Here’s how I voted, and why, on items of  particular significance to Buckhead and Atlanta in 2022

 

January 18 

 22-R-3001

I supported this Resolution establishing the Buckhead Public Safety Task Force, the idea being the creation of a community framework within which residents, businesses, and various law enforcement entities can come together and explore ways of enhancing our collective safety.

May 16

 22-O-1344

Departmental performance audits typically include any number of process improvements that the audit subject readily agrees to implement.  This ordinance, which I sponsored, requires the City Auditor to conduct follow-up reports that red-flag unmet commitments.  It passed unanimously.

 June 21

 22-O-1281

 When the City adopted a new solid waste program and fee schedule, multi-family residents filed a pair of lawsuits that forced the Administration and Council to go back to the drawing board.  This ordinance (which passed unanimously) reordered which services were supported by the General Fund (a tax) and which were funded via fees for service.   Although unhappy with several of its elements, I voted for it after successfully amending it so that so that it would sunset after three years, thus providing time for a thorough review of alternative options aimed at tailoring program costs more closely to the services used per household.

 22-O-1337

This was the FY2023 Municipal Budget.  The General Fund—which supports Atlanta’s meat-and-potatoes programs and services—came in at $734 million. Significant investments were made in front line employees (particularly Police & Fire); the City’s Transportation and Parks Departments were among other winners.  No increase in the property tax rate.  The budget was passed unanimously in record time.

 August 15

 22-O-1632

Finally: Atlanta agrees to lease bed space within its mostly empty jail to Fulton County, whose jail is inhumanely over capacity.  I voted in the 10-4 majority.

October 17

22-O-1700

Every ten years Atlanta must rely on the latest federal census figures to determine what (if any) district boundaries must be adjusted so that the number of constituents per district is balanced.  A complex set of municipal, state, and federal laws (not to mention politics) make this a daunting task.  Because of Covid, the census-taking process was delayed two years, which helped contribute to the whopping 70,000 gain in residents.  But they weren’t equally spread across the City; the lion’s share settled in Districts 2,5,6,and 7.  Because of the incredible swelling of 2’s population, that district needed to shed 12,000 residents, which sent major ripple effects across the rest of northeast Atlanta and certainly District 7, which loses Peachtree Hills, Peachtree Heights East, and Garden Hills to the 6^th District (thus repeating the northward contraction of 7, which decades ago stretched south all the way to Georgia Tech).  The new lines take effect with the 2025 municipal elections. 

 November 21

 22-O-1836

Perhaps you’ve visited Frankie Allen Park (named after a beloved Buckhead Baseball volunteer and umpire).  For those who don’t know the history of this area, it was an African-American community known as Macedonia, which was a part of unincorporated Fulton County (not yet Atlanta).  The County ‘bought’ out the property owners and created what would become the park that exists today.  Meantime, William Bagley was a prominent community member who relocated there after fleeing the notorious 1912 race riot in Forsythe County.  The local movement to restore the Bagley Park name was widely supported by local stakeholders (retaining Allen’s name on the portion of the park managed by the iconic Buckhead Baseball program is part of the outcome).  This passed unanimously.