Falcons referendum bid falls short, Falcons site squabble carries on

Common Cause Georgia has conceded defeat in its attempt to force a public vote on the Atlanta Falcons stadium plan, after collecting only about 10,000 of the needed 35,000 signatures. This is a pretty sad showing for a referendum on a project that pretty much everyone in Atlanta hates, made only sadder by the painful football metaphor used in CCGA’s press release announcing its concession (“As the clock runs out, it appears the ‘Hail Mary’ pass we threw up will not result in a touchdown…”).

If there’s a silver lining for opponents of the Falcons plan, it’s that the city seems to be headed to all-out war with the team and state over the stadium site, with city council president Ceasar Mitchell now refusing to let the stadium funding advance out of committee. The proximate cause of Mitchell’s action is that there’s no community benefits agreement in place — “We have significant impediments that are preventing us from having significant conversation about community benefits,” he said — but one of those impediments is that Mayor Kasim Reed and the state and Falcons are squabbling over where the stadium will actually go, which makes it tough to determine which community needs to talk about getting benefits.

This may all get worked out sooner than later, but right now it’s an unexpected obstacle to what looked like an all-but-finalized stadium plan. Though I guess that’s what the “all-but” is for. Hail Marys aren’t the only unexpected ways that football games can end.