The Churn
Keisha Lance Bottoms Doesn’t Wanna Be a Mayor No More
Mike JordanMay 7, 2021
“Just because you can do it doesn’t always necessarily mean that you should do it.”
That was just one of the statements made by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on the morning of Friday, May 7, on the steps of City Hall, as she confirmed breaking news reports the previous night that she will not run for reelection.
It was a shocking announcement that is still reverberating through the city, and will surely cause ramifications, particularly as candidates continue to consider running to succeed Bottoms as Atlanta’s 61st mayor.
Bottoms, wearing a bright yellow pantsuit, was at times emotional. At one moment, she fought back tears as she told members of the media and other supporters gathered for the press conference how she came to her final decision.
“I can’t tell you there was a moment, or that there was a thing, but when you have faith and you pray for wisdom and guidance, the same way it was very clear to me that I should run for mayor of Atlanta, it is abundantly clear to me that it is time to pass the baton to someone else.”
She was also funny and relaxed at times, making the event a personal one by bringing up how she broke the news to her husband, Derek Bottoms.
“Last night I said, you know you’ve gotta take back over the health benefits.”
The timing of the announcement, and the resulting shockwaves, follow the announcement that Officer Garrett Rolfe of the Atlanta Police Department would be reinstated to his job. Journalists attending the press conference asked Mayor Bottoms if that decision had anything to do with hers, to which she replied that she disagreed with the Atlanta Civil Service Board’s ruling and continues to stand by her original call for Rolfe’s firing, which came one day after the shooting of Rayshard Brooks.
“Holding our officers accountable doesn’t mean I [don’t] respect our officers,” she said. “I firmly believe had I not made that decision, this city would have seen much worse.” She also said she intends to speak with city attorneys about appealing the Board’s decision.
Bottoms also made it clear that she remains in power, twice in her control of the press conference. She politely swatted back a communications staffer who tried wrapping up the press conference despite Bottoms’ willingness to keep answering questions.
“Elise, I am still mayor until the first two weeks of January…” she said, to laughs from the audience.
She would later end the conference after a reporter asked her to comment on an ethics investigation into her 2017 campaign, saying before leaving the podium, “Y’all just making up questions now… OK, thank you all!”
Mayor Bottoms left no ambiguity about her thoughts about her performance. In an effort to knock back any theories that she was being pushed out, or was somehow going to be seen as weakened or ineffective, she touted her success at raising money, mentioning the recent virtual fundraiser she held for President Biden.
She also mentioned a recent internal poll that apparently shows her having an approval rating of nearly 70%. Bottoms said she believes she would have won reelection without a runoff.
“I don’t know what is next for me or my family. But what I do know is that this is a decision made from a position of strength and not weakness.”
Mayor Bottoms did not close the door on her political future, leaving open several possibilities, including returning to her current job sometime later.
“I can be mayor again,” she asserted. “But there’s a reason that there are elections every four years. And in the same way the people have the opportunity to make a decision every four years, candidates also have the opportunity to make a decision. And the decision I have made, after thoughtful prayer and consideration, is not to seek another term as mayor of this city.”
She also kept a potential position with the Biden administration alive. And it’s hard to believe that having played such a prominent role — being considered well into the 2020 campaign for the vice presidential slot, and being one of the first Democrats to endorse Biden, long before Clyburn and others — isn’t going to result in Bottoms’ being selected, or elected, for something perhaps more prominent than her job today.
“You know, we’ll see. Being mayor with President Biden in the White House has made a world of difference,” she said. “I’m grateful to at least have this year to have experienced that type of relationship.”
In the meantime, Mayor Bottoms insisted that she would work hard to make sure Atlanta was well-positioned for whoever assumes leadership in 2022.
She says there are certain things she hopes will continue when the next Atlanta mayor takes office, such as closing the income gap, ensuring the city is affordable for everyday working people, and for Atlanta’s homeless “to be healthy and whole,” with access to services they need.
“That’s the work that will never end,” she said.
Guilt, she said, was one reason why this decision did not come earlier, as she was concerned that she might be doing harm by not continuing to lead the city. But she also said that she was announcing her plans now in order to give candidates considering running to replace her time to organize and fundraise.
And notably, there were perhaps signs that at least one potential mayoral candidate, former mayor Kasim Reed, may not be Bottoms’ preferred backfill.
Not only did she bring up the stress of the investigation into Reed’s actions while he was mayor, but she hinted that a former Atlanta leader — who she did not care to name — was perhaps lurking a little too closely to the seat of power, in ways that weren’t exactly helpful.
“I will be available in any way I possibly can without interfering with the next mayor’s term,” Bottoms insisted. “And unfortunately that hasn’t been the case, at least in my term.”
Still, as she spoke, it felt like the end of a brief but significant era in Atlanta politics.
“I signed up for four years. Those four years are almost up, and the voters have a right to make a decision, and so do I. This is the decision I made.”
Other notable moments and quotes from the blockbuster press conference:
On whether or not she actually enjoyed the job:
“Did I like being mayor? I did. It’s a hard job. It’s a very hard job. But there are people who get up every day and do jobs that are harder than this, and they don’t have the support I did. So yeah, I loved being mayor.
“We stood in the gap for so many people in what were the toughest and most difficult times, without any blueprint on how to do it. That makes me proud.”
On looking back at her term from the beginning:
“The last three years have not been at all what I would have scripted for our city. Three months into our term, there was the biggest cyberattack in the history of a municipality in America. A federal investigation that seemed to literally suck the air out of City Hall, into the previous administration.
There was last summer. There was a pandemic. There was a social justice movement. There was a madman in the White House. And at every turn and every opportunity, this city rose above. And I am so proud of that.”
On rumors about why she chose not to run again, and where she might be going.
“What I know is that in the absence of speaking my truth, people will insert a narrative, which is why I’m here today.
Roz Brewer is my girl. I love her dearly. But she didn’t get to be the CEO of Walgreens by offering jobs to random friends. I am not going to Walgreens in Chicago, Derek is not going to Walgreens in Idaho. I can’t get Derek to move two miles off of Cascade Road, so I promise you that is not true.”
On whether or not she has a preferred successor:
“I am not God. I don’t know who else he’s speaking to, and who else will take us to the next step, but I have a pretty good idea of who it should not be. That will be for the people of Atlanta to decide.
“My one vote is the same as the person who’s going to come through and sweep up as we leave. I don’t think I have the ability to anoint my successor, but I certainly, at an appropriate time, will make it known who I will vote for.”
On the role faith played in her decision, and her message to young Black girls:
“There is a divine voice that lives inside each of us. For me, it is my compass. It may not make sense to anyone else, and really it’s not intended to. But when you know what you know, it becomes less and less important what other people think, and whether or not you are afraid.”
She continued: “As a very dear friend, Vicki Palmer, said to me, ‘It’s not faith if you know what’s on the other side.’”