It is a long time since we saw any of that.

Well, that's a blessing.  Atlanta's current Mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, protégé of out former Mayor now under investigation for corruption has been a three year disaster.  AWOL, maladroit, not too bright, ethically challenged, ambitious without the competencies to support that ambition, etc. It has been bad.

How bad?  She spent a year or more lobbying for a position in the Biden administration, doing the network circuit to raise her profile.  And not governing the city.  

Given the long string of dreadfully unqualified nonentities the Biden administration has appointed, you would think there might have been room for a badly failed Atlanta mayor.  She started out on the list of considerations for the VP slot.  However, the more they came to know her, the less they saw there.  She ended up with an offer of the Ambassadorship to the Bahamas, a nation only 75% of the population of the city for which she was Mayor.

Violent crime has risen 60% in Atlanta over last year.  Urban camps and the homeless population have exploded.  Maintenance on city infrastructure has collapsed.  The police force is down 20% with continued churn.  Developers keep getting sweetheart deals.  And most of this was happening from the beginning of her administration; Covid only speeded up the decline.  

KLB, as she has become known, has taken to firing police officers whenever it is politically convenient.  And fired summarily, without going through on the due process required.  This past week, the first of those officers was reinstated.  

The mainstream media, as they do with every Mayor of Atlanta, have been describing her as a rising star in the Democratic Party.  The local paper was almost giddy with her supposed chances as the VP candidate.  But then reality intruded.  Across NextDoor in the City, KLB has come in for a shocking amount of abuse from an electorate which is deep blue.  

The blessing - she has decided not to run again.  The disconnect between the media and citizens, even when they are all Democrats is shocking.

In a stunning announcement Thursday night, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said she will not run for reelection this year.

 It is only stunning if you ignore all the ululations from the populace about crime, school performance, infrastructure, the collapse of the police force, etc.  You know, the things most middle class voters care about.

The move is a shocking reversal for Bottoms, a mayor with a rising national profile who had launched her reelection campaign and held a fundraising event featuring President Joe Biden. The decision creates a wide-open mayor’s race this year, and is likely to open the door for a slew of new candidates.

Yep.  A rising national profile which warrants ambassadorship to the Bahamas.

Although widely popular, Bottoms has received criticism over her handling of public safety following a rise in violent crime in the city.

I am interested to see the evidence to support that fevered asseveration about wide popularity. 

We already have two declared candidates.  More are likely to emerge.  KLB was widely expected to lose her second run at the Mayor's office.  Despite what the compliant mainstream media says. 

For the sake of the city, I hope we get at least once candidate with integrity, capability and courage.  It is a long time since we saw any of that.