Atlanta Official Calls Braves "Smyrna S---holes" in E-Mails

An official with the City of Atlanta is in hot water after e-mails revealed he used improper language to describe the Atlanta Braves in the wake of their announced relocation to the Smyrna area.

Deputy Chief Operating Officer Hans Utz has been suspended without pay after Channel 2 Action News obtained e-mails in which Utz referred to the Atlanta Braves as the "Smyrna S---holes," and maintained that although the Braves are leaving downtown, "They will still be the Atlanta Braves, and that is an indication of the value of the city."

Utz wrote another e-mail where he again used the offensive name, and said he was considering writing a "poem or haiku" to show his feelings on the situation.

Other letters obtained by Channel 2 show officials with the Atlanta Braves were frustrated with the slow pace of negotiations with the City of Atlanta, especially in the face of the dogged determination city leaders have shown to build a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons.