The Atlanta City Council overrode a mayoral veto on Monday, a rare act that hadn’t occurred in more than a decade.
The legislation that Bottoms attempted to veto gives the state control over a short stretch of Mitchell Street at the Georgia Capitol’s southern border in exchange for the state making several safety improvements to Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway on the city’s westside.
The override occurs at time when Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms faces a reelection challenge from Council President Felicia Moore, and is the most visible sign yet of tensions between the legislative and executive branches of City Hall that have been been strained for years.
The 10-4 vote to override met the two-thirds majority necessary, and did not include a vote from Moore, who as council president only votes to break a tie.
Councilman Howard Shook, who criticized the Bottoms’ administration in December for a lack of leadership on the city’s spike in violent crime, said the override signals a crossroads in the mayor’s relationship with the council.
“Both the council and the administration need to decide if they want to commit to marriage counseling or let nature take its course,” Shook said. “Politics, as does nature, abhors a vacuum.”
Councilman Michael Julian Bond, who co-sponsored the legislation, said the override had resulted mostly from a lack of communication. He said he had asked for the mayor to call him on multiple occasions to explain her position, but she never did.
“The mayor and her staff have stated their positions kind of at the last minute,” Bond said.
Meanwhile, the council was hearing plenty from the public — about 100 people at Monday’s meeting alone, the vast majority of whom spoke in support of the override.
“We can not put politics before people,” Grove Park resident Timothy Freeman said. “We cannot put property values before the value of people.”
Bond added that better communication with the council will be key to Bottoms successfully passing her agenda as her first term draws to an end.
Bottoms accused the council of breaking the law either willingly or ignorantly, and indicated that this dispute has yet to conclude by saying: “Our Administration will explore all legal options pertaining to today’s action by City Council.”
“I am disappointed in my colleagues on the City Council, who should know the separation of powers outlined in our City’s Charter, as well as the appropriate public process related to this matter,” Bottoms said in a statement.
“Council has been duped,” the mayor continued. “There is no agreement or articulation from the State outlining any commitment to improving Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway. The Georgia Department of Transportation has been derelict in their duty to repair that road.”
Councilman Amir Farokhi, whose district encompasses Midtown and Downtown, initially supported the ordinance but changed his vote Monday.
Farokhi said the state’s desire to close Mitchell Street so lawmakers can easily traverse it had nothing to do with safety improvements to Hollowell: “These are two separate issues that should be handled separately.”
Hollowell runs through an area of Atlanta that already was swiftly developing as the city completes work on the Westside Park and its connection to the Atlanta Beltline — a city affiliate agency that is building a 22-mile loop of trails and eventually transit around Atlanta’s urban core.
The pace of new construction is set to ramp up after Microsoft’s announcement last year that it will build a regional hub along Hollowell.
Long time council members say the last time the council overrode a mayor’s veto was during the Shirley Franklin administration.
Voted to override veto: Natalyn Archibong, Michael Julian Bond, Antonio Brown, Andre Dickens, Dustin Hills, Jennifer Ide, J. P. Matzigkeit, Marci Overstreet, Howard Shook and Matt Westmoreland.
Voted against the veto override: Andrea Boone, Amir Farokhi, Joyce Sheperd and Carla Smith.
Absent: Cleta Winslow.
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