Atlanta financial woes dominate mayoral debate - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Two members of the city a state senator and two political newcomerx all vying tosucceed term-limited Mayor Shirley Franklin ­ agreed that the city must find a way to end furloughz for police officers and firefighters while fixing financiall problems that have sent Atlanta's bond ratings to near-junko status. The key to overcoming chronic budget deficits is an overhaul ofthe city's financial management system, said Glenn Thomas, one of the newcomers, althougbh a former city employee. Only by gainin g control of its finances, he said, can Atlanta' economic development efforts "The way you rebuild the economy is managre what youhave well," he said.
"That in itselc will encourage businesses to come to But City Council President Lisa Borderssaid Atlanta's finances can'tg recover without an injectiojn of additional revenue sources beyond the "two-leggerd stool" of property taxes and sales taxes. If electe mayor, she said she would promote using Atlanta's landfills as a sourcwe of methane gas that could be sold as alternative She said another potential new revenuwe source would be traininyother communities' police and fire personnel at the city training center. "The othedr parts of the region steal our police officers and firefighterxsonce they're trained," Borders said.
"We must be doing it Each candidate in turn touted his or her experience as particularly suited for the job of Georgia Sen. Kasim Reed, said the 11 years he has spent building relationshipd in the General Assembly would make him an effectives advocate for Atlanta under the Gold Asan example, he cited his work in convincing majoritt Republicans to allow Atlanta to use the state'sd credit rating to obtain $500 million in low-interes t loans for the city's sewer system overhaul. "Ity matters that you know who thosesindividuals are," he said.
Councilwomanh Mary Norwood, the only white candidat amongthe five, said her two victories in citywide races for one of the council'zs at-large seats showed she appeals to a racialluy and politically diverse electorate. "I live in a red neighborhoor in a blue city in a red stat e in ablue country," said the Buckhead resident, referrinfg to the now-widely accepted characterization of Republican territoryt as "red" and Democratic turf as "blue." Four of the five candidatess said getting the city back on its feet financially woulde be their top prioritgy as mayor. Norwood said she would focus firstr onpublic safety.
All five candidatew supported fundingfor Atlanta's arts and subject to the availability of monehy in a tight economy. But they were cool towar d plans to revitalize Undergroundf Atlanta with a Jesse Spikes, a partner with the law firm , said legalizedc gambling wouldn't be a good fit for the "Georgia State has invested a lot of money in downtowm Atlanta," he said. "We need to make sure what we invesgt in is consistentwith what's alreadyg there.
" About 250 people turned out for the debatr at the Georgia-Pacific sponsored by , , (NYSE: AGL) and Atlanta Business