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Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms preached unity as she addressed a room of influential Wednesday, Jan. 31 at the Buckhead Coalition’s annual meeting.
“We now that when Buckhead is strong, we know that the South Side is strong. We know that when the South Side is strong, we know that the North Side is strong.”
“I am committed to making sure that we continue to work together to make sure that our entire city is as strong as it can possibly be,” she said to a room packed with Atlanta’s elite. “It’s so incredibly important that we remember we really are one Atlanta,”
The theme of the invitation-only event was “Atlanta Together.”
Bottoms’ speech was a salve for business leaders looking for guidance from the new mayor as the city courts Amazon for arguably its biggest power move since the Olympics. Bottoms said that she was all on-board to lure Amazon, but cautioned that there were smaller players she had to cater to as well.
After the event, she tweeted: “t was my pleasure to deliver the keynote address at the 2018 #BuckheadCoalition Annual Luncheon. A reminder that we need all of our diverse communities to come together and move forward as #oneAtlanta to ensure our collective success. Thank you for having me.”
Led by former Mayor Sam Massell, the Buckhead Coalition is a powerful business group made up of the region’s movers and shakers.
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Atlanta Mayor-designate Keisha Lance Bottoms was sworn in Tuesday in an emotional ceremony that saw the wife and mother vow to uplift the city and continue its deliberate path to greatness.
“I am committed to working with City Council to resolve issues surrounding property deeds to the Atlanta Public Schools & land on the Morris Brown campus,” Lance Bottoms told the crowd, which was filled with many who look like her.
“It is imperative that we be united, so we can move forward and take the next great step in our collective future. Now is the time to put aside race and division and geography and politics, and invest in becoming #OneAtlanta.”
Yesterday was incredibly special to me. Being sworn in as the 60th Mayor of Atlanta was one of the happiest moments of my life. Here is a look back at my inauguration speech. pic.twitter.com/zvb7kFlake
— Keisha Lance Bottoms (@KeishaBottoms) January 3, 2018
The inauguration was streamed live on the city of Atlanta’s website so that any who wished could see the star-studded event. Outgoing Mayor Kasim Reed spoke, as did former Mayor Andrew Young.
Lance Bottoms seemed overwhelmed with emotion at times as she reflected on her place in local and national history. “Standing here today as the 60th Mayor of Atlanta is the proudest moment of my life. I want to thank all of Atlanta and each and every one of you here today for your support, your encouragement and your faith in me.”
She promised to work with regional leaders to help improve the lot of all Atlantans and pledged to create a citywide Children’s College Savings account for each child entering kindergarten in the Atlanta Public Schools. She also said that she would appoint a Chief Education Officer on her staff to make sure the city’s youngest residents were a priority.