Atlantans might not vote on the city’s planned public safety training center until next year if a judge sides with plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit over organizers’ proposed ballot referendum.
A group of DeKalb County residents sued this month, arguing they should be able to collect signatures for the petition, saying the training center project impacts their neighborhoods.
Lawyers for Atlanta and the state call the effort “invalid” and argue that even if organizers collect the more than 70,000 required signatures, the referendum could not revoke the ground lease with the Atlanta Police Foundation passed by the Atlanta City Council.
In a court filing submitted Friday, plaintiffs pushed back against the city and state’s response that the overall effort is “futile.”
“Challenges to the referendum are not ripe under Georgia law until after they are approved by the electorate for placement on the ballot and a successful vote on the petition by the electorate,” it reads.
Organizers who have a time limit of 60 days since Atlanta’s municipal clerk’s office approved the petition on June 22, after the petition was initially denied twice.
In the filing, the plaintiffs question why the city waited for the federal lawsuit to argue the validity of the referendum petition, when it could have done so in Fulton County Superior Court after organizers with pursued legal action for delays in approving the petition.
If the court grants an injunction, DeKalb residents request the period to garner signatures be restarted. It’s not clear how many signatures have been collected.
If approved, the vote on the ballot referendum could come as soon as this year’s general election on Nov. 7, or on March 12, 2024, the day of Georgia’s presidential primary.
The city and state argue the court should deny the requested injunction because “plaintiffs’ request is untimely and would disrupt a process that is already well underway.”
Plaintiffs say that if the court does find the homestead requirement that blocks DeKalb residents from collecting signatures to be unconstitutional, the question to voters could be pushed to March 2024.
“The process is sufficiently distant from an election date to extend signature collection without the unconstitutional restrictions placed on it by the City ordinance,” the new filing reads.
For now, organizers say they’re focused on collecting signatures.
“First things first, it has to get on the ballot,” said Kate Shapiro, spokesperson for the referendum effort. “Right now we’re focused on signature collection, because the city has made it clear they’re going to fight us every step of the way. No matter the date, the people of Atlanta deserve a vote.”
Groups assisting in collecting signatures including the nonprofit New Georgia Project Action Fund, which works to register voters. Last week, the organization said it launched door-to-door canvassing with the goal of collecting 15,000 signatures by Aug. 14.
Meanwhile, officials are confident construction will continue without delay. Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum said that the department will officially move into the space by the end of 2024. Construction for the eastern side of the site is tentatively set for Aug. 29, and for the west side on Oct. 16, according to Atlanta Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee documents.
