Endorsements by former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and former Atlanta City Council President Cathy Woolard of independent candidate Mary Norwood in Tuesday’s Atlanta mayoral runoff election again spotlights corruption that has occurred within outgoing Mayor Kasim Reed’s administration. The endorsers say they especially endorse Norwood’s pledge of a “clean break” from Reed’s city hall as well as from his hand-picked candidate Keisha Bottoms.
The latest Reed embarrassment occurred when he had to place on leave the deputy general manager of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport due to a blatant conflict of interest involving the deputy manager’s wife. Charisse Works, the owner of AirWorks Concessions, does business with Hojeij Branded Foods which has lucrative contracts awarded by the mayor’s procurement office. Husband Cortez Carter never bothered to reveal his spousal connection to big Reed donor Wassim Hojeij. And Bottoms has received at least $17,800 from Hojeij and his employees; mayoral challenger Mary Norwood only got $7,000 (which she donated to charity).
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