Atlanta ‘Communications’ Mayor Slips on Wet Sidewalk

Last Friday’s massive water main break somewhat shattered the mayor’s image as an Atlanta-born, everywhere-all-the-time public servant in touch with his constituency.

As repair crews pondered the extent of the damage, Dickens boarded a flight to Memphis where he was to appear at a fundraiser. For his own re-election. It was around 2 p.m. Friday. The water had been gushing for more than two hours.

“When Mayor Dickens left Atlanta, the consensus was that the water main break was similar to the approximately 530 breaks or leaks the City of Atlanta has experienced over the past 12 months,” the mayor said Monday. mayor’s office.

But more than two hours before takeoff, the city’s watershed department posted a brief statement on social media — at 11:52 a.m. Friday — saying, “Water main break causes water outage in entire downtown service area. »

Credit: John Spink

Credit: John Spink

Around the same time, the city’s 311 department issued an “URGENT NOTICE” stating: “A water main break is impacting water service to customers in the City of Atlanta. »

So before getting on the plane, the mayor had a pretty good idea that this one was pretty bad, not just one of the 530.

(The Watershed’s tweet also said, “For more information, please visit” a website that contained a press release. That site was down, a resident responding to that social media post complained. It was still down when I tried to access it on Monday).

I can feel the mayor standing at the airport gate, having to decide whether to head to Memphis or put on a helmet and windbreaker with one of those mayor’s seals and head for the geyser from the street.

He chose the first solution, in which Memphians (yes, that’s what they’re called) paid up to $1,800 to support the candidacy of another city’s mayor.

The mayor’s office says Dickens also attended another non-fundraising event where he “met with Memphis City Council members, state officials and other business leaders and community”.

Dickens’ communications director, Allison J. Fouché, worked for the former Memphis mayor and arrived in Atlanta in January. She, too, attended the fundraiser.

Dickens’ office said “he remained in constant communication with his management team as crews continued repairs to our water system.” His spokesperson also said he only learned how serious the situation was Friday evening, after repair crews dug at the site.

He returned Saturday around 1 p.m., donned a helmet and jacket bearing the mayor’s seal and held a news conference about an hour later.

“We could have done a better job over the last day,” he admitted on Saturday. “And for that, I apologize for not being able to give you as much up-to-date information as possible.”

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC

The self-inflicted wound to communications reminded me of former Mayor Kasim Reed in January 2014 during Snowmageddon, when a layer of ice froze the city in place. Reed and his security team drove onto the shoulder of the impassable highway — past thousands of disabled vehicles — to get to a Weather Channel interview in Cobb County.

At least Hizzoner wasn’t heading to a fundraiser.

Dickens finally broke his silence and tweeted about it late Saturday morning – probably as he was heading home. Of course, this angered many Atlantans who wondered where he had gone and disparaged his communication skills.

Now Dickens has Watergeddeon on his hands.

The mayor was undoubtedly a little stung by the negative reaction (backsplash?) but he did not seem to have absorbed his lesson. Monday morning on NBC News, he said: “Indeed, I was only out of town for 23 hours. I came back and spoke directly to the audience.

“Only” 11 p.m.?

Credit: Special

Credit: Special

Later Monday morning, the mayor and some department heads held a news conference to discuss a second big break at West Peachtree Street and 11th Street. The officials spoke and then opened the door to questions. Watershed Commissioner Al Wiggins, on the job for only a month, took a few questions from reporters before a frustrated resident asked the question everyone wants to know: “When will the water be restored?!?

Dickens whispered to Wiggins, “Let him know we’ll be back when the repair is complete.” » (The microphone picked it up.) The assistant transmitted the mayor’s non-response.

Dissatisfied with this non-response, the man asked for more specific information. At that point, the mayor bugged Wiggins and the press conference suddenly ended.

Communications 101 tells you to quickly and humbly acknowledge your missteps and commit to doing better in the near future.

The City of Atlanta has well-paid teams of communications specialists.

Consider this a free tip as the re-election campaign begins.