(ThyBlackMan.com) Keisha Lance Bottoms, 47, was declared victory in Tuesday, December 5th runoff election for mayor against fellow Atlanta City Councilwoman Mary Norwood. Bottoms a member of the Atlanta City Council, Keisha Lance Bottoms was sworn into office in 2010 and was re-elected in 2013, representing a large portion of the Southwest Atlanta community in District 11.
Bottoms is a graduate of Florida A&M, Magna Cum Laude, and Georgia State University College of Law. She is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the Atlanta Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, and the Atlanta Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.
Keisha Lance Bottoms is married to Derek W. Bottoms, attorney 
and executive vice president for Home Depot, and they have four children. Bottoms often speaks of her children in politics and in 2015 she and others chastised a city public safety board for erecting billboards advising “don’t run” from cops, promoting the board to suspend what it deemed a common-sense advertising campaign.
“One of the things I will always teach my children is that they have the right to run. I may be ill advised but the issue is not with them exercising their rights but the response to them exercising their rights” she said in a meeting. In a recent campaign radio ad, Keisha Lance Bottoms took on her opponent Mary Norwood behind her hesitant response on the existence of racial profiling. “My husband and I repeatedly have the painful conversation with our teenage son about being stopped by police. It’s a life or death conversation too many parents have to have. Mary (Norwood) can’t change something that she doesn’t even know exists,” Bottoms said.
Keisha Lance Bottoms was the executive director of Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority, which maintained Phillips Arena, Zoo Atlanta, and the Olympic cauldron, until she stepped down in April of 2015. During her role as executive director, Bottoms helped to broker the $30 million sale of Turner Field and surrounding parking lots to Georgia State University and Carter.
She works to combine empathy with enforcement, and has resulted in offenders of Panhandling receiving the needed social services to help break the cycle of recidivism. Keisha Lance Bottoms worked with colleagues to achieve the goal of 2,000 officers within the Atlanta Police force and most recently Keisha launched Invest in Southwest, a 360 degree urban planning initiative with the goal of revitalizing and expanding economic development within the Southwest Atlanta community.
The Firefighters’ Pension Fund, Atlanta Mayoral Board of Science,the Andrew and Walter Young YMCA, Central Atlanta Progress,and The Children’s School are just a few community organizations and boards Keisha Lance Bottoms currently sits on. Keisha is serving her second consecutive term as gala chair for the National Black Arts Festival. This organization raises more than half a million dollars annually and is exclusively focused on the arts and artists of African descent.
One of her priorities is building up the city’s police force stating ”We know that we are around 1800 officers we really need to get to 2500 at some point. Certainly 2000 but I think that another component we need to focus on is our technology integration so staffing is one component,” said Bottoms.
“But I’ve been speaking with the Police Foundation about as it relates to how we police in our communities and personnel is a part of it but technology is a huge part of it as well.”
Congratulations Mayor-Elect Keisha Lance Bottoms. We have seen many positive changes in the Southwest Atlanta area over the years and we are looking forward to working with you to continue revitalizing the city of Atlanta as a whole.
Staff Writer; Dina Tuff
333rd Eye Healing Temple
Reconnecting Consciousness to Magick
Official Website; http://www.333rdeyehealing.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/333rdeyehealing
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/333rdeyehealing