Where Atlanta City Council candidates fall on top issues

Credit: John Spink

Credit: John Spink

Public safety

Devin Barrington-Ward

Would like to see the city expand mental health resources by embedding crisis response units with the fire department, provide more de-escalation training for police and establishing a mental health fund for low-income residents.

“We have a very reactive public safety system in the city as opposed to one that is proactive,” he said. “And proactive public safety looks like robust mental health services.”

Barrington-Ward wants the city to put more dollars toward its firefighters through both resources and increased salaries.

The community organizer and founder of the Black Futurist Group is also an outspoken opponent of Atlanta’s public safety training center and supports the referendum effort to put the facility on the ballot.

Eshé Collins

Advocates for heightened conflict resolution, de-escalation and mental health response training for the city’s law enforcement officers as well as firefighters and first responders — along with community-based policing.

“I also think a bigger conversation that is often not had, that we should, in fact start, is how public safety responds differently throughout our city,” she said.

Amber Connor

Supports putting additional dollars toward the city’s police and first responders through regular raises and bonuses as well as additional changes to Atlanta’s pension plans.

She also believes the city should increase incentives for officers to live in the communities they police.

Connor said she also helped lobby to pass SB 402 in 2020. It created more transparency around when judges issue signature bonds.

Nicole Evans Jones

Said a missing component of the city’s focus on crime is preventive measures like increasing recreational and workforce opportunities at an early age and through young adulthood.

She advocates for a more community-based response to policing that drills down into the root causes of crime in each neighborhood. That also means making sure citizens are familiar with 3-1-1 and pre-arrest diversion services available instead of traditional police response.

“We need to all come together and figure out: how do we solve this for this particular area?” she said.

Duvwon Robinson

Said he believes police should be tougher on crime, with tougher penalties for repeat offenders.

“Women and men, both need to feel safe pumping gas, walking your dog, just being out freely,” he said.

Robinson said he supports a curfew for young residents. He also said he would have voted in favor of legislation introduced last year that would ban wearing ski masks in the city.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Homelessness, affordable housing

Barrington-Ward

Said the city’s zoning laws prevent opportunities to build a better mixture of housing options. As it stands, a majority of Atlanta’s residential land is zoned for single-family homes.

“I think the way we are doing affordable housing in the city of Atlanta is wrong,” he said. “We need a more robust and diverse forms of housing.”

That means more accessory dwelling units and creating new guidelines for basement apartments, he said.

He wants more substance abuse and mental health resources and believes Atlanta needs more behavioral health centers like the facility recently opened by Fulton County. He also said the city needs more protections against criminalizing homelessness.

Collins

Would pursue more incentives for developers building affordable housing, and expanding innovative projects like The Melody — Atlanta’s shipping container community.

“How are we not only providing the housing, how we’re also layering that with mental services and social services that population needs so greatly,” she said.

Collins advocates for more resources for families and children who may be living on Atlanta’s streets through immediate short-term housing and long-term wraparound services for mental health resources and job skills.

Connor

Wants to lower property taxes, and would advocate for exemptions — particularly for seniors and low-income homeowners to help them stay in homes.

“We’ve got amazing people and people that have helped to build Georgia,” she said. “They don’t need to be pushed out.”

Evans Jones

Said teachers sometimes don’t live in the neighborhoods where they work because they can’t afford it.

“I would want to set aside a portion of the budget for workforce housing — I would call it front line housing — for educators, police officers, firemen, nurses,” she said.

She wants more measures aimed at preventing homelessness and would push for more mental health services and apprenticeship programs.

Robinson

Said the city and school system should more heavily utilize vacant public land for affordable housing. He believes the city should find a way to cap rent increase in the permitting process.

“If you want to build in the city of Atlanta, then here’s what your rent (rate) should look like, and we got to be hard on that,” he said.

Credit: Ben Hendren

Credit: Ben Hendren

Infrastructure

Barrington-Ward

Sees updates to the water system and sewage treatment plants as a necessary step to protect Atlanta’s drinking water and environment.

The city should be more thoughtful about the impact of infrastructure projects on neighborhoods and local businesses, saying his neighborhood has been struggling to live with the Cascade Complete Street road closures with no end in sight.

He would support a grant program for businesses impacted by city utility projects.

Collins

Would focus on access and delivery of resident’s basic needs — whether that’s trash pickup, a downed tree or water service.

“I say this is one of the most important things coming into this role is to ensure that your city leadership is delivering just the basic, high quality services that we all deserve,” she said.

Collins also thinks the city should put more funding toward the city’s infrastructure needs — like Atlanta’s outdated water system — and preparing communities for the inconvenience of big projects. That also means incorporating more sustainable building practices into infrastructure projects as the population continues to boom.

Connor

Believes Atlanta should take more proactive steps to minimize the strain on its’ infrastructure, in part by limiting when and where semi-trucks and large vehicles can go.

At the same time, Connor advocates for additional funding for street improvements like filling potholes and replacing outdated bridges. She believes Atlanta officials should buy vehicles, supplies and materials in bulk in case of emergency — from stocking up on police cars to extra computers on hand for the court system.

Evans Jones

Said the city needs to be more proactive about replacing outdated systems. That also means taking a comprehensive look at the city’s planning documents to make sure they are accurate.

“I understand that the maps that we had for where the water pipes are, they’re so old we don’t even know if they’re right,” she said. “So it’s going to be super hard to predict the next burst or leak or issue.”

Robinson

Said he’d work with the Department of Watershed Management to crack down on the number of delinquent water bills that have left millions of dollars uncollected. That includes big corporate of event spaces or sporting venues with outstanding balances.

“Even the regular people that may be struggling, you’ve got to pay your water bill,” he said. “Nobody should be exempt from that.”

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Transportation

Barrington-Ward

Is a long-time supporter of proposed plans to install a light rail system along the Atlanta Beltline and also advocates for installing bike lanes on the 22-mile loop.

“I’m not interested in approving any other developments on the Beltline, unless there’s a clear plan for rail,” he said. “And if we can no longer do rail, then we need a plan for some other form of transit that’s going to keep people moving and that’s going to connect neighborhoods.”

Collins

Wants the city to focus on equitable access to transit across all neighborhoods, as well as bolster the city’s aging transit systems.

“I do think the priority should be investing in those transit projects for the communities that have the highest need,” she said.

That also means making sure that all of Atlanta’s communities touch the Beltline in some capacity, she said, before tackling the question of whether to install light rail along the path.

“I live in a community where we’ve had this conversation of, what are the tentacles of transit that can connect to the Beltline so that we don’t have to drive to White Street and park our cars to access the Beltline,” she said.

Connor

Said she supports more park-and-ride lots and carpool areas just outside the perimeter, or major urban hubs, to help commuters get to work without relying on cars.

“For all those coming into the city, they won’t need their vehicle, they’re just going to their job to park,” she said. “Unless they have a parking pass they use to go into that building underneath and park that adds to the congestion of the city.”

She also said MARTA needs to be more transparent and better notify riders about changes to the schedule or breakdowns during normal routes.

Evans Jones

Attributes a lack of focus on the city’s transportation projects as a reason officials struggle with a growing backlog. That also means dedicating funds to make sure Atlanta’s transit and pedestrian pathways are equally accessible throughout the city.

“I would look for a dedicated revenue source to make sure that all of our sidewalks are walkable and connected,” she said.

Robinson

Said he believes money directed to transportation projects has been misspent causing the backlog in transit projects across the city to grow.

“We are definitely misspending the money,” he said. “The funds are depleted from the capital projects and nobody wants to say it.”