Veto override pits city chiefs, mayor

ATLANTA — Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottom is refusing to accept the Atlanta City Council’s override of her veto of a plan to give part of a street to the state, setting up a legal standoff.

Council Member Michael Bond said he had worked out a deal to let the state close the block of Mitchell Street to enhance security between the state Capitol and a legislative office building in exchange for sidewalk and safety improvements along a state-owned road on the west side of Atlanta.

But Bottoms rejected the move, saying it was illegal for Bond to negotiate on behalf of the city instead of her and that in reality no city-state deal exists.

The council overrode that veto on a 10-4 vote, the first time an Atlanta mayor had seen a veto set aside in more than a decade.

However, Bottoms signed an order last week calling the council’s ordinance “void and unenforceable” under the state constitution, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“I have duty to ensure that my conduct and that of the members of the Executive Branch of the City of Atlanta and any Department thereunder shall not violate the law,” Bottoms wrote.

The administrative order argues that the legislation violates the state constitution’s gratuities clause, which says governments can’t give things away, because the state has already committed to improving Donald Lee Hollowell Parkway.

Bond said the gratuities cause does not apply, and the mayor is abusing her powers.

“That was some of the worst lawyering I’ve ever seen during my time at City Hall,” Bond said.