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Senator
defends
call
for
Atlanta
CFO’s
resignation
To
the
Editors: Re:
“Budget
crisis
worries
Midtown
leaders”
(news,
May
16)
I
was
disturbed
to
read
that
Councilmember
Anne
Fauver
objected
to
my
call
for
city
of
Atlanta
Chief
Financial
Office
Janice
Davis
to
step
down.
Councilmember
Fauver
is
in
the
position
of
attempting
to
defend
the
indefensible.
Is
it
too
much
to
expect
competence
from
Davis
and
her
office?
My
call
for
Davis’
resignation
is
not
a
matter
of
playing
the
“blame
game.”
It
is
a
matter
of
holding
the
CFO
accountable.
Accountability
is
a
part
of
the
process
of
making
policy
and
structural
changes
so
that
the
city’s
fiscal
debacle
will
not
happen
again.
There
is
a
$65
million
deficit
in
the
current
city
budget.
There
is
a
$140
million
deficit
facing
the
city
in
the
upcoming
fiscal
year.
While
required
pension
funding,
the
economy,
and
higher
fuel
and
healthcare
costs
contributed
to
these
deficits,
it
was
greatly
increased
by
faulty
accounting
in
Davis’
office.
For
example,
the
city’s
annual
debt
payment
of
$8
million
on
Underground
was
not
factored
into
the
current
budget.
In
addition,
the
city’s
reserves
were
overestimated
by
$65
million;
$64
million
over
the
actual
reserves
of
less
than
$1
million
(AJC
4/03/08;
City
Auditors
Report
for
the
FY
2008).
Recently,
we
have
found
out
that
the
police
department
overspent
their
current
budget
by
$18
million
(AJC
5/16/08)!
Amidst
all
of
this,
thousands
of
overdue,
unpaid
invoices
going
back
as
far
as
2005
were
discovered
earlier
this
year
totaling
tens
of
millions
of
dollars
(AJC
4/22/08;
5/5/08).
What
is
there
for
Councilmember
Fauver
to
defend
in
this
record?
This
is
unacceptable.
Davis
has
had
four
years
to
straighten
out
the
city’s
finances.
She
has
failed.
The
city’s
finances
are
a
mess.
If
this
was
private
industry,
she
would
have
been
gone
a
long
time
ago.
Davis
should
leave
as
soon
as
possible.
There
hasn’t
been
an
apologia
of
this
magnitude
since
President
Bush
told
the
FEMA
director
after
Katrina:
“Good
job,
Brownie.”
STATE
SEN.
VINCENT
FORT
(D-ATLANTA)
Time
for
community
to
move
on
from
HRC’s
ENDA
stand
To
the
Editors: Re:
“HRC
president
apologizes
for
‘misspeaking’
at
trans
confab”
(news,
May
9)
I
am
a
current
HRC
Federal
Club
member,
which
means
I
provide
money
at
a
specific
level
to
help
fund
initiatives
of
HRC.
After
the
events
of
last
September,
I
participated
in
the
protest
at
the
HRC
National
Dinner
last
Oct.
6
in
Washington,
D.C.
Since
then,
I
have
spent
a
significant
amount
of
time
with
members
of
HRC
Atlanta
and
HRC
National.
Tracee
McDaniel
and
I
participated
in
HRC’s
annual
Washington,
D.C.
Lobby
Days
&
Training
this
past
March.
We
lobbied
Congress
and
I
attended
the
Political
Training
Track
to
find
out
HRC’s
strategy
for
getting
ENDA,
hate
crimes,
healthcare
and
other
legislation
passed.
This
included
their
strategy
for
getting
national
and
state
pro-LGBTQ
legislators
and
other
officials
elected.
During
lunch
on
Saturday,
HRC
unveiled
their
initiative
to
reach
out
to
the
trans
community
across
the
country.
Being
satisfied
with
what
I
saw
and
heard,
I
reinstated
my
membership
in
HRC’s
Federal
Club.
HRC
is
well
aware
that
the
issue
of
gender
identity
and
expression
in
ENDA
is
not
just
a
trans
issue
—
it
affects
all
LGBTQ
people.
I
attended
the
meeting
with
Joe
in
Atlanta
and
was
pleased
with
his
message.
Joe
has
been
conducting
these
meetings
across
the
country
and
Atlanta
was
his
latest
stop.
The
trans
communities
have
had
the
opportunity
to
express
their
disappointment
with
Joe’s
speech
at
the
Southern
Comfort
Conference
last
September
and
I
believe
he
and
the
leaders
of
HRC
“get
it.”
I
accept
his
apology
and
believe
it
is
time
for
us
all
to
move
on
and
work
together
toward
the
common
goals
of
all
LGBTQ
people.
I
will
work
with
HRC
to
make
sure
that
we
elect
the
lawmakers
who
will
pass
our
all-inclusive
legislative
bills.
SHELLEY
EMERSON
Atlanta
Taking
sides
between
ATL
Pride
and
Human
Rights
Campaign Re:
“Atlanta
Pride
turns
away
HRC
sponsorship
over
trans
fight”
(news,
May
9)
I
think
most
people
can
see
through
this.
The
big
money
donors
get
a
pass
on
support
for
gender
identity
protections
and
the
small
money
donor
gets
made
an
example
of.
Honor?
Human
Rights
Campaign
…
re-iterated
Human
…
is
supposed
to
represent
all
humans.
I
...
The
following comments were posted by our readers and were
not edited by SOVO. We ask that you
treat others with respect; any post deemed offensive will
be removed.
MonicaH on 5/23/089:15 AM:
It's interesting to note that the trumped up meeting between Joe and some trans people here in Atl was put together by an HRC sympathizer, who intentially left out those trans leaders who have worked and are still working on a national level. The idea was to stack the meeting with who they thought would be easy to manipulate and belive anything Joe said. Luckily, some there saw right through his lame apology and and took him to task. I'm proud of those trans people. They actually care about the community and not themselves.
