The scandals that are plaguing the democratic controlled Atlanta area has begun to mimic the problems that Detroit has experienced in the past several years that could very well turn Atlanta into Detroit’s twin, a news site reported yesterday.
John Bennett of WND reported that Atlanta, for several years now, has experienced cases of government scandals, massive cheating rackets, to corruption, bribery, school-board incompetence and the probation period for the local DeKalb County school system who lost their accreditation.
One such government scandal resulted in former Mayor Bill Cambell, a democrat who governed Atlanta from 1994 to 2002, was indicted and sent to prison for bribery and racketeering convictions.
Recently, former Detroit Mayor, Democrat Kwame Kilpatrick, appearing to follow Bill Cambell’s footsteps was convicted on Monday on two dozen federal charges of corruption and bribery during his seven-year tenure.
For several years, these problems have created political fire-storms and reforms in Atlanta, which also included some cities seceding from Atlanta and creating their own new cities in the northern Atlanta suburbs.
Bennett said, “As a result of the unsavory politics in urban Atlanta, northern suburban communities acted to distance themselves. Beginning in 2005, many communities began the process of incorporating into cities.”
As has been reported in the Atlanta news over the past couple of years, several cities have moved away from the corrupt Democratic political machine in Atlanta to create their own independent havens without the influence of Atlanta and the corruption.
Those cities include, Milton, Sandy Springs, Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Chattahoochee Hills and Johns Creek.
Atlanta’s problems are beginning to resemble Detroit.
Harry C. Alford, co-founder and President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce said, “Nowhere in this nation is a city so ravaged by blight, poverty, drugs, violence, crime and hopelessness than Detroit, Mich. It didn’t happen overnight but the disaster is just about complete.”
“Corruption became rampant. Even the Chief of Police William L. Hart was sentenced to 15 years in prison for stealing $1.3 million. His deputy, Kenneth Weiner, went in for five years. This epitomizes a deep problem in this city. It is a problem that still exists today. A former city councilwoman is in jail as you read this.”
Bennett points out in his article, the latest problem, the failed local Dekalb County school system lost its accreditation and is on probation and resulted in the removal of six school board members.
The board members were removed by Georgia’s Gov. Nathan Deal and shortly afterwards, they filed suit claiming it was unconstitutional for the governor to remove them. A federal judge saw it differently and ruled that Gov. Deal had the authority. Deal made that decision last month after an accrediting agency placed the district on probation, citing mismanagement and infighting among the nine board members.
Tomorrow, Gov. Deal will announce the new six board members but his announcement didn’t satisfy local black civil rights leaders who were concerned that the board members would not be white. NAACP members and other black civil rights groups were not kind to the governor and criticized and accused him of disenfranchising minority voters, insisting he “find some good black people to run”.
Deal said, “The leaders used the 90-minute meeting to focus on racial issues rather than the district’s accreditation crisis. Their response to that was, “These were just children”. “My response was that was, ‘These were children who were concerned about whether they were going to lose their scholarships to Vanderbilt and Stanford.”
As to Atlanta’s future, Bennett said, “DeKalb has changed from majority white to majority black over the last several decades. As the Atlanta Journal Constitution gingerly put it: “The county’s transition from majority white to majority minority was politically rocky.”
“Some are quietly wondering whether Atlanta is in danger of becoming “the Detroit of the South”.”
Comments