Current Events
Unlike many northeastern cities, Atlanta is not at all used to the concept of snow. So when a light dusting of 2.6 inches fell on the southeastern city last week, it was an event of near cataclysmic conditions.
Despite days of warnings from various weather services that a snow storm was headed their way, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed was ill prepared. Once the snow hit, the young mayor panicked. The few salt trucks Atlanta has were not dispatched. Hoping to get people off the roads and home to safety, the mayor closed all schools and businesses. However, his release of everyone at the exact same time onto slick and icy roads that were ignored by the city, caused unintended an unimaginable chaos.
Accidents, jackknifed trucks and stalled cars paralyzed traffic for miles on most Atlanta highways, causing many motorists to simply ditch their vehicles and head for home on foot. This was NOT how an Atlanta snow emergency was supposed to go.
Current Events
“We made an error in the way that we released our citizens,” Mayor Reed told NBC’s Matt Lauer. “So the state made a judgment to release state employees, private businesses made that judgment, and I made the call and APS [Atlanta Public Schools] made the call.”
Reed also acknowledged that Atlanta’s inexperience with snow contributed to the gridlock.
“I think that it certainly plays a role,” he said. “We don’t have severe weather events of this kind often in the city of Atlanta or in Georgia. I think it’s fair to say that it definitely played a role, but the city of Atlanta invested $2.5 million in snow equipment and that is the reason that right now our streets are passable.”
Mayor Reed chose his words very carefully, however many Atlanta residents and critics pointed out that the mayor left 2 very important words out of his statement: “I’m sorry.”
Georgia’s Gov. Nathan Deal took to the airwaves and apologized immensely for the weather confusion, but when asked if he had any regrets or took any responsibility for the leadership collapse, Mayor Reed only said “I don’t want to get into the blame game.”
Perception is everything, particularly in politics. In the case of Mayor Reed’s inexperience and his lack of contrition, the real storm may only be just beginning.
