Jun
13
2010
Below is the latest newsletter update from District 6 City Councilman Alex Wan. You can also subscribe to receive his newsletter via email.
PARKAtlanta
The 30-day moratorium on the PARKAtlanta enforcement of parking restrictions expired on Friday, June 10, and the City has implemented a 7am to 7pm enforcement period Monday through Friday, from noon to 10pm on Saturday, and no parking enforcement on Sundays. At the June 7 City Council meeting, we voted to enact additional short-term recommendations presented by a special transportation sub-committee on parking including:
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Temporary notification signage where new meters are placed;
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Notification to adjacent property owners of meter changes or new meter installation;
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Direct link to PARKAtlanta and city websites to parking citation appeals process information and dispute forms; and
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Reconciling enforcement discrepancies between signage and meters.
There are also a number of long-term recommendations that the sub-committee will continue to research. One particularly interesting proposal is creating a series of parking zones throughout the city with hours of enforcement, time limits, and parking rates designed to match the predominant usage in the
area.
For more information about the City of Atlanta’s parking enforcement program, please visit www.PARKAtlanta.org or call 404-330-6739.
FY2011 City of Atlanta Budget
The City’s budget hearings, where each City department presented its proposed budget for FY2011 and where Council members welcomed comments from the public, have concluded, and we now have until June 30 to approve a balanced budget as required by City code. Among the primary considerations is whether Council agrees we have the financial resources to fund the Mayor’s three large proposed new initiatives:
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Opening the recreation centers, aka “Centers of Hope” ($3.7 million);
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Hiring an additional 100 police officers ($5.5 million); and
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Restoring a 3.5% step increment to police officers’ salaries ($4.1 million).
And, if not, how to prioritize these investments. I welcome your feedback on this and other budget-related topics.
(Note: The proposed sale of City Hall East, which is anticipated to generate approximately $11 million, has not been included in this budget. The Mayor has proposed that those proceeds be applied to investments in the City’s crumbling infrastructure, while some Council members advocate using those funds to pay down debt, as was originally intended.)
Also, the City is currently on track to end the current fiscal year 2010, which ends June 30, 2010, with an excess of revenues over expenses. This “surplus” is projected to be in the range of $10 - $20 million and is the result of reduced operating expenses, delayed filling of vacant positions, and other cost cutting measures. The Mayor has proposed applying a portion of this amount to balance the FY2011 budget with the remainder to be applied to the City’s reserves.
City Employee Pensions
As part of the FY2011 budget, the Administration has put forward proposals to change the pension benefits for City employees for both public safety and civilian staff. These proposed changes impact only employees starting after the adoption of the changes (“new hires”) and those employees who have been with the City for less than 10 years (“non-vested employees”). No changes are proposed for the pension benefits of those employees who have been with the City for 10 years or more (“vested employees”).
As background, approximately $125 million of the current FY2010 budget of $541 million is attributed to the employee pension plan. The financial impact of these proposed changes:
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Anticipated pension cost reduction for new hires = $7.4 million;
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Anticipated pension cost reduction for non-vested employees = $3.4 million; and
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Total savings = $11.1 million.
Council currently awaits quantitative analysis from the pension actuaries to verify these numbers before taking action on the Mayor’s recommendations.
Screen on the Green
Please join me the evening of Thursday, June 17, for the showing of “Dreamgirls,” the third movie in the 2010 Screen on the Green series at Piedmont Park. Now in its 11th year, this event has been a neighborhood favorite every summer and returned to Piedmont Park this year.
Some audience incidents forced the early shutdown of the movie at the June 3 Screen on the Green and the subsequent postponement of “Dreamgirls” for one week. I appreciate the emails and phone calls that we received from you afterward. I want to assure you that the Mayor’s office, City of Atlanta Parks Department, Peachtree TV, and the Piedmont Park Conservancy have been in conversations since then and will be making adjustments to the event security and layout to ensure everyone’s – the audience and the surrounding neighborhoods – safety and enjoyment when it returns June 17.
I appreciate the work that the organizers of the event have put into addressing these issues. I have always been a big fan of Screen on the Green and hope you will join me on the 17th in supporting this neighborhood treasure.
Grady High School Mock Trial Team
Special congratulations go out to students, faculty, and coaches of the Grady High School Mock Trial Team for repeating as State Champions in 2010 and for winning second runner up team – its highest placement in school history – at the National Championships held recently in Philadelphia.
