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June 30, 2006Meet the Mayors: Atlanta's Shirley Franklin
So far, we've introduced people to Chicago and Phoenix, brought attention to the work of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on illegal guns, and did a quick profile of San Francisco Mayor Gavin "McDreamy" Newsom. Today, we introduce Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. Aside from her history making as the first female mayor of Atlanta and the first African American woman to serve as the mayor of a major southern city, Franklin has won over the entire city and greater Atlanta region with her ability to bring people together to accomplish things that were once considered impossible. Click "Continue Reading" to learn more about Franklin, including a suprising twist! Among her many honors, she's been recognized by numerous publications for her accomplisments including:
She lists among her many accomplishments the establishment of a plan to end homelessness in Atlanta in 10 years, the creation of a comprehensive economic development plan that includes cooperation with business and civic leaders from throughout the region, and the beginning of an expansion of Atlanta's airport. She's also created a program for Atlanta's high school seniors called "Next Step...The Atlanta Promise" which, similar to Congressman Fattah's highly touted CORE Program, engages students in planning for their future beyond high school and provides scholarships. She was in the news recently for pulling together a diverse and large group of people to make sure that the Martin Luther King papers stayed in Atlanta rather than see them sold off in an auction to private collectors. The 13th Floor, the blog of Governing Magazine, noted that this achievement compared to when she raised "$3 billion to overhaul its decrepit sewer system." In fact, this article in an April 2004 issue of Governing Magazine gives a great profile of Franklin and how she was able to tackle that $3 billion problem. Franklin's integrity has caused civic and business leaders, suburban and state elected officials, and citizens to have a whole new attitude towards her city. And, according to the article: what makes the 58-year-old Franklin one of America's most intriguing mayors isn't just her persona, it's her determination to master the trickiest balancing act in urban politics today. Franklin has decided that making progress on her city's challenges means working with everyone from the governor to suburban county commissioners to regional business leaders and nonprofit executives--as she says, "I'm looking for friends for Atlanta." At the same time, she admits it's far easier to enlist their help if the city can show it's willing to take responsibility for straightening out its own messes. Franklin had never served in an elected capacity prior to her election in 2002. She had served in city government as Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, Chief Administrative Officer and City Manager - the equivalent of Philly's managing director. Read the New York Times article about the King Papers deal and the article about the Governing Magazine article. Then be prepared to hold the next mayor of Philadelphia up to the standard set by Mayor Franklin. Oh... and here's the twist... she's from Philadelphia. Comments
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Sometimes we here in the City of Brotherly Love can forget that there's a whole big world outside of this city where people are accomplishing good things and setting great examples for governance and leadership. As a feature of The Next Mayor Project, our Meet the Mayors series is attempting to introduce the readers, listeners and viewers to other mayors who can be described as progressive, creative, and innovative. Our goal is to expand this from a blog feature to a video feature and possibly talk to some of these mayors face to face.