Atlanta Mayor thinks he's too good to sit in traffic (Macon: school districts, moving)

[bu2]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

I do when things are funny.

Obviously not this time.

That was hilarious.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by bu2

Well people with secret service protection have to be treated a little different. Mayors don't have secret service protection.

Right. Mayors and county commissioners are local officials who generally put their britches on one leg at a time like everybody else. Even governors, congressmen and senators don't go buzzing around with lights and sirens.

[evannole]

Originally Posted by bu2

Reed has repeatedly demonstrated he has developed giant politician ego. Somebody just calling it like they see it.

Precisely this. I don't mind him having the occasional police escort, particularly if he's heading to an official event, but it bears remembering:

This is the same mayor who, during the very worst part of the Snowpocalypse, deemed it appropriate and even necessary to go up I-75, into the worst of the snow jam, to 285 in order to appear live, in person, in The Weather Channel studios. He used official vehicles, driven by sworn police officers, to pull off this publicity stunt, uncessarily putting those officers at risk and taking them away from the duties of helping those who were stranded or otherwise needed assistance in the storm. They drove in the emergency lanes, zipping by thousands of stranded motorists, for an outing that clearly was not an emergency. All of this when a phone interview would have sufficed, and an interview via pool cameras that were almost certainly present at City Hall would also have done the job nicely. Even an interview over Skype or Facetime would have been fine. But no, the mayor wanted to be in studio and look like the hero who had made a treacherous journey. And then he (and the governor) had the temerity to claim that they didn't know about the storm in advance and that the meteorologists had gotten the forecasts wrong, while it was abundantly clear that the meteorologists had given them (and us) ample warning and that the storm unfolded almost exactly as they had forecasted.

Meanwhile, my wife was unable to get home for over 24 hours, and would have spent the night on the road or in the lobby of the hotel where she ditched her car if not for the kindness of a business traveler at the hotel who offered to share his already-booked room with her and the coworker to whom she had given a ride.

There's no question that the mayor has done some good things for the city, but so did Shirley Franklin, and she has been all class and has exhibited very little ego. I would vote for her for higher office in a split second. Despite always voting Democratic and being exceedingly liberal, I would have a very hard time supporting Reed were he to run for governor or the Senate. (Admittedly, any GOP opponent he would face would probably be far worse in my book, so I would probably vote for him in a general election, but wouldn't support him in a primary.)

[magnetar]

This is just a super-dumb thing for the mayor to do, and I'm saying that as someone who generally supports him. I'm glad to see Cathy Woolard making it an issue in the election; our next mayor should be on the record committing themselves to taking a clearer ethical stance on matters like these.

Saying that your time and safety is more important than anyone else's in Atlanta is a really good way to lose touch with your constituents.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by evannole

Precisely this. I don't mind him having the occasional police escort, particularly if he's heading to an official event, but it bears remembering:

This is the same mayor who, during the very worst part of the Snowpocalypse, deemed it appropriate and even necessary to go up I-75, into the worst of the snow jam, to 285 in order to appear live, in person, in The Weather Channel studios. He used official vehicles, driven by sworn police officers, to pull off this publicity stunt, uncessarily putting those officers at risk and taking them away from the duties of helping those who were stranded or otherwise needed assistance in the storm. They drove in the emergency lanes, zipping by thousands of stranded motorists, for an outing that clearly was not an emergency. All of this when a phone interview would have sufficed, and an interview via pool cameras that were almost certainly present at City Hall would also have done the job nicely. Even an interview over Skype or Facetime would have been fine. But no, the mayor wanted to be in studio and look like the hero who had made a treacherous journey. And then he (and the governor) had the temerity to claim that they didn't know about the storm in advance and that the meteorologists had gotten the forecasts wrong, while it was abundantly clear that the meteorologists had given them (and us) ample warning and that the storm unfolded almost exactly as they had forecasted.

Meanwhile, my wife was unable to get home for over 24 hours, and would have spent the night on the road or in the lobby of the hotel where she ditched her car if not for the kindness of a business traveler at the hotel who offered to share his already-booked room with her and the coworker to whom she had given a ride.

There's no question that the mayor has done some good things for the city, but so did Shirley Franklin, and she has been all class and has exhibited very little ego. I would vote for her for higher office in a split second. Despite always voting Democratic and being exceedingly liberal, I would have a very hard time supporting Reed were he to run for governor or the Senate. (Admittedly, any GOP opponent he would face would probably be far worse in my book, so I would probably vote for him in a general election, but wouldn't support him in a primary.)

Since the pictures TWC were showing were that of I-75 north of the Cobb Cloverleaf and Tim Lee was not going to step up, Reed had to represent the entire metro area (a metro area that does not like him or the capital city.)

[flyonpa]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Since the pictures TWC were showing were that of I-75 north of the Cobb Cloverleaf and Tim Lee was not going to step up, Reed had to represent the entire metro area (a metro area that does not like him or the capital city.)

He could have told the WC that he could not get there.

If they wanted him live they would have to get the WeatherBeast to him. Or he could go to one of the Downtown station, and they could do a remote and up-link it to the WC. (But that would have cost the WC some $'s that they would not want to do). But he wanted to be National so he got driven up the shoulder lights & sirens so he could get his 15 minutes of national fame, to say it was not his fault.

[evannole]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Since the pictures TWC were showing were that of I-75 north of the Cobb Cloverleaf and Tim Lee was not going to step up, Reed had to represent the entire metro area (a metro area that does not like him or the capital city.)

Um, no. I-75 was a disaster at West Paces Ferry starting mid-afternoon, well before his interview, and I am sure this was well known to all before he started his trek.

I had no issue with him going on TV to explain what the city was doing to react to the crisis, but there still was absolutely no need for him to do so in person.

[oldschoolChevy]

Originally Posted by evannole

Um, no. I-75 was a disaster at West Paces Ferry starting mid-afternoon, well before his interview, and I am sure this was well known to all before he started his trek.

I had no issue with him going on TV to explain what the city was doing to react to the crisis, but there still was absolutely no need for him to do so in person.

Someone had to be accountable and answer for that insane mess. And even though Kasim is responsible for only 500K of us in a region 6 million he still took the burden upon himself and stepped up while the rest of your local leaders in your respective towns and cities were hiding. He likes attention? Hey I'll give you that. He is clearly being groomed and getting ready for a bigger stage. But why don't you ask where were the other local city and county leaders who dropped the ball and were too scared to come out of their holes during that time? Kasim did what real leaders do. He stepped up to the plate and atoned for the lack of planning. If he took advantage of some free publicity in the process then that's on him. Either way he did waaaay more than these other jokers that represent more of us in the metro than Kasim does.

[evannole]

Originally Posted by oldschoolChevy

Someone had to be accountable and answer for that insane mess. And even though Kasim is responsible for only 500K of us in a region 6 million he still took the burden upon himself and stepped up while the rest of your local leaders in your respective towns and cities were hiding. He likes attention? Hey I'll give you that. He is clearly being groomed and getting ready for a bigger stage. But why don't you ask where were the other local city and county leaders who dropped the ball and were too scared to come out of their holes during that time? Kasim did what real leaders do. He stepped up to the plate and atoned for the lack of planning. If he took advantage of some free publicity in the process then that's on him. Either way he did waaaay more than these other jokers that represent more of us in the metro than Kasim does.

You make some valid points, but still fail to address the fact that ALL of what he did on TV could have been done either over the phone or via a remote camera link from City Hall. The poor decision to use official cars and officers to drive into the teeth of the problem just so he could be live, in studio is inexcusable.

Moreover, it took him and the governor two to three days to take any responsibility at all. As previously mentioned, BOTH of them got extremely defensive and tried to throw the meteorologists under the bus, when the meteorologists had warned everyone and absolutely nailed the forecast.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by evannole

You make some valid points, but still fail to address the fact that ALL of what he did on TV could have been done either over the phone or via a remote camera link from City Hall. The poor decision to use official cars and officers to drive into the teeth of the problem just so he could be live, in studio is inexcusable.

Moreover, it took him and the governor two to three days to take any responsibility at all. As previously mentioned, BOTH of them got extremely defensive and tried to throw the meteorologists under the bus, when the meteorologists had warned everyone and absolutely nailed the forecast.

How is a metro-wide issue Reed's fault? This was all the governor's fault, who has the ability to close roads, shut down government offices, declare state of emergency, etc. and he is the one who had the ability to move the trucks back to metro Atlanta, from Macon. Gwinnett County is 2X the population of Atlanta, yet their leaders took no heat.