Democratic Mayor Andre Dickens hopes GOP partnerships will pay off

On the grounds of the Governor’s Mansion in Buckhead last week, Gov. Brian Kemp stood alongside Democratic Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and praised the pair’s “partnership” as state and city leaders celebrated the opening of a new Georgia State patrol post.

It was a project promised at the height of debate over crime in the wealthy neighborhood of Buckhead, when some residents threatened to secede from the city altogether if police presence wasn’t bolstered in the area.

In a flowery introduction, Republican Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns applauded Dickens for his public safety efforts across the city.

“It’s my great honor and pleasure to introduce the mayor of — I believe one of the greatest cities, if not the greatest city, in America — this city of Atlanta, who’s dedicated to public safety,” Burns said as Dickens prepared to give remarks. “He’s making a difference, and he will continue to do just that. He’s a friend and a colleague, and I just very much appreciate him as an individual.”

It was a stark contrast in tone from the state’s GOP lawmakers who in the past have slammed Atlanta for high crime rates and butted heads with the previous administration during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide protests.

It’s a new relationship that the first-term mayor worked quickly to establish when he took office. His focus on rebuilding state-city relations paid off when Kemp sided with the mayor over the Buckhead cityhood effort and other anti-Atlanta legislative items that never made it past the finish line under the Gold Dome.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Now, in the final year of his first term, Dickens is eyeing those partnerships to help Democratic city leaders navigate the barrage of federal policy changes and uncertainty around crucial funding that is coming out of President Donald Trump’s White House.

At an Atlanta Press Club event last month, the mayor repeated that he had not had any contact with Trump administration officials despite the high level of federal funding the city has historically received. It’s a concern because of the huge cuts the Trump White House is doing across multiple federal agencies and budgets.

“I am very concerned with the things that I’m seeing. Every administration gets to set their own tone, but this one is totally different,” Dickens said.

Dickens pointed to using his carefully cultivated state relationships as a potential strategy to help Atlanta get the level of federal support it needs.

“We’re going to be working with state leaders that have great relationships with federal leaders,” he said. “You have got to make sure you have relationships on the Republican side to be able to get this relationship off to a better start.”

Credit: TNS

Kemp and Trump haven’t always been allies — especially when the governor refused to take part in the president’s efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results — but the pair have been on the path to make amends.

The political situation over the past four years during the Biden administration couldn’t have been better for the city. Democratic U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are both longtime residents of Atlanta, and U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams is a well-connected congresswoman. On top of that, President Biden owed Georgia voters a debt for flipping blue the state’s vote in a presidential contest for the first time since 1992.

ExploreA tortured timeline: The ups and downs of the Kemp-Trump relationship

Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman called it a “Goldilocks moment” for Atlanta. Now, city leaders face a drastically different situation.

“You had all this access, input, flowing of dollars (from the federal level),” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Now, you have almost a complete 180.”

“This is a potential for a bipartisan moment at the city level, but it’s going to take Congresspeople and other people who are connected to this administration — who frankly, may or may not live in the city — to say it’s important that our metropolitan area thrive,” Shipman added.

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

The council president said with the pauses in federal funding to crucial programs that support housing, public health and transportation, Georgia’s state lawmakers may need to help with the funding.

“The fundamental question for the state is, are you now going to help cities and counties more than you have fiscally?” he said, adding there are conversations taking place inside Atlanta City Hall about what funding gaps city leaders are going to ask the state to help fill.

---

Got tips, tricks or just want to say hello? Email me at riley.bunch@ajc.com.