Residents in Falcons stadium talks cry foul

After months of talks with city officials over a benefits package, residents near the future Atlanta Falcons stadium downtown say they feel betrayed after learning a plan they hadn’t yet approved was submitted to the City Council for consideration.

Residents erupted at a meeting this week after being told Councilman Michael Julian Bond introduced legislation this week that could be voted on in early December.

Bond contended it was a procedural move aimed at keeping the stadium financing on track — not end-running the community groups.

His assurances did little to assuage a stunned crowd.

“How could a document move from this committee without the committee having any knowledge of the fact that this was moving?” said Yvonne Jones, who represents a neighborhood planning unit and is on the stadium benefits committee.

The community benefits package — which suggests ways to spend $30 million meant to bolster the poverty-stricken areas near the stadium — must be affirmed by the council and Mayor Kasim Reed before the city can issue $200 million in bonds backed by hotel-motel taxes for stadium construction.

Time is ticking. Any legislation not passed by the council’s Dec. 2 meeting, the last in its four-year term, effectively dies. The Falcons’ construction schedule calls for a spring groundbreaking. To that end, Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development arm, took another step Thursday towards issuing the bonds.

Bond apologized to the angry crowd at Wednesday night’s meeting and said “it was not the intention to shock and dismay the public or members of the committee.”

Bond, who missed the prior meeting, said he was given an outline of recommendations that he was told were complete.

Still, he said he introduced the bill as a “dummy” paper, allowing for the benefits committee to finalize specifics before the full council convenes again. The benefits committee has been close to completing its recommendations, but had not yet approved the package.

Katrina Taylor Parks, Mayor Kasim Reed’s deputy chief of staff, said people were told in last week’s meeting the draft proposal would be taken to council. She also reminded the committee members their approval is not required for the city to move ahead.

“If anyone else has read the legislation it’s clear this body does not even have a vote. You can read. We have said this all along,” she said.

Tensions have run high from the beginning over how much say residents of English Avenue, Vine City and Castleberry Hill will have on spending community benefits funds. The money is geared toward developing project-specific goals to address environmental impact, traffic congestion, public safety concerns and potential gentrification.

The communities will receive $15 million from the Westside tax allocation district and $15 million from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. The benefits committee includes city officials and community representatives.

Meetings have been marked with spats and hiccups, not to mention historic distrust. Area residents are still sore over millions promised but not delivered during construction of the Georgia Dome some 20 years ago.

Reed, reached after Wednesday’s fireworks, said he believes the tension largely stems from “scars from another era.”

“We’ll be fine,” he said, noting communities are receiving millions more more this time around. “At the end of the day I think we’ll get an agreement.”

Residents and officials clashed early on over wording that referred to the community benefits package as a plan —- not an agreement. Agreement, many believe, makes such commitments legally binding. City officials eventually changed the legislation to “plan/agreement,” but the issue has haunted the proceedings.

“This is shocking,” said Howard Beckham, who represents Vine City and English Avenue Ministerial Alliance on the committee. “You wonder why we wanted an agreement? Because we don’t trust you!”

Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell, who has intermittently attended the stadium meetings, shook with disbelief. He was absent from Monday’s full council meeting when Bond’s legislation was read and referred to the city’s community development/human resources committee for consideration.

“What I have just heard is the most twisted thing I’ve ever heard in my 12 years of being on this council and I am trying to put myself in a position of someone sitting out there in the audience,” he said.

Councilman Ivory Young, whose district includes the stadium area, pledged to hold the legislation in a council committee until it’s finalized with suggestions from the community.