Mayor Shirley Franklin, Restorer of Faith. - One of the 5 Best Big-City Mayors as selected by Time.
The 5 Best Big-City Mayors
They rule over tough territory, yet offer strong examples of how cities can be efficient and livable
By Nancy Gibbs
Time
April 17, 2005
Introduction
The best mayors in U.S. history have been great characters—showmen and radicals and bullies and rebels. Then again, so have the worst.
Fiorello LaGuardia, who ruled New York from 1934 to '45, besides reforming and rebuilding his city, was famous for smashing slot machines with a sledgehammer and reading the comics to children over the radio during a newspaper strike. On the other hand, Chicago's William (Big Bill) Thompson, first elected in 1915, kept a picture of his good buddy Al Capone on his office wall and once conducted a debate between himself and two white rats, which he placed onstage to represent his political opponents.
It is tempting to judge our mayors for the little things that make city life livable, the depth of the potholes, the smell of the streets, whether or not the traffic lights are in synch. But the best mayors have also been those who act on a grand scale, building bridges, saving schools, finding the funds that cities forever lack.
TIME consulted with urban experts to choose the best among the leaders of America's most challenging cities, those with populations over half a million—a crop that brings in six Republicans, 22 Democrats and one unaffiliated mayor. That cutoff excluded mayors like Randy Kelly of St. Paul, Minn. (pop. 288,000), who has slashed crime 30% in 31/2 years. Our top performers range from Chicago's imperial Richard Daley, who after 16 years is widely viewed as the nation's top urban executive, to newcomer John Hickenlooper, the beer brewer who closed Denver's worst budget gap ever without major staff or service cuts. Since good policy invites imitation, their most successful tactics may soon be coming to a city near you.
Shirley Franklin / Atlanta
Restorer of Faith
Shirley franklin isn't standard mayor material. For starters, she's a woman, which makes her the first female mayor Atlanta has ever had; in fact, she's the first black woman ever to run a big Southern city.
All of 5 ft. 1 in. tall, Franklin is a divorced mother of three who dyes her hair platinum blond. Before she campaigned for mayor, Franklin had never run for an elected office. Outkast played at her inauguration.
When Franklin took office in 2002, Atlanta needed somebody a little out of the ordinary. Her predecessor, Bill Campbell, had completely blown the public's trust in city government. Two of his top aides pleaded guilty to charges of bribery, and Campbell is awaiting trial on a seven-count indictment for, among other things, bribery, tax fraud and corruption. Franklin inherited an $82 million budget deficit, which was about 20% of the entire city budget and $37 million more than she had been led to expect. Atlanta's homeless population was exploding, the city's infrastructure was fraying, the streets had not been maintained in eight years, and the sewers were leaking so badly that state and federal environmental agencies were fining Atlanta $20,000 a day.
How did Franklin respond? She started by committing what might have been political suicide. She cut 1,000 jobs from the city payroll and got the city council to approve a 1% sales-tax hike and a 50% bump to property taxes. To prove she could take it as well as dish it out, she laid off half her staff and cut her own salary by $40,000.
To restore faith in the local government, Franklin shepherded through the city council a new ethics code for municipal employees. She corralled 75 private firms to conduct studies of Atlanta's budgetary, infrastructure and homeless problems and perform a massive audit of the city government—pro bono. She organized a task force she called the Pothole Posse to go after the city's crumbling streets. She kept a running tally of cracks that were filled, combining good stewardship with quality political theater.
Franklin, who was Atlanta's city manager from 1982 to '90 and served several key roles on its 1996 Olympics committee, is not just a rampaging reformer but also a skillful and diplomatic negotiator.
Working with county and state officials, she managed to pull together a complex set of loans and agreements that will bring about $3 billion in upgrades and repairs to Atlanta's leaky sewers.
Since 2002, Franklin has turned in three balanced budgets, and in February she reported an $18 million revenue surplus. A $5 million homeless shelter is scheduled to open this summer. She plans to run for a second term this November, and so far nobody is even bothering to oppose her. For her achievements Franklin was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award this year by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. She is the first sitting mayor to be so honored.
They rule over tough territory, yet offer strong examples of how cities can be efficient and livable
By Nancy Gibbs
Time
April 17, 2005
Introduction
The best mayors in U.S. history have been great characters—showmen and radicals and bullies and rebels. Then again, so have the worst.
Fiorello LaGuardia, who ruled New York from 1934 to '45, besides reforming and rebuilding his city, was famous for smashing slot machines with a sledgehammer and reading the comics to children over the radio during a newspaper strike. On the other hand, Chicago's William (Big Bill) Thompson, first elected in 1915, kept a picture of his good buddy Al Capone on his office wall and once conducted a debate between himself and two white rats, which he placed onstage to represent his political opponents.
It is tempting to judge our mayors for the little things that make city life livable, the depth of the potholes, the smell of the streets, whether or not the traffic lights are in synch. But the best mayors have also been those who act on a grand scale, building bridges, saving schools, finding the funds that cities forever lack.
TIME consulted with urban experts to choose the best among the leaders of America's most challenging cities, those with populations over half a million—a crop that brings in six Republicans, 22 Democrats and one unaffiliated mayor. That cutoff excluded mayors like Randy Kelly of St. Paul, Minn. (pop. 288,000), who has slashed crime 30% in 31/2 years. Our top performers range from Chicago's imperial Richard Daley, who after 16 years is widely viewed as the nation's top urban executive, to newcomer John Hickenlooper, the beer brewer who closed Denver's worst budget gap ever without major staff or service cuts. Since good policy invites imitation, their most successful tactics may soon be coming to a city near you.
Shirley Franklin / Atlanta
Restorer of Faith
Shirley franklin isn't standard mayor material. For starters, she's a woman, which makes her the first female mayor Atlanta has ever had; in fact, she's the first black woman ever to run a big Southern city.
All of 5 ft. 1 in. tall, Franklin is a divorced mother of three who dyes her hair platinum blond. Before she campaigned for mayor, Franklin had never run for an elected office. Outkast played at her inauguration.
When Franklin took office in 2002, Atlanta needed somebody a little out of the ordinary. Her predecessor, Bill Campbell, had completely blown the public's trust in city government. Two of his top aides pleaded guilty to charges of bribery, and Campbell is awaiting trial on a seven-count indictment for, among other things, bribery, tax fraud and corruption. Franklin inherited an $82 million budget deficit, which was about 20% of the entire city budget and $37 million more than she had been led to expect. Atlanta's homeless population was exploding, the city's infrastructure was fraying, the streets had not been maintained in eight years, and the sewers were leaking so badly that state and federal environmental agencies were fining Atlanta $20,000 a day.
How did Franklin respond? She started by committing what might have been political suicide. She cut 1,000 jobs from the city payroll and got the city council to approve a 1% sales-tax hike and a 50% bump to property taxes. To prove she could take it as well as dish it out, she laid off half her staff and cut her own salary by $40,000.
To restore faith in the local government, Franklin shepherded through the city council a new ethics code for municipal employees. She corralled 75 private firms to conduct studies of Atlanta's budgetary, infrastructure and homeless problems and perform a massive audit of the city government—pro bono. She organized a task force she called the Pothole Posse to go after the city's crumbling streets. She kept a running tally of cracks that were filled, combining good stewardship with quality political theater.
Franklin, who was Atlanta's city manager from 1982 to '90 and served several key roles on its 1996 Olympics committee, is not just a rampaging reformer but also a skillful and diplomatic negotiator.
Working with county and state officials, she managed to pull together a complex set of loans and agreements that will bring about $3 billion in upgrades and repairs to Atlanta's leaky sewers.
Since 2002, Franklin has turned in three balanced budgets, and in February she reported an $18 million revenue surplus. A $5 million homeless shelter is scheduled to open this summer. She plans to run for a second term this November, and so far nobody is even bothering to oppose her. For her achievements Franklin was awarded the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award this year by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. She is the first sitting mayor to be so honored.
posted by Sid Cottingham | 5:00 AM
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