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Councilmember H. Lamar Willis Selected as President Pro-Tempore
Following the inauguration of city officials and municipal judges on Tuesday
January 4, 2005, Councilmember H. Lamar Willis proudly accepted the position
of President Pro-Tempore. In this position, Councilmember Willis will preside
over city council in the absence of President Borders.
Councilmember Willis expressed his optimism about the position by saying
that he is “looking forward to working with President Borders and Mayor
Franklin on the issues that residents care about, such as quality of life
and homelessness.”
The inauguration ceremony, held earlier in the day, marked a new beginning
for City Council. Councilmember Willis is proud of the progress the City
has made during his first term and is optimistic about Atlanta’s future.
Councilmember Willis spent his first term incorporating the values of family
and community into his work at City Hall. As Councilmember Willis begins
his second term, he will continue to incorporate those same values into
his work as President Pro-Tempore.
 Councilmember Willis
focuses his legislative efforts on addressing basic quality of life issues
affecting the citizens of Atlanta while providing
legislative oversight over the many issues that come before Council.
Recently, in reviewing
contracts coming before the City, Councilmember Willis became concerned that
information being provided to the Council was not complete. In an effort to protect against this and
ensure that the Council is always provided with the most up to date and
accurate information, Councilmember Willis introduced legislation calling for
the dismissal of any city employee found to not be forthcoming when providing
information to standing committees of the Atlanta City Council. The proposal
will require that complaints be filed with the City’s Board of Ethics and all
cases would be heard by this body. Upon conclusion that information was
erroneously provided or withheld, the Board would recommend termination of the
employee.
DONATION PARKING METERS: HOW YOU CAN HELP!
This year Councilmember Willis will introduce a proposal calling for the
installation of new meters, or the conversion of existing parking meters,
to be used as donation receptacles.The purpose of the receptacles is to
encourage the placement of spare change into the donation meters, located
throughout the entire City, instead of giving money directly to panhandlers.
Inspired by Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, Councilmember Willis has also
suggested the placement of contribution boxes at various businesses around
the City. All of the money
collected in the donation meters and contribution boxes would be distributed
among various homelessness service organizations. In doing so, contributors would have more
assurance that the money goes to those who are truly homeless and in need
rather than to those who are professional panhandlers.
Several cities across the United States have instituted similar
programs and some have had great success in raising money for homelessness
services. Councilmember Willis believes
that with the support of the community this can be an effective measure in Atlanta to deter panhandling
while heightening the awareness of the homelessness. Ideally, some of the funding would also go to
funding for automated public toilets. Atlanta is terribly in need of clean and safe public facilities, and in recognition
of the lack of public accommodations, Councilmember Willis also introduced
a resolution calling for the City and the Community Improvement Districts
to develop plans for installing these toilets.
For more information on this or other legislative matters, please
contact us at 404-330-6041.
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