ATLANTA — Voters in the city of Atlanta will get to choose a new mayor in November after current Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced in May that she was not seeking another term.
There are 14 candidates vying for the position, but the top five candidates in the race seem to be making the biggest impact on the polls so far in this race. Here is a look at who they are:
Kasim Reed
About Kasim Reed:
Kasim Reed is an attorney and politician who served as the 59th Mayor of the City of Atlanta for two terms from 2010 – 2018.
Before his time as mayor, Reed was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1998 and served two terms. From 2002 to 2009, he served in the Georgia State Senate, where he was Vice Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus. He is a former partner of Holland and Knight LLP, an international law firm.
Reed is a graduate of Howard University in Washington D.C., where he received his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degrees.
Where he stands on the issues:
- Crime: Reed wants to hire and properly train 750 new APD officers to have a fully functional force and coverage throughout the city. He also wants to provide all new and current officers with implicit bias and de-escalation training. Reed also wants to triple the city’s network of traffic cameras and license plate readers, including adding safety surveillance to public parks.
- Housing: Reed said he would conduct a citywide audit of the area’s current affordable housing digest to ensure current affordability commitments are being met and create Atlanta’s first-ever Office of Anti-Displacement. He wants to double the number of affordable units near MARTA stations without jeopardizing or destabilizing historic single-family neighborhoods.
- Infrastructure: Reed said he will reestablish timely tracking and repair of potholes and pave/resurface every major thoroughfare plagued with potholes. Reed wants to expand the functionality of the Atlanta BeltLine by prioritizing and developing clear funding sources for BeltLine rail.
CLICK HERE to read more about his platform.
Felicia Moore
About Felicia Moore:
Felicia Moore currently serves as Atlanta City Council President after being elected to the spot in 2018. Previously, she had served on the City Council since 1997.
Moore was born in Indianapolis but has lived in the city of Atlanta for over 30 years. She lives now in the Collier Heights neighborhood. Moore graduated with honors from Central State University in Ohio and holds an MSA from Central Michigan University. She is a licensed real estate broker and a proud member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She entered politics by becoming the president of her Neighborhood Planning Unit.
Where she stands on the issues:
- Crime: Moore has voted to decriminalize marijuana possession. She proposed legislation to limit where music studios can also act as party houses, trap houses and “hubs of illegal activity.” Her legislation would require those studios to apply for a zoning designation that would allow community input. Moore also helped institute “Mattie’s Call” to help find missing elderly who may suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s.
- Infrastructure: Moore worked to bring a new supermarket to Northwest Atlanta to end a food desert in that area. She also worked to bring about the transformation of the Bellwood Quarry into a water reservoir. She supports a balanced city budget and claims her efforts led directly to a budget surplus.
- Housing: Moore supports affordable housing and worked to get the Affordable Housing Trust Fund included in the Beltline Project.
CLICK HERE to read more about her platform.
Sharon Gay
About Sharon Gay:
Sharon Gay was born in Alabama but moved to Atlanta 42 years ago. After attending law school at Emory University, Gay became a clerk for a U.S. District judge. She then worked as a lawyer in the state attorney general’s office.
She then became Deputy Chief of Staff for former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell.
According to her campaign, she helped prepare Atlanta for the 1996 Olympic Games. Later in her career, her campaign says she played an instrumental role in developing Ponce City Market & Atlantic Station.
Where she stands on the issues:
- Crime: Gay has cited tackling crime as a top priority. “You can’t just do what we might have done four or eight years ago. New problems require new strategies, smart strategies and smart solutions, but at the same time, we’ve got to have good policing,” Gay said.
- Housing: Gay says she plans to focus on creating affordable housing. She also plans to use various resources including government, the private sector and faith communities to build what her campaign calls inclusive, healthy communities.
- Infrastructure: Gay said she is committed to fixing the city’s streets. Gay wants to coordinate with MARTA and other regional partners on larger transit and transportation projects. She said she would work closely with Georgia’s congressional delegation and state officials to secure transportation funding.
CLICK HERE to read more about her platform.
Antonio Brown
About Antonio Brown:
Antonio Brown says he grew up in poverty with his parents frequently incarcerated. Despite his upbringing, Brown built his own men’s fashion brand, LVL XIII (Level 13), which launched into Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom nationwide.
Brown said that’s when he started giving back to the community. He created the Small Business Entrepreneurship Program, which was licensed by The Art Institute in early 2018.
Brown made history in 2019 when he became the first LGBTQ person of color to be elected to Atlanta’s city council. He represents Atlanta’s District 3, consisting of 16 communities totaling over 40,000 residents.
Where she stands on the issues:
- Crime: Brown says he wants to re-imagine public safety by expanding training and resources for officers, continue building nonemergency response teams and improve outcomes for at-risk youth.
- Infrastructure: Brown’s transportation priorities include establishing a traffic command center to manage signal synchronization, the movement of emergency vehicles and other traffic needs. He also supports more protected bike lanes, MARTA’s plans for a bus rapid transit network and light rail on the Atlanta Beltline.
- Housing: Brown says he will expand affordable housing through incentives and public-private partnerships. He wants to establish a department of housing and community development as a separate entity to centralize affordable and supportive housing development.
CLICK HERE to read more about his platform.
Andre Dickens
About Andre Dickens:
Andre Dickens currently serves as Atlanta City Council Post 3 At-Large member. He was elected in November 2013 and was reelected in 2017.
Dickens said he is a proud product of Atlanta Public Schools and a graduate of Mays High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a master’s of public administration degree in Economic Development from Georgia State University.
Dickens is the Chief Development Officer for TechBridge, a nonprofit that drives community impact by bringing affordable technology and business expertise to other nonprofit organizations.
Where he stands on the issues:
- Crime: Dickens said he will focus on immediately halting the crime that’s plaguing our communities. His SAFE streets plan includes surging the police force by 250 officers during his first year in office while training every APD employee in racial sensitivity and de-escalation techniques.
- Infrastructure: Dickens wants to revive the Pothole Posse implemented under Mayor Shirley Franklin. He wants to leverage the federal infrastructure package to complete BeltLine rail and Campbellton Road transit by 2030 and ensure trail infrastructure does not preclude rail. Dickens also wants to make MARTA free for all.
- Housing: Dickens said he will build or preserve 20,000 Units of affordable housing in the next 8 Years. He said will provide provisions, incentives and support for seniors and long-term residents by freezing their property taxes. Dicken said he will ensure that there are fair and equitable tax abatements in Atlanta, Fulton County and Dekalb County.
CLICK HERE to read more about his platform.
RELATED NEWS:
©2021 Cox Media Group
