Andre Dickens and Felicia Moore were the top two vote-getters in the nonpartisan general election for mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, on November 2, 2021. Incumbent Keisha Lance Bottoms announced on May 6 that she would not seek re-election, making her the first Atlanta mayor since World War II to choose not to run for a second term.[4]
A candidate could have won the election outright if he or she received over 50% of the vote. Since no candidate crossed this threshold, Moore and Dickens advanced to a runoff election scheduled for November 30. From 1973 to 2017, six mayoral elections were won outright and six advanced to runoff elections.
Dickens was first elected to the Atlanta City Council representing the city's third at-large post in 2013 and won re-election in 2017. He received endorsements from the state United Auto Workers, Communications Workers of America Local 3204, and former Mayor Shirley Franklin (D).[9][10] He raised $1.0 million from campaign donors according to pre-general election campaign finance reports.
Moore was first elected to the Atlanta City Council in 1997 and held the position until 2018. In 2017, she won election as the President of the Atlanta City Council. Moore received endorsements from EMILY's List, the Professional Association of City Employees, and state Rep. Becky Evans (D).[11][12][13] She raised $1.1 million from campaign donors according to pre-general election campaign finance reports.
Reed served as Atlanta's mayor from 2010 to 2018. Before his mayorship, Reed served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003 and the Georgia State Senate from 2003 to 2009. He received endorsements from the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 623, AFSCME Local 1644, and former Mayor Andrew Young (D).[14][15][16] Reed raised $2.8 million from campaign donors according to pre-general election campaign finance reports.
Crime was a key issue in the race, with all three candidates emphasizing their stances amid an uptick in murders in the city.[16][17][18] According to data released by the Atlanta Police Department, homicides in the city increased from 99 in 2019 to 157 in 2020, a 62% increase and the highest number in the city in more than twenty years.[19]
All three candidates said they would increase the number of police officers and provide training in things like de-escalation techniques and racial sensitivity.[20][17][21] Dickens said he would hire 250 officers during his first year.[21] Moore said she would incentivize retired officers to return to work for 1-2 years and recruit new officers to fill open positions.[17] Reed said he would hire 750 more police officers.[20]
This page focuses on the general election for mayor of Atlanta. For more in-depth information on the runoff election between Dickens and Moore, see the following page:
This section includes candidate profiles created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff compiled a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy.[22]
Submitted Biography: "As a successful CEO and humanitarian, Antonio Brown brings a unique perspective, strong faith, and inspirational work ethic to his community. Growing up in poverty with his parents frequently incarcerated, Antonio discovered he had the resilience and drive to overcome adversity & achieve success. From the ground up, he built LVL XIII (Level 13), a men’s fashion brand that broke barriers launching into Bloomingdales and Nordstrom nationwide. After successfully launching his business, Antonio immediately began to pour back into community through programmatic initiatives committed to improving the life trajectory of marginalized people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Antonio’s passion for business and education moved him to create the Small Business Entrepreneurship Program, which was licensed by The Art Institute in early 2018. The program provided hands-on entrepreneurial training and support to over 30,000 historically underserved college students nationwide."
Key Messages
To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.
Affordable Housing: I would create a position for a Director of Housing and Community Development that would dually report to the CEO of Invest Atlanta and the Chief Housing Officer of the City of Atlanta. I will identify and auction 750 acres of City owned land to promote home ownership. I will work to require 30% of new developments be dedicated to affordable housing. I would shift Invest Atlanta and its priorities to create a socio-economic shift in the economic class system of Atlanta. I will increase the Housing Opportunity Bond by up to $150 million to produce thousands of more units of affordable housing within 4 years.
Crime: We cannot arrest ourselves out of the current circumstance. As Mayor I will create the Department of Public Safety and Wellness to address quality of life issues and remove this unnecessary burden from officers untrained to deal with mental health and the unhoused. I will bring community policing back to our communities to form a relationship with residents. I will work to expand PAD and create a community mitigation center to deal with disputes.
Jobs: Addressing generation poverty, I will create a $250 million Worksouce Development Bond to put people back to work and move them into the Middle Class.
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Mayor of Atlanta in 2021.
Biography: Dickens received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1998 and a master's degree in public administration from Georgia State University in 2013. He worked as an engineer and manager until 2005. At the time of the election, he was an executive with TechBridge, a tech nonprofit focused on issues relating to poverty.
Key Messages
The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.
Dickens said, "we cannot have a prosperous Atlanta unless it is a uniformly safe place to live, work, and raise a family." As part of his SAFE Streets plan, Dickens said he would hire 250 new officers, use new training techniques, and engage in community policing.
Dickens highlighted legislative efforts he supported on the city council including the creation of the Department of Transportation, the implementation of a $15 minimum wage for city employees, and the establishment of BeltLine Inclusionary Zoning for affordable housing.
Dickens said, "The cloud of corruption of past administrations has impacted not only the morale of the city, but the efficiency of our government as well." He said he supported ethics and transparency reforms while on the city council and released his tax returns during the mayoral race.
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Incumbent: No
Political Office:None
Submitted Biography: "My name is Mark Hammad and I’m running for Mayor of Atlanta. I was born and raised in the Atlanta area and it saddens me to see the state of the city. We have serious issues that have been allowed to manifest due to the inaction of our elected officials. Crime is the most serious issue and much of the crime is preventable, yet no action has been taken.Growing up, I’ve seen Atlanta grow as well. The city has so much to offer, but opportunity is being squandered. Rather than flee the city and its problems, I’ve been called to run for Mayor. I choose to stay and fight for Atlanta and a promise of a better future. I’m a husband and a father and I’m fighting to make Atlanta a better city for my child and all of the children in Atlanta."
Key Messages
To read this candidate's full survey responses, click here.
I will significantly reduce the violent crime in Atlanta. Criminals need to be in jail, not on our streets.
I will bring the basic city services (trash, parks, roads, public housing, etc) up to standards for ALL neighborhoods.
I will devote resources to help the homeless. I will advance a housing first policy and bring all the resources needed to assist, including mental health, addiction, job training, and job placement.
This information was current as of the candidate's run for Mayor of Atlanta in 2021.
Atlanta City Council President (Assumed office: 2018)
Atlanta City Council (1998-2018)
Biography: Moore received a bachelor's degree in communications from Central State University in 1983 and a master's degree in public administration from Central Michigan University in 2015. Before joining the Atlanta City Council, Moore volunteered with her Neighborhood Planning Unit and worked in real estate.
Key Messages
The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.
Moore called crime the biggest issue facing constituents and said she would "[make] every neighborhood safer, no matter what income bracket or zip code," by addressing violent crime as well as its root causes.
Moore said, "I am proud to be the only elected official running for Mayor ... who has never had a single ethics question or investigation," and said that she "will bring to the Mayor's office the principles of ethics, transparency, and accountability."
Moore highlighted city policies she had either supported or introduced while on the city council including the NW Atlanta revitalization project, an anti-discrimination bill, and the "Mattie's Call" alert system to help police locate missing adults with dementia or other mental disabilities.
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.
Key Messages
The following key messages were curated by Ballotpedia staff. For more on how we identify key messages, click here.
Reed called crime and public safety his top priority and said he had the experience to lower crime rates, saying, "[d]uring my eight years [as mayor] ... the city's crime rate was at a 40-year low and the city employed 2,000 sworn police officers."
Reed compared his mayoral tenure following the Great Recession to the difficulties surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, saying, "I am running again because I love Atlanta and am committed to doing everything I can to make Atlanta safe and put our city on the right track."
Reed highlighted his experience with the city budget saying, during his previous terms as mayor, the city created or retained 40,000 jobs, created a $200 million surplus, and removed a $52 million deficit.
The graph below provides a more detailed look at candidates' contributions by splitting up the totals shown above into the different types of contributions recorded by the Office of the Municipal Clerk in Atlanta: itemized, unitemized, and loans (hover over the terms for details).
This section lists noteworthy endorsements issued in this election, including those made by high-profile individuals and organizations, cross-party endorsements, and endorsements made by newspaper editorial boards. It also includes a bulleted list of links to official lists of endorsements for any candidates who published that information on their campaign websites. Please note that this list is not exhaustive. If you are aware of endorsements that should be included, please click here.
Click the links below to see endorsement lists published on candidate campaign websites, if available.
Atlanta NAACP President Richard Rose publicly apologized to Reed following intervention from the national NAACP in response to an Oct. 20 statement released by Rose opposing Reed's candidacy. Learn more here.
Oct. 25, 2021:
Brown, Dickens, Dunn, English, Hammad, Hill, King, Searles, and Wright participated in a candidate forum hosted by the Georgia State University Student Government Association.[48]
The national NAACP ordered Richard Rose, president of the Atlanta branch, to retract his statement opposing Reed's candidacy. The national group also ordered Rose to publicly apologize to Reed. Learn more here.
Oct. 24, 2021: Brown, Dickens, King, and Moore participated in a candidate forum hosted by WJZA Smooth Jazz 101.1.[49]
Oct. 22, 2021:
Brown, Dickens, Moore, and Reed participated in a candidate forum hosted by the Hillside International Truth Center.[50]
The Professional Association of City Employees endorsed Moore.[13]
Oct. 21, 2021:
The University of Georgia's School of Public & International Affairs released a poll of 779 likely voters conducted on behalf of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which found that 41% of respondents were undecided. Of the candidates listed, Moore received support from 24% of respondents followed by Reed with 20%. The remaining candidates listed each received support from less than 10% of respondents.[51] The margin of error was ± 3.5 percentage points.[24]
Brown, Dickens, Dunn, Gay, Hill, King, Moore, Searles, and Wright participated in a candidate forum hosted by the Advancing Black Businesses PAC & Governmental Affairs Committee.[52]
Reed responded to the statement released by Richard Rose and the Atlanta NAACP opposing his candidacy. Learn more here.
Brown, Dickens, Dunn, English, Hill, King, Moore, Reed, and Wrightson participated in a candidate forum hosted by the Concerned Black Clergy of Metropolitan Atlanta.[53]
Brown, Dickens, Gay, King, Moore, and Reed participated in a candidate forum hosted by Livable Buckhead and the Buckhead Business Association.[54]
The International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 623 endorsed Reed.[14]
Oct. 13, 2021: Brown, Dickens, Gay, King, Moore, and Reed participated in a debate hosted by 11Alive.[55]
Oct. 12, 2021: All 14 candidates who qualified for the ballot participated in a debate series hosted by the Atlanta Press Club as part of the group's Loudermilk-Young Debate Series. The candidates were divided into two separate panels, which can be viewed here.[56]
Oct. 10, 2021: Brown, Dickens, Gay, Moore, and Reed participated in a debate hosted by WSB-TV and the Atlanta Police Foundation.[58]
Oct. 7, 2021: The International Association of Fire Fighters Local 134 endorsed Reed.[46]
Oct. 6, 2021:
Twelve candidates—Brown, Dickens, Dunn, English, Gay, Hammad, Hill, King, Moore, Reed, Searles, and Wright— participated in a candidate forum regarding affordable housing hosted by the Atlanta Regional Housing Forum in partnership with Enterprise, House ATL, and the TransFormation Alliance.[59] The candidates were divided into two separate panels, which can be viewed here.
Brown, Dickens, Gay, Hill, King, Moore, and Searles participated in a candidate forum regarding early childhood topics hosted by Georgia Early Education Alliances for Ready Students (GEEARS), The Junior League of Atlanta, and Promise All Atlanta Children Thrive (PAACT).[60]
Brown, Dickens, and Moore participated in a candidate forum regarding housing and transportation hosted by Beltline Rail Now, Neighbors for More Neighbors Atlanta, Thread ATL, and YIMBY Action.[61]
SurveyUSA released a poll of 544 likely voters, most of whom (31%) were undecided. Among the candidates, Reed received support from 18% of respondents followed by Moore with 8% and four candidates—Brown, Dickens, Gay, and King—with 5%. Overall, ten candidates received support within the ± 5.2 percentage point margin of error for the second-place spot. Adkins and Anderson were not listed in the poll.[26]
Brown, Dickens, and Moore participated in a candidate forum regarding topics in the Latino community hosted by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Latin American Association, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Ohio River South, and Telemundo Atlanta.[63]
Sept. 28, 2021: Molly Samuel with WABE released candidate responses to an environmental questionnaire. Nine of the 14 candidates appearing on the ballot submitted responses, which can be viewed here.[67]
Sept. 27, 2021:
Dickens, Gay, Moore, and Reed participated in a candidate forum hosted by ArtsVoteATL focused on arts and culture in Atlanta.[68]
Sept. 27-28, 2021: Reporters Newspapers released a series of candidate questionnaires. Nine of the 14 candidates appearing on the ballot submitted responses, which can be viewed here.
Sept. 26, 2021: Brown, Moore, Dickens, and Gay participated in a candidate forum regarding small business hosted by the Old Fourth Ward Business Association, Atlanta Civic Circle, and Butter.ATL.[69]
Sept. 21, 2021:
Brown, Dickens, Gay, Moore, and Reed participated in a debate hosted by Kiss 104.1 FM.[70]
Sept. 15, 2021: Atlanta Civic Circle released a series of candidate questionnaires. All 14 candidates appearing on the ballot submitted responses as well as two write-in candidates, which can be viewed here.
Sept. 14, 2021: Brown, Dickens, Gay, Moore, and Reed participated in a candidate forum hosted by the Council for Quality Growth, the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors, and the Atlanta Realtors Association.[71]
Sept. 13, 2021: The University of Georgia's School of Public & International Affairs released a poll of 842 likely voters conducted on behalf of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which found that 41% of respondents were undecided. Of the candidates listed, Reed received support from 24% of respondents followed by Moore with 20%. The remaining candidates listed each received support from less than 10% of respondents.[72] The margin of error was ± 3.4 percentage points.[28]
July 26, 2021: SurveyUSA released a poll of 516 likely voters conducted on behalf of 11Alive News. The poll found that 39% of respondents were undecided. Of the candidates listed in the poll, Reed received support from 17% of respondents followed by Moore with 10%. The remaining candidates listed each received support from less than 10% of respondents.[73] Twelve percent of respondents supported candidates who ultimately did not qualify for the general election ballot. The margin of error was ± 5.7 percentage points.[30]
June 8, 2021: Brown, Dickens, Gay, Moore, and Reeves participated in a candidate forum hosted by Committee for a Better Atlanta, a business coalition.[74]
Campaign advertisements
This section shows advertisements released in this race. Ads released by campaigns and, if applicable, satellite groups are embedded or linked below. If you are aware of advertisements that should be included, please email us.
On Oct. 25, 2021, Brown, Dickens, Dunn, English, Hammad, Hill, King, Searles, and Wright participated in a candidate forum hosted by Georgia State University.[75] The event begins at the 21 minute mark in the video below.
Official forum recording, livestreamed Oct. 25, 2021
October 24 candidate forum
On Oct. 24, 2021, Brown, Dickens, King, and Moore participated in a candidate forum hosted by WJZA Smooth Jazz 101.1.[49]
October 22 candidate forum
On Oct. 22, 2021, Brown, Dickens, Moore, and Reed participated in a candidate forum hosted by the Hillside International Truth Center.[50]
October 21 candidate forum
On Oct. 21, 2021, Brown, Dickens, Dunn, Gay, Hill, King, Moore, Searles, and Wright participated in a candidate forum hosted by the Advancing Black Businesses PAC & Governmental Affairs Committee.[52]
October 18 candidate forum
On Oct. 18, 2021, Brown, Dickens, Dunn, English, Hill, King, Moore, Reed, and Wrightson participated in a candidate forum hosted by the Concerned Black Clergy of Metropolitan Atlanta.[53]
October 14 candidate forum
On Oct. 14, 2021, Brown, Dickens, Gay, King, Moore, and Reed participated in a candidate forum hosted by Livable Buckhead and the Buckhead Business Association.[54]
On Oct. 13, 2021, Brown, Dickens, Gay, King, Moore, and Reed participated in a debate hosted by 11Alive.[55]
Official debate recording livestreamed Oct. 13, 2021
October 12 debate
On Oct. 12, 2021, all 14 candidates who qualified for the ballot participated in a debate series hosted by the Atlanta Press Club as part of the group's Loudermilk-Young Debate Series. The candidates were divided into two separate panels based on polling results. Those candidates polling in the upper half appeared in one debate and those polling in the lower half appeared in the other.[56]
Brown, Dickens, Gay, King, Moore, Reed, and Wright polled in the upper half:
Official debate recording released Oct. 13, 2021
Dunn, English, Hammad, Hill, Reeves, Searles, and Wrightson polled in the lower half:
Official debate recording released Oct. 13, 2021
Use the links below to view summaries of the debate:
On Oct. 11, 2021, Brown, Dickens, and Gay participated in a candidate forum hosted by the Atlanta Public Schools with questions prepared by district students.[57]
October 10 debate
On Oct. 10, 2021, Brown, Dickens, Gay, Moore, and Reed participated in a debate hosted by WSB-TV and the Atlanta Police Foundation.[58]
Official debate recording released Oct. 10, 2021
Use the links below to view summaries of the debate:
On Oct. 6, 2021, twelve candidates participated in a candidate forum regarding affordable housing hosted by the Atlanta Regional Housing Forum in partnership with Enterprise, House ATL, and the TransFormation Alliance. The candidates were divided into two separate panels, as shown below.[59]
Brown, Dickens, Gay, Moore, and Reed participated in the first panel:
Official forum recording released Oct. 6, 2021
Dunn, English, Hammad, Hill, King, Searles, and Wright participated in the second panel:
Official forum recording released Oct. 6, 2021
Use the link below to view a summary of the forum:
On Oct. 6, Brown, Dickens, Gay, Hill, King, Moore, and Searles participated in a candidate forum regarding early childhood topics hosted by Georgia Early Education Alliances for Ready Students (GEEARS), The Junior League of Atlanta, and Promise All Atlanta Children Thrive (PAACT).[60]
On Oct. 6, Brown, Dickens, and Moore participated in a candidate forum regarding housing and transportation hosted by Beltline Rail Now, Neighbors for More Neighbors Atlanta, Thread ATL, and YIMBY Action.[61]
Use the link below to view a summary of the forum:
On Oct. 5, 2021, thirteen candidates—Brown, Dickens, Dunn, English, Gay, Hammad, Hill, King, Moore, Reed, Searles, Wright, and Wrightson—participated in a candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters - Atlanta/Fulton County, Emory University, and the ACLU of Georgia. Invitations to the forum were extended to all fourteen candidates who qualified to appear on the ballot.[62]
Official forum recording livestreamed Oct. 5, 2021
Use the link below to view a summary of the forum:
On Oct. 5, 2021, Brown, Dickens, and Moore participated in a candidate forum regarding topics in the Latino community hosted by the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Latin American Association, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, Ohio River South, and Telemundo Atlanta.[63]
Official forum recording livestreamed Oct. 5, 2021
Use the link below to view a summary of the forum:
On Oct. 2, 2021, Brown, Dickens, Moore, and Reed participated in a candidate forum hosted by the Georgia Tech Student Government Association and 95.5 WSB.[66]
Official interview recording livestreamed Oct. 2, 2021
WABE candidate questionnaires
On Sept. 28, 2021, WABE's Molly Samuel released an article featuring questions regarding the environment. All 14 mayoral candidates on the ballot were sent the questions and given an opportunity to respond.[67] Candidates' responses can be found below:
On Sept. 26, Brown, Moore, Dickens, and Gay participated in a candidate forum regarding small business hosted by the Old Fourth Ward Business Association, Atlanta Civic Circle, and Butter.ATL.[69]
Official forum recording released Sept. 30, 2021
September 21 debate
On Sept. 21, 2021, Brown, Dickens, Gay, Moore, and Reed participated in a debate hosted by Kiss 104.1 FM.[70]
On Sept. 15, 2021, Atlanta Civic Circle released a series of candidate questionnaires assembled in conjunction with SaportaReport. Candidates who participated are shown below:[76]
On Sept. 14, 2021, Brown, Dickens, Gay, Moore, and Reed participated in a candidate forum hosted by the Council for Quality Growth, the Atlanta Commercial Board of Realtors, and the Atlanta Realtors Association.[71]
On June 8, 2021, Brown, Dickens, Gay, Moore, and Reeves participated in a candidate forum hosted by Committee for a Better Atlanta, a business coalition.[74]
Official forum recording livestreamed June 8, 2021 Skip to the 42:00 mark
Use the links below to view a summaries of the forum:
On Oct. 20, 2021, Richard Rose, the president of the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP, issued a statement on behalf of the chapter opposing Reed's candidacy. View the full letter here. Rose wrote:
"
As a nonpartisan agency, the NAACP typically refrains from endorsing a political party or speaking out about a specific candidate. Today, I am breaking that tacit protocol. To do anything less would be an abdication of my mission to help move Atlanta forward, not backward.[77]
Reed responded on Oct. 21 criticizing the statement. Read his full response here. Reed wrote:
"
The allegations contained in this letter are false and wholly without merit. Our campaign is being attacked because we sought and received the support of the women and men of the Atlanta Police Department at a time when crime and violence is devastating our city.[77]
Reed also reached out to the national NAACP asking for intervention. On Oct. 25, the national NAACP issued a response ordering Rose to retract the original statement. Read the national NAACP's response here. In it, Janette McCarthy Wallace, the group's general counsel, wrote to Rose:
"
[B]y issuing a public partisan statement opposing Mr. Reed's candidacy and be essentially endorsing other candidates, you clearly violated Article II, Section 2 of the Bylaws for Units of the NAACP. You are engaging in conduct inimical t other best interest of the Association. Your conduct is not in accord with the NAACP's principles, aims and purposes.[77]
The national NAACP also ordered Rose to issue a public apology to Reed, which he did on Oct. 26, saying, "I now publicly acknowledge that it was a mistake to issue the repudiation of Kasim Reed on NAACP letterhead, in my position as president of the NAACP Atlanta Branch, even though it was agreed upon without dissent by the local executive committee."[78]
Revitalizing the Workforce
We will develop the next generation of workers by creating living-wage jobs and provide opportunities to upskill and retrain residents to assist in advancing their careers.
Create living-wage jobs: Municipal enterprises provide a way to provide high-quality, low-cost goods and services to create sustainable jobs without investing in other social programs.
Retrain & upskill workers: A thriving city relies on skilled workers in all industries by offering opportunities for professional development and the acquisition of new, in-demand skills.
Provide career advancement: The City will capitalize on the success of federally funded programs to better serve residents looking to receive job training for jobs in the private sector.
Initiatives
Establish a workforce training program with a $250 million workforce development bond funded by employee payroll education. The fund will create thousands of new skilled labor jobs to revitalize our workforce and fix our City's crumbling infrastructure.
Partner with Atlanta labor unions to develop a citywide apprenticeship program that will provide participants with job opportunities in trades, such as electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, carpenters, health care, and IT that pay well and are always in demand.
Sponsor quarterly virtual and site-based job fairs to provide residents with immediate employment opportunities.
Build a public-private partnership to create a water-bottling enterprise to combat underemployment of the young Atlantans dubbed "the Water Boys." The program will legitimize the safe and environmentally friendly sale of water while promoting their entrepreneurial spirit.
Support Worksource Atlanta
Fund Worksource Atlanta with $1M over a 4-year period for residents who do not qualify for Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA) funding.
Reopen on-site daycare center to provide free childcare services for workforce program participants.
Establish a fiscal agent that will support and financially sustain legal services for the agency.
Establish a youth entrepreneurial training program utilizing WIOA funding to improve youth career outcomes.
Establish a business development specialist position to build partnerships with businesses and identify workforce needs to curate job training programs to support that need.
Enhance economic opportunities
We will cultivate new job opportunities by reinvigorating existing small businesses, promoting entrepreneurship, and attracting new community-focused businesses to Atlanta.
Reinvigorate small business: Covid-19 was a disaster for small businesses, with Black-owned businesses amongst the hardest hit. Small businesses must have access to capital in order to expand and recover post-pandemic.
Promote entrepreneurship: Today's startups are tomorrow's large businesses. Let's nurture and fund Atlanta's innovators to build a new generation of small business owners, who employ over half our nation's workfoce.
Redefine land use & zoning: The City should reduce the negative impact of outdated zoning and land-use policies on new business development, with a focus on creating attractive and accessible neighborhoods.
Initiatives
Create a grant fund that will provide education, technical assistance, and funding support for small business owners to bid on airport and city procurement contracts.
Establish a student entrepreneurs of Atlanta program to create an alternative pathway for high school juniors and seniors to become entrepreneurs and/or create career opportunities in the creative industries.
Expand small business recovery funding to restaurants and lounges for post-pandemic resurgence.
Expand small business funding
Through a public-private partnership, create a fund up to $100 million over four years to provide funding to small business and start-ups.
Broaden access to the Community Loan Fund, Atlanta Forward Loan Fund and the Phoenix Fund to help small businesses create living-wage jobs for residents.
Improve our city planning processes
Simplify the permitting and Certificate of Occupancy process for small businesses.
Streamline the automated business license renewal process so that licenses can be renewed within 72 hours.
Reform zoning and land-use regulations to remove barriers and empower small business development.
Improve mobility for all
We will provide safe and equitable access to work, school, and other destinations in our great City by improving mass transit, enhancing walkability, and promoting alternative transportation.
Improve mass transit: A reliable and effective public transportation system will reduce traffic and parking congestion while allowing residents to commute to work, school and throughout the city.
Create walkable neighborhoods: Every resident should feel safe to walk in their own neighborhood. We must improve sidewalks and crosswalks, demolish or improve dilapidated housing, and eliminate trash and illegal dumping.
Promote alternative transportation: By promoting biking, car-sharing, and carpooling, we can make our city healthier and less congested.
Initiatives
Partner with MARTA and the Atlanta Regional Commission to expand existing bus rapid transit (BRT) routes to improve coordination and connectivity across the city's key transit corridors with a focus on equitable access.
Broaden ADA accessibility lanes to improve transit mobility for seniors and disabled residents who use wheelchairs.
Expand and improve mobility/connectivity for seniors and disabled residents to essential locations like grocery stores, hospitals, pharmacies, recreational centers and parks through current city shuttle service and potential rideshare partnerships.
Improve the city's bicycle share program by adding the installation of e-bikes and mopeds.
Collaborate with the PATH Foundation to expand our off-street trails networks by utilizing Georgia Power corridors for connectivity to Beltline, improving walkability and safety for children.
Increase sidewalk installations in communities near schools to prevent accidents and prioritize safety.
Expand license plate reader network in low income communities to hold violators responsible and deter trash and illegal dumping.
Continue renegotiating Georgia Power contract to reduce overspending and increase street lights in high-risk areas.
Modernize our infrastructure
We will envision Atlanta as a city of the future by improving access to the internet, embracing new technological innovations, and making city processes more accessible and transparent.
Expand Internet connectivity: From school to work to social life, the internet is a constant part of our daily lives. The city should have 5G hotspots in all neighborhoods with a priority placed on parks and in high-density neighborhoods.
Embrace new technologies: We must better utilize advanced technological innovations to improve safety, coordinate emergency response, and reduce traffic congestion.
Automate city processes & services: Improve efficiency of City departments and processes by streamlining city management to reduce waste and redundancies.
Initiatives
Create a transportation command center (TCC) that leverages the existing traffic camera network to centralize traffic monitoring. The TCC will optimize traffic signal timing to coordinate emergency vehicle response and alleviate congestion in real time, while also adapting to changing weather conditions.
Expand the regional traffic operations program (RTOP) to improve traffic signal synchronization through the installation of additional fiber optic cables.
Collaborate with a third-party internet service provider to install 5G boxes throughout the city with the goal of providing free Wi-Fi to all residents, prioritizing parks and low-income neighborhoods.
Become a pioneer in cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology that will allow vehicles to autonomously communicate with each other and with the transportation grid itself. C-V2X will serve as a foundation for next-generation transportation connectivity.
Implement a construction intelligence cloud solution to streamline project management processes, improve transparency, and reduce waste.
Improve city hiring and administration processes, particularly the City's procurement process, by using advanced authentication and algorithms to evaluate applications in a fair and equitable way.
Recruit chief data officer, responsible for data quality, data governance, master data management, information strategy, data science, and business analytics.
Address housing affordability
We will confront the crisis of mass gentrification and poverty by creating more affordable housing, providing better access to resources for the unsheltered.
Expand affordable housing: As housing development costs continue to rise, we must construct more affordable housing through incentives and public-private partnerships.
Care for the unsheltered: Broaden the City's "Housing First" approach to homelessness by removing barriers and providing wraparound services to support a transition to permanent housing.
Address the city's blight: Build public-private partnerships that incentivizes the development of vacant and dilapidated properties to increase housing opportunities in the community.
Initiatives
Increase the housing and opportunity bond by up to $150 million to produce thousands of more units of affordable housing within the next four years.
Establish the department of housing and community development as a separate entity to centralize affordable and supportive housing development across all city agencies and reestablish the position of chief housing officer as a full-time budgeted position.
Conduct an auction of vacant city owned land that prioritizes legacy residences. Purchasers will be required to maintain occupancy for two years and to renovate the property for the benefit of the surrounding community.
Create the "beloved village" tiny homes development that offers housing.job training and placement, medical services, counseling. and other services to the unsheltered population.
Transfer the administration of housing opportunities for people with AIDS (HOPWA) from Partners for Home to the newly formed Department of Housing and Community Development and develop an immediate action plan to address housing insecurity among LGBTQ youth, seniors and the transgender community.
Partner with Fulton and Dekalb Counties to establish a new conflict resolution center to resolve tenant disputes and provide rent and utility assistance.
Expand blight free advisory board (BFAB) citywide to support owners in redeveloping their properties and to demolish abandoned and dilapidated properties due to absentee or non-compliant landlords through code enforcement and the office of the City Solicitor.
Increase participation in the affordable housing permit fee waiver program by providing awareness, access. and technical assistance to housing developers.
Generate financial stability
We will empower our residents to achieve long-term financial stability by expanding first-time home ownership and create financial independence.
Expand home ownership: Many Atlanta residents are unable to afford the large down payments and credit checks required to purchase a home. New programs that remove barriers for first-time home-buyers will provide residents a path to financial stability.
Increase financial independence: The city must support residents impacted by generational poverty on their journal to financial independence. In addition to education, residents should have the tools to address reducing the debt that plagues many low- and middle-income households
Initiatives
Establish the Jimmy Carter fund to help homeowners and legacy residents who may be impacted by gentrification and are struggling to keep and maintain their homes.
Expand first-time homeownership by establishing the Maynard Jackson fund to provide first-time home buyer down payment assistance, technical assistance, and financial education.
Establish a restorative justice and equity program to create housing. jobs, and financial opportunities for residents who have been impacted by the judicial systerm or who have endured generational poverty.
Expand partnership with second chance banking provider to provide residents with alternative banking services while educating them on wealth building through financial literacy.
Develop a financial literacy application that will provide residents with a debit card to access emergency cash assistance and a direct pathway for residents to apply for grant opportunities with funds deposited directly into a resident's city debit card program.
Explore a public-private partnership with a local community bank to establish a program that teaches personal financial management, budgeting and investing skills that, upon completion, allows residents a debt-forgiveness or interest-free debt consolidation program.
Inspire trust in public safety
We will reimagine public safety by expanding training and resources for our officers, continue building our non-emergency response team, and improving outcomes for at-risk youth.
Provide support to officers: By creating The Center for Social Justice & Public Safety Training Facility, we can provide officers with the resources and training to better respond to public safety matters.
Dispatch unarmed responders: Expand our team of non-emergency responders that will be responsible for all non-emergency and community service functions to better support our policing division.
Improve outcomes for at-risk youth: We must proactively engage at-risk youth to provide wraparound services and support and develop conflict resolution services to deal with gang-related activity.
Initiatives
Continue the expansion of the pre-arrest diversion program of Non-Emergency Responders to handles non-emergency and community service functions previously handled by Atlanta Police, Fire and Rescue, and Constituent Services.
Establish a non-emergency response number for residents to address non-emergency issues or mental health crises without inundating 311 and 911.
Establish a centralized office of communications to increase efficiency and reliability for emergency and non-emergency calls.
Evaluate the current cash bail/signature bond system to better monitor and support the accused until matters are adjudicated.
Develop an incentive program with sign-on bonuses and down payment assistance to help officers purchase a home within Atlanta.
Create a network of community conflict resolution centers to offer mediation and conflict resolution services to communities dealing with gang-related activity and family conflicts.
The Center for Social Justice & Public Safety Training Facility
Continue the creation of an intergovernmental training facility to provide facility access to other municipalities and counties while generating revenue to sustain the facility.
Create a pipeline hiring program for 300 emergency and non-emergency officers a year.
Conduct mandatory retraining of existing and newly hired sworn officers on de-escalation training to prevent the use of excessive and/or lethal force.
Nurture health & wellness
By expanding City programs to create physical wellness opportunities and creating new avenues for recovery and treatment, we will creat a more vibrant community.
Access to health food: Our low-income neighborhoods are "food deserts" where often the only place to buy food is convenience stores. By creating urban farmers markets, we can bring healthy food to these communities.
Promote healthy living: The City must create a better bike network that will allow for residents to promote healthier lifestyles while also reducing car traffic.
Mental health & substance abuse: We must partner with the City's counties to develop aggressive treatment programs to reduce the harm of mental illness and drug abuse in our community.
Initiatives
Expand partnership with Mercy Care facilities in low income areas to provide access to mental health, substance abuse and dnetal services to residents
Partner with the City's counties to expand funding to provide HIV prevention and increase access to lifesaving treatment options for uninsured residents.
Partner with the Dream Center in Los Angeles to develop a crystal meth treatment and recovery program to create a pathway for residents to readapt back into society.
Develop an action plan to create an urban farm and modular grocery store model that can be replicated in low-income communities where major retail grocers refuse to go.
Expand recreation center hours to provide programmatic opportunities to increase youth engagement and deter crime.
Create a public-private partnership to establish a citywide youth trade program for municipal bike repair shops within city parks and recreation centers.
Evaluate creating a new tourist experience within our parks system that can generate revenue for the City to improve and maintain our parks.
Engage the community
With less than 1% of Atlanta residents actively engaged in their communities, the city must do a better job in communicating and collaborating with its constituents.
Improve communications: Create a centralized city communications department specifically tasked with increasing access to information, resources, and programs to address the disenfranchisement of residents.
Increase civic participation: Engagement starts at the neighborhood level, and we must make it easier for residents to be active in their Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU).
'Support inclusivity: Atlanta must continue to be welcoming to all of its residents, including those disenfranchised and underrepresented.
Initiatives
Establish a centralized Department of Communications and Community Engagement to provide access to information and resources to increase engagement and be a bridge between municipal government and the community.
Develop a centralized LGBTQ community center to create a safe space for residents to come together and receive assistance, resources and opportunities.
Launch the "ATL Engaged" mobile app to address community disenfranchisement by creating a digital Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) voting process that will allow working families and residents to participate in community meetings.
Update the NPU municipal code to address community disenfranchisement by streamlining bylaws that deter resident participation within the City's civic process.
Evaluate creating an incentive program for residents who contribute to City boards and commissions.[77]
Antonio Brown completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Brown's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
As a successful CEO and humanitarian, Antonio Brown brings a unique perspective, strong faith, and inspirational work ethic to his community. Growing up in poverty with his parents frequently incarcerated, Antonio discovered he had the resilience and drive to overcome adversity & achieve success. From the ground up, he built LVL XIII (Level 13), a men’s fashion brand that broke barriers launching into Bloomingdales and Nordstrom nationwide. After successfully launching his business, Antonio immediately began to pour back into community through programmatic initiatives committed to improving the life trajectory of marginalized people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Antonio’s passion for business and education moved him to create the Small Business Entrepreneurship Program, which was licensed by The Art Institute in early 2018. The program provided hands-on entrepreneurial training and support to over 30,000 historically underserved college students nationwide.
Affordable Housing: I would create a position for a Director of Housing and Community Development that would dually report to the CEO of Invest Atlanta and the Chief Housing Officer of the City of Atlanta. I will identify and auction 750 acres of City owned land to promote home ownership. I will work to require 30% of new developments be dedicated to affordable housing. I would shift Invest Atlanta and its priorities to create a socio-economic shift in the economic class system of Atlanta. I will increase the Housing Opportunity Bond by up to $150 million to produce thousands of more units of affordable housing within 4 years.
Crime: We cannot arrest ourselves out of the current circumstance. As Mayor I will create the Department of Public Safety and Wellness to address quality of life issues and remove this unnecessary burden from officers untrained to deal with mental health and the unhoused. I will bring community policing back to our communities to form a relationship with residents. I will work to expand PAD and create a community mitigation center to deal with disputes.
Jobs: Addressing generation poverty, I will create a $250 million Worksouce Development Bond to put people back to work and move them into the Middle Class.
100% important. One of the greatest disservices to our communities is the intentional disenfranchisement of information (in the City of Atlanta). We (my administration as Mayor) are going to meet communities where they are!
My first action will be to create the Public Safety Center for Health and Wellness... which will operate 24/7 with a separate number in non-emergency capacity to address quality of life issues... removing the burden from officers not trained to handle these problems.
I have advocated for Beltline Light Rail with ARC (Atlanta Regional Commission) for 2
years to made sure we have funding in place. As Mayor, I will be leveraging funds from
the federal infrastructure bill to fund the development of Light Rail on the Beltline. But
we also need bus rapid transit in the City of Atlanta. We need bus rapid transit to connect
to communities that need to be able to have access so that they can get to and from work.
We also need walkability. The is not a one solution fits all in this city and we need to
make sure we are creating and funding projects that fit the diverse community of
Atlanta.
To leverage the Federal Infrastructure Bill funding to to create equity throughout all communities in Atlanta by providing equal access to street repair, lighting and sidewalks.
Making sure our officers have the equipment amd supplies they need while making sure law enforcement engages with the community.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Community Questions were submitted by the public and chosen for inclusion by a volunteer advisory board. The chosen questions were modified by staff to adhere to Ballotpedia’s neutrality standards. To learn more about Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Expansion Project, click here.
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Andre Dickens
Campaign website
Dickens' campaign website stated the following:
"
Public safety
A letter to Atlanta:
I have long insisted that we cannot have a prosperous Atlanta unless it is a uniformly safe place to live, work and raise a family. My public safety philosophy has been informed by my time as chair of the Public Safety Committee during my first term on the Atlanta City Council, where I passed legislation that helped deliver some of the safest years in recent history, and I plan to continue that trend when I become Mayor.
My public safety plan is designed to bring Atlanta fully into 21st Century policing by prioritizing diversity, modern comprehensive training, and providing our officers the resources to prioritize community policing.
The modern police force needs to be able to provide a nuanced response to the community and that requires hiring and training a police force that is prepared to do more than simply arrest and incarcerate our community. While arrests for violent criminals are of course necessary, we simply cannot arrest our way out of a crime wave. We need a comprehensive approach. Diversion and police alternatives are an integral part of managing Atlanta’s criminal justice system. More importantly, those tactics, responsibly deployed, have granted countless Atlantans a second chance at becoming productive members of our society.
We will ensure that this is a crime spike and not the new normal by reassigning non-sworn personnel to non-emergencies, redeploying the police force for a robust presence at shopping centers, gas stations, clubs and bars, and hiring more officers to fill the gaps we currently have in the department.
We have persevered through difficult times in Atlanta’s history before, just as we are in the second year of a global pandemic, and together, we will continue to do so.
Yours in service,
Andre Dickens
Candidate for Atlanta Mayor
My pledge, as mayor:
As a twice-elected citywide councilmember, I have tackled several complex issues (like affordable housing and transportation) through legislation and collaboration. We have changed the way the city works on these issues, and I am proposing that we do it again, with S.A.F.E. Streets Atlanta, a 4-Point Plan to reduce violent crime.
As Mayor, I will focus on immediately halting the crime that’s plaguing our communities. I have a plan to stop crime TODAY – by coordinating and investing new federal resources in additional officers, technology and tactics, including partnerships with groups that can help us identify, arrest and detain dangerous criminals.
I also know that we have to fight the crime of TOMORROW – and I will simultaneously invest resources in job placement programs, anti-recidivism outreach, after school programs and creating good paying jobs for citizens and communities that have been overlooked for too long.
Safe Streets Atlanta Plan:
S is to SURGE the police force by 250 officers during my first year in office while training every APD employee in racial sensitivity and de-escalation techniques.
Atlanta needs to be a beacon of the 21st Century training and reform for community safety and justice.
We need to have the best training and the best community engagement in order to result in better recruitment, retention, and community engagement all of which contribute to less crime.
A is to ARREST gang leaders that are preying on our children and resolve pandemic-related court backlogs to get violent criminals off our streets.
We need to support the District Attorney’s office and provide assistance to help reduce our backlogs.
We also need better youth engagement as part of our community policing efforts to help reduce youth crime through a Youth Commissioner to work and partner with Atlanta Public Schools.
F is to create a task FORCE with GBI, FBI, and ATF to address gun trafficking and a task force to hire and deploy specialists to deal with non-violent issues like mental health and homelessness.
Collaboration is key to addressing the far reaching impacts of crime. That extends to federal and local agencies as well as the District Attorney’s office.
We need to also collaborate with specialists to better address the non-violent issues that currently have a police response.
E is to EMPOWER APD to engage in community policing and to support them with new technologies to reduce response times, like smart streetlights, shot-spotters and software connecting APD and Fulton Sheriffs.
Community policing should be a foundational element of our future policing and that includes supporting officers who wish to live in the community they serve.
We should provide stipends to officers to help them live in the city much like we have done with our cadet housing initiative.
Community policing starts with having the best trained officers in the nation and extends to youth engagement, specialists responding to non-violent calls, collaboration with community leaders, and building trust through accountability.
My Accomplishments
Joined the APD Chief of Police Advisory Council in November 2020 as the only City Councilmember in order to provide input to the Chief and APD leadership staff on public safety needs and solutions throughout the city.
Endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Police and the Atlanta Police Foundation in 2013 and 2017 City Council races.
Chaired the Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee in 2017, during which time homicides went down 33%, and all violent crimes decreased 12%.
Championed and passed pay increases for Investigators and Senior Patrol Officers effective retroactively to August, 2015.
Co-sponsored “ban the box” legislation, which no longer requires applicants to reveal prior convictions on employment applications.
Conducted monthly “Walk-n-Talks” with APD and community members to walk the streets preventing crime.
Hosted NPU Public Safety leaders at the Video Integration Center to see how APD uses cameras.
Introduced and passed “8 Can’t Wait” legislation to ban dangerous police tactics and create clearer escalation of force procedures.
Sponsored legislation increasing annual salaries for Senior Patrol Officers (18-O-1085) and sponsored legislation to purchase additional license plate readers (18-O-1249).
Served on Pre-Arrest Diversion Initiative Design Team (16-C-5087) and sponsored legislation studying feasibility for Midnight Basketball League (16-R-3272)
Transportation
My vision has been to not just to get people where they are going each day, but get them where they are going in life. The issue of transportation is top of mind for most Atlantans, and I am committed to improving the city’s transportation infrastructure and connectivity.
My Plan:
I have the transportation expertise, proven track record and integrity to address Atlanta’s traffic and transportation problems and ensure that the millions of federal transportation dollars coming to the city are allocated efficiently and equitably. As a council member, I created the Department of Transportation to not only bring expertise to transportation planning, but to streamline the procurement process as well. One of the major sources of our traffic and transportation project backlog is the corruption that plagued the procurement process during the prior administration. I will bring an engineer’s systematic and strategic approach to these issues and ensure that the procurement process is open and transparent so that city projects can be implemented with confidence and efficiency.
Implement Project Delivery Excellence with Honesty, Integrity, and Transparency
Overcome the corruption in contracting leftover from 2017.
Deliver on projects – including Complete Streets, Sidewalks/Streetscapes, Resurfacing and Street Capacity Improvements – that were promised in the TSPLOST.
Create an easy-to-understand dashboard for federally-funded and locally-funded projects.
Streamline procurement to remove roadblocks so that Atlanta’s crumbling infrastructure can be fixed quickly. Current 15-month long procurement process for purchasing goods and services caused by corruption in the previous administration must be addressed immediately.
Resolve project backlog:
All budgeted, resourced projects will be started and completed by strengthening and fully resourcing the ATLDOT that I created – now in its second year of operation.
Build bike infrastructure from Cycle Atlanta 1.0 (2013) and 2.0 (2017) and re-engage the community on bike infrastructure.
Focus on and Fast-track Small, Impactful Projects
Revive the Pothole Posse famously and effectively implemented under Mayor Shirley Franklin.
Prioritize sidewalks within ½ mile of schools and senior facilities.
Quickly address safety and traffic calming measures like speed humps and 4-way stops, pedestrian beacons, and ADA ramps.
Maintain the existing network of Lite Individual Transit (LIT) lanes (a/k/a bike lanes) with regular sweeping and overgrowth trimming.
BeltLine Rail & Campbellton Road Transit
Leverage the federal infrastructure package to complete BeltLine rail and Campbellton Road transit by 2030.
Ensure trail infrastructure does not preclude rail.
Vision Zero Strategy & Implementation
Complete the rollout of Vision Zero that I helped to adopt by reducing speed limits and installing traffic calming devices and streetlights across the entire city.
Adopt a “safe systems” design program where crashes are not deadly because street design prevents cars from speeding as easily.
Work with GA Dept of Transportation to implement safety projects on state routes and set clear safety priorities for state routes inside city limits.
Use signal timing to give people walking priority and create safer crossings to schools.
Free MARTA For All By 2030
Free MARTA will have the biggest impact on equity in the city and is a tool to combat climate change.
Implement a phased approach by providing students, seniors, disabled persons and city employees with subsidies first followed by free MARTA access.
Research best practices of existing free transit cities (Kansas City, Olympia, and Boston that’s soon to come).
Analyze data from MARTA’s free bus programs during the pandemic.
Create a parking tax that will be create a new large, recurring revenue stream.
Replace Atlanta appointees to the MARTA board with transit riders and/or experts.
Drive the growth of more Equitable Transit-Oriented Development
Lead transit-oriented development planning and increase density for all rail stations and high-capacity transit.
Revise zoning or development codes to require an affordable housing component and reduced parking near transit.
My Accomplishments:
I have shown through my city council efforts that I am the right leader to address Atlanta’s traffic and transportation issues:
In 2019, created legislation to formally establish a city-wide Atlanta Department of Transportation (ADOT) to oversee all transportation related activities, planning, and management within the city. This new department has brought increased efficiency and effectiveness to all transportation efforts within the city.
Chairs the Transportation Committee, focusing on increasing access and equity in transportation.
Co-authored a resolution authorizing the City to coordinate MARTA tax and TSPLOST transportation project lists and plans.
Authored a resolution to preserve the connectivity to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive after construction of Mercedes Benz Stadium.
Passed legislation after the 2014 snowstorms to involve Georgia Tech in efforts to review the City’s preparedness plan for natural disasters.
Supported the Renew Atlanta Bond that has led to numerous street repaving and signal light improvements
Organized “One Corridor,” a town hall series led by community leaders, six adjourning neighborhood planning units, and churches along the Donald Lee Hollowell corridor. These town halls brought together the community, MARTA, GDOT, ADOT, Atlanta Police Department, Georgia State Patrol, City Planning, and State Representatives together in one room.
Ethics
Atlanta must have a government as good as its people. The cloud of corruption of past administrations has impacted not only the morale of the city, but the efficiency of our government as well. I am dedicated to transparency, that’s why I posted my tax returns on my website (Returns – Andre Dickens) and challenged the other candidates to do so as well. The Race for City Hall: Will you get to see your next mayor’s tax returns? The voters of Atlanta need and deserve this type of transparency.
While serving on the City Council, I led the charge for the most sweeping ethics, procurement, and transparency reforms in recent Atlanta history. Some of my major initiatives include:
Creating government purchase card regulations to ensure accountability in how government officials spend discretionary funds.
Establishing the Independent Procurement Review Office to provide mandatory independent review of all procurements over $1 million, helping to ensure transparency and fairness in government contracting.
Working closely with the City Ethics Office to review existing practices and create a set of recommendations and policies to ensure that tax dollars are spent with integrity, and oversight.
Jobs
Andre knows what it takes to create better jobs for Atlantans and help local businesses thrive, and will continue to champion Atlanta as a destination for growing businesses. He is focused on ensuring that while the city continues to entice Fortune 100 enterprises, it remains diligent in its support and recognition of the small businesses that employ so many Atlantans.
While on the Atlanta City Council, Andre:
Co-sponsored and passed legislation requiring city government to pay a minimum hourly wage of $15.
Sponsored and hosted the “Blacks In Tech” policy conference, focused on advancing efforts to bring more diversity to STEM fields.
Helped create 21,000 new jobs and $3.3 billion of capital investment in Atlanta as the Invest Atlanta Board Secretary.
Andre has also excelled in creating jobs and economic opportunities through his work in the private sector:
Created a program at TechBridge that has provided free training IT to nearly 300 low income people to get certified in technology skills, allowing them to get IT jobs averaging $56,000 a year.
Formed agreements with Microsoft, AirBnB, Georgia Power, Accenture and others to ensure that part of their workforce comes from the TechBridge program Andre created to provide free IT training for low income people.
Co-founded a retail furniture business with his sister and grew it into a multi-million dollar business with over twenty employees.
Housing
Affordable/Equitable Housing Plan
Housing isn’t just about buildings and profit. It’s about people. And this problem doesn’t just impact people in poverty, it impacts all of us. A successful housing affordability strategy requires a collective approach, where all parties are seated at the table. I am committed to ensuring development without displacement and providing practical, diverse housing options for our diverse community. As Atlanta thrives, I will continue to work hard to secure affordable housing opportunities for all.
My Plan:
Diversity of Housing for Our Diverse Community
Build/Preserve 20,000 Units of Affordable Housing In 8 Years
Appoint a Chief Housing Officer with experience in building and preservation of housing.
Lead the partnership with the Atlanta Housing Authority to build affordable housing on Bowen Homes, Hollywood Courts, Bankhead, Englewood, North Avenue, and other sites where hundreds of acres lay barren yet are ripe for the development of mixed-income housing.
Incentivize amenity driven, transit oriented, and mixed-income development in underdeveloped parts of town.
Increase housing options around transit stops
Streamline and consolidate the building codes to avoid unnecessary costs which are passed on to renters
Development without Displacement
Provide Provisions, Incentives and Support For Seniors & Long-term Residents
Freeze property taxes for seniors.
Ensure that there are fair and equitable tax abatements in Atlanta, Fulton County, and Dekalb County.
Increase properties that have long-term affordability.
Expand Community Land Trusts.
Complete and expand the recommendations of HouseATL, a cross-sector group of civic leaders committed to developing and coordinating a housing affordability action plan in the City of Atlanta.
Increase acquisition and transactions at the Land Bank Authority.
Mission work, not just profit work
Allocate increased funding for affordable housing, including:
$250 million affordable housing bond
$10 million in funding from the general fund each year
$10 million in new annual funding from renewable sources
Incentivize affordable housing development for deeper AMI
Expand existing Inclusionary Zoning Policy citywide and lower the percentage of affordability to include 30-50% AMI.
Include wrap-around services that families need – day care, after school programs, health care, pharmacies, grocery, banking – in new affordable housing developments modeled after mixed-use developments
Make property tax exemptions for nonprofit developers automatic
Create a recurring revenue source for affordable development by leveraging Catalytic Capital and Impact Investments
My Accomplishments:
My work to provide and protect affordable housing throughout the city demonstrates my deep commitment and leadership to equitable housing for all:
Successfully wrote and championed groundbreaking Inclusionary Zoning legislation requiring new rental developments in the BeltLine and Westside neighborhoods to provide affordably priced set aside units.
Authored monumental legislation that requires any development receiving public dollars to produce affordable housing units.
Pushed legislation that has become the model for affordable housing legislation in Fulton and DeKalb Counties, and for Invest Atlanta, BeltLine, and APS.
Created the fund and program to rehab senior homes along the BeltLine Westside Trail and co-sponsored legislation creating the $40 million Housing Opportunity Bond.
Passed legislation that requires Affordable Housing Impact Statements for all land developments.
As Community Development Chairman and Invest Atlanta Board Secretary, incentivized more than 2,000 affordable units.
Diversity & inclusion
My Plan:
Revitalize and prioritize the City’s Human Relations Commission by providing more autonomy, authority and funding to the Commission.
Promote more efficient and effective use of grant dollars provided to the City by the federal government’s Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOWPA).
Commission a study to ensure gender pay equity for City employees.
Elevate workforce development for LGBTQ youth and trans people.
Promote tourism and Invest Atlanta incentives to attract LGBTQ conferences and jobs.
Continue to promote Atlanta as the LGBTQ capital of the South and the Black LGBTQ capital of the US.
Expand the City’s LGBTQ Advisory Board to prioritize the needs of the LGBTQ community.
My Accomplishments:
Endorsed by Georgia Equality in 2013 and 2017 City Council races.
Successfully wrote and championed groundbreaking Inclusionary Zoning legislation requiring new rental developments in the BeltLine and Westside neighborhoods to provide affordably priced set aside units.
Voted in support of legislation to earmark emergency housing money for LGBTQ youth and young adults (17 – R – 4360).
Co-sponsored and passed legislation requiring city government to pay a minimum hourly wage of $15.
Sponsored and hosted the “Blacks In Tech” policy conference, focused on advancing efforts to bring more diversity to STEM fields.
Created a program at TechBridge that has provided free training IT to nearly 300 low income people to get certified in technology skills, allowing them to get IT jobs averaging $56,000 a year.
Voted in support of legislation to create an LGBTQ+ Historic Context Statement for the City of Atlanta (21 – R – 3004)
Co-sponsored legislation urging the Georgia General Assembly to defeat discriminatory legislation, including the “Religious Freedom” bill eventually vetoed by Governor Deal (16 – R – 3250).
Co-sponsored “ban the box” legislation, which no longer requires applicants to reveal prior convictions on employment applications.
Voted in support of legislation urging the Georgia General Assembly to enact the CROWN Act to prohibit discrimination in employment against natural or protective hairstyles.
Environmental & Clean Energy
As a chemical engineer, I can say climate change is a decades-long pandemic that we must meet and master today or we will suffer through endless tomorrows. We must expand our environmental policy out of its silo and into every part of our city. The only way to truly combat climate change is for it to reach into all facets of our government.
My Plan
1. Achieve 100% Clean Energy by 2035
Incentivize sustainable development and redevelopment
Institute solar bulk purchasing programs
Develop a clean energy workforce training program
Provide free public transit by 2030
Increase supply of diverse housing options
Reduce the energy burden on 10 percent of most overburdened Atlanta households.
2. Protect Atlanta's Tree Canopy
Support a new Tree Protection Ordinance to help protect our tree canopy and “City in the Forest”
Work with Department of City Planning to balance out economic development while maintaining tree canopy
Work with organizations like Trees Atlanta, West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, and Chattahoochee Riverkeepers
We have space for growth without infringing on the tree canopy
Add housing and mixed-use/mixed-income development in underserved areas
Why Clean Energy?
1. Clean Energy can advance equity
We can advance equity through increased deployment of clean energy because it –
Reduces energy burdens by lowering utility bills and stabilizing energy costs
Improves financial stability by providing entrepreneurship and thriving wage job opportunities
Reduces harmful carbon emissions that pollute our air
Promotes economic development and building community wealth
2. Clean Energy means lower bills
Atlanta experiences energy burdens 25% higher than the national average.
We know that clean energy investments like weatherization, energy efficiency, rooftop solar and community microgrids work.
Investments like weatherization can reduce the low-income energy burden by at least 25 percent.
Energy efficiency and solar energy creates healthier home environments and can stabilize energy costs for working families, senior citizens, and low-wealth communities.
3. Clean energy means new, good paying jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities
Weatherization, energy efficiency, rooftop solar and community microgrids are job creation and small business development opportunities.
Led efforts to rehab and weatherize 100 senior homes
Voted for Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge
Supported West Atlanta Watershed Alliance and Proctor Creek
Supported local black farmers
Education & youth
Andre is a proud product of Atlanta Public Schools (APS), a graduate of Georgia Tech and Georgia State, and the father of a daughter who attended Atlanta Public Schools, so he knows the value of our public education institutions. Providing the youth of Atlanta the best education possible is key to helping them achieve their true potential.
His achievements on the Atlanta City Council have prepared him to tackle the issues facing Atlanta’s youth:
Added two youth-focused positions to the Atlanta Citizen Review Board for police accountability.
Successfully created the City of Atlanta/Atlanta Board of Education Joint Commission – the first joint commission of its kind.
Led the charge to return ownership of APS property deeds from the City to the school system.
Primary Councilmember to help broker the APS/Beltline dispute. Voted against the BeltLine budget that reduced tax revenue for APS.
Hosted the Scholarship Academy and Fair at City Hall every November for more than 500 high school seniors and juniors.
Revived the City’s Youth Commission to give youth a voice in government.
Sponsored the Teen “Midnight” Basketball League which started summer 2017 with more than 120 youth participants.
Required new school zone light beacons as a part of Renew Atlanta Bond projects.
Hosted Back 2 School Bash, where more than 1,000 book bags with school supplies have been given to APS students leading into the school year.
Sponsored APS Get Our Kids Connected campaign supporting thousands of students attending APS who do not have internet connection and/or appropriate equipment for distance learning, by partnering with Comcast to provide free laptops and 12 months of free internet.
Arts & Culture
Arts are an integral part of a thriving, diverse community, and our city needs to develop and support the artists of Atlanta. Atlanta children deserve the benefits that arts bring which are safety, a whole education, appreciation, empathy, and a future full of opportunities. We want to reinvigorate the creative economy after the devastating impacts of COVID on the arts community. Arts are vital to our humanity, culture, health, and community, so as Mayor, I will use the resources of the City to advocate for the arts on behalf of the citizens, visitors, and artists of Atlanta.
My goals as Mayor include:
1 Make the arts accessible to everyone.
2 Support individual artists.
3 Ensure equity in art funding and support.
4 Reinvigorate the creative economy after impacts of COVID.
5 Further cultivate the Atlanta arts community for future generations.
My Plan
1. Codify an Atlanta Arts, Culture & Creative Economy Advisory Committee to the Mayor
Appoint a variety of members from different artistic disciplines and backgrounds within the Atlanta arts community, including college and university members and APS Arts faculty.
Solicit advice and support from the Advisory Committee to better understand and engage with the Arts community.
Committee would be tasked with developing a comprehensive Arts and Culture Plan for the City of Atlanta along with the Office of Cultural Affairs, which will lead to greater funding and exposure opportunities.
2. Establish an Arts District Exploratory Commission
Appoint a commission to seek out the best place or places to develop creator districts with spaces available specifically for creators (artist lofts, creator workspaces, studio space, etc.).
Develop a diverse group of artists and art designed to uplift the underserved and build wealth on a local level.
Determine/develop strategies to establish more affordable housing and artist studio options through art focused land trusts, live/work studio space, and mixed-income developments.
Evaluate strategies implemented in other cities to learn best practices for long-term, dedicated revenue streams to support arts development and fund it through various means like private development.
3. Provide Greater Support for Artists
Develop strategies to restore economic vitality to the large number of artists who lost wages during COVID.
Increase access to local grants and federal funding through the National Endowment for the Arts.
Ensure equity in art philanthropy and government funding.
Provide direct financial support for those who lost income during COVID.
Develop strategies to help with healthcare for artists.
Provide greater exposure through exhibition spaces in city facilities such as city hall, recreation centers, etc.
4. Increase the Annual Grant Making Capacity Within the City’s Budget
The general fund contribution to arts grant-making moved from $1 million to $2 million under Mayor Bottoms. The goal was to get to $3 million, and I will do that in my budget.
As Mayor, I will put in the American Rescue Plan up to $12 million in funding for small businesses, nonprofits, and the arts community.
Additionally, I will put in the American Rescue Plan up to $4 million to support permanent affordable commercial spaces for small businesses and creatives in LMI or gentrifying communities.
5. Provide Additional Dedicated Revenue Streams for Arts
I believe that a percentage of all eligible infrastructure project budgets should be set aside for art.
I also believe private developers should contribute 1% of each construction project to the arts.
Community
Andre works hard to promote equity, strengthen Atlanta communities and recognize leaders who have done so much for our city.
While on the Atlanta City Council, Andre has:
Successfully created the John Lewis Memorial Task Force, resulting in the changing of Freedom Parkway to “John Lewis Freedom Parkway” and the permanent installation of the John Lewis “Good Trouble” tribute wall at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.
Hosted drive-through lunch giveaways during the COVID pandemic, handing out more than 6,000 meals to families.
Hosted regular “Movies in the Park” for families to enjoy a night together in an area park.
Endorsed by Georgia Equality in 2013 and 2017 City Council races.
Served as Chairman of the Community Development and Human Services Committee for 3 years.
Developed and funded the Community Leadership Institute of Atlanta for 25 community leaders to receive proper training each year.
Hosted Neighborhood Jazz Concert in West Manor Park every year for neighbors to enjoy live jazz performances.[77]
One Atlanta Kirsten Elise Dunn 4 Mayor
Mayor Keisha Bottoms made the incredible statement, “Atlanta influences everywhere.” Atlanta is a unique city that has extraordinary influential authority all over America. Right now, the beautiful city we Atlantans call home is divided and riddled with crime. Regardless of where things stood in the past, change is now! I love the people of Atlanta, and through my present and future leadership, the One Atlanta Campaign team is ready to set the city on fire with love and unity!
"New Atlanta or Old Atlanta" together we are one Atlanta. Together we are better."
Our neighborhood sur neighborhoods uniting for change.
Competent. Caring. Committed.
In recent months, as I have engaged in the civic and community-based activities I have undertaken for many years, I have heard increasing concern about the lack of leadership at the top of our city government. People from all parts of this city have urged me to run for mayor. At first, I encouraged others to consider, but I increasingly came to the realization that it is my civic duty to give something back to my community that has given so much to me.
This city has been my home for 42 years. Atlanta is the most important city in what is today one of the most important states in our country. But our city is adrift, and that threatens what has made us special and successful.
Today, our challenges loom large: violent crime and lawlessness, inadequate housing for our residents at all stages of life, continuing economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the legacies of past decades of racial discrimination.
Public corruption remains the focus of an ongoing federal investigation of our city that started over five years ago and has resulted so far in numerous indictments and guilty pleas.
Basic public services — from pothole repair to parks maintenance to recycling pickup — are deteriorating. Important government positions have been vacant for months and even years. In some neighborhoods, we don't have enough decent, affordable housing near good schools and jobs, while in other parts of town rapid housing price increases are jeopardizing long-time residents.
But, given all these critical issues, the central challenge we face today is the lack of effective, engaged Atlanta-focused visionary leadership at the top. We need a new mayor who will show up and do the work. We need a leader who will set the tone for competence, service, and ethics throughout city government. That is why I am running for mayor.
My name is Sharon Gay. I love Atlanta and I have been involved in the business and civic leadership of our city for decades. I have a proven record of success as a lawyer and a manager. I am passionate about public service. I know city government. I know our neighborhoods.
I am not seeking power or a stepping stone to higher office. I am seeking to bring to City Hall the smart, effective, honest, and neighborhood-focused leadership that all Atlantans deserve. I believe that by training, experience, and public service dedication, I am uniquely qualified to serve in this role at this time.[77]
While other candidates have vague references to policy, or completely ignore it altogether, I offer real solutions below. These are specific, tangible, and actionable.
#1 - Voter Turnout
My #1 goal is to see the city election in November have the highest turnout and voter participation in Atlanta history. Being an off-cycle election year, voter turnout is typically very low and very weak. This is unfortunate, since local elections have the biggest impact on our day to day lives and our communities. If you agree with the rest of my platform, please vote for me. If you hate my platform, please vote for someone else. Either way, just VOTE.
#2 - Crime
No mystery here – the top issue on everyone's mind is crime and how to lower the crime rate. It’s very clear what solutions need to be implemented to stem the flow of crime and criminals. However, much of the discussion and blame has been misplaced and misdirected (largely by our elected officials). The kneejerk reaction to date has been to blame the police. THE APD ARE NOT TO BLAME FOR ANY OF THE SPIKE IN CRIME!
The majority of crime is due to a relatively small number of individuals. These people are the primary drivers of violence in our community. The APD knows who many of these people are and has actually caught many of these criminals. The issue is that a small number of them will actually serve any jail time. This is a failure of the Fulton County District Attorney and the leniency shown to violent criminals by the Judges.
The solution to stemming violence in Atlanta is to actually have criminals serve jail time. Violent criminals need to be in jail – not endangering our communities on the streets.
The spike in crime is solely due to the incompetence of the Fulton County District Attorney and the leniency shown to violent criminals by the Judges. It’s the worst kept secret amongst violent criminals that Atlanta is the best place to get caught. Chances are that their case will be dropped, mishandled, or botched in some form by the DA’s office. Even if they do see a judge, the odds are in their favor that they won’t see the inside of a jail cell.
Don’t believe me? Read the ‘Atlanta Repeat Offender Commission’ report (link here). They studied only violent, repeat offenders and found that “just 23 percent of City of Atlanta repeat offenders were sentenced to confinement” – that’s a horrifying statistic. A broader study of lesser offenses or first time criminals would like show an even lower percentage. This clearly demonstrates that criminals have no accountability, even after they get caught. This puts everyone in harms way.
Specific Solutions to Crime:
Re-open the Atlanta city jail. Fulton county has repeatedly cited overcrowding and COVID as the reason for releasing violent and dangerous criminals into our community. Let’s take this excuse away.
End the use of signature bonds for violent and repeat offenders. Releasing these criminals on their own recognizance is meaningless and puts everyone in harms way.
Provide more support for the Fulton County DA. We have a new DA, Fani Willis, and she does deserve support from the city. She recently asked for additional funding to help reduce the case backlog in her office. The city of Atlanta should provide all the support she asks for, and more. The damage caused by criminals on our streets costs many time more any amount of support that would be provided to the DA.
Provide better transparency with judicial records and decisions. Some judges sentence up to 40% of the defendants in their courtroom to jail, some sentence less than 10%. There is clearly a lack of consistency when it comes to sentencing. The citizens of Atlanta deserve better. The odds of a criminal going to jail should not depend on which judge they see – it should depend on their crime, the severity of the crime, and their past offenses, if any. Judges that put our community in harms way should be removed from the bench, period.
Identify and close venues that are magnets for criminals and crime. A disproportionate number of business (typically bars and nightclubs) account for the majority of 911 calls and crime. We have the data to identify these locations. The City should work with the business owners to implement solutions to reduce crime. Businesses that fail to work with the City or fail to reduce crime should be closed.
#3 - Atlanta Police
Unfortunately, the Atlanta Police (APD) have been under attack from all sides. First, they have the dangerous and life threatening job of patrolling our streets and apprehending criminals. Second, they bear the brunt of complaints from citizens regarding the spike in crime. Lastly, they lack support from both the Mayor and some city council members. This is horrendous and has caused a sharp drop in morale amongst the APD. These efforts also hinder recruitment and the retention of existing officers.
The APD has one of the best departments in the country. They do a fantastic job of investigating, closing cases, and making arrests. The APD is understaffed, overworked, and suffering from low morale, but increasing their ranks alone won’t reduce crime. The police are merely the first step in the criminal justice system, with the DA’s office, courts, and judges comprising the remaining steps.
Specific Enhancements for the APD:
Support the APD. They put their lives on the line keeping us safe. There is no need to treat police officers like veterans returning from Vietnam. Say “thank you” the next time you see an officer. Show your appreciation and support.
Focus on recruiting and retaining officers so the APD can reach their authorized and appropriate staffing levels.
Offer financial incentives for officers who left in the last 2 years to return. Returning officers would not need basic training and are familiar with the department and the city neighborhoods.
Ensure that the budget is in place for APD to continue to get the best and most advanced training possible.
Ensure the budget is available for APD to work with the best technological solutions available (for example: additional remotely operated and monitored cameras).
#4 - Homelessness
While the homelessness in Atlanta is not as bad as other cities, any amount is unacceptable. We need to be mindful to separate compassion and tolerance. I believe we all have compassion and a desire to see homelessness ended. However, we cannot tolerate and allow our brothers and sisters to live on the streets. Given the scale of wealth and resources available in this country, it is intolerable that homelessness exists, on any level.
Specific Solutions for Homelesss:
We don’t have to re-invent the wheel. Other cities have successfully tackled this, we can copy and model successful programs and initiatives.
Housing first policies have been effective in other cities. We should advance this as much as possible in Atlanta.
Locate, identify and gather information regarding our homeless population. We can’t effectively provide assistance if we don’t know where they are, who they are, and what assistance they need.
Reduce the bureaucracy and paperwork associated with providing resources and assistance. This includes housing programs, health care, job training, and job placement.
#5 - Basic Services
The City of Atlanta provides a number of basic government services such as parks, roads/road maintenance, and public housing support, among others. In parts of the city, these basic services have been crumbling or non-existent altogether. The lack of these services can erode the quality of life in the city and prompts residents to flee and businesses to relocate. Right now, the city has no plan to proactively address these issues. Rather, the city is reactive and only responds to the citizens, businesses, and groups that make the most noise regarding issues in certain locations. This is not viable long term and we can do better. ALL citizens of Atlanta deserve to have the same level of basic government services.
Specific Solutions for Basic Services:
Do a complete bottoms-up needs assessment of the basic services, identifying the locations, requirements, and severity of the issues. Identify the budget and resources required to bring the basic services up to standard.
Employ resources to actively identify gaps and issues with basic services before issues become more severe.
Enhanced 311 service for citizens to submit requests and provide feedback.
Identify blighted properties and underserved neighborhoods and prioritize these areas.
#6 - Accountabilty & Transparency
I’m not going to linger on the lack of accountability and transparency that has plagued the mayors office for years – I’m sure my fellow candidates have that covered. However, the lack of accountability and transparency does significantly erode the trust and confidence in government that our citizens place with elected officials. The city of Atlanta has a lot of rebuilding to do to regain that trust.
I know its very easy to make platitudes regarding “accountability and transparency” and “building trust”, but I do offer some specifics below that should be implemented, regardless of the outcome of the election.
Lastly, I put accountability and transparency as my #6 issue just to give other candidates the opportunity to state “I don’t know about Mr. Hammad, but I put accountability and transparency as my #1 focus.”
Specific Solutions for Accountaiblity & Transparency
I will set up an independent commission, with unwavering access to investigate any claims of waste, fraud, or abuse in the city of Atlanta government. This commission would be beyond the reach of influence or interference from the Mayors office.
I promise to publicize my meeting calendar. I will be transparent about who I meet (both groups and individuals) and when I met with them.
Put in place greater internal controls over city issued purchase cards (“p-cards”), to hopefully avoid situations like the time the CFO purchased machine guns and military grade weapons for personal use.
Yes, this really happened! View for yourself:
Fox 13 Article link
AJC Article link
Lastly, if elected, I want citizens and journalist to hold my feet to fire. As Mayor, I am responsible for everything that occurs within the city of Atlanta government. Ignorance is not an excuse. Demand answers from me, demand accountability from me.
#7 - Plagiarizating
If I am not successful in the election, I give my permission to the elected Mayor to plagiarize any and all of the ideas above. :)[77]
Mark Hammad completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hammad's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
My name is Mark Hammad and I’m running for Mayor of Atlanta. I was born and raised in the Atlanta area and it saddens me to see the state of the city. We have serious issues that have been allowed to manifest due to the inaction of our elected officials. Crime is the most serious issue and much of the crime is preventable, yet no action has been taken.
Growing up, I’ve seen Atlanta grow as well. The city has so much to offer, but opportunity is being squandered.
Rather than flee the city and its problems, I’ve been called to run for Mayor. I choose to stay and fight for Atlanta and a promise of a better future. I’m a husband and a father and I’m fighting to make Atlanta a better city for my child and all of the children in Atlanta.
I will significantly reduce the violent crime in Atlanta. Criminals need to be in jail, not on our streets.
I will bring the basic city services (trash, parks, roads, public housing, etc) up to standards for ALL neighborhoods.
I will devote resources to help the homeless. I will advance a housing first policy and bring all the resources needed to assist, including mental health, addiction, job training, and job placement.
The solution to stemming violence in Atlanta is to actually have criminals serve jail time. Violent criminals need to be in jail – not endangering our communities on the streets.
The spike in crime is solely due to the incompetence of the previous Fulton County District Attorney and the leniency shown to violent criminals by the Judges. It’s the worst kept secret amongst violent criminals that Atlanta is the best place to get caught. Chances are that their case will be dropped, mishandled, or botched in some form by the DA’s office. Even if they do see a judge, the odds are in their favor that they won’t see the inside of a jail cell.
Further, this is not a new issue – the last ‘Atlanta Repeat Offender Commission’ report showed that for violent, repeat offenders that “just 23 percent of City of Atlanta repeat offenders were sentenced to confinement” – that’s a horrifying statistic. This clearly demonstrates that criminals have no accountability, even after they get caught. This puts everyone in harms way.
Specific solutions that I plan to implement to reduce crime:
• Re-open the Atlanta city jail. Fulton county has repeatedly cited overcrowding and COVID as the reason for releasing violent and dangerous criminals into our community. Let’s take this excuse away.
• End the use of signature bonds / joke bond for violent and repeat offenders. Releasing these criminals puts everyone in harms way.
• Provide more support for the Fulton County DA. We have a new DA, Fani Willis, and she does deserve support from the city. She recently asked for additional funding to help reduce the case backlog in her office. The city of Atlanta should provide all the support she asks for, and more.
• Provide better transparency with judicial records and decisions. There is clearly a lack of consistency when it comes to sentencing.
• Identify and close venues that are magnets for criminals and crime. A disproportionate number of business (typically bars and nightclubs) account for the majority of 911 calls and crime. The City should work with the business owners to implement solutions to reduce crime. Businesses that fail to work with the City or fail to reduce crime should be closed.
Atlanta faces many hurdles when it comes to transportation. The biggest transportation issue that Atlanta faces is being extremely car dependent. We need a leader who will support and advocate for real public transit expansion, giving residents and commuters viable options and moving away from our car dependency.
Transportation is my wheelhouse and an area I know very well. I have worked as a transportation consultant and I have experience working on every type of transportation project, including roads, highways, streetcars (light rail), bus rapid transit (BRT), subway (heavy rail), and aviation.
Through my experience, I have become an ardent public transit advocate and supporter. What Atlanta needs is a leader who will champion a real expansion of the MARTA system. The Atlanta region has not done a major expansion of MARTA in more than 20 years. In that same time, the Atlanta region has grown immensely.
Atlanta lacks real transportation options and alternatives for commuters and we all suffer as a result. We see this in the traffic that chokes the connector, I-85, SR400, I-75, I-20, and I-285 on a daily basis. As Mayor, I will advance an expansion of MARTA up to Gwinnett, North Fulton, and Cobb counties. We need a leader who will bring together all the stakeholders to get a real regional expansion completed for MARTA – this includes dozens of local municipalities, the state of Georgia, and our federal partners.
For many in the Atlanta region, having a car is not a luxury, but a necessity and we need to provide alternatives to allow people the choice to move away from being car dependent. This will allow both the city and the region to be more sustainable as we grow. This will also drive development and continue to attract businesses and residents. Expanding public transit will allow Atlanta and the region to achieve many goals, including sustainability, growth, development, equitable access, and equitable opportunities for everyone in the Atlanta region.
My priorities are crime, basic city services, and homelessness.
On crime, we need to direct our action appropriately. THE POLICE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INCREASE IN CRIME! The APD has been doing their job.
The violent crime is out of control as a result of failures with the previous DA’s office and inconsistent judicial outcomes. I will work with the APD, DA’s office, and the courts to bring greater consistency and more accountability to the criminals. The focus would be on the most serious crimes and criminals – repeat and violent offenders. We will work to make sure that criminals are accountable and face jail time, bringing justice and dignity to the victims.
Our basic city services are crumbling or non-existent in nearly every neighborhood across the city. The most stark examples are trash pickup and the state of our infrastructure – with some roads and bridges in desperate need of attention. This will be a priority with the most urgent needs being addressed first.
Lastly, we need to address homelessness. Right now, the city does not have a vision, template or overall strategy to approach this and as this problem potentially scales up, we will be unable to adequately respond. My approach is to develop a strategic plan for centralizing the resources to assist the homeless. Second, we need to prioritize the most vulnerable of this population and focus on a housing-first policy.
Ethics, transparency, and accountability are a core personal belief of mine. I truly believe that I am personally accountable for EVERYTHING that happens in the city and in city hall. The last thing I want to do is stand in front of the citizens and press to answer for more fraud or another scandal.
First, it is my responsibility to model and adhere to a code of ethics and transparency. Second, all of my appointees and cabinet members will be selected, in part, based on how they value and exemplify ethics and transparency.
Third, better monitoring and controls of employee timecards, contracts, purchases, p-card use, and other city resources will be set up. My goal is that any employee, office, or contract should be able to fully pass a rigorous audit without any blemishes or question marks.
Lasty, I will set up an independent commission, with unwavering access to investigate any claims of waste, fraud, or abuse in the city of Atlanta government. This commission would be beyond the reach of influence or interference from the Mayor’s office or any other department. While the City currently has an ethics board, the efficacy, true oversight, and work of the board is in question, given the investigations that have transpired over the last few years. This board either needs to be scrapped or we need to bring in the resources to allow them unfettered access to all aspects of city business.
Finally, if elected, I want citizens and journalist to hold my feet to fire. As Mayor, I am responsible for everything that occurs within the city of Atlanta government. Ignorance is not an excuse. Demand answers from me, demand accountability from me.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
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Kenny Hill
Campaign website
Hill's campaign website stated the following:
"
Kenny Hill has a Plan for Peace
Our city faces many challenges. We cannot expect to solve the issues of crime, affordable housing, transportation, and inequity with flawed leadership. Sustainable solutions require a foundation of transparency and trust. Trust in city government has been broken and must be restored. This requires a political outsider with the conviction to lead and the compassion to serve.
I have the conviction and a plan to eradicate corruption and the crippling crime in our city. I also have the compassion to reach and lift the disenfranchised among us. My candidacy is based on things that I have already accomplished. Housing the homeless, stabilizing fragile families with affordable housing and moving them to sustainability, improving literacy rates for early learners, revitalizing communities, improving communication between police and the community are all things that I have done as a private citizen.
Atlanta deserves servant leadership that will serve and unite every community in our city.
Better Public Safety
Atlanta’s Public Safety is a major issue in the city. Many neighborhoods and countless families are exposed to crime and unsafe environments every day in Atlanta. As a city, we cannot stand for that. We need to create a community that is safe for all families and visitors to this great city.
I have a comprehensive plan to enlist, equip, and empower the APD called “Back The BLUEprint.” With “Back The BLUEprint”, we will be engaging officers at the beginning of them becoming Police Officers of the APD in the Academy.
We will invest in the officers to empower them to become official ambassadors in the communities that they will serve. This new and innovative way of policing will become a template for other police departments.
We have to respond with adequate advocacy and representation in these communities because if we don't advocate for the attention and the trust of our young people then the criminal activity will.
With “Back The BLUEprint,” we are totally revisiting the impact on our officers and repositioning them to be successful on the job and in life.
Kenny Hill's Back the BLUEPrint Plan
"Crime is at the top of everyone’s mind, and it must be addressed, however
“We cannot Arrest our Way out of this problem. We must Invest our way out.”
As mayor I will support our officers and our communities 100 percent!
My Back the BLUEPrint Plan Includes:
Recruiting and retaining a minimum of 2000 officers.
Building community connectivity with officers and citizens.
Addressing root causes and the fruit produced by criminal behavior.
Better Educational Outcomes
The youth of our city for too long have become background, second tier, and not top priority by our city’s leadership.
It is time for Atlanta to have a leader with compassion to do the right thing and walk hand in hand with Atlanta Public Schools to ensure that every resource needed is provided for our young people.
Atlanta needs a leader who will focus on the next generation. Why? Because their future is our future.
Children born in certain areas of Atlanta have less than a 4% chance of making it out of poverty. This statistical fact is directly connected to the educational opportunities available.
It is on the elected leadership of our city to reach into the situations of poverty and provide a lifeline to pull people out of the situation that they didn’t ask to be in.
As a new kind of Mayor for Atlanta, this is the type of leadership I will bring with the focus on providing a safe community for every community in our city.
We Read Together
We Read Together is an incentive-based community reading program that aims to make reading a strength for elementary school aged students. The program seeks to engage the parents and encourage them to create learning environments in the home. By creating set aside times for family reading and sharing without distractions, students connect with their parents around reading and learning.
Better Affordable Housing
When I think about affordable housing, the Atlanta Housing Authority has not built a single-family development in 11 years. Let thank sink in … 11 years and there has been no Atlanta Housing Authority development.
While the former mayor who is now running for a 3rd Term touts that his administration was an economic boom for the city, there was no Atlanta Housing Authority development. Having a budget surplus was more important than addressing the needs of the thousands in need of housing.
Residents living in apartments owned by absentee or negligent landlords speak of nightly gunfire These are pockets of hopelessness and despair. These deplorable living conditions breed crime that spreads throughout the city.
And now, the need of affordable housing has compounded because it's been neglected. It is time to catch up.
As mayor of Atlanta, I will continue to create livable, safe, and affordable housing for the residents of this city.
The Launch Pad
The Launch Pad Foundation was founded in 2014 it serves as a vehicle to take people from homelessness and disenfranchisement into sustainable housing.
We partner with local homeless shelters and placement organizations to identify individuals who can benefit from the housing assistance while they acquire the skills needed to become self-sustained.
Better City Leadership
When I think about the challenges our city is facing, they are numerous, and they are serious:
The severity of the challenges our city is facing is due to Compromised Leadership
Career Politicians … Compromised City Leadership has led to the violent crime we are now facing in Atlanta. When the leaders of our city care more about their political careers, political agendas, and personal gain instead of providing the change needed, this type of corruption, negligence, and bureaucracy gives rise to chaos and crime.
Because city leadership has not truly addressed the needs of affordable housing, educational advancement, economic equity, empowerment, and mobility, frustration and diminished hope has been bred.
For example the Workforce Development Department has a history of corruption, mismanagement, and abuse. Millions of dollars have been returned to the federal government unused. Contracts have been awarded to groups with no qualifications other than their connection to the mayor.
When you have City Departments that are supposed to serve the needs of the least fortunate of our city and help them rise above their plight but instead serve their own lusts this is another sign of a failed system and compromised leadership.
Atlanta deserves a new kind of Mayor that will be focused on fighting for all citizens no matter if you live on the North side, the South side, the East side, or the West side.
This is “Change Worth Finding.”
Through my experience in business, I have learned the right way to do business. I've learned that you maintain your commitment to your associates, to your customers, to your suppliers and your shareholders. And when you lead in this manner, you don't disenfranchise anyone, and you actually enhance the forward momentum of your company. By showing compassion to all involved, you create true partnership. As a result, you have people truly pulling for the vision and pushing ahead in unity.
We need leadership in Atlanta that is capable of serving as the CEO to make the hard decisions concerning crime.
We also need leadership in Atlanta capable of serving as the CCO (Chief Compassion Officer) who looks at the homeless single families and the children who are not being educated to be able to compete in a global economy.
Better Economic Opportunity
Atlanta has numerous Infrastructure and Transportation needs that are hindering Atlanta’s Economic Development. The undelivered infrastructure projects continue to be held up by procurement.
The reason for this is clear. We don't have enough qualified developers bidding on the projects … Why? Because we have run them off with the “pay for play.”
We need to reboot and regain the trust of developers to come and work in the city of Atlanta. We need to create an environment for developers where they know that the jobs are going to be issued fairly.
It should not matter how well your connection to City Hall is, or to the Procurement Team, or to the Mayor's office, or the City Council. The things that should matter most are that you are qualified to do the job that you are bidding on, and you are able to complete the job on time with a high level of quality.
We have to have a holistic approach to how we administer contracts in Atlanta. We have to develop a holistic approach to administering contracts that results in jobs and economic mobility for workers.
We should be a model for supporting businesses that excel in service delivery and improving the well being of their employees.
Better Transportation
Our city transportation is crucial for economic mobility.
Unfortunately, we have citizens who earn the least but have the greatest commute and the most difficulty in getting to their workplaces or job centers.
Atlanta needs to have transit-oriented development that makes accessible transportation to our work centers and our communities possible.
In 2018, the City Council initiated the Transportation Department, but now there's a backlog. We have done the work, we know what needs to be done, but the same bureaucracy is now clogging the procurement process.
Atlanta needs leadership that will cut through the red tape.
As your Mayor, I will create pathways that eliminate corruption and get to the core of solving transportation issues in our city.
I have the desire, the focus, and the resolve to make transportation a priority that yields results not excuses.
We no longer can afford city leadership allowing or enabling continual delays.[77]
Rejuvenate Atlanta
Now, more than ever, we deserve effective coalition-building leadership committed to making sure that our City prospers. This philosophy is the driving force behind my candidacy and my willingness to serve our great City.
Improve public safety by putting more cops on the beat and creating incentives to retain and recruit more fire and police personnel.
Partner with the Atlanta School Board to improve education and create effective After-school Programs to help combat adolescent crime and truancy.
Advocate for better practices in spending at City Hall and work to implement a new finance accountability structure.
Implement technology efficiencies to provide more transparency in government.
Create new jobs and grow the economy by supporting tax incentives and reducing bureaucracy for small businesses.
Make sure City Hall works for you by sweeping streets, enforcing codes and maintaining clean, safe parks.
Support regional transportation alternatives and secure more funding for MARTA, walking/bike trails and sidewalks.
Work to protect human rights and ensure all people are treated with dignity and respect.
Always listen and remain accessible to all Atlantans. Every resident deserves a city that works for them.[77]
Felicia Moore created the "Mattie's Call" alert system, which helps police find wandering adults and others who have dementia or other mental disabilities. This exact alert system has now been adopted statewide and has directly helped save hundreds of lives and brought awareness and compassion to this important issue.
Felicia Moore created and passed Project Lifesaver, an ankle bracelet system that helps keep family, friends, and neighbors with Alzheimer’s safe, directly contributing to the public safety of Atlanta’s most vulnerable populations.
Felicia Moore successfully fought against the encroachment of the sewage plant into several historic Atlanta neighborhoods, helping protect property values and neighborhood identities.
Felicia Moore successfully fought for pay raises for police officers and firefighters. Making sure our first responders get paid helps make our communities safer.
Felicia Moore also spearheaded the 2011 pension reform effort for the Atlanta Police Department, helping save thousands of jobs and millions of dollars for the City of Atlanta.
Felicia Moore successfully fought to repeal a $300 EMS fee for seniors, a cost that kept some seniors from calling for help when they really needed it. Felicia Moore has always fought to help protect those on fixed incomes.
Felicia Moore successfully fought for more transparency in airport contracts.
Creating and Protecting Jobs + Economic Development
Felicia Moore directly fought against Atlanta’s very dangerous food deserts and single-handedly fought for the brand-new Publix Supermarket in Northwest Atlanta where there had not been a grocery store in decades. This helped bring healthier, fresh food options to thousands of NW Atlanta families and helped create hundreds of local jobs. Felicia had to directly fight against City Council and the Mayor’s office to get this done.
Felicia Moore was instrumental in passing an important NW Atlanta revitalization project. Felicia initiated the idea to turn the Bellwood Quarry into what is now an important water reservoir that helped bring millions of dollars of infrastructure to our city and helped create hundreds of local jobs.
Felicia Moore sided with our neighborhoods against water and sewer privatization in Atlanta, citing an inevitable loss of jobs, decreased service, increased complaints, and increased boil advisories under private ownership. Felicia fought to protect those jobs knowing “Atlanta grows where the water goes,” and believes Atlanta should be in control of its own future.
As Chair of the Finance Committee, Felicia Moore regularly fought to balance our city’s budget. During Felicia’s tenure as Finance Chair, she successfully ushered the city out of debt, which helped lead to a $17.4 million surplus. Her efforts directly helped lower costs for the city’s financial needs and helped improve our city’s credit rating, directly saving Atlanta taxpayer’s money.
Fighting for Affordability, and Increasing Affordable Housing
Felicia fought for the Affordable Housing Trust fund to be included in the Beltline Project. She also, ensured that new housing developments in her district included affordability for rental and homeownership units.
Felicia Moore successfully fought against an increase in sewer fees to Atlanta families.
Felicia Moore successfully fought to bring awareness to the mayor’s office holding onto federal funds meant to pay for housing for Persons Living With AIDS. The subsequent media investigation helped prevent nearly 400 evictions for some of our most vulnerable.
A Long History of Fighting for Equality
Felicia Moore helped fight for and pass a ground-breaking Anti-Discrimination bill that made it illegal to discriminate in employment, public accommodations, and housing not only on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, and age, but also on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, parental or familial status, and domestic relationship status.
Felicia Moore fought against the raid of The Eagle, a popular gay bar. Felicia fought for anti-discrimination training for police.
Protecting the Environment
Felicia Moore led the effort to create Jennie Drake Park and Underwood Hills Park in historic west side neighborhoods.
Felicia Moore led the effort to transform the old Bellwood Quarry into Atlanta's largest park that includes the development of a massive reservoir to serve Atlantans in times of climate crisis.
Felicia Moore individually sponsored a veto override bill to help an important River cleanup project move ahead. Felicia has always fought to help clean up and protect our waterways.
Felicia Moore led rallies and the legislative effort that ultimately defeated the state legislature’s plan to allow unrestricted landfills in our communities. As a former NPU President, and then as a City Councilmember, and now as our Council President, Felicia has always fought to protect our neighborhoods.
Felicia Moore successfully fought to get sidewalks along Bankhead neighborhoods. Sidewalks increase walkability for neighborhoods and help keep our seniors and children safe.
Felicia Moore successfully fought to increase fines for littering and unkempt land. Keeping our roadways free of litter is not only better for the environment but experts tell us it also helps deter crime.
Felicia personally cleaned up litter, debris, and scrap tires from her district bi-annually and sponsored clean-up of creeks and neighborhoods.[77]
Safe and Prosperous Atlanta
Crime is the number one crisis facing our city. Right now, in every neighborhood across our city, Atlantans feel less safe. Crime impacts our personal and collective quality of life and the city’s reputation, creating a vicious cycle that undermines everything that makes our city vibrant. The fundamental truth is that until Atlanta feels safe again, nothing else will feel right.
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:
Hire and properly train 750 new APD officers so that we have a fully functional force, and coverage throughout the city.
Provide all – new and existing – officers with implicit bias and de-escalation training.
Keep the Atlanta City jail open to eliminate the overcrowding in the Fulton County jail, and shut down the revolving door for repeat violent criminals.
Work with state and county leaders to hire new judges to eliminate the huge prosecution backlog caused by COVID-shutdowns.
Establish weekly cabinet meetings to review crime data and implement solutions across departments.
Upgrade precinct locations and facilities and replace outdated equipment.
Expand Atlanta’s Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative (PAD), a program created during Mayor Reed’s first term, and reopen the Centers of Hope recreation centers to get kids off the streets safely.
Triple the city’s network of traffic cameras and license plate readers, including adding safety surveillance to public parks.
Revamp APD Code Enforcement processes to target the city's most egregious offenders and aggressively prosecute nuisance establishments.
Establish LGBTQ+ hate crime protections in APD's Special Victims Unit.
Economic Recovery and Growth
Smart economic development demands a decisive, visionary leader who enjoys a strong relationship with the state economic development team. Kasim Reed is that leader and has the record to prove it. Addressing the opportunity gap – the pervasive inequities that sideline too many Atlantans based on their race, their class, their zip code – will be a guiding principle for Kasim Reed’s Administration. Here are the core elements of Kasim’s economic development plan:
Expand success obtained by Invest Atlanta and recruit more companies to Atlanta.
Ensure that economic development incentives are transparent and accountable, so that we know our tax dollars are actually creating new jobs and affordable housing.
Encourage Atlanta’s Fortune 500 companies to create good paying jobs for those without college degrees.
Entrepreneurship to Enterprise: Grooming Atlanta’s most promising tech, product, and service start-ups and growing them into global powerhouses by using private sector mentorship and investment.
Expand Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative (WEI), doubling the city’s investment.
Create a youth coding academy, to train and place Atlantans in entry level software careers.
Work with Atlanta’s public institutions of higher learning, including Georgia State, Georgia Tech, and Atlanta Metropolitan, as well as the AUC and Emory University to expand access to college and college classes for APS students.
Partner with Atlanta labor unions to establish and expand apprenticeships/vocational training programs.
Match 50,000 Atlantans with checking accounts, giving them access to banking services and expanding financial literacy.
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
There are many reasons we love to call Atlanta home, as do the thousands of people moving here every year. As that growth and development occurs, we need to fight to ensure that Atlanta remains affordable for the people who have long called it home, as well as the people who work hard every day to keep our doors open. Here are the core elements of Kasim’s plan to ensure affordability and workforce housing throughout the City:
Conduct a city-wide audit of the area’s current affordable housing digest, ensuring that current affordability commitments are being met.
Create Atlanta’s first-ever Office of Anti-Displacement.
Make better use of currently owned public land.
Layer units to help both low and middle-income households.
Build housing for middle income city employees, including public safety officers and teachers, so they can live in the town they serve.
Double the number of affordable units near MARTA stations without jeopardizing or destabilizing historic single-family neighborhoods.
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
Mayor Reed’s leadership resulted in significant progress building out the Atlanta Beltline, new and improved coverage for MARTA’s transit network in the City, four successful referenda to fund water/sewer and transportation infrastructure, and the largest expansion of public transit in MARTA’s 40-year history. Despite the $250 million injection of infrastructure spending from Renew Atlanta and $300 million from the TSPLOST, Atlanta’s infrastructure backlog continues to need $1 billion in fixes. Kasim is proud of the progress we made together, but anyone who has been stuck in traffic or has damaged their car on a pothole knows there is more to do. Here are the core elements of Kasim’s plan to get Atlanta moving again:
Re-establish timely tracking and repair of potholes & pave/resurface every major thoroughfare that is plagued with potholes.
Coordinate with our federal, state, and regional partners to enhance MARTA, with a data-driven, equitable approach.
Repair and overhaul Atlanta’s storm drainage system and eliminate excessive street flooding.
Clear Atlanta’s sidewalk repair backlog and improve pedestrian mobility, particularly in transit corridors.
Expand functionality of Beltline by prioritizing and developing clear funding sources for Beltline rail.
Create the foundation for a light rail connecting the Clifton Corridor -- Lindbergh, Emory and the CDC.
Update the City’s building code to require sustainable electric infrastructure.
Work to eliminate the $1 billion infrastructure backlog and overhaul Atlanta’s public works procurement and contract implementation.
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
Revenues for the city of Atlanta top $2 billion dollars annually. Approximately one-third of that revenue is generated through property taxes. In seven years of balanced budgets and growing cash reserves, Kasim did not raise property taxes one time. Homeowners shouldn’t disproportionately bear the brunt of funding the city government. Revenue sources should be diverse, equitable, and reflect the value generated. Kasim has balanced our budget before without raising property taxes, and here’s how he plans to do it again:
Replenish the reserve.
Restore the City’s AA credit rating.
Balance the city’s budget to match actual revenue received.
Keep property taxes low, while continuing alternate revenue streams.
Streamline grant disbursement and process provider payments monthly.
Update the city’s procurement process and eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse.
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
The City of Atlanta is one of only two municipalities in the State of Georgia that has met the federal benchmarks and criteria for creating an effective end to homelessness for veterans. Meeting the criteria for each benchmark, set by USICH, means Atlanta has created a system and capacity to quickly identify and house veterans experiencing 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:
Work with local faith-based institutions to increase the amount of no-barrier shelter space.
Coordinate with food banks and other charities to make sure hot meals are available.
Partner with Grady, Worksource Atlanta and community stakeholders to expand wraparound services.
Protect significant sub-categories, such as HOPWA and the city’s unsheltered youth.
Work with local businesses on job training and placements.
Establish family shelters so parents aren’t separated from their children.
Improve police training on dealing with these individuals to help them off the streets and into shelters.
Follow through on our plans to improve the economy and increase affordable housing to create jobs and homes.
Sustainability and Green Space
Under Kasim’s leadership, the City of Atlanta emerged as a national and international leader in sustainability, including major expansions of public greenspace. We can pick the mantle up and continue our forward progress. Here’s how:
Continue to expand and improve Atlanta’s parks, community farms and greenspace.
Reduce the number of gas-powered vehicles in the city’s fleet.
Update the City’s building code to require sustainable electric infrastructure and passive solar design techniques.
Partner with the City’s restaurants and food banks to divert food waste away from landfills.
Add more charging stations at Hartsfield-Jackson and other appropriate locations.
Encourage more green office space.
Continue flood mitigation efforts in affected locations.
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
We are blessed to have many wonderful attractions here in Atlanta. Not only do they serve to entertain and enhance life for our residents, they also serve as a magnet for national and international travelers. From the fabulous Fox Theatre to the High Museum, majestic Mercedes-Benz Stadium to State Farm Arena, the moving of Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park to the Carter Center, our city offers an unparalleled variety of cultural, historical, and sporting attractions. As mayor, Kasim will use these and other sites as a springboard to make Atlanta the Cultural Gateway to the US.
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.
Continue working with our partners at the State level, as well as the film and TV industry, to bring more production projects to Atlanta.
Attract more major sporting events to our city – Super Bowls, Final Fours, and NBA All-Star Weekends.
Support our annual Pride weekends, the largest gatherings of LGBTQ+ and allies in the Southeast.
Make Castleberry Hill the home of Arte Noir Atlanta, the cultural center of the city.
Partner with film studios to develop an academy or accreditation program for Atlanta residents who want to pursue film careers.
Arte Noir Atlanta Ed - Work with APS to expand arts, music, and film curriculum and expand magnet schools focusing on the arts.
Equality, Equity, and Inclusion
Recognizing the economic power and diversity in Atlanta, Mayor Maynard Jackson made shared prosperity a foundation of city contracting. We can learn from that approach and lean into local workforce development to reach at-risk high school students and help them see a future where they are working and thriving.
Ensure hate crimes are properly investigated and prosecuted as such.
Work with local businesses on mentorship programs for at-risk youth.
Increase funding for the highly successful Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative (WEI).
Make Atlanta an attractive city for all cultures to work, worship, study and raise a family.
Increased support for LGBTQ+ small and micro businesses.
Properly manage federal HOPWA funds and provider disbursements.
Equal pay and equal opportunity for LGBTQ+ employees at all levels and areas of city government.
Establish LGBTQ+ hate crime protections in APD's Special Victims Unit.
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 is 100% committed to building the public’s trust and faith in Atlanta city government, and understands that begins with the mayor. Kasim supports the current City Council’s legislation to create an Office of Inspector General and will give full support to that office and respect its independence. Additionally, if he receives the privilege of serving as mayor again, he will implement additional measures to ensure that ethics remain at the center of the administration. Give full support to the Office of Inspector General and respect its independence.
Financial background screening of all senior-level hires.
Enhanced transparency and disclosure – publication of tax returns for himself and members of his senior team.
Quarterly ethics training for the Mayor's cabinet and senior team.
Incorporate an ethics council into the Office of the Mayor.
Require individuals lobbying the executive and/or legislative branch to register as a lobbyist.[77]
Creation of the Atlanta Drone & Aviation Department
Deployment of 50-100 city owned drones
Habitual violent offenders- Relocate offenders from city limits by placing them in a long-term rehabilitation facility.
2 Homeless Crisis
City run paramilitary style boot camp (offering rehabilitation, job skills, entrepreneurship training, and pathway finding)
City run affordable housing w Rent to Own options using 750 acres
3 Healthcare
Authorize a city run hospital
Offer services for half to no cost for homeless and strict low-income situations
Restrict & suspense city health mandates. The People should get to choose.
4 Police & the People
New Checks & Balances System designed to prevent a militarized police force and ease tension in the city
The People's Public Safety Authority tasked with the oversight of the overall Public Safety of our residents
Extensive Police Brutality Reports
5 City Code Enforcement
Address apartment complexes and impose/enforce city fines for over run trash and various resident complaints
Revitalize city owned lots and property
6 Investigations & Audits
Require a financial report from each city department within 5 weeks of inauguration
Creation of "The People's Media" aimed at providing daily news coverage, weekly forums, and monthly town halls where all residents are invited to Dine and Q & A with The Make Atlanta Safe Again City Council
7 Food Supply & Growth
Limit the # of dollar stores allowed within a certain mileage
Creation of a city run Market. "The People's Marker" which will be run by the city for 1-2 years. At this point the city should sell to graduates of our entrepreneurship school
Creation of the "Lit Zone" a city run amusement park
8 Limitation of City Fees
Restructure the list of city fines and determine if they are applicable to real life situations
Revisit the city tax requirement. Ensure that it is fair and just for all residents of the city
Look at curfew options for minors under 16yo
9 Deregulation of the Business Sector
Deregulate the business sector making way for more growth opportunities
Creation of the millennial entrepreneurship fund aimed at providing grants of $1,000-$10,000 to "qualified candidates ages 13-35
Rollback restrictions and regulations preventing certain classes of people from entering the business sector
Revenue Based Payroll Bill- Require businesses that operate within the city limits to pay employees based on their revenue. Max $15hr. Min $9.00hr by 2023.
10 Legalize Marijuana within City Limits
With strict regulations and oversight.
Business Growth + City Tax Growth
11 Road & Vehicle Safety
Fix all public roads and fill all public pot holes within 4 years of office
Officers will be required to enforce road safety. No more street racing, blocking traffic, and reckless driving with the city limits
Enforcement of vehicles impeding highway traffic.[77]
Relationship: Relationship building between the City of Atlanta’s citizens and APD by ending policing zones and implement district policing.
PAL: Via the Police Athletic League, beginning summer 2022, creation of a Basketball league of 12 teams (one from each District) versus APD Officers of the same district.
GREAT: Gang Related Education And Training program will teach kids to avoid aspects of gang life.
Officer Day Program: The Officer Day” program at schools in Atlanta will include officer’s visitation at Atlanta schools within their District to meet kids and parents.
SmartATLANTA
Sustainability: Create an Office of Sustainability which will create the blueprint for a SmartATLANTA.
Your Block, Your Voice: A suggestion box where citizens can let city leaders know about Issues in their communities using innovative technology.
Small Business Dept.: (SBD) will work with business associations in each District to help streamline business license/permit processes and assist in increasing the number of successful small businesses in Atlanta.
100 for 100 Program: 100 for 100 Program will raise $100 million in capital for 100 minority businesses, while also creating a an accelerated MBA Program for entrepreneurs.
K-12 Education
Institutes of Atlanta: Creation of 10 institutes to advance the math and science skills of students from disadvantage backgrounds. Institutes will include Katherine B. Johnson Aerospace Institute; Joseph L. Searless III Investment Banking Institute; John C. CaDena Debate and Public Speaking Institute; John W Cromwell Accounting and Finance Institute; Zelda B.W. Valdes Fashion Institute; Luis Barragan Architect Institute; Mary Jackson Mathematics and Science Institute; John S. Ford Computer Engineering Institute; Molina Mario Chemistry and Environmental Science Institute; Chien–Shiung Wu Physics and Green Infrastructure Institute.
Homeless/Mental Health
TIBIS Program: Transferring Individuals Back into Society (TIBIS) Program is a 12-month program which will engage with Atlanta’s unsheltered population. By using city property, the program will offer mental health, physical testing, and life skills building programs to the homeless.[77]
Mayoral elections were held in 28 of the 100 largest U.S. cities in 2021. Once mayors elected in 2021 assumed office, the mayors of 64 of the country's 100 largest cities were affiliated with the Democratic Party.
The following top-100 mayoral offices changed partisan control in 2021:
Ballotpedia researches issues in local elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many areas. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local election. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
The city of Atlanta uses a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body while the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.[91]
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
↑In battleground primaries, Ballotpedia based its selection of noteworthy candidates on polling, fundraising, and noteworthy endorsements. In battleground general elections, all major party candidates and any other candidates with the potential to impact the outcome of the race were included.
↑An entry marked as N/A means the candidate was not listed in the poll but is a qualified candidate in the race.
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