwood talked a lot about people who feel disenfranchised by the city. How do you plan to reach out to those folks?

A: I think that the centers of hope [recreation centers] are an example of reaching out to all parts of the city. ... I'm doing it through my selections for office. When you look at the people on my pension task force, they're from Buckhead. Peter Aman, my [chief operating officer] lives beyond Buckhead in the Chastain area. So we're having a diversity of region, of race, of sexual orientation throughout our appointments. Lawrence Ashe [transition co-chair] lives in Ansley, Council District 6, which I got trounced in. ... My schedule is a very geographically balanced schedule, so it's important you look at where a mayor-elect spends his time.

Q: You talked about sexual and racial diversity (in your hiring). Can you talk about gender diversity?

A: Lisa Borders is the co-chair of my transition team. I believe that was a significant appointment. [Deputy chief operating officer] Luz Borrero, I have asked her to stay. ... I think I have done much better on the issue of gender than I've been given credit for. I think that has been an unfair attack. Elaine Alexander was the co-chair of my campaign. My entire finance team were women.

Q: Have you talked to Mary Norwood about what role she may play?

A: I've exchanged messages with Mary. ... I intend to meet with her shortly after the new year. [Reed has no specific role in mind].

Q: The Legislature meets in early January. Two questions: One, are you going to miss it? Two, are you going to be down there lobbying for anything in particular?

A: I'm going to miss it a lot. I'm going to visit very early on. We're developing the city's legislative package right now. Right now, we're focused on the nuts and bolts of our own government.

Q: For the city, 28.6 percent of the hotel/motel tax comes to the city while the rest goes to the Georgia World Congress Center and other state agencies. Have you thought about changing some of these cost structures or talking to the Legislature about some changes?

A: Not in the first year. Before we talk about changing any of our revenue streams, we have to get through where we are and identify our own revenues and make some improvements before we have a conversation about splits of sales tax revenue. ... What I am doing is pushing the revenue recovery effort that I talked about on the campaign trail very aggressively, and you're going to see that as mayor.

Q: What will success look like to you in the first 100 days?

A: Success will look like an administration that understands the damage that crime in all of its form does to its sense of community and to our city, and taking immediate action to stop it; and conveying to our citizens that no matter how large or small the problem is, that I care about it; and making the people of Atlanta know that I am doing every single thing that I can to retain the jobs that we have in the city and to create new jobs. ... I also want to move to a service-oriented culture and treat people well and being nice to people that support this city and fund this government. ... And you will see action. The overwhelming sense that I get, is after two years campaigning, is people want action, and you may be right or you may wrong, but they want thoughtful, reasonable decisions backed up by action, and I am going to deliver on that. So you'll have a lot to judge.

Q: Mayor Franklin said if she had done anything differently, she would have relaxed more, she would have taken more vacation. What will you do to relax?