Atlanta Progressive News

 

(APN) ATLANTA — The Georgia STAND-UP Alliance hosted its second Atlanta election forum Tuesday night, October 06, 2009, at the IBEW Auditorium.

Nine total candidates running for Mayor of Atlanta, City Council President, and the soon-to-be vacated District 11 seat attended the event. Each of the candidates endorsed a community issues platform compiled by Georgia STAND-UP and released in August.

The STAND-UP & Vote! Community Issues Platform, crafted by over 160 Alliance members, frames key issues facing candidates running for Atlanta’s public offices this year.

As previously noted by Atlanta Progressive News, the platform contains seven planks: good jobs, economic development, affordable housing, public safety, transit and transportation, vacant and abandoned housing, and public land.

Moderators Erica Pines and Angela Robinson crafted their questions around these planks. District 11 candidates received four questions, Council President candidates six, and Mayoral candidates eight. Not all candidates were asked the same questions.

Several candidates were not in attendance including Mayoral candidates Mary Norwood, Lisa Borders, and Kyle Keyser, and Council President candidates Clair Muller, and Dave Walker.

Here is what they said, broken down by topical areas.

HOUSING AND GENTRIFICATION

Moderators asked candidates how they would protect residents from being forced out of areas where property values are skyrocketing due to gentrification.

Ray Abram, District 11 candidate, said developers should sign community benefit agreements that respect residents’ rights and wishes.

“We don’t want a situation where a condominium is built next to a low income housing unit so that all those residents are forced out,” he said.

Keisha Lance Bottoms, District 11 candidate, advocated controlling property taxes.

“There needs to be a serious examination of the property tax rates for seniors and low income communities… so they are not forced out of their homes,” she said.

Johnny Dixon, District 11 candidate, said the city should not have demolished public housing communities.

“One of the biggest mistakes this administration has made is letting the pendulum swing too far to one side,” he said. “We have to provide quality housing for everybody [and] we have to provide the necessary tools for families to succeed.”

A. Reginald Eaves, District 11 candidate, said the city should leverage American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to preserve and build more affordable housing.

Peter Brownlowe, a former Atlanta police officer and candidate for mayor, said taking care of crime is key.

“If we can actually fix that problem, property values will go up and people will be able to live where they want to live,” he said.

Kasim Reed would acquire vacant and abandoned properties from the Atlanta Housing Authority and turn them into affordable units.

Both Reed and Jesse Spikes support stronger code enforcement in order to reduce the frequency of vacant and abandoned properties.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Candidates discussed various ways they would keep citizens safe. Many candidates support growing the Atlanta Police Department and hiring a police chief that is more accountable.

“The buck will stop with me and not the police chief,” Reed said. He promised a national search to replace outgoing Atlanta Police Chief Richard Pennington and said he would have a conversation with that new chief “every single day.”

“There will be no more important job for me than keeping the city safe,” Reed added.

Spikes said he would hire a public safety commissioner who would outrank the police chief and would report to the mayor.

“The way you make things work the way they should is to hold people accountable,” he said.

Once the city hires more officers and a new police chief, many candidates want those officers patrolling communities on foot.

Bottoms supports acquiring vacant and abandoned properties that could be turned into affordable housing for police officers and firefighters.

Brownlowe and Spikes argued the city does not have enough revenue coming in to pay for public safety improvements. They argued eliminating waste from the city budget is key to finding money for safety enhancements.

Reed said he would redirect some funds from the recent 3-mill property tax increase, which is expected to generate $42 million, to public safety.

“If the City of Atlanta passed a 42 percent tax increase and they are still telling you that you can’t have better public safety, then you have to ask how much more do you need?” he said.

Reed said he would target other areas to pay for public safety and other improvements: eliminating non-public safety overtime, work to collect $25 million in lost funds, and reexamine every city contract over $500,000 to find which are wasteful or unnecessary.

Mitchell said he would “put public safety first.”

“That would be where the dollars would go first,” he said.

JOBS AND BUDGET

Atlanta, like the rest of the nation, is feeling the economic pinch, shedding jobs and cutting services to make financial ends meet.

Mitchell said furloughing city employees in order to balance the budget is “not preferable.”

“We will look for non-personnel ways… before we look to balance the budget on the backs of city employees,” he said.

Brownlowe said the city should solve its crime problem, an issue that keeps new businesses away from Atlanta.

“I’m all for bringing new businesses into the city and making sure people here can get those jobs,” he said.

Reed said projects like the BeltLine, sewer repairs, and the construction of a new terminal at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport should provide plenty of opportunities for Atlantans.

As mayor, Reed said he would work to strengthen the airport’s cargo terminal, which would attract more business from companies like UPS and FedEx.

“Hartsfield-Jackson is the best passenger airport in the world but we do not dominate cargo,” he said. “Those are quality jobs… with benefits for municipal employees.”

Many candidates support attracting new businesses to Atlanta but did not offer specifics on how to do that other than making the city safer and cleaner.

They agree eliminating waste and fraud should trump raising taxes as a method for balancing the budget.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Moderators asked several candidates how they would increase access to public transportation.

“It has to be safe, reliable, and economical,” Abram said. “I would support the BeltLine [because] it reduces our traffic and congestion as well as the wear and tear on our roadways.”

Bottoms supports a better bus service network that could connect passengers to MARTA rail stations.

Dixon said Atlanta should work with local, state, and federal governments to “secure better grants” and rally support for MARTA.

“The City of Atlanta, along with MARTA, has to work very closely with other Metro area counties to help them understand that MARTA really is ‘smarta,'” he said.

Silas G. Kevil, District 11 candidate, said the City should do a better job of educating the public on the importance of public transportation.

“MARTA has been undersold and MARTA is in trouble because it is underused,” he said.

Reed championed Georgia General Assembly legislation that would allow MARTA to use its capital reserve funds to cover operating expenses, a strategy currently forbidden under state law.

“We need to get that done so MARTA has access to all its funds,” he said.

Reed also supports state legislation that would create regional transportation funding districts that could raise funds for future transit projects of all types.

 

About the author:

Jonathan Springston is a Senior Staff Writer for Atlanta Progressive News and is reachable at jonathan@atlantaprogressivenews.com.

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