Council Overrides 3 Atlanta Mayor Vetos

Still wrestling with a $140 million shortfall in the budget, the Atlanta City Council is making it clear that they want a bigger stake in the city's financial decisions.

Speaking with one voice Monday night, the council let the administration know that it intends to increase its oversight in key departments like public safety, going so far as to mandate that police foot patrols will now be required of rookies for at least eight weeks.

"As it pertains to the foot patrol, you don't want to be in a position where you're not willing to look at alternative policies that can impact the safety of the citizens and their neighborhoods," said Councilman H. Lamar Willis.

The mayor told the council that it should not be doing the police chief's job, but was overruled 15-0.

The second unanimous vote involved a resolution to audit the water and sewer budget to make sure it's not leaking money.

"We've got almost $100 million in un-bid projects," said Councilwoman Mary Norwood, who's also running for mayor. "But when you've got $4 billion, it's a small percentage. But $100 million is a lot of money, so I want to make sure that we've done a quality control check."

The third over-ride dealt with city jobs. Many of the council are still smarting over what they saw as an end-around of their authority when the mayor laid-off 440 workers without consulting them early on.

"The council has historically made personnel decisions through legislation," said Councilwoman Felicia Moore. "And a few years ago, we kind of gave that authority over to the administration and a small committee. We took that responsibility back."