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Letter from the Board Chair 
Every day, ADA works to attract employers and investment to the city. ADA’s board approved more than $1 billion in business transactions in 2008. While net job numbers were down citywide, ADA was successful in adding 700 new jobs.More foreign firms had their eyes on Atlanta than ever before, with the life science and digital media sectors drawing the most interest.
In Atlanta we are proud to be a national best practice model for tax increment financing, or tax allocation districts as they are called here in Georgia. ADA’s director of TADs is the co-chair of the Council of Development Finance Agencies’ National TIF Coalition and is actively participating in the national conversation to refine this valuable economic development tool..
Unfortunately, Atlanta is among the top cities nationwide for foreclosures, which have negatively impacted home values and destabilized neighborhoods all across our city. ADA is an active member of a new citywide consortium of affordable housing advocates working to address the inventory of foreclosed homes and implement the national Neighborhood Stabilization Plan.
Economic development is vital for any healthy city. Our five-year goals, developed in 2004, called for adding 60,000 jobs and 24,000 airport-related jobs; adding 10,000 new units of workforce housing; adding 2,000 acres of parks and greenspace; improving the high-school graduation rate to 72 percent; decreasing crime to 5,600 crimes per 100,000 residents; and growing property values by $26 billion.
Atlanta Public Schools’ results have been very encouraging, with a graduation rate that is now 72 percent, up from 57 percent in 2004.Each high school graduate creates a total societal benefit of more than $200,000, from higher tax revenues (based on higher salaries) and lower spending on public health, crime-related costs, and other temporary assistance programs. We are proud of Dr. Beverly Hall for being named Georgia’s 2009 Superintendent of the Year and one of four finalists for 2009 National Superintendent of the Year.
Crime is another key indicator of economic development.Atlanta today has 1,786 sworn police officer positions, a 20 percent increase from 2001. The violent crime rate is down 38 percent since 2002.In fact, Atlanta has gone from having the second-highest crime rate in the U.S. to number 15 on the list.The city of Atlanta is safer today than it was in the 1970s, but even one crime is one too many.It is my goal to increase our police force to 2,000 by the end of 2009 and bring the crime numbers down even further.
ADA’s mission is critical. I would like to recognize our 2008 Board of Directors and thank them for their commitment to economic development in the city of Atlanta. My fellow board members are:
- Joe Brown, Centerline Capital Group
- LaChandra Butler Burks, APS Board Member
- Anna Foote Copello, The Coca-Cola Family Federal Credit Union, effective December 2008
- Emma Darnell, Fulton County Commissioner
- Carlton Eccles, retired
- Tracy Hankin, WebMD
- Jim Maddox, Atlanta City Council Member
- Barney Simms, Atlanta Housing Authority, retired November 2008
- Alex Wan, Optima, Inc.
As my tenure as Mayor of Atlanta and Chair of ADA nears its close, it is my personal goal to provide the kind of leadership that will allow ADA to fulfill its mission and leave a legacy of which we can all be proud.
Sincerely,
Shirley Franklin, Mayor
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