Atlanta, GA
Bigger pay day may be pending for Atlanta mayor, City Council, school board
ATLANTA – Pay day could soon be a lot sweeter for the Atlanta mayor, council members and school board members.
The City’s Elected Officials Compensation Commission made recommendations that included raises from 30 to over 100-percent.
These are jaw-dropping salary increases, but the commission chairman says his group worked from the premise that anyone who runs for city council should be able to afford a home in the city.
“We also looked at housing trends in Atlanta, and we have some recommendations for you all,” said Attorney Quinton Washington during a meeting Monday.
Washington says he believes a city council member or school board member should be able to live out the American dream in the city they serve.
Washington says that means salaries for council members, school board members, and even the mayor, should go up.
“The average house price in Atlanta is roughly $400,000,”Washington said.
Here are the numbers:
The mayor’s salary would jump from $202,730 to $271,000. The council president’s pay would increase from $72,400 to $132,500. Council members would go from $72,360 to $127,500, and school board members would go from $30,000 to $70,000, which is a 133-percent bump.
“We want stability on the school board and with what’s required of people from the school board, what they were making and what they required to do as we think, causing there to be instability on the school board. These are our children,” Washington explained.
Washington says the commission’s recommendations were compared with peer cities like New York, Cincinnati and Charlotte.
He believes more qualified candidates would be the end result for these soon-to-be full-time positions.
“It’s a value in the City of Atlanta to allow government to be open to all. It does prevent barriers to entry for some people who feel like they want to run, but some people can’t because they don’t have enough money based on the salary, if they were given the position to be able to live off of. We want this to be open to single parents, mothers or fathers,” Washington professed.
Council will debate and vote on these pay increases in January.
The Source: FOX 5 Atlanta’s Aungelique Proctor reported this story from Atlanta.
Atlanta, GA
Atlantans prepare steep driveways for winter weather
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Winter weather on the horizon has people living in metro Atlanta with steep driveways preparing for ice.
Steep driveways are a common sight in Sandy Springs and there are solutions to not being stuck during the storm.
Amit Gambhir is one driver with a steep driveway. “It hasn’t been too bad. That we’ve seen. I know we’re thinking that could be the case in a couple of days,” said Gambhir.
“I want to say it was eight hours. I was one of the lucky ones it wasn’t overnight but it was a long time,” said Gambhir.
Gambhir doesn’t plan on being stuck in his car again.
“I do not plan to be out and about very much Thursday night through however long this lasts,” said Gambhir.
“If you do need to get out of your house and out of the neighborhood, probably Ice Melt, so you can get your car where it needs to go. So snow shovels or Ice Melt,” said Andy Jones, a manager and owner of Intown Ace Hardware.
Ice Melt is a chemical substance that melts snow and ice by lowering the freezing point of water.
“It essentially melts the ice and then that melted ice will run off your driveway so it won’t refreeze and you’re not slipping,” said Jones.
Salting driveways is another option.
“Go ahead and pull down to the street and park your car on the street the night before,” said Jones.
“I think we’re just going to hold steady here and play it safe,” said Jones.
Copyright 2025 WANF. All rights reserved.
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta inspector general warns new City Council legislation could ruin leadership transparency
ATLANTA – Atlanta’s Inspector General warns legislation introduced this week will gut her office and turn the clock back on attempts to weed out corruption, fraud and misconduct at City Hall.
The independent watchdog agency has come under fire by city employees for alleged tactics and procedures.
Even Mayor Andre Dickens’s office has found itself at odds with the IG.
The legislation is sponsored by longtime Council member Howard Shook and six of his colleagues.
The IG says if it passes, it will rip the teeth out of her office.
Shannon Manigault, Atlanta’s Inspector General, sits down with FOX 5 Atlanta for a one-on-one interview on Dec. 4, 2024. (FOX 5)
“We have had delays. We’ve had obstruction. We’ve had disclosure of our requests,” said Atlanta Inspector General Shannon Manigault.
She is disappointed in legislation introduced Monday by Shook to limit the authority of the independent office in its effort to hold city employees and officials accountable.
Currently, stakeholder organizations nominate board members to oversee the IG, but Shook’s legislation would change the charter.
“It takes the additional step of creating a mayoral board, so right now the board of the inspector general and the language in the charter says the board is there to ensure the independence of the office. That model, which is a great one, and one that had been lauded by other cities,” Shannon Manigault affirmed.
That could soon go away. The IG believes all Atlantans should be alarmed by this.
Another new aspect, the new board would appoint an inspector general, which could leave Manigault searching for a new job.
“Always what is important is what’s best for the institution. It’s not about Shannon Manigault. It’s about the citizens of Atlanta having trust in this office that’s supposed to build trust in city government,” the IG said.
Manigault says the proposed legislation also does away with the IG getting immediate access to employee documents.
“Rather than have immediate access of records, we need to root out fraud, waste, and corruption in the city. We have to go to employees, and it’s voluntary as to whether those employees are gonna provide city records and city property. That’s unheard of,” the top attorney explained.
The legislation was introduced Monday.
There will be an opportunity to make changes to it next week during the finance committee meeting.
The Source: This is part of continuing coverage from FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Aungelique Proctor.
Atlanta, GA
Chase Chrisley named as suspect in assault incident at Atlanta sports bar
Watch: Savannah Chrisley’s full 2024 RNC speech
Reality TV star Savannah Chrisley delivers speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
The Chrisley family is facing more legal headwinds. This time, middle son Chase Chrisley is the subject of police concerns.
The “Chrisley Knows Best” star was named as a suspect in a “simple assault” incident at Twin Peaks sport bar in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood on Monday night, according to a police report obtained by USA TODAY and confirmed by the Atlanta Police Department on Wednesday.
USA TODAY reached out to reps for Chrisley for comment.
Police say that the alleged victim claimed Chrisley “became really drunk” inside the restaurant and bar franchise, which boasts locations around the U.S., and “started to act very disrespectful and belligerent.”
After he was allegedly asked by the victim to leave the location “multiple times,” the police report says Chrisley “slapped him in the face twice” after he previously “refused to leave and started acting more belligerent.”
According to the report, the alleged victim was not injured in the incident and “refused medical attention.”
Chrisley was the star of USA Network’s “Chrisley Knows Best,” which aired for 10 seasons, with its most recent episode broadcast in March of 2024. The spinoff, “Growing Up Chrisley,” which followed his life with sister Savannah Chrisley, aired for four seasons between 2019 and 2022.
The Chrisley family, once ratings gold, has faced legal trouble in recent years
After a rapid rise to fame for TV’s Chrisley family with ratings gold, their swift downfall followed.
Chrisley’s parents — family matriarch and patriarch — Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley, who portrayed themselves as real estate tycoons in the South on their USA Network shows, are both serving prison sentences after a jury in June 2022 found them guilty of conspiring to defraud community banks in Atlanta out of more than $36 million in fraudulent loans, defraud the IRS and commit tax evasion.
In September, a federal judge ordered Julie Chrisley to continue to serve her seven-year prison sentence for tax evasion and bank fraud, upholding her own 2022 ruling.
The couple’s children — Chase, Savannah and Grayson, as well as granddaughter Chloe and Todd’s mother, Faye Chrisley — were slated to return to television with a new unscripted docuseries, according to an August 2023 press release obtained by Variety and Deadline.
The show, which has yet to be released, would follow the family as they adjust to life with their parents behind bars.
At this summer’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, youngest daughter Savannah Chrisley received criticism after arguing that her parents’ separate sentences were a case for criminal justice reform throughout the country.
Contributing: Charles Trepany, KiMi Robinson
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