NYT: With Heady Days in the Past, Ex-Atlanta Mayor Faces Trial

[DeepModem Mom]

With Heady Days in the Past, Ex-Atlanta Mayor Faces Trial
By JAMES DAO
Published: January 23, 2006


ATLANTA Jan. 20 - He was, once, the go-go mayor of the South's most go-go city. Suave and acid-tongued, Bill Campbell was the protégé of a new black politics, steeped in the argot of civil rights yet able to smooth-talk corporate executives. Democrats from President Clinton on down courted him.

But those days are long gone. On Monday, Mr. Campbell, who left office in 2002, is scheduled to enter a federal courthouse here to defend himself against accusations that he turned City Hall into a criminal enterprise during his eight years in office.

"I know that I'm innocent," Mr. Campbell said on Friday on a local radio station, WVEE.

Mr. Campbell's trial will be the culmination of an investigation that dates to at least 1999 and that has already led to convictions of 10 people on charges including bribery, tax fraud and perjury. Three of those convicted worked in Mr. Campbell's administration.

The seven-count indictment alleges a wide-ranging operation directed by Mr. Campbell, who is now 52, to shake down companies trying to do business with the city. The indictment charges that Mr. Campbell took payoffs totaling more than $150,000; accepted more than $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions; filed false personal income tax returns; and received gifts from contractors, including a $12,000 trip to Paris and nearly $10,000 worth of heating and air conditioning equipment for his home....


http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/23/national/23mayor.html?oref=login