America ushered in a new era of change and took another massive step towards its founding ideals with the swearing-in of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America. With millions of Americans, I was humbled and elated to witness this historic event. In his inaugural address, President Obama said that “starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.” Over the last seven years, we have been hard at work in the remaking of Atlanta and the Obama Administration promises a great lift to our collective efforts. The urban policy advanced by the Obama Administration will support and fund programs critical to the long-term success of Atlanta. This includes more federal funding for our roads, bridges and sidewalks and our region’s largest transit operator, MARTA. Obama’s focus on sustainability and emphasis on reducing greenhouse gas emissions is in synch with our own sustainability initiatives and our desire to locate more of our citizens closer to transit, with the construction of the BeltLine and the Peachtree Streetcar. Obama’s new Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, supports an education model espoused by Atlanta superintendent, Dr. Beverly Hall. This includes setting goals and measuring progress, extra intervention for those in need, and a focus on increasing teacher quality. His choice of Secretary of Housing, Shaun Donovan, indicates renewed focus on a critical issue for Atlanta, affordable workforce housing.
I am excited about the personal connections we have in the Obama Administration to help us forge a close working partnership, from early supporters such a Senator David Adelman, local businessmen Eugene Duffey, Dan Halpern, Karol Mason and Kirk Dornbush, City Council President Lisa Borders, long-time democratic advisor Steve Leeds, and our own Congressman John Lewis. Georgia’s Congressman Sanford Bishop was also an early supporter of Obama, and former Governor Roy Barnes supported Obama as a relatively obscure Illinois State Senator running for the U.S. Senate. I was also pleased to be an early supporter of Obama, inspired by his new vision for America, and honored to be one of four co-hosts for the Democratic National Convention that nominated him as the Democratic nominee for President.
I am humbled by the spiritual inspiration Obama has from Atlanta’s native son, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He quoted Dr. King’s own words, “the fierce urgency of now”, in explaining his own decision to run for President. I am delighted to see Obama recognize Atlanta’s civil rights leadership by choosing our own Reverend Joseph Lowery to give the closing prayer at the inauguration, and to see Dr. King’s son, Martin King, and Congressman John Lewis sharing the platform with other dignitaries and the Obama family.
Atlanta shares Obama’s vision for the future, which recognizes the strength of diversity and the need to think about our children’s children as we face the challenges of today. Atlanta was built on aspirational forward thinking, from its original founding of a railroad terminus; to its hosting in 1881 of the International Cotton Exhibition; to its support for peaceful and non-violent integration; to the vision for an international airport begun by Atlanta’s Mayor Hartsfield; to our bid and selection to host the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games; to Atlantan’s support for current initiatives that promise to remake our City, such as the Atlanta BeltLine and the $3 billion investment into rebuilding our water and sewer infrastructure.
Atlanta is the hub of the dynamic and fast growing “Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion,” one of ten megaregions in the United States that will compete in the global economy against other megaregions from around the world. While Atlanta enjoys the promise of diversity and economic activity, we also face far different challenges than we did just 10 years ago. And this, most of all, is why I am excited about President Obama, the promise of change for a new era.
- Shirley Franklin