Knowing Mayor Reed’s job isn’t easy is no excuse not to hold him to it. It’s true he already boasts an impressive shortlist of first-year accomplishments for which he should be praised.

But he seems to have neglected his most important campaign promise, one that now, unfortunately, defines the difference between Reed the candidate and Reed the mayor.

As a candidate, Reed was quick to attend Atlantans Together Against Crime rallies and proclaim that he’d be vigilant in fighting for better public safety. Even in his inaugural address, he said:

I would not be satisfying my responsibility as your Mayor without also addressing the root cause of crime… The foundation of my campaign was built on my promise to attack crime in this City. The foundation of my administration shall be built on my fulfillment of that promise.

With the 86th murder of 2010 occurring in Virginia Highlands just a week ago, Atlanta residents have reason to recall that promise and wonder what happened to it. The “Highlands” is not where one would expect someone to be gunned down outside his apartment. Shamefully, there are parts of the city where crime is prevalent, ignored in the news, and even “expected to some degree. The truth is, such violence should be unacceptable in any Atlanta neighborhood.

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The AJC is calling the robbery “the first of its kind” for this 30 year old establishment.