Kirsten Elise Dunn officially announced her mayoral candidacy Wednesday, telling supporters that she’s tired of the same old politicians making “20,000 promises” only for none of them to be kept.
Dunn shared her story at The Gathering Spot in Downtown Atlanta. The divorced mother of four sought to connect with residents who are apathetic about voting because they feel left out at City Hall — and emphasized to them how important their voices are.
She promised her own experiences will inspire her to be an inclusive leader.
“There have been many opportunities in my life when I could have counted myself out,” Dunn said. “By being orphaned at the age of 13 when my parent passed of HIV, I could have counted myself out then. I could have counted myself out when I ended up in foster care, where I survived molestation and rape. I could have counted myself out when, like 59% of foster children, I spent the majority of my 20s on the merry-go-round of recidivism.”
Dunn spent five years in prison after a 2002 fraud conviction.
“But today, I am a representation of resilience,” she said.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Dunn was the final person to qualify for the race to succeed Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. She identified herself as a real estate investor, optician, serial entrepreneur, and author whose “community service campaign method” is designed to make Atlanta stronger.
Wayne Smith, Dunn’s campaign manager, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Dunn wants to work with law enforcement and residents to stop crime using the CeaseFire initiative.
CeaseFire is a program from Chicago that deploys social service workers, former criminals and crime victims in communities heavily afflicted by gun violence, he said.
According to Dunn’s website, she also wants to make expansions in health services for residents and housing for the homeless. Additionally, she wants to provide more training and development for diverse businesses, including opportunities for “felons, veterans, recent college graduates, high school graduates, young entrepreneurs, LGBTQIA, business owners,” and nonprofits.
Dunn also wants to support improvements in education and more initiatives for homeownership and literacy training. According to her website, she’s working to develop a “One Atlanta App” for residents to access information on community resources, issues being considered by city leadership, and all other local, state, and federal elections.
Other candidates in the race include City Councilman Antonio Brown, Councilman Andre Dickens, Nolan English, Sharon Gay, Mark Hammad, Kenny Hill, Rebecca King, Council President Felicia Moore, former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, Walter Reeves, Roosevelt Searles III, Richard Wright and Glenn Wrightson.
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