Closer Look: Stacey Abrams Talks What’s Next; 2019 Housing Outlook

Monday on “Closer Look with Rose Scott”:

• 0:00: Rose gives a news brief about how Georgia Tech President G.P. “Bud” Peterson today announced he will retire as president this summer. It’s a position Peterson has served in since 2009. In a statement, President Peterson said, “The opportunity to serve as president of Georgia Tech the past 10 years has been one of the highlights of my career. Georgia Tech is a great institution and great institutions are built on great people, great faculty, great staff and great students.”
• In other news, it’s a very busy day for the Atlanta City Council. After months of debate, the Council is taking on the scooter situation. Currently, there are four dockless e-scooter operators — Uber, Lyft, Bird and Lime — in the city of Atlanta, and no laws regulating their usage. But that soon may change. Today, the council will consider legislation that would require scooter companies to be permitted and submit monthly data about their fleet.
• Plus, the Council will also consider a new, proposed deal between the City and Atlanta Public Schools for financing the Gulch. In November, City Council approved a plan to let CIM Group redevelop the Gulch. Now, APS has agreed to give up property taxes it would earn through the site until the year 2038. In return, the city will reimburse APS for some construction costs.
• And to top it all off, there will be one other guest at the Council today: Governor Nathan Deal. Members of Atlanta City Council are honoring him with a proclamation that will “celebrate Deal’s achievements as the 82nd governor of Georgia, including his reform of the state’s criminal justice system.” That’s according to a press release from the Council.
• 5:37: Metro Atlanta’s housing market has been growing for the past few years, and now has a total value of over $450 billion dollars, according to recent data from online real estate database Zillow. What’s the outlook for 2019? We ask Brad Dillman, chief economist for Atlanta-based Cortland, about what trends to watch in the new year.
• 28:05: When Stacey Abrams ended her campaign against Governor-elect Brian Kemp, about 18,000 votes separated the two candidates from a runoff. It was the closest gubernatorial contest in Georgia in more than 50 years. Later, at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Gen summit in Laguna Niguel, California, Abrams said outright that she will run again. For what office, or when, remained unclear. Now, Abrams joins us in studio to talk about what’s next for her.
  

  Closer Look is produced by Candace Wheeler, Emilia Brock and Grace Walker.