ATL Mayor Shares Thoughts On State Reopening With Tamron Hall

ATLANTA, GA — Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms made a virtual appearance Monday afternoon on the Tamron Hall show. The mayor spoke about Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to reopen Georgia in phases.

Kemp announced last week that businesses like hair salons, nail salons, bowling alleys and gyms could reopen. Then on Monday, restaurants were allowed to reopen their dine in services as long as social distancing and other CDC recommended guidelines were followed.

The mayor told Hall that she had formed an advisory council with small business owners and Fortune 500 companies. The council will help to figure out the best way to reopen businesses and when.

“Were you surprised by those who decided it is worth the risk to reopen?” Hall asked Bottoms.

“When I saw that hair salon, it made my heart sink,’ Bottoms said. “Because we all know what that means. It means that you're going to have people close to each other, you're going to leave those hair salons, go back to their families and to their communities and potentially spread this virus.”

She said it surprised her that people have such a “disregard for the science and the data,” especially in the African American community “where there is a barbershop and hair salon on every single corner.”

Hall asked Bottoms why she believed Kemp has been unwilling to compromise on certain issues pertaining to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Not only is he ignoring the advice from you and leaders within the state, he's also ignoring the president,” Hall said.

“The only thing I can think of is this is driven purely by economics. We are facing a $4 billion shortfall in our state's budget, and I know that when people fill out unemployment applications, they are asked, ‘Do you have the ability to go back to work?’ So perhaps this will impact the benefits that have to be paid out to people,” Bottoms said.

“I’ve never found the governor to be an unreasonable man, but this really defies logic for me,” she said.

Hall asked Bottoms about Atlanta rapper 2Chainz deciding to not reopen his local restaurants.

“I was so glad that he reached out to me and told me that he would not be opening, because he is listening to reason and logic. What he is saying is, ‘I’m not going to risk putting my employees in harm’s way because we are opening up too soon.’”

Halls also asked Bottoms about her thoughts on Tyler Perry’s plan to resume production with the reopening of his studios. The Atlanta media mogul had said he will reopen Tyler Perry Studios if he can implement coronavirus testing for all cast and crew members.

He said he wouldn’t move forward if Bottoms didn’t approve of any of his plans.

Halls asked the mayor if she could see the city implementing a similar plan to help businesses get back open.

“It has to be a phased approach,” Bottoms said. “I think it's a very different situation. You know, you have a set of people that have not tested positive and they are living in a contained area. And that is something I would want to get input on from our health experts. We know we will have to phase in this economic recovery. I can even see us opening up dental offices, perhaps, and medical offices, in places where people have access to PPE and know the appropriate way to put it on.”

Bottoms expressed concern that people think they don’t have to worry about the coronavirus now that businesses are reopening.

“When I see pictures of people getting their beards trimmed without a mask on, we know that you are putting one another at risk. And that is what this is all about. It’s about not putting each other at risk, especially in a city and in a state where so many people have underlying health conditions that often make this virus deadly,” Bottoms said.

She said that things will eventually improve.

“There will be a day where we get back to business as usual and we’ll be able to go to restaurants again. We just aren’t there yet."