The Atlanta Beltline is a 22 miles (35 km) open and planned loop of multi-use trail and light rail transit on a former railway corridor around the core of Atlanta,Georgia. The Atlanta Beltline is designed to reconnect neighborhoods and communities historically divided and marginalized by infrastructure,improve transportation,add green space,promote redevelopment,create and preserve affordable housing,and showcase arts and culture. The project is in varying stages of development,with several mainline and spur trails complete. Since the passage of the More MARTA sales tax in 2016,construction of the light rail streetcar system is overseen by MARTA in close partnership with Atlanta Beltline,Inc.
Karen Christine Handel is an American businesswoman and former politician. A member of the Republican Party,Handel served as chair of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners from 2003 to 2006,as Secretary of State of Georgia from 2007 to 2010,and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019.
Mohammed Kasim Reed is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 59th mayor of Atlanta,Georgia's state capital and largest city,from 2010 to 2018. A Democrat,Reed was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1998 to 2002 and represented the 35th District in the Georgia State Senate from 2003 to 2009. He served as campaign manager for Shirley Franklin's successful Atlanta mayoral campaign in 2001. After Franklin was term limited from the mayor's office,Reed successfully ran for the position in 2009. Inaugurated on January 4,2010,Reed was elected to a second term in 2013.
A municipal election in the City of Atlanta was held on Tuesday,November 3,2009. Atlanta is the capital of the state of Georgia and is the largest city in Georgia and is the center of the Atlanta metropolitan area,the largest metropolitan area in the South.
The Atlanta City Council is the main municipal legislative body for the city of Atlanta,Georgia,United States. It consists of 16 members:the council president,twelve members elected from districts within the city,and three members representing at-large posts. The city council is the legislative branch of the Atlanta city government.
Mary Norwood is an American businesswoman and politician who is a member of the Atlanta City Council. She was a candidate for mayor of Atlanta in 2009 and 2017. In both campaigns she advanced to the runoff,but respectively lost to Kasim Reed and Keisha Lance Bottoms by narrow margins. In addition to her mayoral runs,she represented city-wide posts on the Atlanta City Council from 2002 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018. She resides in the Tuxedo Park neighborhood of Atlanta's Buckhead community.
Kwanza Hall is an American politician and businessman who briefly served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district. He previously served as a member of the Atlanta City Council for the 2nd district. He was first elected in 2005 and re-elected in 2009. He represented the neighborhoods of Atlantic Station,Castleberry Hill,Downtown,Home Park,Inman Park,the Marietta Artery,Sweet Auburn and the Martin Luther King Historic District,Midtown,Poncey-Highland,and the Old Fourth Ward. He opted to not run for re-election in 2017,and was a candidate in the 2017 Atlanta mayoral election.
Alex Su-chi Wan is an American politician. He was the first Asian American member of the Atlanta City Council,elected to the position for District 6 in the November 2009 municipal election. He speaks both English and Mandarin Chinese. Since March 3,2021,Wan serves as Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Elections.
Lesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. state of Georgia enjoy most of the same rights as non-LGBTQ people. LGBTQ rights in the state have been a recent occurrence,with most improvements occurring from the 2010s onward. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 1998,although the state legislature has not repealed its sodomy law. Same-sex marriage has been legal in the state since 2015,in accordance with Obergefell v. Hodges. In addition,the state's largest city Atlanta,has a vibrant LGBTQ community and holds the biggest Pride parade in the Southeast. The state's hate crime laws,effective since June 26,2020,explicitly include sexual orientation.
Rashad Jamal Taylor is a political consultant and former politician from Atlanta,Georgia. A Democrat,he served from 2009 to 2013 in the Georgia House of Representatives,representing the City of Atlanta from the 55th House District. He was first elected in November 2008,at 27 years old,making him the youngest serving member of the General Assembly. After re-election in 2010,he was elected Vice Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus,the fourth highest ranking leadership position in the House. At 31,Taylor was the youngest member of the General Assembly leadership,House or Senate,Democrat or Republican.
The state of Georgia mostly improved in its treatment of lesbian,gay,bisexual and transgender residents in the years after 1970,when LGBT residents began to openly establish events,organizations and outlets for fellow LGBT residents and increase in political empowerment.
Keisha Sean Waites is an American politician from the state of Georgia. A Democrat,she served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 2012 to 2017,representing southeast Atlanta,College Park,East Point,Hapeville,Forest Park,Hartsfield Jackson Airport,Porsche Headquarters and parts of Clayton and DeKalb counties.
Margaret Kaiser is a former state representative from Georgia. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Carlos Menchaca is an American politician who served as a member of the New York City Council for the 38th district. He is a Democrat. His district included the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Sunset Park,Red Hook,Greenwood Heights,and portions of Borough Park,Dyker Heights,and Windsor Terrace. In October 2020,Menchaca declared his candidacy in the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary,but suspended his campaign in March 2021,three months before the primary.
The 2017 Atlanta mayoral election occurred on November 7,2017,with a runoff election held on December 5,2017. Incumbent mayor Kasim Reed,a member of the Democratic Party who had been in office since 2010,was ineligible to run for reelection due to term limits.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in the U.S. state of Georgia since the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges on June 26,2015. Attorney General Sam Olens announced that Georgia would "adhere to the ruling of the Court",and the first couple married just one hour after the ruling was handed down. Previously,Georgia had banned same-sex marriage both by statute and its State Constitution.
Keisha Lance Bottoms is an American attorney and politician who served as the 60th mayor of Atlanta,Georgia,from 2018 to 2022. She was elected mayor in 2017. Before becoming mayor,she was a member of the Atlanta City Council,representing part of Southwest Atlanta. Bottoms did not run for a second term as mayor. President Joe Biden nominated Bottoms as vice chair of civic engagement and voter protection at the DNC for the 2021–2025 term. In June 2022,Bottoms joined the Biden administration as senior advisor and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement where she served until February 2023. Bottoms currently serves as a member of the President's Export Council.
Renitta Shanbay Shannon is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Georgia House of Representatives. In 2016,Shannon defeated a four-term Democratic incumbent. In January 2017,she was sworn into the Georgia State House of Representatives to represent the 84th district.
The Atlanta Eagle police raid was a police raid targeting the Atlanta Eagle,a gay bar in Atlanta,Georgia,United States. The raid occurred on September 10,2009,due to anonymous tips alleging that illegal drug use and sex was occurring at the bar. Several dozen officers were involved in the raid,including members of the Atlanta Police Department's vice squad and the "Red Dog Unit",a SWAT-like unit typically used in high drug use areas. None of the 62 bar patrons that night were arrested,although eight employees were. Seven of these employees were either found not guilty or had charges dropped against them,while one was not present at the trials and had a bench warrant issued against him.
