Should Atlanta privatize security at the world’s busiest airport?

There are about 20 airports that have private companies handling security screening under TSA’s Screening Partnership Program. Security screening companies under the program are on long-term contracts, allowing them to continue paying workers even when TSA employees are not paid during a federal shutdown.

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Passengers breezed through security in places like San Francisco, Kansas City and other locations with privatized screeners, Amos said. In Atlanta, however, passengers were forced to arrive up to six hours before their flights to navigate the winding lines that sometimes stretched out the door.

President Donald Trump’s administration eventually sent Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to help with crowds — a development widely criticized after violence erupted earlier this year between residents and immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis and other American cities.

“This was about the third time we have witnessed this and each time it’s gotten worse,” Amos said of the world’s busiest airport. “Let’s look at this and see if there’s something we could do differently.”

He told council members he introduced the study proposal after watching people “standing in line all day long because our federal government can’t get their act together.”

His nonbinding resolution passed by a vote of 11-1. Amos said it would be up to Hartsfield-Jackson General Manager Ricky Smith to decide whether he wants to find a third-party to conduct the study.

Council member Kelsea Bond voted against the resolution, arguing the city should “defend the public sector and the union employees” working for TSA at Atlanta’s airport.

Michael Julian Bond returns

After a two-month hiatus, longtime City Council member Michael Julian Bond was welcomed back to City Hall by his colleagues Monday afternoon.

Bond had been out since Feb. 18 after doctors discovered cancer underneath his tongue late last year. He said he recently completed two months of daily radiation and is still undergoing chemotherapy.

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

The cancer was discovered early, and Bond said he expects to make a complete recovery. His plan is to “slow-walk” his way back to a full-time schedule.

Speaking from the dais at his first council meeting back, Bond thanked everyone who reached out and wished him well.

“When I was diagnosed with my cancer, I had no symptoms, I had no pain, I had no warning,” he said. “This took me completely by surprise.”

He encouraged those listening to take care of their health and get routine checkups.

Mayor brings revamped NRI plan

In his return to City Hall, Councilman Bond introduced revamped legislation on behalf of Mayor Andre Dickens, who is undertaking an ambitious plan to tackle the city’s growing wealth divide in his second term.

The mayor seeks to extend six of Atlanta’s eight tax allocation districts for three decades and reinvest that property tax revenue into historically underserved communities.

His new proposal includes ordinances aimed at keeping people in their homes, a trust fund to assist neighborhoods outside the tax districts and accountability measures meant to ensure funds are spent wisely.

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

“Inequity in Atlanta did not happen overnight, and it will not be solved overnight,” Dickens told Council members during Monday’s meeting. “But this package represents one of the most comprehensive neighborhood investment strategies in our city’s history.”

Courtney English, Dickens’ chief of staff, estimates that with 5% growth and the buy-in of Atlanta Public Schools and the Fulton County Commission, the six tax districts will generate between $5 billion and $7 billion over the next 30 years. Officials from the school district and the county commission have expressed concern at their loss of tax revenues from the plan.

Previous revenue estimates for extending all eight TADs was about $6 billion over the next three decades, although English said that figure likely would have been somewhere between $8 and $12 billion with the buy-in of all three entities.

Some critics say extending the TADs will have a detrimental effect on the budgets of the city school system and the county commission. There’s also skepticism about whether the city can generate as much as they say if the lucrative Beltline TAD is allowed to expire.

In public meetings, housing advocates have voiced concern that new development will drive up rental costs and property values, forcing legacy residents out.

But English said the mayor’s proposal includes a host of “anti-displacement” measures specifically designed to guard against that.

“It does us no good to invest in a neighborhood if the folks who’ve been there can’t afford to stay there,” English said.

Beltline bike lane proposal on hold

Council Member Mary Norwood’s proposal to separate walkers and riders on the Atlanta Beltline will remain on ice until after the World Cup, she said.

While some support the idea of separating “wheels and heels” on the popular path, others say creation of a separate bike lane would preclude the addition of light rail along the Beltline.

Norwood proposed the idea earlier this month, citing the growing popularity of electric scooters, e-bikes and other motorized devices.

Her suggestion caused quite the backlash among Beltline rail enthusiasts, however.

At last week’s transportation committee meeting, Norwood said she has spoken to people on both sides of the issue.

“We are not going to do anything to even look at this legislation until after FIFA, and we will do it with a lot of people at the table,” Norwood said. “I’ve heard from both sides of the aisle, but there will be nothing done until late summer.”