Atlanta mayor defends fast lane to TV interview
ATLANTA — Atlanta’s mayor is defending his use of emergency lanes at the height of Tuesday’s icy traffic jam so he could do an interview at The Weather Channel’s studios. Mayor Kasim Reed’s spokesman Carlos Campos said Saturday that he, Reed and police officers normally assigned to the mayor traveled in two cars equipped with blue lights to reach the station’s suburban Atlanta headquarters. It happened early Tuesday evening on Interstate 75, at a time when emergency responders were trying to help the thousands of motorists stranded on the jammed highway. “We had no issues getting up there. There was never a moment when — I don’t believe there was ever a moment where we interfered with anything,” Campos told The Associated Press. “The emergency lanes were pretty clear.” The mayor’s use of emergency lanes was first reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The action has sparked anger from motorists who tried to stay warm in their cars or abandoned them to seek shelter in businesses along I-75 and other freeways around metro Atlanta. Campos said they believed that communicating to the largest possible audience during the crisis was important, and an interview with The Weather Channel was a way to accomplish that. “The Weather Channel asked us to come up and we did,” Campos told the AP. “I thought it was important that he communicate often and that he be visible,” Campos added. “People expect to hear from their leaders during crisis.” He said one aspect “needs to be made super clear.” “We did not take any police officers off their beat,” he said. “These are plain-clothes officers that are assigned to him all the time.” Campos declined to say whether Skype, telephones or other means of communication were considered, rather than traveling to the network for an in-person interview.