According to the AJC:

Racial divisions came to the surface Wednesday as mayors and county commissioners met to build unity for a transportation initiative.

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After four white men newly hired as consultants introduced the strategy for the referendum’s communications campaign, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said he was “stunned” that there was no woman or nonwhite person among them.

“The four people that presented do not represent the 10-county area at all,” Reed said. “I want to be very clear and go on the record that this is a huge problem.  And if they want to go down this road … then they’re going to lose.”

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“I think what you saw was an obvious problem,” said Nathaniel Smith, a founder of the Partnership for Southern Equity, which works for fairness in growth issues. “If they don’t find ways to include various aspects of our region and create a process that includes authentic engagement from the bottom up, this whole referendum is going to crash and burn, and to be frank with you, it deserves to.”

They say that politics makes strange bedfellows and Georgia’s transportation tax increase is a perfect example. The opportunity to distribute billions of dollars more for constituents and political supporters has tempted race baiters from the city of Atlanta into bed with the white, suburban businessmen who stand to make billions from land development deals. A match made in heaven! This should be an interesting pillow fight to watch.

Read the whole thing here.