Kasim Reed
Kasim Reed was the Mayor of Atlanta in Georgia. Reed assumed office in 2010. Reed left office in 2018.
Reed ran for election for Mayor of Atlanta in Georgia. Reed lost in the general election on November 2, 2021.
Before becoming mayor, Reed served in the Georgia State Senate, representing District 35 from 2002 to 2010, and in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1998 to 2002.[1]
Biography
Reed was born on June 10, 1969, in Plainfield, New Jersey.[2] He received a bachelor's degree in political science and a law degree from Howard University in 1991 and 1995, respectively. Upon graduating from law school, Reed began to work as an attorney with Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP before eventually becoming a partner at Holland & Knight LLP.[3][4][5]
Career
Below is an abbreviated outline of Reed's academic, professional, and political career:[1][6]
- 2010-2018: Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia
- 2002-2010: Member of the Georgia State Senate
- 1998-2002: Member of the Georgia House of Representatives
- 1995: Earned his J.D. from Howard University
- 1991: Earned his B.A. from Howard University
Elections
2021
See also: Mayoral election in Atlanta, Georgia (2021)
General runoff election
General runoff election for Mayor of Atlanta
Andre Dickens defeated Felicia Moore in the general runoff election for Mayor of Atlanta on November 30, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Andre Dickens (Nonpartisan) | 63.4 | 50,709 |
 | Felicia Moore (Nonpartisan) | 36.6 | 29,223 | |
| Total votes: 79,932 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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General election
General election for Mayor of Atlanta
The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Atlanta on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Felicia Moore (Nonpartisan) | 40.7 | 39,520 |
| ✔ | | Andre Dickens (Nonpartisan) | 23.0 | 22,343 |
 | Kasim Reed (Nonpartisan) | 22.4 | 21,743 | |
 | Sharon Gay (Nonpartisan) | 6.8 | 6,652 | |
 | Antonio Brown (Nonpartisan) | 4.7 | 4,600 | |
 | Kenneth Darnell Hill (Nonpartisan) | 0.6 | 546 | |
 | Rebecca King (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 374 | |
| Mark Hammad (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 346 | |
| Kirsten Dunn (Nonpartisan) | 0.3 | 272 | |
| Walter Reeves (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 163 | |
| Glenn Wrightson (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 151 | |
| Richard N. Wright (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 139 | |
 | Nolan English (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 100 | |
| Roosevelt Searles III (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 73 | |
| Henry Anderson (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Brandon Adkins (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 162 | ||
| Total votes: 97,184 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Candidate profile
Incumbent: No
Political Office:
- Atlanta Mayor (2010-2018)
- Georgia State Senate (2002-2010)
- Georgia House of Representatives (1998-2002)
Biography: Reed received a bachelor's degree in political science and a law degree from Howard University in 1991 and 1995, respectively. Upon graduating from law school, Reed began to work as an attorney with Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP before eventually becoming a partner at Holland & Knight LLP.
Show sources
Sources: Atlanta Civic Circle, "Kasim Reed," accessed Oct. 4, 2021, YouTube, "Atlanta Can't Wait," Sept. 10, 2021, Kasim Reed's campaign website, "Home," accessed Oct. 4, 2021; Georgia General Assembly, "Senator Kasim Reed (D-SS 35)," accessed Oct. 4, 2021, LinkedIn, "Kasim Reed," accessed Oct. 4, 2021, The University of Chicago, "Kasim Reed," accessed Oct. 4, 2021
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Mayor of Atlanta in 2021.
Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Kasim Reed did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Reed's campaign website stated the following:
| " |
Safe and Prosperous Atlanta Public safety reform starts at the top. During Kasim’s eight years as Mayor, the city’s crime rate was at 40-year lows and the city employed 2,000 sworn police officers, the largest force in the city’s history. Only Kasim can talk about proven results, because only Kasim has already shown us we can have a safer city, and how. Here are the core elements of Kasim’s plan to make every neighborhood safe:
Economic Recovery and Growth
During his eight years as Mayor, Invest Atlanta helped create more than 33,000 jobs through economic development and community revitalization programs. Seventeen major companies moved their regional headquarters to Atlanta or announced a headquarters expansion in the City, such as NCR, Porsche, Merchants e-Solutions, GE Digital and Global Payments. These major business relocations and expansions have created more than 10,000 new jobs. Invest Atlanta programs injected more than $5 billion into Atlanta’s economy, through direct and leveraged investments. At the same time we invest those public funds into economic development, we also need to ensure that they are being used to create the jobs and opportunity for which they were given. Recent stories about Fulton County’s development authority have highlighted the problems caused by inadequate transparency and accountability for public incentives – we can and must do better. Affordable Housing
We need to better leverage current public real estate assets, particularly the properties owned by the Atlanta Housing Authority and MARTA, and leverage the federal dollars available to expand affordable, transit-oriented housing options. We need to layer the affordable units so that we have options to serve low-income households earning up to 60% of area median income, while also supporting middle-income households that earn up to 100% of median income. A good example from Kasim’s prior term is the partnership with the Atlanta Police Foundation called Secure Neighborhoods. That program offers sworn Atlanta Police Department officers affordable options and incentives to purchase a home that has been renovated or built from the ground up in English Avenue, Vine City, and Pittsburgh. That program aids in officer retention, helps reknit the fabric of those communities, and ensures that the people who serve our city can afford to live in it as well. We have to create more workforce housing that serves this middle-income market, allowing teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other city employees to live where they work. With a focus on public-private partnerships, we can help double the number of affordable units at or near MARTA stations from 1,500 completed, under construction or in planning, to over 3,000. At the same time, we do not need to sacrifice what makes Atlanta special – like our historic in-town neighborhoods – if we take intentional steps to create affordability and density in areas that can support and welcome it. We’ll use warning metrics, like water and utility disruption, to identify legacy residents that need additional support to maintain their homes. We have been told we either need to choose affordability or historic and community preservation, but that’s a false choice that Kasim rejects. Atlanta has taken solid steps to create and preserve long-term affordability, but we know we must do more. Displacement does not have to be the inevitable result of economic growth and neighborhood change. With intentional policies to protect lower income residents, they can stay and access the benefits of improved housing, job opportunities, and access to transit. Infrastructure & Transportation
Our roads frankly have an embarrassing number of potholes that go unrepaired for too long. We need to do a better job of understanding where they are, what’s causing them and holding City Hall accountable for fixing them promptly. Kasim has the state and national relationships to ensure that we can best leverage our local funds to attract billions more in federal investment, particularly considering the Biden Administration’s infrastructure plans. More MARTA is one of Kasim’s proudest legacy accomplishments from his prior term, and an important example of why Atlanta needs a mayor with direct and deep relationships with the State. For too long, incessant bickering and NIMBYism in the region has paralyzed new transit funding proposals and kept Atlanta from expanding MARTA, even within the City. But in 2016, we broke that log-jam. We partnered with MARTA’s leadership team and persuaded the State to give the City the right to pursue its own ½ cent sales tax, now known as More MARTA, to begin to address the strong demand in the City for more transit options, and then to pass the referendum. Kasim will continue to implement and improve upon the More MARTA plan, using a balanced and information-based approach to funding and construction decisions, and maximizing our ability to attract federal matching funds. Kasim will appoint diverse members to the MARTA Board of Directors who will work with our partners to lead, exercise independent judgement, and enhance MARTA. Internally, we need to overhaul how Atlanta awards and monitors infrastructure spending. There are too many stories of late from contractors and civic organizations frustrated to the point of exhaustion with how long it takes to award contracts to do vital work, and then to ensure that the work is timely done and paid for. We’re losing competition on our bids, and thus paying higher prices, because of the delay and bureaucratic inefficiencies. Kasim will partner with Atlanta’s corporate sector to implement best procurement practices, so that infrastructure investments can be made in transparent, timely, and accountable ways. Responsible Fiscal Management
We should return to the sound fiscal stewardship Kasim consistently delivered in the past. We must balance the budget and replenish our reserve funds, so we are prepared for any crises. These steps will help Atlanta’s credit rating, saving us money on priority projects. A comprehensive review of our procurement policies will save money by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, along with expediting project delivery. These prudent fiscal measures will make Atlanta an even better place to live, work, and raise a family. There are approximately 500,000 residents in the city of Atlanta, but the weekday daytime population swells to over 1 million. Commuters and visitors put a significant strain on our infrastructure and city services. Through sales taxes, parking taxes, hotel-motel fees, rental car fees and development impact fees, the city has diversified its revenue streams. Special taxes like the Municipal Option Sales Tax (MOST), which will generate approximately $750 million over its four-year life through a 1 penny sales tax, and TSPLOST for transportation further expand our tax base. Homelessness While this is a tremendous achievement, homelessness continues to be an issue in our city, and we must do more. We remain sympathetic to the plight of these individuals, but we must be mindful of the harm they are doing to themselves because of their exposure to the elements. Doing all we can to get shelter for these folks will improve their lives, and the lives of all Atlantans. I remain committed to using the necessary city resources to help them in the most compassionate ways possible. Here are the ways we will demonstrate our compassion and ensure that we do not leave anyone behind:
Sustainability and Green Space
While Kasim was Mayor, the Department of Parks and Recreation acquired an additional 171 acres of land in the City of Atlanta, including 15 new parks, serving as the largest greenspace accessibility percentage jump in more than 40 years, and Atlanta emerged as a national and international leader in sustainability. Atlanta was the first city in Georgia to pass a Climate Action Plan and was ranked first in the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Challenge with over 100 million square feet of space in over 550 buildings. Perhaps most significantly for Atlanta’s future sustainability and resilience, Kasim led the effort that invested $321 million dollars into creating the Bellwood Quarry Reservoir in what will soon open as Westside Park, Atlanta’s largest park. This massive infrastructure project allows water from the Chattahoochee River to be channeled to the quarry site providing Atlanta a 30-day supply of drinking water. Sustainability is critical to Atlanta’s future. Kasim understood that in 2016 when Atlanta became a member of the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities Initiative (100RC), and when he appointed the city’s first Chief Resilience Officer and created the Resilient Atlanta strategy. Although some progress has been made, there is much to do. Kasim will re-energize the Office of Resilience and move with urgency on the recommendations in our report. Arts, Culture and Entertainment Great cities have great art. To that end, Kasim will invest even more in expanding and supporting the arts community in Atlanta. We will create the Arte Noir Atlanta and base it in Castleberry Hill. It will feature film festivals, local and international visual artists, and will have an educational component in conjunction with APS. We will also support and grow cultural events like our annual Pride Weekends. There is much to be proud of in Atlanta, and we are going to show it off to the world.
Equality, Equity, and Inclusion
To ensure equitable growth, the city must invest in parts of the city and people that have historically been left out of the discussion. Our investments in Peoplestown, Proctor Creek, and large swaths of northwest Atlanta are a prime example of this philosophy, which we will continue in other underserved areas. Another major investment Kasim spearheaded was Welcoming Atlanta, to ensure that our immigrant and refugee neighbors are seamlessly integrated into the fabric of our communities to build a multicultural city that attracts families and businesses from around the world. Today, metropolitan Atlanta boasts the second-fastest growing foreign-born population in the United States. The issues around income inequality are no longer Black and White. We will work to revitalize the NPU structures created by Mayor Maynard Jackson, so that all of our neighborhoods feel like they have a voice in how our City is being run. We will also build on the City’s recent experiment of participatory budgeting so that we devote meaningful resources to community initiatives and democratically empower our communities to decide for themselves what their priorities are. Finally, Kasim will build on the tremendous success of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative (WEI), the only city-funded initiative of its kind in the nation. The initiative empowers emerging women entrepreneurs with access to the critical assets, capital, and resources necessary to launch, grow and sustain their businesses. Ethics and Transparency
|
” |
| —Kasim Reed's campaign website (2021)[8] | ||
Noteworthy events
Fire Chief
Controversy emerged in November 2014 when Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran self-published a book that critics claimed was offensive to a number of groups.[9] Initially, Reed suspended Cochran, but later fired him in January 2015. As a result of the firing, Cochran brought a lawsuit against Reed on the basis of religious discrimination.
On November 24, 2014, Reed placed Cochran on a 30-day unpaid suspension for violating the city's Standards of Conduct after Cochran self-published a book titled Who Told You That You Were Naked, which several city employees and LGBT advocacy groups claimed contained passages offensive to homosexuality, Judaism and women. In reaction to Cochran's suspension, conservative and religious liberty groups sharply criticized Reed's decision, arguing that the mayor punished Cochran for his religious beliefs.[9]
Following Cochran's return to work on January 6, 2015, Reed held a press conference to announce that he was firing Cochran, saying, "I want to make my position and the city of Atlanta’s position crystal clear. The city’s nondiscrimination policy … really unequivocally states that we will not discriminate." Reed also responded to accusations that he fired Cochran for his religious beliefs: "Let’s stop trying to make this about religious freedom, when it’s about making sure we have an environment in government where everyone, no matter who they love … can do their job and go home without fear of being discriminated against. That’s what this is about."[10]
On January 23, 2015, Cochran filed a religious discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. Less than a month later, a faith-based nonprofit called the Alliance Defending Freedom filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Reed.[11]
Reed responded to the lawsuits, as well as to the concerns of Georgia and Atlanta lawmakers, by saying, "I appreciate your concerns, and would share them if the decision to terminate Kelvin Cochran from his former position as the Chief of the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department had been on his religious views or the expression of those views in his capacity as a private citizen ... Please rest assured that the city of Atlanta remains a place where all people — including those who share Mr. Cochran’s beliefs — are equally valued and respected. Religious beliefs, however, cannot shield any employee from the consequences of poor judgment and insubordination."[11]
On March 26, 2015, Reed and the City of Atlanta requested that the lawsuit be dismissed on the grounds that the claim was invalid. Although Cochran stated he was fired by Reed for writing the book, Reed asserted that he fired Cochran for distributing the book to subordinates at work who did not ask for it.[12] A lawyer for the Alliance Defending Freedom hit back over the request, saying it "fail[ed] to make a persuasive argument for the court to dismiss Cochran's lawsuit."[13]
In initial hearings in October 2015, Cochran's lawyer argued that he was unable to get another job in the firefighting field and claimed that Reed's actions were the cause.[14] On December 16, 2015, a federal judge ruled that the lawsuit filed against the city could proceed.[15]
Presidential preference
2020
Reed endorsed Joe Biden (D) in the 2020 presidential election.[16]
2016
Reed endorsed Hillary Clinton (D) in the 2016 presidential election.[17]
See also
2021 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 City of Atlanta, "Meet the Mayor," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ Famous Birthdays, "Kasim Reed," accessed Oct. 4, 2021
- ↑ Georgia General Assembly, "Senator Kasim Reed (D-SS 35)," accessed Oct. 4, 2021
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Kasim Reed," accessed Oct. 4, 2021
- ↑ The University of Chicago, "Kasim Reed," accessed Oct. 4, 2021
- ↑ Georgia State Senate, "Senator Kasim Reed (Archived)," accessed August 4, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Kasim Reed's campaign website, “Issues,” accessed Oct. 27, 2021
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 The GA Voice, "Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed ousts anti-gay fire chief," January 6, 2015
- ↑ Atlanta Daily World, "Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed fires fire chief for anti-gay book," January 7, 2015
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 The New Pittsburgh Courier, "Kasim Reed responds to concerns over fire chief’s firing," February 20, 2015
- ↑ My Fox Atlanta, "Reed seeks to have former fire chief's lawsuit dismissed," March 26, 2015
- ↑ The Christian Post, "Attorneys for Christian Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran: Atlanta's Attempts to Dismiss Discrimination Lawsuit Show He Was Fired for His Beliefs," April 10, 2015
- ↑ Fox 5 DC, "Lawyer Blames Atlanta Mayor for Harm Done to Former Fire Chief," October 14, 2015
- ↑ Alliance Defending Freedom, "Court allows lawsuit of unjustly fired fire chief to go forward against city of Atlanta," December 16, 2015
- ↑ Twitter, "Kasim Reed," October 7, 2020
- ↑ NBC News, "Key Bloc of Black Mayors to Back Hillary Clinton," October 20, 2015
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Mayor of Atlanta 2010-2018 |
Succeeded by Keisha Bottoms |
| Preceded by ' |
Georgia State Senate - District 35 2002–2009 |
Succeeded by Donzella James (D) |
| |||||||||
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