Inside City Hall: Trump indictment brings media circus to Pryor Street

The fourth indictment of former President Donald Trump in Fulton County Superior Court shifted the focus away from City Hall last week down a block or so to the courthouse. A circus of national media outlets descended on Pryor Street downtown for hours to catch a glimpse of the grand jury’s scheduled witnesses and wait for the verdict.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution set out the next day to gauge the community’s thoughts about Trump making headline news, yet again, this time for his actions in Georgia. While we were gathering reactions, some Atlantans wished aloud that the spotlight was on the city’s tangible needs.

“We’ve been running through potholes for years all up and down Cascade Road. That’s what we’re concerned about,” said southwest Atlanta resident Raymond Ingram during his haircut at All Cities Barbershop.

Ingram gave Atlanta credit for beginning pavement work on Cascade Road. But he said the city has a ways to go before the road is fixed.

“It’s like we’ve been bombed,” Ingram said. “Riding through the streets is terrible...the mayor should be worrying about what’s going on locally.”

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Credit: Phil Skinner for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Credit: Phil Skinner for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

We offer our condolences to the family and friends of Bertha Darden. The beloved community activist from Peoplestown is best known for her years-long fight against the city of Atlanta’s attempt to exercise eminent domain to tear down homes in the neighborhood — including her own — to build a park.

Former Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration sought to use eminent domain to acquire the property in the wake of destructive flooding. When Reed sought a third term in 2021, the longstanding legal dispute morphed into a political issue as other candidates came out against the proposal.

City leaders praised Darden after she died last week. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens called her a “trusted and unifying voice for the Peoplestown community.”

“Darden was always candid, fair, and a woman of her word, which I grew to admire and respect,” he said.

Council member Jason Dozier called Darden a formidable leader who “left an indelible mark on so many lives.”

“She was a beacon of hope for those facing housing challenges and a guiding light for those hoping to muster the courage to one day speak truth to power,” he said.

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Credit: Courtesy of Ginger Bell-Tate

Join the Atlanta City Council at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Trinity Community Ministries, 21 Bell St. NE, for an unveiling ceremony at the corner of Auburn Avenue and Bell Street to honor Leonard Tate.

Atlanta is renaming Bell Street after Tate, 80, who worked in Atlanta for more than four decades, most notably at Trinity House, a transitional facility for homeless Atlantans. Tate passed away July 30. His funeral services are set for 11 a.m. Monday Aug. 21 at Big Bethel AME Church, 220 Auburn Ave NE.

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Effective Aug. 17, Marcus Walker has become Atlanta’s new director of the Office of Violence Reduction, which manages the city’s community-based intervention plans. Walker previously served on the Violence Reduction and Public Safety Policy Advisory for the Kansas City, MO Mayor’s Office.

In a statement, Walker said Atlanta uses the best practices and innovation to combat violence.

The AJC reported in March that Atlanta struggled to spend millions earmarked for the implementation of the anti-violence task force recommendations created during the administration of former Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. However, the city announced last month that Atlanta homicides are down for the first time in four years.

Credit: City of Atlanta

Dickens listed several initiatives as the cause of the decline in killings: the Policing Alternatives & Diversion program; Midnight Basketball; the “Year of the Youth” plan; School Break Safe Spaces; the city’s new Nightlife Division, and Atlanta’s new Center for Diversion and Services.

“The Office of Violence Reduction will complement these initiatives and implement proactive data-driven, community-based programs to address the root causes of violence,” Dickens’s statement said. “Marcus is a trust builder, he’s a worker, and together, our administration will continue to bring down crime and keep our streets safe.”

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