The Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Thread (Atlanta, Columbus: motel, tenants, salary)

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Why was she even allowed to take a delegation to the Super Bowl to see how the city handles it?

They act like Atlanta has never hosted a Super Bowl. Or the Olympics. Or the SEC Championship. They really think we're dumb enough to believe the city just magically "forgot" how all this stuff was handled?

They just wanted a free trip to the Super Bowl. I think it's sickening that the taxpayers funded any of it, nevermind her dumb husband.

Also, flight time from Atlanta to Minneapolis is just under two hours. Nobody needs first class for that. If you have enough miles or status to upgrade yourself, go nuts...but first class on a flight like that is nothing but a slightly wider seat and free booze. What a waste.

No kidding! No one should have gone to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers' dime. That is ludicrous. It ought to be criminal to boot.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

They act like Atlanta has never hosted a Super Bowl. Or the Olympics. Or the SEC Championship. They really think we're dumb enough to believe the city just magically "forgot" how all this stuff was handled?

Sadly, there are people who really believe that we can't handle large events, despite all evidence to the contrary.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by Gulch

Sadly, there are people who really believe that we can't handle large events, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Sadly, there are people who make a living on graft and corruption.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Sadly, there are people who make a living on graft and corruption.

Yes, like every Atlanta mayor since 1973.

[jero23]

Originally Posted by oldschoolChevy

Didn’t Dixon got convicted using money on herself that was specifically earmarked to go to homeless families?She never paid it back, think she even denied it for a while. I also recall her sister getting jammed up too. These situations are not the same.

Georgia ethics laws specifies misuse of fund regardless if they are paid back is still a violation. Paying back those expenses does not mean much in the grand scheme of things.

[jero23]

Originally Posted by oldschoolChevy

Didn’t Dixon got convicted using money on herself that was specifically earmarked to go to homeless families?She never paid it back, think she even denied it for a while. I also recall her sister getting jammed up too. These situations are not the same.

Dixon did try to say it was an unintentional misuse of funds.

Georgia ethics laws specifies misuse of fund regardless if they are paid back is still a violation. Paying back those expenses does not mean much in the grand scheme of things.

[cqholt]

The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office confirmed in May that it had launched an investigation into potential irregularities during the city of Atlanta runoff in December that yielded a narrow victory for Bottoms. The office didn’t comment on the allegations, but it seems likely they are part of the state’s probe.

In the complaint, Richards claims she was told to “create a voter numbers list during work hours” and that she had to campaign for Bottoms “because our jobs depended on it.”

Richards, who could not be reached for comment, also claimed she was told to print and deliver 500 blank absentee ballots to an Urban League staffer downtown, and to pick up other absentee ballots from Bottoms’ campaign headquarters and drop them off at a Fulton County office during business hours.

Fulton County Director of Elections Richard Barron said that only elections staffers can print absentee ballots, and that even delivering a small handful of them would have raised a “red flag” in the office.

“She can print absentee ballot applications and sample ballots,” he said, “but we’re the only ones who can print ballots.”

https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regi...BpjlyFdlCxRJK/

[Forhall]

Originally Posted by cqholt

https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regi...BpjlyFdlCxRJK/

I believe it and I'm not at all surprised.

[J2rescue]

Originally Posted by arjay57

There's a culture of help-yourself grabbing among politicians at many levels. A Superbowl party in Minnesota for 30 of our close friends with first class airfare, luxe hotels and fancy steakhouses? A million dollars in "bonuses" and gifts for our favored pals? Lucrative contracts for the inner circle?

No problem at all! Stick it on the Little Man!

Obviously that goes far beyond the city of Atlanta, although it is a serious problem here. We've got people being squeezed out of their homes by property taxes, while the privileged elite parties on with their money.

+1

Clearly there is a culture at City hall that has close to zero respect for taxpayer dollars and that has got to change through elections. It is really infuriating.

[autolycus25]

“She can print absentee ballot applications and sample ballots,” he said, “but we’re the only ones who can print ballots.”

I've never used an absentee ballot in Georgia. What security features do they have that should make trust that this statement is correct?

(I am asking this question honestly and openly. I am entering this question and discussion from a truly neutral place. Please do not read my question as rhetorical or as a coming from a place of bias either way)