APN Candidate Questionnaire: Michael Julian Bond (Post 1-at-large) (UPDATE 1)
(APN) ATLANTA — In our continuing coverage of the 2021 City of Atlanta Municipal Elections, this article presents Post 1-at-large candidate Michael Julian Bond and his questionnaire responses to Atlanta Progressive News.
The candidates for the seat include Bond, who is seeking reelection; Alfred “Shivy” Brooks; Michael Brandon Goldberg; Todd Gray; and Jereme “JD” Sharpe.
APN sent a questionnaire to Mr. Goldberg weeks ago, but he has not responded.
APN just sent questionnaires to Brooks, Gray, and Sharpe on today, August 15, 2021, since the City’s Office of the Municipal Clerk un-redacted the contact information from candidate filings posted online.
Courtney English, the former Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education Member who ran against Councilman Bond in 2017, is running for Atlanta City Council President.
On July 08, 2021, Mr. English filed paperwork to officially terminate his Post 1 campaign, which had remained active since the last Municipal Election.
As recently reported by APN, Councilman Bond is the most progressive member on the Atlanta City Council, based on APN’s Scorecard, which scores dozens of votes dating back to 2003.
Councilman Bond, the son of former Georgia State Sen. Julian Bond (D-Atlanta), is one of the last remaining voices of the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement on the Atlanta City Council. (Councilwoman Andrea Boone, daughter of Joseph E. Boone, is another.)
As a general matter, over the last two decades especially, the City of Atlanta has lost extensive institutional history and knowledge.
If reelected, Bond would be one of only four Councilmembers to have served prior to 2005 to still be on the Council. (Councilwoman Cleta Winslow, Councilman Howard Shook, and Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd are the others.)
As new Councilmembers like Jennifer Ide (District 6), Matt Westmoreland (Post 2-at-large), and Amir Farokhi (District 2) have attempted to reshape the Atlanta City Council to resemble a corporate board, Bond, along with Boone, have consistently stood up for the people and for democratic traditions.
During the last Council term, the Council cut public comment delegation time at Atlanta City Council Meetings from a maximum of sixteen minutes to a maximum of ten minutes, which Bond opposed.
The Council cut the public comments of former elected officials from unlimited time, to two minutes, which Bond opposed.
The Council cut the public comments of current elected officials from other bodies, from unlimited time, to six minutes, which Bond opposed.
https://atlantaprogressivenews.com/2018/11/18/atlanta-council-to-consider-limiting-public-comment/
The Council limited proclamations, or recognition of outstanding citizens for their achievements, to four per meeting and fifteen minutes each, which Bond opposed.
Bond has been criticized by some progressives within the movement to defund the police for opposing the closure of the Atlanta City Detention Center, which he has argued ought to be sold to Fulton County instead.
But Bond has also introduced the major criminal justice policy reforms that have addressed the difficult work of eliminating so-called crimes from Atlanta’s criminal code.
Bond introduced the repeal of the now-former crime of moving household goods at night in Atlanta; and the repeal of the now-former crime of merely being present in a known drug area within a Drug-Free Commercial Zone, both which passed the Council, and both which were drafted by APN’s News Editor in furtherance of our 2017 Progressive Policy Platform.
Since Bond was reelected to Council in 2009, he has introduced approximately one dozen progressive ordinances and resolutions drafted or co-drafted by APN’s News Editor.
This has included the Turner Field Community Trust Fund, which was co-drafted by students, advocates, and residents of Atlanta’s Summerhill, Peoplestown, Mechanicsville, Pittsburgh, and Grant Park neighborhoods. The Fund has provided over five million dollars to organizations in those neighbors and kept seniors in their homes through free repairs.
Bond has also introduced affordable housing ordinances including the Affordable Housing Surplus Property policy, which has taken City surplus properties and used them for affordable housing; and the annual Affordable Housing Inventory policy, which aims to get an accurate count of the City’s affordable housing stock each year.
Bond has also struggled with ethics violations since his return to Council in 2010. As previously reported by APN, he was fined by the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission in 2016 for mismanagement or poor accounting of Council Office funds and campaign funds from 2009 to 2011.
Bond was not able to keep up with his payment plan with the Commission, leading to more proceedings before the Commission; and in 2020, he created a new payment plan.
Bond’s responses are as follows:
Policy 1: Homelessness/Criminal Justice Reform: Currently, the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances criminalizes homelessness in various ways. One of these ways is the prohibition on monetary solicitation (panhandling) in large geographic areas called “Restricted Monetary Solicitation Zones” (RMSZ’s) Code, Part II, Ch. 106-85(11)… Would you support (again) repealing RMSZ’s, given that aggressive panhandling would still be banned and panhandling within ten feet of ATM’s, egresses, etc. would still be banned?
Yes.
Policy 2: Homelessness/Criminal Justice Reform: Currently, the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances criminalizes homelessness in various ways. One of these ways is through curfew laws, making it a crime to be outside while under the age of eighteen during the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Curfew laws currently exempt children or teens who are working, going to or from school, running an errand for a parent, etc. There currently are no exemptions for homeless or emancipated minors, putting them at risk for being arrested merely for being homeless or emancipated. Would you support amending Code, Part II, Ch. 106-227, to add exemptions from the curfew law for homeless minors and emancipated minors?
Yes.
Policy 3: Affordable housing: Currently, the City of Atlanta has an ordinance on the books requiring a housing inventory so that policymakers and the public will have good data regarding the City’s housing stock and the affordability of each housing unit, Code, Part II, Ch. 54-6. However, like many City policies, it is not being enforced. One obstacle to enforcement is lack of data. Would you support updating the City’s business license requirements contained in Code, Part II, Chapter 30, to require that any residential lessors required to have a business license, to provide annual data on the prices of their rental units within the City of Atlanta as part of their annual renewal paperwork?
Yes.
Policy 4: Democracy: Currently, the City of Atlanta Charter (Sec. 2-501) and Code of Ordinances (Part II, 2-40) provide for voter-initiated referenda, whereby a voter could come up with a policy and submit it to the Municipal Clerk; and if enough voters sign a petition, the policy will go on the ballot for citywide consideration. However, upon belief and knowledge, this process has never been used due to the high signature burden and other obstacles. Would you support reducing the petition requirement from fifteen percent of registered voters, to fifteen percent of actual voters (or potentially even lower)?
Not sure. I would review this proposal against the Official Code of Georgia before making a decision.
Policy 5: Democracy: Currently, the City of Atlanta Charter (Sec. 2-501) and Code of Ordinances (Part II, Sec. 2-40) provide for voter-initiated referenda, whereby a voter could come up with a policy and submit it to the Municipal Clerk; and if enough voters sign a petition, the policy will go on the ballot for citywide consideration. However, upon belief and knowledge, this process has never been used due to the high signature burden and other obstacles. Would you support eliminating the requirement contained in Sec. 2-40 that the Municipal Clerk check that voters are up-to-date in paying their property taxes in order to sign a petition, a requirement which amounts to a quasi-poll tax?
Yes.
Policy 6: Environment: Currently, there are seven Council Committees, but none prioritize environmental stewardship. Would you support amending the Code of Ordinances, Part II, Ch. 2-131 and 2-135 to create a new Standing Committee on the Environment, whose task will be to consider the environment first on all policy matters and advance environmental policy?
Yes.
Policy 7: Democracy / Public Comment: Currently, the Code of Ordinances allows Committee Chairs to restrict public comments to only items on the committee agenda. Do you support amending Code of Ordinances, Part II, Ch 2-136 to allow public comment on any matter within the subject matter purview of the Committee, whether or not the specific matter is not on the agenda of the committee (i.e. – a policy that the Committee is not currently considering but ought to consider)?
Yes.
Policy 8: Economy: Currently, the City of Atlanta relies primarily on expensive bond financing and other borrowing to fund capital-intensive initiatives. Cities and states around the country are exploring the possibility of launching public banks that would be used to fund things like affordable housing, small businesses, and solar panel installations, with low-interest loans. Would you support a Study Committee to launch a public bank in Atlanta?
Yes.
Policy 9: Affordable housing: Currently, the City has three Inclusionary Zoning zones, the Beltline Overlay, Westside Overlay, and Westside Park Overlay (Code, Part III, Part 16, Ch. 36A, Sec. 16-36A.004; Ch. 37, Sec. 16-37A.004; Ch. 41, Sec. 16-41A.004). The Beltline and Westside Overlays currently require developers to set aside either (a) fifteen percent of units as affordable at 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) or below; or (b) ten percent at 60 percent of AMI. However, the Westside Park Overlay added a new compliance option, (c), where developers can set aside five percent of units at 30 percent of AMI or below. Would you support amending the Beltline and Westside Overlays to add this third option to serve low-income families in Atlanta?
Yes.
Policy 10: Environment: The City of Atlanta has yet to declare a climate crisis. Do you support passing a resolution declaring a climate crisis?
Yes.
Policy 11: Democracy / Transparency: Currently, Council Committees are struggling to meet the requirements of the Georgia Open Meetings Act, O.C.G.A. 50-14-1, et seq., especially when committee chairs call votes so quickly as to prevent the recording of vote details. Do you support amending Code, Part II, Sec. 2-133 to require committee chairs to call all votes in a manner that permits the committee analyst to record the mover, seconder, yeas, nays, abstentions, and absences for each vote?
Yes.
Policy 12: Democracy: Currently, members of the public have only two minutes to speak per person in Full Council Meetings. However, seniors are often observed struggling to make their comments within the allotted time. Research shows that cognitive processing time declines at age 67 a half standard deviation from the mean, and a full standard deviation at 79. (Murman, 2015; Ebaid et al., 2017; Emory University, 2019.) Would you support amending Code, Part II, Secs. 2-104, to provide additional public comment speaking time for seniors, and for persons with disabilities requiring reasonable accommodation: specifically, an additional minute for those seniors 67 and above; an additional two minutes for those above 79 (and an appropriate case-by-case accommodation for persons with cognitive or speaking-related disabilities)?
Yes.
Policy 13: Criminal Justice Reform: Currently, the City of Atlanta has higher penalties for drug crimes occurring within “Drug-Free Commercial Zones.” The Council recently rejected adopting a new Drug-Free Commercial Zone in District 4/West End because the zones tend to be in high-minority areas and because they send the wrong signal to police regarding proportionality of enforcement. However, the Council has not repealed the City’s existing Drug-Free Commercial Zones. Do you support repealing the existing zones contained in Code, Part II, Ch. 106-403, such that drug crimes will still be illegal in the City of Atlanta, but there will not be heightened enforcement or penalties in certain areas?
Not sure.
Policy 14: Affordable Housing: Currently, the City has three Inclusionary Zoning zones, the Beltline Overlay, Westside Overlay, and Westside Park Overlay (Code, Part III, Part 16, Ch. 36A, Sec. 16-36A.004; Ch. 37, Sec. 16-37A.004; Ch. 41, Sec. 16-41A.004). The Beltline and Westside Overlays currently require developers to set aside (a) fifteen percent of units as affordable at 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) or below; or (b) ten percent at 60 percent of AMI or below. The Westside Park Overlay added a new compliance option, (c) where developers can set aside five percent of units at 30 percent of AMI or below. However, under this framework, a developer would choose only one price point for compliance with the affordability requirement, instead of providing a mix of incomes. To promote mixed-income communities, would you support, for large projects of fifty units or more, amending all three IZ areas to require a “3-3-3″ plan: at least three percent of units affordable at 80 percent AMI; at least three percent at 60 percent AMI; and at least three percent at 30 percent AMI?
Yes.
Policy 15: Affordable Housing: Currently, the City of Atlanta has no consistent citywide policy around using zoning and land use incentives to negotiate voluntary commitments to affordable housing (i.e. – a Voluntary Inclusionary Zoning policy). The Code has a few zones with density bonuses that are under-utilized, because height would be a better incentive. Do you support amending Code, Part III, Part 16, Ch. 28, adopting a citywide Inclusionary Zoning policy to empower neighborhoods to self-designate as Height Bonus Areas, whereby development projects would be eligible for additional height by providing affordable housing units?
Yes.
Policy 16: Democracy / NPU’s: Currently, NPU’s are empowered to make recommendations regarding any matter of public policy to the City of Atlanta, per Code, Part III, Part 6, Sec. 6-3013(c). However, the Department of Planning only routinely communicates recommendations regarding only certain zoning matters and other specific categories of policy matters, to the City Council and the Mayor. This means it is up to each NPU to communicate their recommendations to the Atlanta City Council and Mayor. Do you support amending the Code to require the Department of Planning to provide a monthly report to the Atlanta City Council of all NPU votes on matters not otherwise included on the Full Council Meeting Agenda; and that this monthly report shall be included in any Full Council Meeting Agendas as an attachment for any meetings that fall within that month?
Yes.
Policy 17: Democracy / NPU’s: NPU’s make recommendations regarding policy to the City Council, but NPU’s do not (and legally cannot) have veto power over City Council decisions with which they do not agree. However, NPU’s often wonder whether Council Members are listening to them, especially when Council Members go against the wishes of one or more NPU’s. Would you support the creation of a “Responsive Statement to Neighborhoods” – whereby one or more Councilmembers may provide an optional statement called a Responsive Statement to Neighborhoods, by which they explain how they considered the input of one or more NPU’s with respect to one or more legislative items; and all Responsive Statements to Neighborhoods shall be attached to the appropriate meeting agendas?
Yes.
Policy 18: Democracy / NPU’s: Currently, the Code allows NPUs to utilize representative voting whereby individual residents and businesses lose their individual voting rights to vote on matters at NPU meetings; and whereby, in certain NPU’s, only neighborhood association delegates and business community delegates vote on what recommendations to make to the City Council. (Code, Part III, Part 6, Sec. 6-3012(3). Do you support repealing the language allowing “representative voting” in NPUs, restoring the principle of one person-one vote?
Don’t know. Many NPUs prefer the representation approach and self-determination for the NPUs is important. It may be wise to periodically review this NPU policy.
(END / Copyright Atlanta Progressive News / 2021)
UPDATE 1 and CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated in error that the period of campaign finance violations for Councilman Bond was through 2015; however, according to the Bond campaign, the period of violations was through 2011. This article has been updated to reflect the correction.