City Council President Lisa Borders, a top executive at the development company that revitalized East Lake, is the first to toss her hat into the 2009 mayor's race.
She's likely to face the deepest field of candidates for that office in 30 years, and will need to navigate a rapidly changing electorate.
At the same time, Borders announced she is stepping down from her post at Cousins Properties -- a nod to her challenge of severing her ties to Atlanta's corporate world and show she's bona fide to represent Atlanta's poorer, mostly black population that still guides the political realities in the city.
"Lisa really needs to spend some time in terms of polishing up on what's going on with the poor folks in town," said Atlanta political consultant Tom Houck. "But she can win it."
With the influx of young and urbane people into the city's intown neighborhoods, Atlanta is part of a stunning transformation in the urban South -- highlighted by the broad changes in New Orleans -- as power shifts from black to white.
I have a feeling this race will start defining that shift in a huge way, and will threaten for the first time in decades the ability of Atlanta to elect a black mayor.
Whether this is good or bad is a moot point. The city is changing, and newcomers are going to demand a bigger piece of the political pie. They just may get it.
And who knows? Lisa Borders may be the woman to bridge that gap.
No comments:
Post a Comment