Gov. Brian Kemp dropped his lawsuit Thursday against Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the Atlanta City Council over the city’s mask-wearing mandate and their failure to enforce his executive orders.
Kemp said Bottoms has agreed to reverse some of the city’s phase one restrictions, including business closures and a shelter-in-place order, but the mayor refused to negotiate further and find a compromise.
Kemp plans to address his other concerns through executive action as his current executive order expires Saturday.
“Unfortunately, the mayor has made it clear that she will not agree to a settlement that safeguards the rights of private property owners in Georgia,” Kemp said in a statement. “Given this stalemate in negotiations, we will address this very issue in the next executive order. We will continue to protect the lives and livelihoods of all Georgians.”
Kemp filed the lawsuit against Atlanta officials in July after the city enacted a face mask-wearing mandate when his executive order encouraged but did not require face coverings. Kemp’s order also restricted local governments from issuing rules that were more restrictive than his.
Within the same week, after a spike in COVID-19 cases, Bottoms recommended Atlanta revert to phase one of reopening, which would have walked back some of the other restrictions Kemp already had lifted statewide.
Bottoms said Wednesday she was acting only in the interest of her city, which had been a become a hotbed in the COVID-19 outbreak.
“From the start of this pandemic, my only goal has been to help save lives,” Bottoms said in a statement.
Bottoms has said the lawsuit was personal and politically motivated, noting Kemp filed it a day after President Donald Trump visited the governor.
Bottoms was rumored, at the time, to be on the shortlist of potential running mates for Trump’s presumed Democratic opponent in November’s election, former Vice President Joe Biden.
“While it is unfortunate that the governor seeks to intentionally mislead the people of our state by issuing a woefully inaccurate statement regarding our good faith negotiations and the city’s reopening recommendations, I am grateful that this lawsuit has been withdrawn and the time and resources of our city and state can be better used to combat COVID-19,” Bottoms said.
Bottoms’ staff did not immediately respond to a request to identify the inaccuracies in the governor’s statement.
