TASK FORCE WINS TODAY’S HEARING TO COMPEL!

The weather was cloudy and bleak. Zeus had spoken earlier with flashing lightning and rolling thunder. He’s not happy. However poor little David walked away from court smiling with five smooth stones still at his side. The sun was shining everywhere. In the Superior Court of Fulton County, at 10:30 AM, Judge Ural Glanville denied a motion filed by Atlanta attornys to dismiss the case, The Alanta Task Force for the Homeless v. The City of Atlanta (Mayor’s office). A motion had been filed for this hearing to COMPEL Central Atlanta Progress to produce Documents and to produce A.J. Robinson, President and Richard Orr, Senior Projects Manager, for deposition.

The Judge having said that he found the information in the argument on the motion to COMPEL “relevant” ordered the attorneys, Steve Hall for the Task Force and Steve Riddell for CAP to meet. This meetiing lasted about fifteen minutes. Riddell did not want the Judge to give the order. This means that CAP lawyers will produce all previously subpoenaed documents and all previously subpoenaed persons to be deposed. Those persons so far who have been subpoenaed are Robinson and Orr.

Bravo, Academics!

Charles G. Steffen, PhD, History Department of Georgia State organized and led, with much help from faithful Task Force supporters, the September 8 Press Conference where the following statement was read, having been signed by some 25 academics across greater Atlanta. A note follows the names which I quote: “Institutional affiliations are included solely for the purposes of identification and not as an endorsement by the institution.” Before I quote the statement and post the names, I remind you that this press conference was held without electricity. Thank God for sunlight! The City of Atlanta in its usual fashion of hospitality would not allow its electricity to be used. First WATER, now ELECTRICITY.

PUBLIC STATEMENT OF ACADEMIC COMMUNITY IN SUPPORT OF METRO ATLANTA TASK FORCE FOR THE HOMELESS’S LAWSUIT AGAINST THE CITY OF ATLANTA, SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

We, the undersigned members of the city’s academic community, wish to call attention to the recent lawsuit filed against the City of Atlanta by the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless. Scheduled for a hearing on September 21 at Fulton County Superior Court, this lawsuit accuses the City of a long-standing pattern of interference in the operation of the Task Force and its Peachtree-Pine facility. Equally important, it reveals how powerful economic and political interests have pursued an agenda of downtown development that sacrifices the well-being of working families, the poor, and homeless people. As concerned academics who believe that our City’s future should be shaped by Dr. King’s dream of a beloved community, we hope that this precedent-setting lawsuit will receive the widest possible publicity. We call on the local media to cover the case, and to do so in a fair and impartial manner. We urge our fellow citizens to denounce any and all attempts to undermine the important work being done by the the Task Force and to declare their support for a just and inclusive vision for our city.

Ian Almond, English Department, Georgia State University
Frank S. Alexander, School of Law, Emory University
James Wilson Beaty, Beulah Heights University, retired
Christine Jacobsen Carter, History Department, Georgia State University
Kathleen N. Cleaver, School of Law, Emory University
Ian C. Fletcher, History Department, Georgia State University
Monica H. Halka, Honors Program, Georgia Institute of Technology
Charles E. Jones, Department of African American Studies, Georgia State University
Lindsay Jones, School of Law, Emory University
Larry Keating, City and Regional Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology
Matthew Lasner, History Department, Georgia State University
Vincent Lloyd, Department of Religious Studies, Georgia State University
Gregory H. Nobles, School of History, Technology, and Society, Georgia Institute of Technology
Deirdre Oakley, Sociology Department, Georgia State University
Joe Perry, History Department, Georgia State University
Jared Poley, History Department, Georgia State University
Walter Reed, English Department, Emory University
Mary Rolinson, History Department, Georgia State University
Erin E. Ruel, Sociology Department, Georgia State University
Natsu T. Saito, College of Law, Georgia State University
Christine Skwiott, History Department, Georgia State University
Charles G. Steffen, History Department, Georgia State University
Akinyele K. Umoja, Department of African American Studies, Georgia State University
Isaac A Weiner, Department of Religious Studies, Georgia State University
Larry Youngs, History Department, Georgia State University

Under Oath

“I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me God.”

On Wednesday, September 2, 2009, Advisor on Homelessness to Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and former Atlanta City Councilperson Debi Mae Starnes was deposed at Atlanta City Hall from 2pm to 7:30pm. Attorney Steve Hall of the Baker Donelson Law Firm questioned Dr. Starnes for the five and one-half hours. The deposition will continue next week on a day not yet announced. The Fulton County Superior Court has set a pretrial hearing for Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, Inc. v. The City of Atlanta on September 21, 2009, at 9am.

James Wilson Beaty, PhD
Jeremiah 22.16