I don’t know what a “blue ribbon commission” is, but it sure sounds like a way for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed to get the press jazzed up about the committee he’s assembling to mitigate relations between the Atlanta Police Department and The Gays, who haven’t been seeing eye-to-eye ever since one party raided the other. After the Atlanta Eagle bar raid, where cops threw gays to the ground Stonewall-style (on the anniversary of the Stonewall raid in NYC), bar employees and patrons filed suit.
Reed, who inherited the debacle from former Mayor Shirley Franklin (who last week acknowledged the raid was something of a disaster), has already faced controversy over saying any settlement deal with the injured would be unwise because it would cost the city too much money. But the announcement he made last night at the 16th Annual Stonewall Bar Association Awards Dinner should go a little ways in repairing things, as the commission will act as a liaison between the plaintiff’s attorneys (who want the city to pay in cash) and the APD, which stands accused of destroying evidence it was instructed by a judge to retain.
So good luck with the commission! In the meantime, have fun trying to get Atlanta’s gays to trust the cops again. [Project Q]
