OPINION | This article contains opinion. This site is licensed to publish this content.
Keisha Lance Bottom, Mayer of Atlanta claims that it has been an honor serving Atlanta but it’s time to “pass the baton to someone else,” according to Fox News.
“This has been my highest honor to serve as mayor of this city.”
“My family moved to the west side of Atlanta and they found community and they found purpose and they found a way to make the lives of their children better and I stand here on their shoulders.”
“My love for this city is a love planted in my heart long before I was formed in my mother’s womb. ”
“I wish that I could tell you there was a moment or that there was a thing.”
“But when you have faith and you play for God’s wisdom and guidance… it is abundantly clear to me today that it is time to pass the baton on to someone else.”
“What I see happening in the streets of Atlanta is not Atlanta. This is not a protest.”
“This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. This is chaos. A protest has purpose.”
https://t.co/4yHFpvnVre pic.twitter.com/b7IJEIyojq
— Keisha Lance Bottoms (@KeishaBottoms) May 7, 2021
“This is a decision made from a postion of strength and not weakness.”
“I’ve raised the money. I had the most successful fundraiser of any mayor in the history of this city with President Joe Biden.”
“I’ve polled it. Nearly 70% of the people in this city still like me. If the race for mayor were held today I would win this race without a runoff.”
From Fox News:
Bottoms announced in a letter Thursday that she will not seek reelection this year, saying, “it is with deep emotions that I hold my head high, and choose not to seek another term as Mayor.”
In the letter, Bottoms also touted what she said were her successes as mayor, including dealing with a cyber attack, passing ethics reform, raising the minimum wage and helping elect Democrats to national office.
— Advertisement — Little more than a year ago, when Bottoms was one of the earliest endorsers of President Biden’s candidacy, she was considered a rising star among Democrats. Biden considered her as a potential running mate before eventually opting to choose Vice President Harris, then a senator. Bottoms, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, later turned down a Cabinet post in the Biden administration.
But amid charged protests about race and policing across the country including in Atlanta, and rising crime in her city, Bottoms has seen her stock fall. She faced a prominent challenge in Felicia Moore, the president of Atlanta’s city council. And several other candidates were rumored to be in the mix to potentially challenge her, including former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and 2014 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jason Carter.
Last year, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, Bottoms oversaw rioting in her city after Atlanta Police Department Office Garret Rolfe shot and killed 27-year-old Black man Rayshard Brooks. Video shows Brooks tussled with two officers when they tried to arrest him on suspected DUI charges. Brooks took one of the officer’s tasers and fired as he ran away. That is when Rolfe shot and killed Brooks.
Bottoms was lauded for an impassioned speech last year telling looters and rioters to “go home.”
Atlanta, meanwhile, is struggling to fill vacancies in its police force. A spate of officers exiting last year has led to the department being down about “twenty five percent from our target,” councilman Dustin Hillis said, according to FOX 5.
And though a recent audit found that the Atlanta Police Department’s hiring practices successfully weed out unqualified candidates, it only ends up hiring about 1.4% of applicants because of that. The auditors recommended some measures to “expand the candidate pool” so the department can hire enough new officers.
