Just slap him silly, and move one!
The democrats have been in control of Atlanta forever, and it shows..they are still throwing members of the last administration in jail for stealing millions, then Mayor Franklin, who by the way won after a tie vote, managed to find the few additional votes to win the election.
Shades of the Clinton administration? She was given money by both Bill and Hillary, as well as Stephanopolis..(sp) The head of the DNC..
Now what is her solution to fixing the water/sewer problem in Atlanta? Go to the federal government..of course!
They have stolen enough money from the people to have replaced every pipeline in the city, ten times over!
Sewer program proves sticky
By D.L. BENNETT
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta is losing the public relations battle on its $3 billion sewer program.
City Council members are in open revolt. Two members of Congress have questioned the program. Atlanta's former environmental officer resigned and left behind a letter challenging Atlanta's planning.
And, an unrelenting citizen advocacy group just won't go away.
All this has Mayor Shirley Franklin on edge as she continues to push for $1 billion in federal aid amid the sniping. The mayor insists the noise won't stop her program from going forward.
She's convinced she's doing the right thing.
"We are at a point where the reality of the magnitude of the project has set in," Franklin said in an interview. "It's as if we are standing on the edge of the cliff. This is more a reaction of people being scared."
Debate continues over whether the city should separate its sanitary sewers, which handle wastewater, from storm water sewers, which handle runoff from streets and parking lots.
Franklin supports a plan to separate about a third of the combined system, about 15 percent of the city's sewers. Full separation is in the city's long-term plan for 2025. But critics want full separation much quicker.
Council members also want to slow the sewer work because Franklin has found no way to pay for any of it except by sharply raising rates.
Administration officials are scrambling to reinforce their message that Atlanta has chosen the right course in fixing its sewers. Communications officials are crafting ways to more effectively get the word out.
"We are looking at how we are conveying our message, and how best to do that," said Sandra Walker, communications director for Franklin.
The timing is critical. On Monday, the City Council considers whether to override Franklin's veto of two resolutions dealing with the project. The first asks for more time to consider other funding options. The second directs sewer staff to give the council documents on any changes to the program.
Both resolutions sailed through a council that only six months ago overwhelmingly approved Franklin's plan.
Councilwoman Mary Norwood, author of the second resolution, said she's not sure that "this is the best, least expensive, most cost-effective means of providing the solution."
She questions whether costs are inflated in Franklin's program. Norwood said she will continue to challenge the mayor's solution "until I understand that every dollar of those projected costs can be justified."
The $3 billion program will triple sewer rates over the next decade unless federal or state support is found. The first increase could come around year's end.
Franklin thought she had ended the years of debate about how to fix Atlanta's polluting combined sewers last fall, when she appointed an expert panel led by Georgia Tech President Wayne Clough to review the plan.
With minor revisions, the panel endorsed Atlanta's program, which was inherited from former Mayor Bill Campbell's administration. Franklin used that recommendation to push forward.
Clough has watched in dismay over the past few weeks as new complaints have been made against the sewer program he endorsed.
"Some of these people are just misinformed," Clough said. "The city of Atlanta cannot go to 100 percent separation. Downtown Atlanta would come to a grinding halt. It's easy to criticize. But, you've got to have an alternative. You'd have to dig up 2 1/2 miles of sewers on the Georgia Tech campus alone."
The city has about 330 miles of combined sewers that span from downtown Atlanta into many of the city's oldest neighborhoods.
Combined system
The pipes carry both storm water and sewage. During heavy rains, the system overloads and dumps a mixture of sewage-contaminated storm water into creeks, yards, parking lots and streets.
The plan endorsed by Clough calls for deep tunnels to store the polluted mixture until it can be routed to treatment plants, cleaned and then released. The plan would separate 27 percent of the 330-mile network and get rid of the rest over 25 years. Then, the tunnels would be used only for storm water.
Environmentalists challenging the city say the sewers should be separated now. They dismiss the tunnels as an unnecessary expense and say only total separation will solve the problem, noting that the city's solution will still overflow on average four times a year.
"What's the right thing to do at this point?" said Jackie Echols, a leader of the group Clean Streams. "Everybody knows. We can solve the problem once and for all."
The Clough panel, rather than ending the debate, only silenced the clamor for a while. Clean Streams has continued its criticisms.
In March, David Peters resigned as the city's chief environmental officer. He left a parting bombshell for Franklin in a letter that endorsed separation rather than the city's plan.
"Elimination of the combined sewers is the best solution to revive the impoverished inner city area that is primarily the home of minority residents," Peters wrote.
In May, the two council resolutions came forward. And, last week, U.S. Reps. John Lewis and Denise Majette sent a stinging letter questioning the program. It left Franklin stunned and angry. A few months before, Lewis had appeared on a city-sponsored video endorsing the sewer-repair plan.
"We cannot endorse a plan that knowingly allows this kind of pollution to continue to flow into our neighborhoods," Majette wrote.
Letter from Washington
The two later tried to soften their position, but for city officials hoping to show a unified front in seeking $1 billion from Washington, the damage was already done.
City officials say they've been outlobbied by persistent, single-issue neighborhood activists.
"The city just cannot spend 24-7 on this," said Councilwoman Clair Muller, chairwoman of the Utilities Committee and a strong supporter of the current plan. "We have a group of people that is more interested in their chosen technology than clean water or the city's finances. . . . I'm really tired of it." |
