Below are minutes for the Novemeber 11, 2003, meeting of the Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association, held in the basement of the Healey Building, 57 Forsyth Street. Notes were written by ADNA Secretary Wendy Darling.

Welcome & Introductions

ADNA President Dorthey Hurst welcomed the gallery to our improved meeting room; scheduled for the library conference room as usual, the meeting had to be moved because the library was closed for Veterans's Day.

There were around 40 people in attendance, including residents from many different Downtown buildings, plus a couple of business owners, representation from City Hall, CAP, and the GSU Police Department. Also, there was an applicant looking for a liquor license recommendation.

Jocks & Jills Discount Cards

A woman from the Jocks & Jills at CNN Center came to ADNA offering special "Locals Only" cards. Cards give residents a 15% discount off all food. It's the restaurant's way of reaching out and encouraging more people to head in their direction. A lot of cards were given out and probably residents will be distributing them within their buildings for people who missed the meeting.

Atlanta Beltline

City Council President Cathy Woolard's office worked on a government holiday to present on the proposed Atlanta Beltline, a light rail and multi-use trail project that would ring central Atlanta and connect as many as 49 neighborhoods.

The Beltline would form a 22-mile loop and use land that's old railroad tracks and right-of-ways, a lot of it unused. The light rail / trolley would be non-intrusive and would connect to the MARTA rail system at several key points. The multi-use trail, for biking, rollerblading, walking and running, would run parallel with the tracks and in some cases would include redeveloped parkland.

The project has garnered support from many neighborhoods and after the presentation there was a voice vote to have ADNA draft a letter officially supporting the project. For more information on the Beltline, see http://www.cathyatlanta.com/work/issues/belt_line_transit.html. You can also subscribe to the Beltline mailinst list on that same web page.

GSU Police Update

Several officers from Georgia State attended the meeting, giving a brief overview of local activity and answering questions. For activity, it was noted that during the past two weeks, panhandling has been down, However, car break-ins are up. A resident spoke up and said he had noticed a lot of new faces on the street lately, which is typical during winter, as people migrate south to warmer climates.

One important note from GSU is that the number to call is 404-651-2100, which will get the GSU Police Dispatcher. GSU will respond to calls for any activity occuring within 500 yards of a GSU building. For more about the police force, visit http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwupo/.

Gold Medal Garden

Dorthey Hurst announced an event this Saturday morning (Nov. 15) that will hopefully involve a lot of Downtown residents: Working on the Gold Medal Garden at Centennial Olympic Park. This is a "Gold Medal" perennials garden in the northern end of the park area by playground, plaza, across from where aquarium wil be. All plants wil be "Gold Medal" winners. Dorthey brought a sign-up list and was able to get a few folks to sigh up to "play in the dirt."

For those volunteers, and anyone else interested, here is further information, supplied by the park: "Volunteers will gather at Centennial Olympic Park's Operations Center in the northwest corner of the Park, at the corner of Baker Street and Park Avenue West. Please bring your own gloves, shovels, and trowels if possible. Because we know these may be rare tools for the downtown dweller, extra shovels and trowels will be available from the Park."

Also, Chick-fil-A is providing food for all volunteers.

Platinum Night Club

Owners of the Platinum Night Club (formerl The Palace) at 91 Broad Street, came before ADNA seeking support as they sought a new liquor license. The owner, Betty Parker, is the niece of the previous owner, who passed away. She has six years experience working at that location and the Platinum will be a similar venue, "providing an alternative atmosphere for Atlanta's bi-choice individual." The club a bar, spoken word events, jazz, and female impersonators (but not, the club said, strippers or "adult entertainment.") Security will be enforced by two off-duty APD officers and two private security people.

The club has gathered the support of surrounding businesses; the owner of Rexall Drugs spoke up and said the club is a good neighbor. Several residents asked whether or not residents of the nearby Kessler City Lofts had been contacted; the owners said they had not but had not "ever had problems" or complaints. ADNA members voted overwhelmingly to support the new liquor license. The one stipulation was that we strongly recommended the owners get in touch with Kessler's to let them know what their plans are and address any concerns.

ADNA Elections

The Atlanta Downtown Neighborhood Association held its elections for the 2004 Board. After gathering a complete list of candidates and hearing from all of them, members were asked to choose seven individuals. ADNA officials (president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary) will be selected internally within the Board. While we were looking for seven members, a tie for seventh place and the need for an even number led to use choosing nine Board members. Below is a list of the new board, alphabetically, with some brief background information on each.

• Patrick Busko
  ADNA's current vice-president, Patrick lives at 123 Luckie Street and currently has a consulting firm based in the Candler Building. Patrick is a native Atlantan who grew up in Midtown and graduated from Henry Grady High School. During the past year, he's done a lot to increase membership and meeting attendance.
• Gerry Fazzari
  Gerry has lived in Atlanta for 20 years and in Downtown for the past couple of years. He lives in the Healey Building.
• Jennifer Henderson
  Jennifer has lived Downtown for about three years and has been very active from the get-go. For the past two years, she has co-chaired the Downtown Neighborhood Festival. Jennifer works at Channel 11 and lives at 90 Fairlie.
• Cooper Holland
  ADNA's original & first president, Cooper has been a backbone of the neighborhood for many years. Cooper has lived at the Muse's, the Metropolitan and is now at the Healey. For the past two years Cooper has been working for Central Atlanta Progress / Atlanta Downtown Improvement District. Some of her major projects include bringing in 200+ flowerbaskets, getting rid of junky newspaper vending boxes, and putting in new bikeracks. Cooper serves on the boards of numerous committees, all having to do with Downtown,
• Dorthey Hurst
  ADNA's current president has had a busy and productive year, getting the organization organized, increasing involvement, and bringing ADNA to a lot of prominence. Dorthey lives at 123 Luckie Street and works for Cingular Wireless.
• Stan Silver
  Stan took over as ADNA's treasurer this spring after the elected candidate was unable to fulfil his duties due to time constraints. An accountant by trade, Stan has done a great job getting ADNA's records in order and keeping the books straight. Stan lives at the Healey.
• Erich Starrett
  Erich served as ADNA's second president and has been running the www.downtownatl.com web site for years. Erich's connections in Atlanta and in particular Downtown's business community, are extensive. Erich lives at Peachtree Towers and works for Sprint.
• Tony Stewart
  Tony has lived Downtown since the Olympics. He's a freelance artist and has contributed to ADNA by running the neighborhood festival's Artist's Market and putting together ADNA's 2002 entry into the Fourth of July parade. Tony lives at the Metropolitan.
• Jay Tribby
  Jay lives a the Healey and has extensive experience working for and with non-profit organizations.

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