Dr. William Foege To Receive A Presidential Medal of Freedom

He founded the Task Force for Global Health, which is based in Decatur.

Dr. William Foege, who helped eradicate smallpox and founded the Decatur-based Task Force for Global Health, will be awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom. Foege, former executive director of the Carter Center, is one of 13 people who will receive the nation's highest civilian honor. Singer and songwriter Bob Dylan, novelist Toni Morirson and former astronaut and senator John Glenn were also named. The Task Force for Global Health has offices at 325 Swanton Way in Decatur, not far from the city police station. The organization dedicated an expansion of the building on Thursday in an event attended by Rosalynn Carter and other dignitaries. According to the Saporta Report, Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd spoke to the crowd and said he was happy …

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Video: Decatur Mayor Talks About Transportation Tax At Town Hall Meet

Light rail projects were discussed last night at Emory University.

Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd and DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis were among the participants in a town hall meeting Wednesday night at Emory to discuss the penny sales tax up for vote this summer. Voters in 10 Georgia counties including Fulton and Dekalb will decide in July whether to support regional transportation tax that would help pay for transportation projects around the metro area. Most of the projects would alleviate terrible traffic issues city-wide and bring more transportation options to areas that are lacking useful public transit. "We have the opportunity to do something about it," Ellis said about traffic in metro Atlanta. "It impacts us in so many ways." The Clifton Corridor project — a 10-stop light rail line that would …

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Need Details On Transit Tax, Clifton Corridor? Come to This Meeting

Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd and other officials will talk about these issues at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University.

Four local leaders will gather Wednesday night to discuss and answer questions about an upcoming referendum that will have long-lasting implications for metro Atlanta. A town hall meeting on the regional transportation tax referendum will be held at Glenn Memorial Church, 1660 North Decatur Road NE, Atlanta, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 25. Among the speakers: Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd, DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis, MARTA CEO & General Manager Beverly Scott and Mike Alexander, chief of the Atlanta Regional Commission's research division. If the July 31 referendum passes, residents in a 10-county region would pay a 1-cent tax to fund massive transportation improvements. Planner hope the projects would loosen the gridlock that is …

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POLL: Should Decatur Annex Suburban Plaza?

What do you think of Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd's suggestion that the city annex the shopping center to influence development there?

Last week, Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd gave his State of the City address and spoke about an important issue for Decatur: Suburban Plaza, where developers want to build a Super Walmart. Specifically, he wants his city to annex it Decatur can influence how the area is developed. He also said he wanted to annex the commercial property at the corners of North Decatur and Clairmont roads. He's clearly not a big fan of Walmart. Or developers like Selig Enterprises. He said so. It remains unclear what effect (if any) annexation would have on Selig's plans to build a Walmart Supercenter in Suburban Plaza. So, do you agree with him? Vote in our poll below and feel free to sound off in the comments.

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bulldogger

2:53 pm on Monday, August 20, 2012

Hear, hear, molly......   more ›

Decatur Mayor: We Should Annex Suburban Plaza

In his state of the city speech, Mayor Bill Floyd said Decatur should annex Suburban Plaza and commercial space at the intersection of Clairmont and North Decatur roads to better control development there.

Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd said he's uneasy about plans to build a Walmart Supercenter in Suburban Plaza. In his State of the City speech last week, he said he's got a plan to influence what happens there in the future. He wants to annex it, according to Decatur Metro.  Floyd said he wants to annex Suburban Plaza and commercial space at the intersection of Clairmont and North Decatur roads so that Decatur residents will have input and influence over how that area develops. Floyd went so far as to question the intentions of Walmart and Selig Enterprises, Suburban Plaza's owner. From a section of his address posted on Decatur Metro: But the main problem with the property, if the Wal-Mart is built, is what might happen to the rest of the site. …

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Avondale Estates, Decatur Mayors To Give State Of The City Speeches

Avondale Estates on Monday, Decatur on Tuesday.

It must be that time of year. The mayors of Avondale Estates and Decatur will be giving State of the City speeches today and tomorrow. The public is invited to both events. Ed Rieker, the mayor of Avondale Estates, will speak at the 7 p.m. meeting today in Avondale Estates City Hall. Awards will also be presented to city employees and a reception will be held after the meeting. Rieker was first elected in 2007 and was re-elected last November. Bill Floyd, a Decatur city commissioner since 1991 and mayor since 1998, will speak at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, at a meeting of the Decatur Business Association at the Decatur Marriott Courtyard Conference Center. A networking reception starts at 5:15 p.m. To RSVP, call 404-371-8386 or email info@…

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Political Season: Qualifying Starts Today

These guys say they won't run again: Incumbents Michael Payne of the Avondale Commission and John Ahmann of the Decatur School Board.

Voters in Decatur and Avondale Estates will find out this week who will be on the ballot for the Nov. 8 municipal elections. Two incumbents are definitely off the ballot. Avondale commission member Michael D. Payne and Decatur School Board member John Ahmann told Patch they won’t run.  Two contested races look likely. Avondale Commission member David Milliron says he’ll challenge incumbent Mayor Ed Rieker. Garrett Goebel and Peg Bumgardner say they’ll both run for Ahmann’s post. Otherwise, all the other incumbents say they’ll give it another shot and will qualify for election this week. By the end of the week they may have competition. Here’s how it breaks down so far. Decatur City Commission Bill Floyd will run again for the District 1 …

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Wheels and Heels

Wheels & Heels: Decatur Mayor on Transportation Vote

Floyd says the $6.14 billion regional transportation tax is crucial to the city and region.

Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd was one of the officials who approved a list of $6.14 billion in proposed transportation projects in the region. The list goes up for a vote in 2012 in 10 metro Atlanta counties. Included among the projects is a $700 million Clifton Corridor MARTA route to Emory University;$25 million in corridor improvements to North Druid Hills Road from Buford Highway to Lawrenceville Highway; and  $12 million in pedestrian, landscape and bus improvements on Buford Highway in DeKalb. Wheels and Heels interviewed Floyd, a member of the Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable, about the transportation improvements. Why is this important to Decatur? I think it’s a purely regional thing. You can’t just look at why it's …

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Wheels and Heels

Wheels and Heels: Post Mortem on the Transportation Sales Tax Phoners

Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd and DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis talk to thousands about next year's transportation vote.

An extra penny sales tax will spell the difference between more and quicker ways to get around metro Atlanta and continuing gridlock and congestion, according to DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis and Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd. And they're depending on DeKalb residents to go to the polls next July to approve a new sales tax for transportation improvements. The two are DeKalb's representates on a 10-county Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable, and on Wednesday, they held town hall meeting that reached more than 26,000 county residents.  Instead of asking residents to come to a meeting, the officials brought the meeting to the people. A Colorado-based company dialed more than 152,000 DeKalb households at random, inviting whoever answered the …

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Diane Loupe

8:34 am on Wednesday, June 22, 2011

KP, how do you figure it won't help, KP? Won't having more transit options siphon some folks out of cars and onto MARTA and out of your way? I do agree, though, that commuting from this area into Buckhead is a pain in the patootie.   more ›

Floyd, Ellis to Reach out to Residents Wednesday

The transportation study will be conducted by phone and will help vet opinions for the final metro wide transportation project list.

More than 170,000 DeKalb residents may find  Mayor Bill Floyd of Decatur and DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis on the other end of the line when they answer the phone on Wednesday. The June 15 event is a telephone townhall meeting. During the phone study, the two elected officials will talk directly to residents about what transportation improvements the residents would like to see in Decatur and DeKalb, and around the Atlanta region.  The townhall meetings will put the 21 members of the Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable directly in touch with members of their communities to discuss the regional transportation projects that could be funded with a penny sales tax referendum. The calls are part of a series of that put elected …

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