Updated APN Atlanta City Council Scorecard – June 2020
(APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta Progressive News has updated its Atlanta City Council Scorecard to reflect several controversial votes taken on yesterday, June 20, 2020, by the Atlanta City Council regarding funding the Atlanta Police Department in the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UstnxjuqNt1xQYA2UUkjqta5Iia_dRRVHf2p-_o4-Q8/edit?usp=sharing
The new scores are as follows:
MICHAEL JULIAN BOND (1 at-large) 66.67
NATALYN ARCHIBONG (D5) 66
ANDREA BOONE (D10) 59.3
ANDRE DICKENS (3 at-large) 50
ANTONIO BROWN (D3) 50
MARCI COLLIER OVERSTREET (D11) 48.39
HOWARD SHOOK (D7) 45.2
CARLA SMITH (D1) 42.57
AMIR FAROKHI (D2) 39.4
CLETA WINSLOW (D4) 39.29
JENNIFER IDE (D6) 38.9
J.P. MATZIGKEIT (D8) 36.36
MATT WESTMORELAND (2 at-large) 36.1
JOYCE SHEPERD (D12) 31.18
DUSTIN HILLIS (D11) 29.03
Over a thousand members of the public called in voicemail public comments to the Atlanta City Council, with the majority of comments calling for major cuts to APD.
APD has taken up more than half of the City of Atlanta’s annual budget every year in recent memory.
Protesters have been in the streets in Atlanta and nationwide regarding a series of more brutal and horrifying murders of mostly Black civilians by police officers.
The Atlanta City Council voted to approve the FY 2021 Budget with no cuts to the budget of the Atlanta Police Department, in a vote of thirteen to two. Jennifer Ide (District 6) and Antonio Brown (District 3) cast the two nay votes, rejecting a budget not containing cuts to APD.
In a separate vote of seven to eight, the Council declined to sequester some 73 million dollars in funding for APD until the police department could be “reimagined.”
Voting yea were Carla Smith (District 1), Amir Farokhi (District 2), Brown, Natalyn Archibong (District 5), Ide, Matt Westmoreland (Post 2 at-large), and Andre Dickens (Post 3 at-large).
Voting nay were Cleta Winslow (District 4), Howard Shook (District 7), J.P. Matzigkeit (District 8), Dustin Hillis (District 9), Andrea Boone (District 10), Marci Collier Overstreet (District 11), Joyce Sheperd (District 12), and Michael Julian Bond (Post 1 at-large).
In a third related vote of nine to six, the Council approved a non-binding resolution to “reimagine” APD. In that vote, Boone and Bond joined the seven who also supported the sequestration of funds.
APN’s Scorecard scores over one hundred votes dating back to 2003. APN frequently updates the Scorecard throughout the year as votes occur.
http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/?s=council+scorecard
APN’s last article regarding the Council Scorecard was published in November 2019.
In addition to the APD votes, this Scorecard also adds several other new votes taken by the Council since November, including:
- A vote in December 2019 to trample upon Atlanta’s democratic traditions by limiting the public comments of current and former elected officials (opposed by only Councilmembers Bond and Boone); and
- A vote in January 2020 to ask the Georgia Legislature to allow cities to pass rent control laws; and
- A vote in February 2020 to amend the Code of Ordinances to prohibit residential lessors from refusing to accept a housing voucher, even though state law prohibits cities from enacting such a law (opposed by only Councilmembers Shook and Matzigkeit); and
(END / Copyright Atlanta Progressive News / 2020)