An interesting right-left political coalition backing Felicia Moore for Atlanta City Council president over Mayor Kasim Reed ally Alex Wan could be the deciding factor in a Moore victory— depending, of course, on turnout for the Dec. 5th runoff election.
An October fundraiser at the Buckhead home of Lynn and Bob Irvin (the latter a former GOP state House leader) featured conservative donor attendees ranging from prominent Federalist Society legal guru Frank Strickland and former Fulton County and state Republican Party chairman Bob Shaw to businessman Rodney Cook and former GOP state Rep. Edward Lindsay of Buckhead.
Lynn Irvin recently wrote a blistering letter sent to Atlanta Republicans praising Moore (and mayoral candidate Mary Norwood) as a fighter for ethics and “against city hall corruption” while charging Wan with abusing taxpayer money.
She writes: “I received a four-page campaign piece from him disguised as a ‘public service’ brochure … mailed at taxpayer expense. At a public forum in October I asked Alex Wan publicly how much taxpayers’ money was spent on this mailing. He told me about $18,000. However, if you check Wan’s own financial disclosure records you will see he spent about $34,675 on this mailing.”
Wan is “a liar,” Irvin writes in her letter.
On the other hand, the left-wing Atlanta Progressive News, which influences liberal white voters in east Atlanta, also endorsed Moore (along with Norwood). It wrote:
“Wan pushed the horrible pension reform plan, while Moore helped to block it and then to create a compromise with the unions which passed unanimously. Wan pushed the effort to use questionable zoning strategies to get rid of adult entertainment establishments on Cheshire Bridge Road. These substantive positions matter because his Committee chairs would more likely have pension-cutting, anti-adult entertainment worldviews….
“Moore seems to be willing to dedicate more time and attention to the details of the work of being a Councilmember, and to the issues of Council process and operations that are central to the role of Council President. Moore has relished her role as Committee on Council chairwoman, where she has made Council process an area of expertise. In general, Wan has had a less active Council office and Council presence. He has a full-time job at Emory University’s library, and has always worked full-time in addition to serving on Council.
“We are more confident that if a member of the public has a grievance with somebody working under the oversight of the Council President, or if there is an issue related to Council process or operations, that Moore would have the time and interest to look into that kind of minutae and correct the problem.”
