On the Issues

SECURING ATLANTA: A Blueprint for Restoring Public Safety in Atlanta
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Transportation

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Atlanta's tremendous economic development and growth over the past few decades has meant incredible wealth and opportunity for our region, but it has come with a serious price. One of the most obvious consequences has been the explosion of traffic congestion which now seems like it can strike anywhere in Atlanta, at almost any time. Being stuck in traffic is bad for the economy, bad for the environment, and bad for our families.

We need to develop new transit and development options that give Atlantans a way to travel by car less frequently without sacrificing the flexibility and mobility that draws many of us into our cars on a daily basis. We need to expand MARTA's network of buses and trains, and ensure that whatever we do in Atlanta , integrates with regional transit and transportation options as well. Jobs and other needs to travel don't stop at the city line, and our streets are used as much by people coming through and into the city as by city residents themselves. Atlantans also need to be able to get into the suburbs for jobs, schools, and recreation, and so we must ensure that transit serves everyone, not just some. This is why I worked hard in 2008 to provide metro Atlanta voters with the option to fund regional transportation, and will try again to pass that legislation in 2009. If it passes, and I am privileged enough to be your next Mayor, I will work with the region's leadership to ensure that we build a network of transportation options, including improving the highways, connector & neighborhood streets, sidewalks, bike paths, and mass transit.

In terms of development, we must find a way to continue to accommodate growth in Atlanta without sacrificing the neighborhoods which make Atlanta so unique and special. Channeling neighborhood-appropriate commercial development and mixed-use development in corridors will enable us to strike the balance between preserving the Atlanta we all know and love and enabling us to continue to attract new residents and businesses without overwhelming our streets and other infrastructure. We will be able to design communities where people don't need to drive everywhere all the time, while ensuring that we can get somewhere in under an hour.

Tax Relief
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In my ten years of serving Atlanta in the Georgia General Assembly, first as a State Representative and then as a State Senator, I have consistently been a voice for reducing the tax burden on our residents. I have authored and sponsored legislation to raise the homestead exemption for all Atlantans, to cap the annual property reassessments on residential property, and to freeze property tax assessments on our low-income seniors. Atlanta cannot become a city where only wealthy people can afford to live - we have prospered most when we have maintained economic diversity, and ensured workforce and affordable housing is available, and that will be a priority for my administration.

If I am the next Mayor, we will continue to "right-size" City Hall - to ensure that our taxpayers are receiving real value for their tax dollars, and that they are being spent as efficiently and wisely as possible. I will institute regular performance audits of every department and make those results are made public so that everyone will know how their money is being used, where new resources are necessary, and where we can achieve savings.

Education
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If Atlanta is to succeed in the 21st Century, we simply must improve our public schools and ensure that every child has access to a top quality education. Educational levels are closely linked to crime rates, economic development and poverty rates, teen pregnancy and essentially every other social issue that concerns us all. The Mayor of Atlanta has a powerful bully pulpit from which to serve as a voice for continued educational reform in the Atlanta Public Schools. Further, Mayor Franklin's Next Step program is a good example of how the Mayor can encourage our high school students to achieve and persevere, knowing that our community stands behind them, and is willing to help them achieve their next step, whether it is vocational school/training or college. This program is designed to have a push/pull effect - it pushes kids onward and upward through education after high school, and pulls them through high school, knowing that opportunity awaits. I will work to ensure that Next Step continues, and build an endowment for it, so that we can continue to promise to every APS student that they will be able to take the 'Next Step' once they graduate.

I will also work closely with the Atlanta Public Schools to ensure that planning decisions are made jointly, so that we can minimize wasteful building of new schools in areas without future growth while directing precious tax dollars to where capacity will most be needed.

Crime & Keeping Our Neighborhoods Safe
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We simply must continue to increase the size of our police force, and make sure that our brave officers have the best training and equipment available. They put their lives on the line for us day in and day out, and while attracting and retaining the region's best police force won't be easy or cheap, I believe public safety is non-negotiable. Without being able to feel safe in your home and on the streets, very little else matters.

We will add at least 750 sworn officers to the Atlanta Police Department, which will cut down on the need for overtime and patrols that are simply stretched too thin right now. We will work with the Atlanta Police Foundation and the officers themselves to determine how best to recruit and retain our officers, and stop the revolving door that currently has Atlanta paying to train officers who then promptly leave for a job in the suburbs.

Greenspace
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As Atlanta continues to grow, we are at risk of losing one of the many things that has made this a great place to live - accessible parks and recreational space. While the Beltline will add hundreds of new acres of greenspace, both passive and active, to the City, we also need to ensure that our neighborhood parks are maintained and expanded where possible so that every Atlanta family has easy access to an urban refuge. In addition to providing needed relief for urban residents, greenspace helps with stormwater issues, air quality, and will help attract new residents to the city and the businesses that will follow them. Recreation centers serve as community centers for many of our neighborhoods, and in addition to providing necessary community and civic space, give our kids something productive and healthy to do with their time when they're not in school.

Budget crises come and go, but one constant seems to be that our parks are always first to suffer. We must ensure a dedicated revenue source for our parks and recreation centers so that they can continue to improve over time and stop being a political football.

Ethics & Accountability
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Last year, I sponsored SB 372 which would require all local governments to establish an impartial body to hear ethics complaints brought against their officials. It also would have tightened registration and disclosure requirements for lobbyists to better ensure accountability and transparency in government. While the bill passed the Senate unanimously, it was stalled in the House. Next year I again will take up the fight, and hope to see it signed into law at the earliest opportunity.

Citizens deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent, and why. I will push to make the budgeting process more accessible for average citizens, which hopefully will also help prevent mistakes made because of a system so complicated no one person understands all of it. I will also require regular performance audits of every city department, and make the results public, so that we all know what is working, what isn't, and more importantly what we plan to do about it.
I will oppose any effort to weaken the conflict of interest laws at the City of Atlanta. The public deserves to know that decisions at City Hall are being made for the right reasons, not because of who was asking.

Reduce Atlanta's Carbon Footprint, Create New Jobs
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Reducing Atlanta's carbon footprint is a moral duty that we owe to our children. Transitioning towards clean energy sources also presents a tremendous economic opportunity. By aggressively moving Atlanta towards pollution-free energy sources with tax incentives and city policies, we can make Atlanta a hub for alternative energy innovation. This will create good, high-paying jobs right here at home. Greening Atlanta is thus good for both our environment and our economy and must be one of the next Mayor's top priorities.

Economic Development
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The city of Atlanta and the metro Atlanta region have prospered over the last several decades. In that time, Atlanta has grown into an international hub for business and become home to several million people. That unprecedented growth has been tremendous for the economy overall, but we must address the downside of growth as well. Issues like loss of greenspace, traffic congestion, and continued poverty in some parts of Atlanta , have to be dealt with in the coming years.

We will work to expand tax credits and other incentive programs for businesses that open & provide good wages in economically challenged portions of Atlanta. We will work with the State of Georgia's economic development team to ensure that when they are spending our tax dollars to recruit new businesses to Georgia they are encouraging those businesses to locate in already developed areas like Atlanta to reduce infrastructure costs and bring jobs to people who need them. We will continue to encourage residential and commercial development in Atlanta that is protective of our neighborhoods and will build and maintain our infrastructure to accommodate that growth without sacrificing the quality of life we all enjoy so much.

Affordability & Livability
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The City of Atlanta simply cannot be a place where working families cannot afford to live. Aside from moral concerns, such uncontrolled gentrification disrupts communities, worsens sprawl and its consequences, drains working families of time they could spend with each other, and threatens our economic progress. I am proud to have sponsored legislation to increase the homestead exemption for all Atlantans so that rising property values won't result in huge tax increases, and particularly our low-income seniors, for whom we passed a property tax assessment freeze. We will also continue to work to streamline city government to ensure that the tax burden is as low as possible .

We will continue to invest in low and mixed income housing, working with the private sector through incentive programs and subsidization to ensure that there is an adequate stock of housing options for young working families and our seniors on fixed incomes. I have sponsored legislation to waive property taxes for our police officers, fire fighters, and teachers, and hope for that to be law soon, as I strongly believe that such a program will strengthen our neighborhoods, and encourage those who contribute valuable public service to stay here in Atlanta.