cuts. Mayor Shirley Franklin has said that the deficits in the city of Atlanta are not because of excess city spending. In fact, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle city spending actually ran slightly below budgeted amounts through the first quarter of the fiscal year that began in July. According to Mayor Shirley Franklin, city tax collections are down by more than 12 percent because of the economic downturn. However, basic accounting mistakes in the city budget also played a significant role in the budget crisis. Franklin, along with Philadelphia's Michael Nutter and Phil Gordon of Phoenix, lobbied Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in a joint letter asking for a share of the proposed $700 billion bailout. Honors Mayor Franklin was the recipient of Profile in Courage Award in 2005, issued by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation. The foundation praised her management of the city of Atlanta during the critical period of enormous deficit and loss of public confidence in government following the corrupt administration of Mayor Bill Campbell. In 2007, she received an honorary degree in Doctor of Humane Letters from Oglethorpe University. References External links Shirley Franklin website CityMayors profile Mayors Against Illegal Guns homepage C-SPAN Q&A interview with Franklin, February 5, 2006 1945 births African-American mayors in Georgia (U.S. state) American people of Bissau-Guinean descent American people of Sierra Leonean descent Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats Howard University alumni Living people Mayors of Atlanta Philadelphia High School for Girls alumni Politicians from Philadelphia University of Pennsylvania alumni Women mayors of places in Georgia (U.S. state) Delta Air Lines people 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women African-American women mayors