[2:53] All right.
Good afternoon everyone.
Welcome to the September
15th meeting of the Community
[2:57] Human Services Committee.
My name is Matt Westmoreland.
[2:59] I'm joined by council members
Dozier, Winston and Bond.
[3:02] I'll make a motion
to approve the agenda.
[3:05] Second by Dozier.
[3:11] The vote is open.
[3:17] The vote is closed for
[3:19] June is adopted.
[3:19] Joined
by Councilmember Kelsey Bond.
[3:21] I'm. Make a motion
to approve the minutes.
[3:23] Second by Dozier.
[3:36] The road is closed
for your next.
[3:38] The minutes are approved.
Thank you.
[3:39] Next up on
the agenda is public comment.
[3:40] Folks will have three minutes to
share whatever they'd like to.
[3:44] First person to speak is on Ray
Jordan,
[3:47] followed by David Serrano
and Matthew Nursey.
[3:57] Given unto us
be to God everyone that's here
in a unit straight gate.
[4:01] But why is the gate involved
with the way
[4:03] that leading to destruction
and many of that beat
[4:05] which go in there at Matthew
seven, chapter 13 verse,
[4:09] any in at the gate
[4:11] now means that one must come
through the narrow gate
[4:15] in order to reach the path
that leads to eternal life,
[4:20] because ready to get an error
is the way which leads to life,
[4:24] and few that be that find it.
[4:27] Saint Matthew seven,
chapter 14 verse.
[4:30] Though
many are on the broad way,
[4:34] they laid it to destruction,
eternal separation from God.
[4:38] The gate that leads to
life is so narrow
[4:41] that few that be that find it.
[4:45] If my people,
which are called by my name,
[4:47] shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek my face,
[4:52] and turn from their wicked ways,
then will
[4:55] I hear from heaven,
and will heal their land.
[4:58] Second Chronicle seven,
chapter 14 verse.
[5:01] While this promise
was originally given to Solomon
[5:04] regarding the people of Israel,
it is certainly applicable
[5:09] to all who will call on the Lord
and repentance and faith.
[5:16] Deliver me, oh my God!
[5:18] Out of the hand of the wicked.
[5:21] Out of the hand of
the unrighteous and cruel man.
[5:24] Psalm seven, chapter four verse.
[5:27] This psalm is clearly the prayer
of an elderly man
[5:31] threatened by his enemies.
[5:34] James.
Griff,
you have proven to be my enemy.
[5:36] The word told me to work
with him is to ask for death,
[5:41] and I will bless them
that bless thee and curse him
[5:45] that cursed thee, and indeed
shall all families of the earth
[5:50] be blessed.
Genesis 12th chapter three verse
God promised to make Israel
[5:54] a great nation, to bless those
who bless him, and curse
[5:58] those who curse him,
to give him the promised Land,
[6:02] and through his descendants,
to bless
[6:05] all the families of the earth
with a redeemer.
[6:09] When you seek to curse me,
you ask to be cursed.
[6:13] So we want to seek blessings
and not curses
[6:17] because we don't want curses
on our lives.
[6:19] I know I don't.
[6:20] So I have to fight
to speak the Word of God
[6:22] because the deliverance
and the Word of God
[6:24] and I need God deliverance.
[6:25] I don't know about you,
but I need it.
[6:28] I need to be what he says to me.
[6:29] I have to fight
to live wholly, to obey Jesus.
[6:33] So I have you to have
[6:36] that same desire
to be what Christ says to be,
[6:39] because he got more for us
than we have for ourselves.
[6:42] I know
I don't want to go to hell.
[6:47] Thank me either.
[6:48] Next up is David Serrano,
followed by Matthew
[6:51] and Kay Stevenson.
[6:57] Okay.
[6:59] Hello.
Community development
and human services committee.
[7:01] My name is David Serrano
and I am a
[7:02] sheltered homeless person
currently staying in Grant Park.
[7:05] I work two low wage
jobs here in Atlanta.
[7:08] I can't afford health care.
I can't afford child care.
[7:10] I can't afford my own place
to live.
[7:12] And on my days and on many days,
I can't afford transportation
[7:16] to work here in Atlanta
without skipping the turnstiles.
[7:19] Where I recently, recently
received a citation,
[7:21] a warning from police
for entering the emergency exit
[7:24] on my way to a job interview
since I came to Atlanta
[7:27] looking for opportunity.
[7:29] One year ago,
I learned that under the current
mayor's administration
[7:31] and some council members
here are misaligned tax dollars
[7:36] that were approved by voters
[7:37] a decade ago
to expand public transit.
[7:40] Instead,
they're spending the power
[7:41] of the city's purse to appease
and preserve their billionaire
[7:45] corporate overlords.
And donors like Cox Enterprises,
owners of Cox Automotive,
[7:49] the largest automotive reseller
in the country.
[7:52] All oppose any alternatives
to motorized vehicles along
[7:55] the Beltline. Surprise,
surprise.
[7:57] In 2016, Elena voters
overwhelmingly approved
[8:00] the more moderate, more moderate
and more Marta referendum
[8:04] to fund public transit projects
using a half penny sales tax.
[8:09] To this day,
almost none of those projects
have been built
[8:11] and the people have been
taxed for it.
[8:13] What's the holdup?
[8:14] It's time to build a rail
[8:15] that Alannah is voting for
and paid for.
[8:18] We need tracks on the ground now
[8:20] and the willpower to make it
happen.
[8:22] Let's get back on
track and build.
[8:23] Beltline Rail
[8:25] Atlanta continues to rank
[8:26] as one of the most
expensive cities
[8:28] in the United States
for car commuting,
[8:29] while the rising cost of housing
and transportation
[8:32] placed an increasing burden
on Atlanta families.
[8:35] Our city
desperately needs better
public transit
[8:37] and to move away from car
dependency.
[8:39] Beltline rail is a huge step
towards achieving that.
[8:43] What's the holdup?
[8:43] For those not signed on
to the council
[8:46] member Kelsey Bond's resolution?
[8:48] Is it fear for low
income individuals more easily
[8:51] visiting high income areas
like Buckhead and Tuxedo Park?
[8:55] Is it the love for economically
debilitating car traffic,
[8:58] or do you want to continue
the class war?
[9:01] Your billionaire overlord
started 100 250 years ago,
[9:05] passed this resolution.
[9:06] Not only do the people need it,
they demand it.
[9:08] They voted for it.
They paid for it.
[9:11] Get the rails.
[9:12] Get the tracks moving now!
[9:13] Thank you, thank you.
[9:15] Matthew followed
by K Stephenson and Paul.
[9:26] Hello.
[9:27] Good afternoon.
[9:27] Thank you. Committee.
[9:28] My name is Matthew Nursey.
[9:31] I am a member of Atlanta DSA
[9:33] and I live in district five,
pretty close to the Beltline.
[9:37] I'm walking distance.
[9:39] I, you know, I walk over
to the Beltline quite often.
[9:42] I also I don't have a car
[9:44] I haven't had a car
for, for years now actually.
[9:48] And I personally, actually,
I really don't want to get one
[9:51] if I'm being honest.
[9:52] I'm not one of those people
that thinks
[9:53] every single person
should own a car.
[9:55] Everybody should live in a house
and not an apartment.
[9:58] Like that's
not really sustainable, right?
[9:59] I think we should.
[10:01] We've all noticed it's
getting very hot. Right?
[10:03] And this is actually probably
one of the cooler summers
[10:06] we're going to
have going forward.
[10:08] So Elana is also notoriously
[10:12] one of the most highly congested
cities.
[10:14] You know,
the traffic is is is bad here.
[10:17] Everybody knows that.
[10:19] And so I'm here to support
Beltline rail being built.
[10:24] And it's not just
about the climate. Right?
[10:26] I worked many, many years
in food service and hospitality.
[10:31] And the Beltline has brought
lots of restaurants,
[10:35] lots of different businesses
with it.
[10:37] And people need a way
to get to work, right.
[10:41] You know, working class
people like me
[10:43] who take the Marta,
[10:44] rely on Marta,
rely on the bus to get around.
[10:47] It'd be really convenient
to be able to have
[10:50] a way to get around.
Maybe we'd see a decrease
in the amount of those,
[10:53] really dangerous bird scooters
that are always zipping
[10:56] and flying around.
[10:59] If, you know,
people were able to get to work
by taking a streetcar,
[11:01] I think that would be,
you know, really convenient.
[11:04] And I have a hunch
that part of the reason
[11:07] why the project
has been stalled.
[11:10] You know, I've seen lots of
Waymo's around in Atlanta and,
[11:15] down in like the West End,
I see beep.
[11:19] Right.
And not every city has like,
the proliferation of Waymo's
[11:23] like, this is a
[11:24] it's not in every city.
[11:26] It's, you know, particularly
[11:31] overboard here, I'd say.
[11:33] And it's, it's dangerous.
[11:35] We didn't ask for these things.
[11:38] Right.
It takes jobs away from Uber
and Lyft drivers.
[11:40] Gig workers.
[11:42] They cause issues with traffic
when there's emergencies.
[11:46] And so I just my thing is
[11:48] we need to be funding projects
like Beltline Rail
[11:52] and not getting into,
like, deals with AI companies.
[11:57] And you know, these tech feudal
overlords.
[12:02] Right?
So thank you for everyone
who has signed on to support.
[12:07] Really appreciate it.
This is not just,
you know, an East Side thing.
[12:08] This is, you know, whole city
of Atlanta thing that can really
[12:12] like transform our city the way
like working people get around
[12:16] in the way that, you know,
our city just is in in operates.
[12:20] So the Beltline is
a great attraction.
[12:22] People love it.
But let's make it even better.
[12:24] This was always
the plan from the start.
[12:27] Thank you
thank you. Okay Stephenson
[12:31] by Paul and Chance smiley.
[12:36] Good afternoon.
[12:37] I'm Kate Stephenson
I've lived in the Virginia
[12:40] Highland neighborhood of Atlanta
for about 30 years.
[12:43] And in 2002
I was on the advisory
[12:46] committee working on the master
plan for Piedmont Park.
[12:49] One of the people
on our committee
[12:50] started
telling us about the Beltline
[12:52] and what it was going to happen,
[12:53] and we asked,
how long is that going to take?
[12:56] And they said, 20 years.
[12:57] And I jokingly said,
it'll never happen.
[13:00] Well, here
we are more than 20 years later,
[13:02] and we have not laid one
mile of track.
[13:05] When Kathy Woolard and Ryan
Gravel started socializing.
[13:09] This idea,
I knew as a resident of Virginia
[13:13] Highland that it wasn't
really being built for me,
[13:16] that I wasn't really
the one that needed it.
[13:20] But I knew that
[13:22] it was going to make life better
for the people in communities
[13:26] that have seen disinvestment
for decades.
[13:31] Both because of
[13:34] white flight
and because of splitting up
the city
[13:37] and separating
all these neighborhoods.
[13:39] This was going
to bring these neighborhoods
[13:41] back together, and I was going
to bring opportunity.
[13:45] I have to admit, my husband
and I like to go out to dinner.
[13:48] And so if it meant
[13:50] we could go over
to the west side and
[13:51] order a bottle of wine and drink
the whole bottle of wine
[13:54] and not drive ourselves home,
that was probably a good thing.
[13:58] So yeah, we would use it.
[14:00] And that's why I worked with
Beltline Rail now to advocate
[14:03] for inclusion of light rail
transit on the Beltline.
[14:08] That's why I went to
almost every NPU in the city
and gained support for light
[14:12] rail transit on the Beltline,
and got them to sign petitions.
[14:16] And that's why I support it now,
[14:19] because I want to live in a city
that offers opportunities
[14:23] and offers access
to all of our community members.
[14:28] When we started this project,
[14:30] we were the thought leaders that
every other city was looking
[14:32] to, and most of them have now
leapfrogged us.
[14:36] Look at Charlotte.
Look at Seattle.
[14:37] Look at these other cities.
[14:40] That is an embarrassment.
[14:42] And we really need to get on it
and build it and build it now.
[14:47] Let's urge this administration
to get off the dime.
[14:50] Build light rail,
starting with the east side,
[14:53] which is shovel ready now.
[14:56] Just one more anecdote.
[14:58] About eight years ago,
[15:00] when the current mayor was head
of transportation committee.
[15:04] I used to stand at this podium,
and I would look at him
[15:07] and I would say, Andre,
in my lifetime,
[15:10] I'm 70.
[15:12] I'm starting to have my doubts,
but I'm still hopeful.
[15:15] Please urge
[15:16] the administration to build
Beltline rail in my lifetime.
[15:20] Thank you.
[15:22] Thank you.
[15:26] Paul C followed by
[15:27] Chance and John Fisher.
[15:31] Good afternoon.
[15:32] My name is Paul
[15:35] and I've lived
in Midtown for 12 years.
[15:39] I would like
to make just several points.
[15:41] I'm here to speak in favor
of a resolution
[15:44] for urging the male mayor to
move forward with Beltline rail.
[15:48] I'm a supporter of that.
[15:50] A couple of points
I'd like to make.
[15:52] We can all agree
[15:53] Atlanta would be a better city
if we had fewer cars.
[15:58] I don't think anyone would
dispute that.
[16:01] When I first moved here
14 years ago,
[16:04] the existing Beltline
was under discussion
[16:07] and a lot of people
were opposed to it
[16:09] and there was a lot of foot
dragging.
[16:12] It was initially proposed in
[16:13] 1999,
and we're about to finish it.
[16:17] Not yet, but we're about to.
[16:19] And I think everyone would
now agree
[16:21] that it's been a huge benefit to
the city, to the neighborhoods
[16:27] economic development.
It's brought in new residents
and new companies to the city.
[16:31] And so in hindsight,
we all love it.
[16:34] I believe once we do
build some Beltline rail,
[16:38] everyone is going to see it
[16:39] and they're going to like it
also,
[16:41] and it's going to bring similar
benefits.
[16:43] So I think it would be
a wise investment
[16:46] to move forward with Beltline
rail sooner rather than later.
[16:50] Thank you. Thank you.
[16:52] Chance Miss Molly,
[16:57] followed by John Fisher
[16:58] and Chet Tisdale.
[17:02] Good afternoon, chairman
and the members
[17:04] of the Community Development
in Human Service Committee.
[17:07] My name is Chante Smalley, and I
am the president and founder
[17:11] of Jewel Foundation,
a 501 C three nonprofit
[17:14] that was established
in 2011 2011.
[17:18] Although our organization
is new to Atlanta's community,
[17:21] we are not new to serving
children and families.
[17:25] For approximately
15 years, Jewel Foundation
has developed and administered
[17:29] youth enrichment after school
and summer programs, child
[17:33] nutrition
services, and community
[17:35] outreach and partnerships
designed
[17:37] to remove barriers
for children and families.
[17:40] We are now bringing
that experience to Atlanta.
[17:44] Our local vision
includes youth development
[17:47] and environmental
education, Stem and agriculture.
[17:52] Oh, sorry.
[17:54] I'm a little nervous
because I'm new to Atlanta, but
[17:57] I do have capability statements
if you guys would like them.
[18:00] I look forward to just
introducing our foundation
[18:04] to Atlanta
and hearing from you guys soon.
[18:07] Thank you. You do?
[18:08] Welcome to
Atlanta. Yeah. Other where?
[18:13] Next up is John Fisher,
[18:15] followed by Dale
and Matthew Rao.
[18:24] I my name is John Fisher.
[18:27] I'm the current president
of the Atlanta
[18:28] Downtown Neighborhood
Association.
[18:31] Here to speak in support of 26.
[18:34] 015 ten.
[18:37] For the past year A.D.
[18:38] and A has been working closely
with the Mayor's
[18:43] housing Office policy team
[18:46] and a goal to sustain,
[18:50] affordable
homeownership downtown
[18:52] and protect our legacy
residents.
[18:55] By definition of the city,
we have over 400
[18:59] affordable
homeownership units downtown.
[19:03] And due to rising land
[19:07] costs, construction costs,
we're not building anymore.
[19:10] So it's an ultimate
to protect those that we have.
[19:15] We've actually lost
[19:17] quite a few of the homes
downtown
[19:21] in the past five years by count,
probably over 150 units.
[19:26] And that loss
has been to rentals
[19:29] and particularly short term
rentals.
[19:32] There's a particular building
that was 65%
[19:36] owner occupied
as recently as five years ago.
[19:40] And has since
been taken over by,
[19:43] private investors
who turned it into an Airbnb.
[19:47] It's,
[19:49] threatened
residents who live there
[19:52] and quite frankly, the legacy
residents and the elderly,
[19:56] the only ones that are left and
unable to speak for themselves.
[20:01] I had the opportunity
[20:03] to accompany a council member,
Winston, to this property,
[20:08] and we saw firsthand what,
[20:11] unchecked short term rentals
[20:14] and the damage
you can do to the community. So,
[20:18] Council member Westmoreland,
[20:20] we appreciate the,
[20:22] tweaking
to the current legislation,
[20:25] and hopefully this will allow
[20:26] the city to move forward
and help us enforce
[20:30] what we need to enforce
and protect our community.
[20:33] So thank you. Hope
springs eternal.
[20:35] Thank you. Next up.
[20:37] Teasdale.
Matthew Rao and Lucas Sanchez.
[20:42] Atlanta has an affordable
housing crisis.
[20:45] You know that
it also has a tree loss crisis.
[20:48] And you know that I speak today
only to the affordable housing
[20:53] crisis.
[20:54] Council member Dustin Hills
has introduced a bill
[20:57] to reduce some of the recompense
requirements
[21:00] for affordable housing.
[21:01] I think that's good.
[21:03] I think we've got to do
everything
[21:04] we can to encourage affordable
housing and recompense.
[21:09] Reduction
is an important tool to do that.
[21:13] But there's one provision
that I want
[21:14] to bring your attention to
because it is of concern to me.
[21:18] Normally when you build
affordable housing,
[21:22] you have to record on the deed
[21:25] that it will be affordable
for 20 years,
[21:28] and that gives the city
the ability to enforce it.
[21:32] Unfortunately,
this proposed legislation
[21:35] from Council Member
Hillis eliminates
[21:37] that requirement of 20 year
maintenance of affordability
[21:41] and eliminates the requirement
to put a deed restriction
[21:45] on the property.
[21:46] There's no reason that I can see
[21:49] that's given for
that, and I see no reason why
[21:54] that should be in there,
because it's an invitation
[21:57] to market rate developers
[21:58] to masquerade as an affordable
housing developer,
[22:01] get a recompense reduction, tear
down the trees, build housing,
[22:05] and charge market rates.
[22:07] That's not how we solve
the affordability crisis.
[22:11] It's an essential element,
I believe, of affordable
[22:15] housing,
that when someone builds it,
[22:18] they have to be obligated
for 20 years
[22:21] to maintain it
as affordable housing.
[22:24] And they have to do that
through a deed restriction.
[22:27] To fail to do that is to invite
[22:31] market rate developers
to misuse the system.
[22:34] And I know
you don't want that to happen.
[22:36] So it's a simple fix.
[22:37] I think if you bring it to
Council Member Hillis attention,
[22:41] I think he will agree with you.
[22:43] I appreciate your attention
and to this crisis of affordable
[22:48] housing,
and I hope we can do everything
[22:49] we can to build
more affordable housing.
[22:52] I salute you and the mayor
for what you're doing.
[22:56] Thank you.
Thank you. Next up,
Matthew Lucas Sanchez.
[22:58] And our
final speaker is Stephen ML,
[23:03] whose
name I always mispronounce.
[23:05] Good afternoon, chair.
Miss Westmoreland
and the other members of c, h s.
[23:08] I'm Matthew Rao.
[23:09] I chair Beltline rail.
[23:10] Now I'm
primarily here in gratitude.
[23:13] Gratitude for you
all as having signed
[23:16] on as co-sponsors
and gratified, gratifying.
[23:20] Grateful for you.
[23:21] Council Member bond for having
[23:23] written
the resolution 26 R 3999.
[23:27] In support of Beltline rail
and in demand of accountability
[23:32] from the parties
charge to deliver it,
[23:34] the city government, the Mayor's
Office, Atlanta Beltline Inc.
[23:38] and Marta to come forward
with status reports and plans
[23:43] where the project stands
[23:44] and a clear
path forward to pay for it.
[23:47] This is an amazing
[23:50] part of the council
taking back its rightful role
[23:55] as the creator of the Atlanta
Beltline, with Transit Center
[23:59] to demand answers
and hold the parties
[24:01] charged
with delivery accountable.
[24:03] As others have pointed out,
[24:04] we've been paying a tax
for ten years
[24:06] and we have little
to show for it.
[24:08] And as others have pointed out,
[24:10] Beltline rail was always a part
of the Atlanta Beltline
[24:14] that the City Council created
almost 25 years ago.
[24:18] I want to thank you
for exercising that leadership.
[24:22] I want to point out
[24:23] a couple of things
that I think are
[24:25] important in the resolution,
[24:28] and that
is that the role of council
[24:32] as demanding accountability
[24:34] and asking for plans
and updates is preserved.
[24:40] I would not
like to see the council agree
to any restriction of that role
[24:43] moving forward, and it would not
like the council to agree
[24:46] on limits to roles
that it does not possess.
[24:50] The implementation
of the project
[24:51] is in the hands of Marta
Atlanta Beltline Inc.
[24:54] and the mayor,
and that is where it should be.
[24:59] And it is your job, rightfully,
to demand
[25:03] answers about a project that is
not moving forward right now.
[25:07] But that could be to the benefit
of every Atlanta.
[25:10] The Beltline is
[25:11] perhaps the greatest thing
[25:13] our city has ever created
as a public project,
[25:16] and it is not delivering those
results to everyone equally.
[25:21] And that is what the transit
is about.
[25:23] Before it gets too late
[25:24] to build the transit at a price
we can afford.
[25:29] We urge you
to continue to hold the mayor,
Atlanta Beltline Inc.
[25:32] and Marta accountable
to deliver this project.
[25:35] And again, I want to thank you.
[25:36] Council Member Collins,
you were not here
[25:38] when I started my remarks.
[25:39] Thank you all for being
co-sponsors on this resolution.
[25:44] Thank you.
[25:45] Not no direct comment
to the person who just spoke,
[25:48] but if you
[25:49] when you come up,
if you won't touch
the microphone,
[25:50] it interferes with people's
ability to hear on the.
[25:54] It's okay.
[25:56] Just want the public people
to hear.
[25:57] Lucas.
[25:58] Followed by Stephen Imel.
[26:06] Good afternoon everyone.
[26:07] My name is Lucas Sanchez.
[26:08] I am a shop steward for,
the Roswell Hub.
[26:12] For UPS Teamsters local 728.
[26:15] But today I'm speaking
as an Atlanta resident.
[26:18] I just want
to thank everyone here
for supporting this resolution.
[26:21] I'm originally
from the suburbs of Atlanta.
[26:23] I moved to the city of Atlanta
back in around January.
[26:28] And in that time,
[26:30] I shortly ditched my car
a little bit after.
[26:33] And since moving here,
it has just been
[26:37] the experience of a lifetime.
[26:38] I have expanded social circles,
I've made new friends
[26:42] and just created
new family members, I would say.
[26:46] And I would like to think that
that is because of the proximity
[26:48] of everything being so nearby.
[26:50] The chance encounters
I've had on transit.
[26:53] Just having everything
[26:55] nearby and somewhat convenient
compared to the suburbs.
[26:59] And I want
and hopefully the city
[27:03] wants to expand that privilege
along the Beltline.
[27:08] It is something
that we all need.
[27:11] We should not need
to have a car to get around.
[27:14] I don't think this is just
simply a transportation project.
[27:16] I think this is a project
to connect the city of Atlanta
[27:20] to finally undo
the wrongdoings of the past,
[27:24] to truly build something
that we can all be proud of.
[27:31] You know, I am incredibly proud
to live in Atlanta.
[27:33] I think this is a
really good city.
[27:35] And I think if we build
[27:36] Beltline rail,
this can be a great city.
[27:38] Thank you.
[27:39] Welcome to Atlanta.
[27:40] Final speaker, Mr.
[27:41] Imel.
[27:46] How's it going, y'all?
[27:47] My name is Stephen.
[27:48] It wasn't my intention
to wrap this up today,
[27:49] but I will keep it very short
for y'all.
[27:51] I want to say thank you
to everyone on this committee
[27:53] for signing on to support
Councilmember
[27:55] Bonds resolution to demand that
we get started on this project.
[27:58] And I want to say
[28:02] that while Beltline rail is
incredibly important,
we're paying for more, Marta.
[28:05] We're paying for a lot of it.
[28:07] And we want much, much more
than just this project.
[28:09] So I hope that this is just
the beginning of this process.
[28:12] Thank you.
[28:12] Thank you.
[28:13] That concludes
[28:15] public comment,
which takes us to
the next section of our agenda.
[28:18] Without objection, colleagues,
we have a couple,
[28:23] communications that we can take
before our two presentations.
[28:27] A couple checks of Kalief Davis.
[28:30] Not here, nor is Timothy Sweet.
[28:34] All right.
How about Kevin James?
[28:38] All right, Bob Johnson.
[28:42] William Clark.
[28:44] All right,
let's sound number five, 26,
[28:48] 26 hour 4026.
[28:50] A resolution by Community
Development
[28:52] Human Services
Committee appointed Mr.
[28:55] William Clark
to the City of Atlanta Special
Event Technical Advisory Group
[28:58] as the city council appointee
representing Piedmont Park
[29:01] event security coordination
experience.
[29:03] And for the purposes.
[29:06] Thank you for being here.
If you would take a moment
to introduce yourself
[29:07] and tell us why you'd like
to serve in this group.
[29:10] I'm William Clark.
[29:11] I'm a retired PD within 38
years, retired back in May.
[29:16] Been involved in the event
industry since 1992.
[29:20] Have coordinated events through
Atlanta and the metro area.
[29:24] All during that time
[29:26] frame from a thousand people
all the way to 100,000 people.
[29:29] So I have a diverse experience
within the event industry,
[29:34] and look forward
to working with this committee
[29:37] to define some things and work
on both sides of the aisle
[29:40] to make the events better
in Atlanta all the way around.
[29:44] Thank you for your service.
And I will.
[29:45] Second, Councilmember
Dozier, motion to approve.
[29:52] The vote is open.
[30:00] Well, everyone please vote.
[30:05] The vote is closed.
Six J0 nays is item
is favorable.
[30:07] Thank you.
[30:09] Thank you.
That takes us back
to presentations.
[30:12] I do not see Catherine.
[30:14] Oh, yes, I do.
[30:15] She's here. My bad.
[30:17] Catherine vassal from
the Atlanta Continuum of Care.
[30:22] Motion.
[30:33] All right.
[30:33] Good afternoon.
[30:35] Chairman
and members of the committee.
[30:37] My name is Catherine Vassell.
[30:38] I'm the CEO at partners
for home.
[30:39] Partners for home serves
as the lead agency
[30:42] for the Atlanta Homeless
Continuum of Care.
[30:46] You're good, I have it.
[30:49] Yeah.
[30:51] In July, we shared
what the data was telling us
[30:53] about homelessness in Atlanta
and the three pathways
[30:56] Atlanta Rising
is building in response.
[30:59] Today
I'll share progress to date
[31:01] and where we're headed
in this next year
[31:03] of the Atlanta Rising campaign.
[31:07] This is a quick
[31:08] a quick snapshot
[31:09] of how we're leveraging Atlanta
Rising
[31:11] to build a homelessness
response system
[31:13] that moves people off the street
and into housing faster.
[31:16] So I've presented to you
many times over the years,
[31:19] and you've heard me talk
a lot about street to housing.
[31:23] And this is something that
we have been refining over time,
[31:25] and building the muscle
of getting really good at
[31:29] when we have the resources,
[31:30] rehousing people directly
from the street into housing.
[31:33] And we're continuing to build
that muscle.
[31:36] But in addition,
as a part of Atlanta Rising,
[31:38] we're couching that work
with two new sets of activities
[31:42] that are really helping
to transform the way in which
[31:45] our system moves people quickly
out of homelessness,
[31:48] and even prevents them from comi
[31:53] Reaching every person
will require the same level
[31:55] of coordination across outreach,
shelter, health care, housing
[31:59] with support services,
and prevention
[32:01] with enough capacity
to meet the need.
[32:04] And that is
in fact the ultimate goal.
[32:07] So starting
first with prevention.
[32:10] As a reminder,
Atlanta is one of ten cities
[32:14] that was invited to be a part
of a pilot initiative
[32:18] with the goal of ultimately
making the federal case
[32:21] to fund prevention initiatives
all around the country.
[32:25] The good news is, is
this has been proven
[32:27] to be effective
in Santa Clara County.
[32:29] It was studied at nauseam by Leo
[32:32] the lab for Economic
Opportunities
[32:34] out of the University
of Notre Dame,
[32:36] and they took that show
on the road
[32:38] to demonstrate its efficacy
across the country.
[32:41] So one of being
as one of ten cities
[32:45] that was
selected to join in this pilot,
Atlanta was the first city to
[32:48] launch.
They wanted us to wait
until January.
[32:50] January of 27.
We said, absolutely not.
[32:53] We need to go as fast
as humanly possible.
[32:56] So we launched in July
[33:00] as a pilot.
This is not a traditional
standard prevention program
[33:04] in that anybody
that calls gets assistance.
[33:08] If we have a money,
if we have money,
[33:10] and you have to meet lots
[33:11] of different parameters
to get that money.
[33:14] In other words, you can only get
[33:15] half of your rent
if that's what's owed.
[33:17] Or you can get your your water
bill, but not your power bill.
[33:23] The unique part of this pilot
is that it
[33:25] will pay anything
that is required.
[33:28] If you meet the eligibility
for the program
[33:31] to keep you in your housing,
or to ensure that you stay in
[33:34] housing,
or get to a safe place to stay.
[33:37] Rather
than come into homelessness.
[33:39] So there is no maximum in terms
[33:41] of the amount of systems
provided.
[33:44] To date, the average
amount of assistance provided
[33:47] has been just under $4,000
per household.
[33:50] We've enrolled almost
200 households since July 1st,
[33:54] and we've deployed already
$340,000.
[33:58] Our partner agencies
who are providing the work on
[34:01] the ground are Power Atlanta,
Atlanta, Volunteer Lawyers
[34:05] Foundation, Zabern, and Project
Community Connections, Inc..
[34:10] Just a couple of success stories
from that work.
[34:13] I wanted to share with you
[34:14] the beauty of having AVF
[34:16] as a partner in this work is
that they've been able to deploy
[34:19] much needed legal assistance
in addition
[34:22] to the financial assistance,
so that
[34:26] when possible,
we can actually thwart
[34:30] an eviction
from happening altogether.
[34:31] And you see that
in the second box
[34:33] where we approved
$10,000 of emergency assistance.
[34:36] Request for a family of five
facing imminent eviction
[34:40] after the provider
successfully negotiated
[34:42] with the landlord
to halt enforcement
[34:44] of a notice to vacate
funding was used to resolve
[34:47] rental arrears and prevent
the family's displacement.
[34:50] Another positive story.
[34:52] We stabilized a family of six
by providing $5,000
[34:55] in rental assistance
after an unexpected
[34:57] medical crisis
left the household
[34:59] with significant medical
expenses and rental arrears.
[35:03] So we're already seeing
the impact of this.
[35:05] The work is being studied
by the Leo Initiative
[35:09] out of University of Notre Dame,
[35:10] and we will have ongoing data
[35:12] to provide as the work
gets moving over the months
[35:16] to provide back from Leo
in terms of the efficacy
[35:19] of this program
and how we are doing as a system
[35:22] at actually preventing people
from becoming homeless now,
[35:27] but into the future
over the next two years,
[35:30] as well as what kind of impact
we're making on reducing long
[35:34] term inflow
into the homeless system.
[35:39] As far
as street to housing, as I said,
that work continues
[35:41] and we're continuing to refine
and build that muscle.
[35:46] This is a strategy
we've already seen
working downtown at scale.
[35:48] We know what we need to do.
[35:50] The question
increasingly becomes
[35:52] whether the system has enough
capacity to do it for everyone.
[35:56] So you've heard me
talk about the proper pace
[35:59] and scale
with which we need to move.
[36:01] We're getting more sophisticated
in this space,
[36:04] so we are organizing
[36:07] at a much more coordinated,
coordinated and organized way.
[36:11] All of our outreach providers
across the continuum.
[36:15] This doesn't include
just the funded agencies.
[36:18] This includes
mom and pop organizations.
[36:20] It includes faith
based organizations
[36:23] that might be providing outreach
support on the on the weekends
[36:26] or at night, folks
that are not touching the cock.
[36:30] We have a survey
that we've launched,
[36:32] and we encourage you to share
[36:34] with your networks
and your communities.
[36:37] If you know of providers
that are on the ground in your
districts doing this work.
[36:40] We're looking to provide
that comprehensive overview
[36:43] of every person out there
who is doing street outreach.
[36:46] Understanding the geography
[36:49] with which
in which they are working,
so that we can ensure
[36:52] we have coverage
where it's needed most.
[36:56] Today, we have rehoused 640
[36:58] households who were unsheltered
in the downtown area.
[37:02] We are now building on that work
[37:04] and moving outside of downtown.
[37:06] And our goal with the Atlanta
Rising campaign is to house
[37:10] just under 2000 households
by the end of next summer.
[37:20] So another component of
[37:22] this work is facilitating
stronger coordination
[37:25] for more complex cases.
[37:27] I know you have all met
an individual on the street.
[37:30] You've probably gotten calls
about more than one individual
[37:33] on the street in your districts
[37:35] who has a multitude
of challenges,
[37:37] whether it's complex mental
health and or addiction issues.
[37:40] Maybe there's medical
and accessibility issues, etc..
[37:45] So what we did at last
[37:47] summer was we launched
a complex needs workgroup.
[37:51] We piloted it in downtown and
it provided the results for you.
[37:56] You know, line by line in terms
of the results of that work.
[38:01] Of the 37 people
that were identified
[38:04] and supported during that pilot.
[38:07] We have created
[38:08] 25 solutions, housing solutions
for those individuals.
[38:13] 19 of them have already moved
into a pathway.
[38:15] And you can see in the list
there
[38:18] that the pathways are diverse.
[38:20] And as we learned
with this group of individuals,
[38:23] that is very high needs.
[38:24] We had to often leverage
[38:27] a number of partners
and providers.
[38:29] We had to escalate situations
[38:31] to leadership
in different departments
[38:34] in order to
come up with the solution
that worked for that individual.
[38:38] And there's a couple examples
of that here on this slide.
[38:41] So the first example
is after years of homelessness,
[38:45] a client joined the complex
needs list in October 2025.
[38:50] This person had seen a number
of providers across the time
[38:54] that they had been experiencing
homelessness.
[38:56] And ultimately, it turned out
that they had significant memory
[39:00] loss, more than likely severe
dementia.
[39:03] All times
are something of that nature
[39:06] because of
the memory loss and confusion.
[39:09] As you can imagine,
it made it really,
[39:10] really challenging
to work with that client.
[39:13] But over the next nine months,
we had Grady, Atlanta,
[39:17] mission safe House, Mercy Care,
Atlanta Legal Aid, and Gateway.
[39:21] So we had six different
providers engaging
[39:24] and supporting the exit pathway
for this individual.
[39:29] And ultimately they were able
to get the right medical
[39:32] diagnosis, which then enabled us
to get them to the proper
[39:36] level of care, which wound up
being a nursing home care.
[39:40] So six organizations
in this case accomplished
[39:43] together what no single provider
could have achieved.
[39:48] And I think this
in and of itself demonstrates
the sheer complexity
[39:51] of what one individual in our
system can present to our system
[39:56] on any given day.
[40:00] The second thing that we're
doing to address complex needs
is we launched Project Heal.
[40:03] So you've heard me
talk about this before,
[40:06] and we're very excited to share
that we have begun
[40:09] filling
those beds through Project Heal.
[40:13] We have 30 units dedicated
at the waterworks site.
[40:16] 27 of 30 of them are now filled.
[40:19] This is the first ever
pilot of this
[40:21] kind that I am aware of in
no community.
[40:25] Am I where of five distinct
and competing health systems
[40:30] coming to the table together
to invest in a unified solution
[40:34] to serve individuals
that are otherwise tying
[40:37] up their hospital beds,
jeopardizing their bottom line,
[40:41] and really costing everybody
[40:44] more money than is necessary?
[40:47] So we pitched this
to those health systems,
[40:50] and we are really excited to now
share that
[40:53] every single one of them
is investing in this work.
[40:56] We've got some incredible
[40:58] stories and I just selected
a couple of them.
[41:01] So one is ten days
after hospitals began
[41:06] being able
to refer to Project Heal,
[41:08] we had three patients housed
within the first ten days,
[41:12] the first unhoused uninsured.
[41:14] Well, Starr patient moved in,
[41:16] had spent 91 days inpatient at
one of their hospital systems.
[41:21] So over three months
[41:24] and would have been extended
there for,
[41:27] you know,
indeterminate amount of time.
[41:29] But for this type of housing
solution,
[41:32] another individual,
a Grady patient
[41:34] who is dependent on oxygen,
was homeless since 2018.
[41:38] He reports being hospitalized
at Grady over 20 times.
[41:42] It was probably far more
than that, and he is now housed
[41:45] in receiving on site medical
and behavioral health care.
[41:48] So our onsite providers
at waterworks are providing
[41:52] the on site behavioral health
care and visiting nurse,
[41:54] providing
the on site medical care.
[41:57] And we are working now on
[42:00] expansion of those teams
so that we can deploy
[42:04] another 30 units
at the Cooper Street site.
[42:09] The the next piece
I really want to talk about
[42:12] is pathways to housing pathways
from shelter to housing.
[42:17] So again, you've heard us talk
a lot about street to housing.
[42:20] And we will continue to do that.
[42:22] But in parallel,
[42:23] we've recognized that
[42:24] we really need to bring support
to our shelter system,
[42:28] to equip them
[42:29] to be able to move people
out of those beds faster
[42:32] so that we can turn
those beds faster, ensuring
[42:35] we always have a bed available
for somebody who needs it.
[42:39] And that is essentially what
this very complex, busy slide
[42:42] is depicting for you.
[42:45] So the goal here is that people,
[42:48] the ultimate outcome
that we're tracking is
[42:50] that people would enter shelter
[42:52] and quickly exit to stable
housing within 30 days.
[42:56] So that is an ambitious metric
we know.
[42:59] But we always are striving
to be as ambitious
[43:03] and aggressive as possible.
[43:06] The vision here
is that we are creating a system
that quickly connects
[43:09] people experiencing homelessness
to shelter,
[43:11] and moves them
into housing within 30 days,
[43:13] so a bed is always available
for the next person in need.
[43:18] So we're testing this right now
at Gateway and Zabern,
[43:22] and we're using
some of the dollars
[43:24] from the Atlanta Rising campaign
to be able to
[43:26] assist us in doing this.
[43:28] So we have teams on the ground
[43:30] every single day at Gateway
and Zabern.
[43:33] We have a certain number of beds
[43:35] that are dedicated
for rapid resolution clients,
[43:38] and we're identifying people
as soon as they come in
[43:41] and fill a bed within 24 hours.
[43:43] We're doing
an immediate assessment
[43:44] with them to determine
[43:46] can they exit homelessness
with a little bit of support?
[43:49] Can they be rapidly resolved
out of our system quickly?
[43:53] And if so, then
we are positioning the shelter
[43:56] staff to move as fast
as humanly possible to that end.
[44:00] And one of the things
that is resulting from
[44:04] this work is really shifting
the culture at shelter.
[44:07] And we've heard this directly
[44:09] from leadership at gateway
and at Zabern.
[44:13] We're in our team
at partners for home,
[44:15] and our consultants
are on the ground
[44:16] in shelter
working with the staff.
[44:18] They're coaching them.
[44:19] They've got whiteboards
up in shelter
[44:22] with initials of every
single person in those beds.
[44:26] What they need to be working on
that day, what their timeline
[44:30] to exit is, and pushing
aggressively on this work.
[44:35] So we have heard from shelter
directly to say our staff
[44:38] are thinking
about this differently.
[44:40] They're moving differently
[44:41] when they show up
to work every day
[44:43] and they're approaching
the work differently.
[44:45] And that is really the goal
that we're striving for,
[44:48] to be able to build this
[44:49] and then grow it system
wide across all of our shelters.
[44:53] So just in the short
period of time
[44:55] that we've been working
in these two shelters,
[44:58] we've reduced the length
of stay by 16 days.
[45:01] So starting this work in early
July.
[45:05] In June, we were at a 96 day
length of time from entry to
[45:09] exit.
[45:11] We've shrunk that down
to 80 days, so we've reduced
the length of stay by two weeks.
[45:15] We've created a 40% increase
[45:18] in positive exits out of shelter
and into housing.
[45:21] And you can see
[45:23] in July and August
that we've been able to really
[45:27] double more
than double our exits to housing
[45:30] in just the two months
that we've
[45:31] been deploying the strategy.
[45:33] So we're very excited
about the momentum
[45:36] that this is creating.
[45:37] We believe we have evidence
that the pathways work.
[45:41] Now, the question is whether
Atlanta has enough capacity
[45:44] to deliver them at the scale,
[45:47] at the scale of the need.
[45:50] So with that,
I will close and I'm happy to
[45:53] take any questions
that you may have.
[45:56] Thank you very much.
We are going to start
with Councilmember Dozier.
[45:59] Thank you so much, Mr.
[46:00] Chair.
And Miss Vassell,
just for the record.
[46:04] The chair pressed my speaker
button.
[46:05] So, I wasn't going to ask
[46:07] any questions,
but now I feel that's okay.
[46:09] You don't have to ask
any questions.
[46:12] I was furiously taking notes.
[46:14] I will ask a few questions. One
[46:17] just something I'm hearing
[46:19] and seeing in a lot of my
communities across the district.
[46:22] I recognize
we do our annual pit counts,
[46:24] but there seems to be
a perception that
[46:28] the homelessness challenge in
our city
[46:30] is continuing to increase,
[46:31] especially now
that we're past World Cup.
[46:33] And so a lot of resources
that were available
[46:35] in the summer months to Downtown
Rising aren't necessarily
[46:40] as robust as they might
have been a couple months ago.
[46:43] There's a perception for non
down, non downtown communities
[46:47] that folks that were downtown
are being pushed out to the West
[46:49] End and People's Town
and other parts of the city.
[46:52] And then for my downtown
community,
[46:54] there's
a perception that, folks that
[46:58] are not
[47:00] native to
Atlanta or native to downtown
are being dropped off
[47:02] or released in the city
[47:04] because we have such
a large concentration
of resources downtown.
[47:07] One, I guess.
[47:09] Are y'all seeing anything either
in the enrollment data
[47:12] or in the outreach data
that suggests that we're
[47:15] seeing an increase
in our unsheltered population?
[47:19] And then two,
[47:21] I'm curious
if you have any thoughts about
[47:24] how the city should be
responding to,
[47:28] House Bill 237
I got past earlier this year.
[47:32] Some of the downtown leaders
[47:34] and hope that I was spoken
with are very interested in
[47:38] leveraging that as a way to
[47:41] to address
some of the challenges
[47:43] that they're experiencing
at their doorstep.
[47:46] I know there's a lot of work
that you and your team in town
cares and others are doing to
[47:51] address this issue,
but they may not always
be aware of the work
[47:53] that's going in day after day
to get folks off the streets.
[47:56] And so I guess
the second part of that question
[47:58] is, are in what ways
are y'all communicating
[48:02] to disaffected residents that,
hey, we're doing this what?
[48:04] We're doing our best?
[48:06] And the
[48:08] threat of being sued under
this new state
[48:10] law is not something
that we should be.
[48:12] That's counter to the work
that we need to be doing
[48:15] and get people
to help that they need.
[48:16] So there's a lot to unpack
there.
[48:18] And I happy to restate anything
that that you might have
[48:21] missed, but just wanted
to get your response to that.
[48:25] Yeah, definitely.
[48:27] Several questions in there.
[48:28] I would say the first question,
[48:31] around whether we're observing
increases
[48:34] in the total number of people
who are becoming homeless.
[48:38] Broadly speaking, no.
[48:40] We're staying
relatively stagnant.
[48:43] If you look at the number of
people who came into our system
[48:48] in total last year,
it was actually less
[48:52] than the number before.
[48:53] Still high.
[48:56] You know,
the summer months tend to cause
[49:00] an upswing in general
to the number of people who are
[49:05] either technically homeless
[49:07] or just outside
and perceived to be homeless.
[49:11] So we do see a lot of that
in the summer where, perception
[49:16] changes and is fluctuates
by the weather.
[49:20] And that's that is real.
[49:22] I mean, you know,
we parks become more
[49:27] populated
with all kinds of people
[49:28] and then with groups of people
that might be perceived
[49:31] as being homeless,
whether they are or not.
[49:34] We have had
that happen time and again,
[49:36] where we have an outreach team
go and respond to
[49:39] a group of people hanging out,
and they come back and say,
[49:44] none of those folks
are homeless.
[49:46] So there's
a little bit of that happening.
[49:48] I think we have also heard
some of what you've heard,
[49:52] which is, oh,
[49:53] they just pushed
all the people out of downtown,
[49:55] and now they're in midtown,
and now they're here
[49:57] because I've seen an uptick.
[50:00] You know, I think there's
[50:01] some natural mobility
of our population.
[50:04] We also housed 600 people
directly from downtown.
[50:10] So, you know, it's hard
to explain
[50:13] every distinction in terms
of movement and perception
[50:17] that people are feeling
and hearing.
[50:22] As far as the non-native piece.
[50:25] Our data continues to reflect
the fact that majority
[50:28] of the people who are homeless
in Atlanta are from Atlanta.
[50:33] Their last permanent zip code
was from
[50:36] the city of Atlanta proper.
[50:38] You know, roughly 60, 70%.
[50:41] That's from our pit count.
[50:43] And then
[50:43] the next big chunk
[50:45] is from the metro,
[50:46] and then a much smaller
percentage, roughly 10%
[50:49] report their last known zip
code was from out of state.
[50:52] Gateway collects
last known ZIP code,
[50:55] and for every person
they served, I.
[50:58] I can pull it up for you,
but I want to say
[51:00] it was at least 80% of everybody
they served
[51:03] in the last 12 months
was from the city of Atlanta.
[51:06] So I think sometimes,
[51:09] people do experience somebody
[51:11] getting dropped off
and that is real.
[51:13] And that does happen.
[51:14] But the reality is
the majority of people
[51:16] who are homeless in
Atlanta are from Atlanta.
[51:18] As far as HB 237.
[51:21] I mean, I think it's a it's
a cautionary tale for all of us.
[51:26] I think I've heard
from one business owner
[51:30] who was saying, I think
I should take advantage of this.
[51:35] And so I think it speaks
to the larger investment
[51:40] that's needed in this issue
as a community to be able
[51:43] to fully and comprehensively
address the issue.
[51:48] So thank you for sharing that.
[51:50] And, as I continue
to have conversations
[51:53] with my constituents, property
owners, businesses
[51:55] and the like,
[51:56] I want to continue to
[51:57] keep that line of communication
with you and your team open.
[52:00] I've been very thankful
[52:01] and very appreciative
of the work that you.
[52:03] I mean, you've been out there
walking
[52:04] many of these encampments
with me, you know, personally,
[52:07] and I've been very appreciative
of that.
[52:08] And, my hope
[52:10] is that my constituency,
that work is happening as well.
[52:13] And so anyways,
in which our office
[52:16] or all of our offices
can help amplify the work
[52:18] that y'all are doing each
and every day.
[52:21] Please let us know how
we can best assist,
[52:22] because I think part of it,
like I said,
[52:24] I feel there's a big perception
challenge.
[52:27] And the best way to combat
perception challenges
[52:30] is to present people
with information or make empower
[52:34] people, empower residents
so they don't feel like their,
[52:38] their voices aren't being heard
[52:39] or their concerns
aren't being heard or address
[52:41] when the reality is
it takes time.
[52:43] And people,
even people on the streets,
[52:46] have due process
and have rights.
[52:48] And we have to respect
that as we try
[52:49] to get them into sustainable
and dignified housing.
[52:53] And so I appreciate that.
[52:54] One thing that has come up a lot
is that what you kind of
[52:59] alluded
to this in your presentation,
[53:01] but there's an apparent
effort to
[53:05] make shelter operations
more efficient and to
[53:09] ensure that we can get people
[53:10] into permanent
housing as quickly as possible.
[53:14] But I am concerned
about our overall shelter
[53:16] capacity in the city.
[53:19] If there and I wonder
if partners for home
[53:21] is thinking about opportunities
to expand that capacity,
[53:24] beyond the
[53:26] gateway, beyond saving parties
and weather.
[53:30] And I recognize those entities
have their own roles
[53:33] as far as when people can stay
there.
[53:36] I've heard concerns, especially
for my downtown residents,
[53:41] you know,
wanting to see there's
an opportunity
to open up a day shelter so that
[53:44] folks aren't in the parks
or aren't on the streets
[53:47] or aren't in the bike lanes,
[53:48] but they have a safe place
in which they can go.
[53:50] I know Councilmember Bond led
the way with efforts to try to,
[53:56] re do how we approach,
[54:00] the need for cooling
cooling centers across the city
[54:03] in the summertime.
[54:04] I know that same conversation
comes up in the winter time
[54:07] for when it's when it's too cold
and when the warming shelters.
[54:10] And imagine expanding
that shelter infrastructure
[54:14] can help
[54:15] kind of alleviate that issue,
[54:16] while also making sure
people have a safe place to go.
[54:19] But I know it can be
a very politically charged,
[54:21] you know, topic, right?
[54:22] We want to build a shelter here.
[54:24] You got neighbors, businesses
who raise alarms,
[54:27] but I don't know if that's
something that partners for home
[54:30] or the administration
has been thinking about
[54:32] in terms of making sure that,
yes, we're going
[54:34] to make our shelter operations
more efficient,
[54:36] but let's expand the
the pie a bit so that we can
[54:40] ensure that
people have a safe place to go,
[54:42] not just to bed down at night,
[54:43] but also during the daytime
as well.
[54:45] Yeah,
thank you for bringing that up.
[54:47] Actually, I was remiss
and not providing an update.
[54:50] Navigation
center is also a component
[54:54] of our current campaign, so
we are actively raising dollars
[54:58] for an additional 155
beds of zero barrier shelter
[55:06] that would
operate 24 over seven accessible
any time
[55:09] nights, weekends,
whenever someone needs it.
[55:14] As a component of that,
we will have 50 safe haven beds
[55:19] that are going to be operated
by a skilled mental health
[55:22] provider who can bill Medicaid,
to support
[55:26] individuals with severe
and persistent mental illness.
[55:30] The navigation
component is the 24 over
[55:33] seven piece
that will be accessible for
[55:38] the airport.
Marta, in particular
are two priority areas.
[55:40] In addition to giving a relief
valve for our outreach teams.
[55:46] Again,
to be able to receive somebody,
[55:49] get them
access to immediate needs,
get them a bed for the night,
[55:52] and then get them triaged
and referred to
[55:55] a shelter in our system
and building
[55:59] in addition to that, building on
that shelter to housing
[56:03] component that I said we're
already building, with the idea
[56:06] being we're turning beds
sufficiently quickly enough
[56:10] that that facility doesn't
become logged.
[56:13] And we're we're constantly able
to refer people out.
[56:17] There would be another
additional
[56:18] 50 beds of just low barrier
shelter on the site as well.
[56:22] So we're working through
that now.
[56:24] We have raised
a capital dollars,
[56:26] and we
hope to be able to share more
[56:29] in terms
of details on that imminently.
[56:31] No. Thank you so much for that.
[56:34] That's really exciting to here.
[56:36] And then just on a similar note,
with regards
[56:38] to the mental health challenges
that we're trying to,
[56:41] you know,
what you share with Project
Hill is amazing
[56:42] to see
all those partners at the table.
[56:44] I am curious if Fulton County
is also a partner in network.
[56:47] I know there was some back
and forth earlier this winter.
[56:51] Or maybe it was last time,
but I don't remember when we had
[56:53] this big press conference
outside of 405 Cooper.
[56:57] But I recognized that
[56:59] the county is the one
with the public health mandate.
[57:02] And a lot of these challenges
stemmed from both mental
[57:05] public health,
that that sort of umbrella of
[57:08] of services that the county is
best equipped to provide.
[57:11] And I recognize, too,
that homeless services
[57:16] more broadly,
whether it's in Georgia
[57:19] or in other municipalities
across the country, counties
[57:22] are typically the ones that are
coordinating those efforts.
[57:25] Whereas here
in the city of Atlanta,
[57:26] city of Atlanta
is leading that charge
[57:28] in a much more robust way
than maybe,
[57:31] you know, might have been done
historically.
[57:33] And so I wonder
if there's opportunities with
[57:37] we're going to have a brand new
county commission in January.
[57:41] I don't know if we've
already started socializing,
[57:43] the need for the county to get
more involved in this work.
[57:47] I recognize there might be
[57:49] some aspect of this tied
into the, in our discussion.
[57:53] But I just, you know,
I would love to see
[57:56] the county
be a more collaborative partner
[57:58] and more robust partner
in this work.
[58:02] I know
both Council Member Westmoreland
and I are both serve on the
[58:05] the Continuum Care
Governing Council.
[58:06] I know we have one
representative
[58:07] from Fulton County on that body.
[58:09] I don't know, there's
an opportunity for a second
[58:10] representative County
just to make sure that that
[58:13] that connective
tissue is more intentional.
[58:17] But we'd love to see more county
[58:20] resources at the table,
this to support this work.
[58:22] And we're a
city of half a million people
[58:25] supporting a,
[58:28] 29 county metro area
[58:31] with almost 50 or 60 municipal
jurisdictions.
[58:37] In a state
that, you know, we're only 8%
[58:39] of the state's population.
[58:40] But I feel like a lot of the
[58:42] challenges related to this topic
falls on the city shoulders.
[58:46] And it will love to see more
partners,
[58:47] more government partners
at the table
[58:49] to ensure that we can get
to the goal of 40 million
[58:53] dedicated a year.
[58:54] All the sorts of things
we need to do to make
[58:56] homelessness
rare and infrequent.
[58:59] And so,
[59:01] that was
a, I guess, a loaded question.
[59:03] Have you all been talking
to the county at all
[59:04] as far as future partnership
opportunities? Yeah.
[59:07] I mean, I agree
100, 100 times over
with everything you just said.
[59:11] We absolutely need the county
[59:13] and the state Department of Beha
[59:17] in a more meaningful
way, financially at least.
[59:20] But yes, Mo Ivory, the
I presume will be the incoming
[59:26] chair of the commission
[59:27] was was our governing board
rep from the county.
[59:31] She stepped down since,
running for that position.
[59:35] So we'll be replacing that.
[59:36] We can also look at having
[59:39] an additional commission
representative.
[59:41] I think they would be interested
in that.
[59:43] I have met with with her
a couple times already to talk
[59:48] about what more intentional
partnership can look like
[59:52] well beyond just the,
you know, the
[59:55] the resources
they provide right now
[59:56] for the supportive
housing pipeline.
[59:58] So we welcome that.
[1:00:00] And, you know, the mayor
has been very vocal and adamant
[1:00:04] to me about also wanting
the county at the table.
[1:00:07] More so we'll be focused
squarely on that
[1:00:12] in the,
in the coming year with with
the new commission for sure.
[1:00:15] Thank you. Thank you so much.
[1:00:16] It is my last question and I'll
set up I promise to share.
[1:00:22] I know
[1:00:23] the Department of Parks
and Recreation
[1:00:26] has done an amazing job
expanding
[1:00:27] our public bathroom footprint
over the last few months.
[1:00:32] Our partnership
with with Throne Labs.
[1:00:35] I know the folks at Central
Perez have been very excited
[1:00:39] to see that footprint
footprint expand.
[1:00:43] However,
I know they had some thoughts
[1:00:45] and some notes on how
we can make that even better.
[1:00:47] And I don't know if partner
for home had some thoughts
[1:00:49] about opportunities to expand
the current pilot to ensure
[1:00:53] that more of our unsheltered
population has access to,
[1:00:57] bathrooms and latrines and ways
to be clean and hygienic.
[1:01:02] So, you know, another
[1:01:04] public health feather that maybe
we should tap on county
[1:01:07] for to support
to expand that pilot as well.
[1:01:10] But I don't know
if y'all have had those thoughts
[1:01:12] or conversations yet with DPR,
[1:01:14] but we'd love to encourage
that conversation to happen
[1:01:16] so we can expand the
the network of public bathrooms
[1:01:19] that we started
expanding on this year.
[1:01:21] Yeah, I love that we would
welcome that conversation.
[1:01:23] I'm sure
they would be open to it.
[1:01:25] We haven't discussed
the expansion
[1:01:26] possibility yet,
but anywhere we can add
[1:01:31] dignity to the street for people
who are currently experiencing
[1:01:34] homelessness, is is welcome.
[1:01:35] So bathrooms would be fantastic.
[1:01:39] Absolutely.
And I know Commissioner of also
be presenting right after you.
[1:01:42] So that's more
of a wink wink nudge nudge
[1:01:45] for the next presentation.
[1:01:46] But, Catherine,
I appreciate you as always.
[1:01:49] And, Mr.
[1:01:51] Chair, I'll shut up and yield.
[1:01:53] Thank you.
[1:01:54] I don't have any questions
or comments, he said.
[1:01:59] Next up, Councilmember Collins.
[1:02:05] Yes. Thank you so much.
[1:02:06] I think,
[1:02:08] you shared a lot
with Jason's question.
[1:02:11] I just have a really
quick question about the Atlanta
and prevention pilot.
[1:02:15] And, just so I don't
I know that this
[1:02:18] the pilot was from
July is am I correct in
[1:02:22] looking at the the data
in terms of the pilot from July
[1:02:27] to September of this year
and then just understanding
[1:02:31] the timeline of continuing
two two part question,
[1:02:34] the timeline
of continuing this initiative,
[1:02:38] and what is the average?
[1:02:41] I guess with the assistance
that you provide after
[1:02:44] what is the
the next level of service
[1:02:47] or next level of support,
particularly for those that take
[1:02:51] advantage of this program,
are able to receive
[1:02:54] so that they don't, you know,
fall back into, eviction.
[1:02:58] I know you share a little bit
[1:02:59] about what Avella is doing,
but just kind of
[1:03:02] some additional conversation.
[1:03:03] I think it's a great program,
just wanting
[1:03:05] to get more details. Yeah.
[1:03:07] So it will be a three year
pilot.
[1:03:10] The goal is to serve
500 households a year
[1:03:13] and to then track and monitor
[1:03:16] the success or not, of
[1:03:19] how we do at keeping those
families out of homelessness.
[1:03:23] It is
a randomized, controlled trial.
[1:03:25] So it's a little bitter sweet
in that for every household
[1:03:29] we support,
the next one has to be referred
[1:03:32] back to the system,
the control group.
[1:03:37] And so I just want to caveat
that with, with that,
[1:03:42] in terms of so three years,
ideally
[1:03:45] we, we served 1500 households
over those three years.
[1:03:48] And over that time, we're
also working to make the case
[1:03:51] for public dedicated support,
to be able to continuously fund
[1:03:57] that type of intervention
on an ongoing basis.
[1:03:59] So we actually met with the
right at home people yesterday.
[1:04:02] And, they're already wanting
to talk about,
[1:04:06] you know,
what is the local, state
[1:04:08] and federal landscape
for making the case for funding?
[1:04:13] So I was like,
we just got started.
[1:04:14] You know,
but that is the end goal.
[1:04:18] In terms of the types of
services that folks are getting.
[1:04:21] So each one of those providers
staffs a case manager
[1:04:26] or more to support
individualized services
[1:04:31] and connections
for the family being served.
[1:04:35] So if legal support is needed,
then they will loop in AVL.
[1:04:40] If not, they will provide the
[1:04:44] the financial assistance
and beyond that,
[1:04:47] they will work around
the individual needs
[1:04:49] of that household
to make connections.
[1:04:52] It's not a cure.
[1:04:54] All right?
[1:04:56] They're not going in
[1:04:57] and solving
all the problems of that family,
[1:05:01] but they are doing whatever
they can to stabilize them
[1:05:04] and then make sure they can
maintain moving on.
[1:05:07] But it's really individualized
[1:05:09] based on
the needs of the household.
[1:05:12] And if,
if the pilot is successful
[1:05:14] is this is so it sounds like
it'll be a separate
[1:05:19] funding piece,
but not tied to the overall
[1:05:23] funding initiative,
[1:05:24] the overall
[1:05:25] homeless funding initiative
[1:05:27] that you guys
are currently pursuing.
[1:05:29] It is.
[1:05:30] So the prevention pillar is
[1:05:33] one of the four pillars
of our current campaign.
[1:05:36] It's a $10 million effort.
[1:05:38] And we've raised,
[1:05:41] six of the 10 million.
[1:05:43] We are in conversation
with the Hilton Foundation
[1:05:46] right now and expect them
to be contributing as well.
[1:05:50] So the pilot itself
is a $10 million pilot.
[1:05:54] And then beyond that, we'd
be looking to strategize around
[1:05:58] how we secure
[1:05:59] revenue and an ongoing basis
to sustain that work.
[1:06:03] Great. And then my last.
Thank you for that.
[1:06:05] My last question,
I know you mentioned
[1:06:07] in terms of the plans to build a
150 bed, no barrier homeless.
[1:06:15] Show, navigation
center, navigation center.
[1:06:18] What is the timeline for that?
[1:06:19] Or what do you what do you
all thinking about in regards
[1:06:22] to being able to get that off
the ground?
[1:06:27] We are looking to move
[1:06:29] as quickly as humanly possible.
[1:06:32] There's some things
we need to finalize,
[1:06:37] in terms of next steps,
but ideally
[1:06:39] we would be able to deliver
that by,
[1:06:43] the second quarter of 27.
[1:06:45] Oh, okay. All right. Great.
Thank you.
[1:06:47] Thank you so much, Mister Chair.
[1:06:50] That's all my questions.
[1:06:52] Thank you much.
[1:06:53] Councilmember bond.
[1:06:56] Thank you.
[1:06:57] Thank you. Catherine.
[1:06:58] And thank you,
Council Member Dozier, for
[1:07:02] lifting up the heat
safety resolution
[1:07:04] that I passed earlier
this summer.
[1:07:06] As everybody knows,
it's been extremely high
[1:07:09] for multiple days in a row.
I think it was 90 degrees
today in September.
[1:07:12] So I know that this has a
disproportionate impact on folks
[1:07:16] who don't have central AC,
[1:07:17] but in particular folks
[1:07:19] who don't have homes at all
or houseless community.
[1:07:21] So I'm curious how you all
and folks on the ground
[1:07:24] have seen this show up
this summer, in particular,
[1:07:27] impacting
our houseless community.
[1:07:30] Is there
anything that y'all think
[1:07:32] we should be concerned
about that you've noticed?
[1:07:36] And what do you think
are some of the barriers
[1:07:38] to getting people connected
to services or cooling centers
[1:07:42] as weather becomes more extreme?
[1:07:45] Yeah, I mean,
I think in general, the barrier
[1:07:48] to getting folks
who are unsheltered into shelter
[1:07:53] is, you know, there's a sort of
[1:07:57] short list of items that
[1:08:00] we typically here in response
from people that not only
[1:08:03] we speak to directly,
but we survey and ask this
[1:08:06] question annually. Now,
[1:08:09] the question being, if shelter
were available, would you go?
[1:08:12] And if no, why not?
[1:08:14] So one of the big ticket
[1:08:16] items is shelter
rules and requirements.
[1:08:20] So maybe the,
[1:08:22] you know, the time
with which I have to be
[1:08:24] there is, is too challenging.
[1:08:25] Maybe I can't work.
[1:08:27] Maybe I can't work at night.
[1:08:29] Those kinds of things.
[1:08:30] Then I think there's another
category of things related
[1:08:34] to fear and concern about what
I might encounter in shelter.
[1:08:38] Whether it's safety issues,
my things not being safe,
[1:08:42] my body not being safe.
[1:08:44] Issues related to cleanliness
[1:08:47] and bedbugs
and things of that nature.
[1:08:51] And then I think three is
maybe individuals
[1:08:55] have already had about
experience with the system.
[1:08:58] And they don't feel like
[1:09:00] that's a road
they want to go down again.
[1:09:03] Also,
they may have been in shelter
[1:09:05] and been exited
back to homelessness.
[1:09:07] So that is one area
where directly
[1:09:11] trying to focus on
with rapid resolution and really
[1:09:15] trying to shift the orientation
and culture in shelter, too.
[1:09:20] You know,
I didn't say this earlier, but
[1:09:23] not every shelter has said
yes to that.
[1:09:26] And so we're working on
[1:09:29] continuing those conversations
and engagements to say,
[1:09:33] look, we're going to bring you
the resources.
[1:09:36] We're going to train your staff.
[1:09:37] We're going to support you
in doing this.
[1:09:40] But I think it's a lot
about change management
[1:09:44] and getting folks to think about
doing things a little bit
[1:09:47] differently or changing models,
and that can be challenging.
[1:09:52] So those
tend to be the main reasons.
[1:09:55] What we're
also looking to see is,
[1:09:59] you know, the
the communication chain among
[1:10:02] the homeless is real.
[1:10:04] Right.
And, what we're curious about
is as we get better
[1:10:09] at exiting people
to housing from shelter,
[1:10:13] if word will start to spread
that,
[1:10:15] hey, you got to go to shelter
to get into housing.
[1:10:18] And we're sort of hoping
[1:10:20] that a little bit of that
culture shift will translate to
[1:10:25] folks who are otherwise
sleeping outside today.
[1:10:27] That. Oh, yeah, okay,
I can go to shelter.
[1:10:29] I'm not going to be there
that long. 80 days.
[1:10:32] And then from there
I'm getting an exit
[1:10:35] to actual housing pathway.
[1:10:37] And then lastly,
as it relates to cooling,
[1:10:40] and warming, frankly,
you know, I mean, I think,
[1:10:45] this comes
back to the same thing
[1:10:47] we've been talking about,
which is
[1:10:50] the amount of resources
we are able to deploy,
[1:10:54] to address these issues.
[1:10:58] And I think
[1:10:59] as a community, as a city,
[1:11:02] along with the county
[1:11:04] and whoever else, we
we need to seriously contemplate
[1:11:08] a revenue stream to be able
to fund all of these things
[1:11:12] and to fund them such that
they can be stood up quickly.
[1:11:17] They can be stood up when the
weather quickly changes.
[1:11:21] And to be able to provide
the necessary
[1:11:23] support for, for people
that are vulnerable.
[1:11:27] Completely agree.
[1:11:28] And and the reason
I ask this is,
[1:11:32] I, I've been speaking
to different,
[1:11:34] you know, folks
who work in, like,
[1:11:35] homeless advocacy,
different organizations and,
[1:11:40] some of them have raised that
when the cooling centers open,
[1:11:43] they really don't receive
[1:11:46] any kind of
email or notification or it's
been like spotty over the years.
[1:11:48] And so I'm wondering if,
if you've noticed how, how
[1:11:52] have you seen that communication
to play out in practice?
[1:11:55] Are there ways
that we can improve
[1:11:57] the way that we get
that information out there?
[1:12:00] Yeah, that's a great question.
[1:12:03] We we have it sort of
down to a science with in terms
of how it operates in warming.
[1:12:06] We have a specific communication
protocol.
[1:12:09] As soon as the city decides
it's going to activate.
[1:12:13] I know my admin does something.
[1:12:15] I don't know
if it's automated or what,
[1:12:16] but morning, noon or night.
[1:12:18] And on the weekends
[1:12:19] an email goes out
to everybody on our listserv.
[1:12:24] And then there's
other mechanisms that the city
[1:12:27] uses through emergency
preparedness as well.
[1:12:31] On particular like weather,
extreme weather events.
[1:12:35] So all that to say,
[1:12:36] I believe that is also the case
[1:12:38] for cooling,
but I will need to double check.
[1:12:40] And if it's not,
we can easily implement that.
[1:12:45] And should. Yeah I agree.
[1:12:47] And I'm just thinking out
loud here, but I also spoke
[1:12:50] with some Fulton County library
workers who told me, like,
[1:12:53] they take on a lot of that load
of, you know, people
[1:12:57] coming out of Grady,
coming into the library,
[1:12:59] needing help with services.
[1:13:01] And they also told me
they tend to have to search
[1:13:05] very hard for when and where
the cooling centers are open.
[1:13:08] So something to keep in mind.
[1:13:11] And another another
[1:13:16] anecdote I heard
was that on one of the 96
degree days this summer,
[1:13:20] somebody went by the Celina
Butler Cooling Center
[1:13:23] and noticed a bunch of people
hanging out outside,
[1:13:25] and they'd, like, grab water
and then go back outside.
[1:13:29] And I was wondering
if maybe that had to do with
[1:13:32] the things you spoke to, like
lack of welcoming environment
[1:13:35] or maybe lack of things
to do or too many restrictions?
[1:13:39] I don't know if you
[1:13:42] I mean,
I haven't had as much experience
with the cooling centers,
[1:13:45] but what I can
say about the warming shelters,
in my experience,
[1:13:47] and having staff them
over the years and, you know,
[1:13:49] being in and out,
people love the warming centers
[1:13:52] and they're very welcoming.
[1:13:53] They're very, very low barrier.
[1:13:56] They're very easy to access
in my experience overall
[1:13:59] and generally speaking.
[1:14:02] So it
could just be it's summer and,
you know,
[1:14:05] people want to be outside
instead of being cooped up.
[1:14:08] I don't know, I can't speak to
the individual's situation, but,
[1:14:13] but we we do tend to see that
corollary of summertime.
[1:14:17] There's more people outside,
there's more people hanging out.
[1:14:20] There's more,
you know, behaviors going on
[1:14:23] of all of all sorts and flavors.
[1:14:26] Some good, some bad,
but warming,
[1:14:30] you know, I can say
is, is particularly welcoming.
[1:14:34] And usually most people
accept access to warming.
[1:14:39] Selena Butler
is one of the smaller sites,
[1:14:42] so that might have something
to do with it.
[1:14:46] Yeah.
[1:14:47] We'll try to get to the bottom
of it.
[1:14:49] And last comment
is if you and Councilmember
[1:14:55] Dozier do end up
[1:14:57] speaking about
expanding public restrooms,
I would love to be part of
[1:14:58] that conversation
and would like to put
[1:15:02] Pontes out
there as a potential location.
[1:15:05] That's a great idea.
[1:15:06] All right, that's it.
Thank you. Thank you.
[1:15:09] Thank you. Appreciate it.
[1:15:11] Next up, Department of Parks
and Recreation,
[1:15:14] interim commissioner Douglas.
[1:15:19] Okay.
[1:15:20] Good afternoon, Mr.
[1:15:21] Chair. And members of council.
[1:15:23] Appreciate
you inviting us today
to present our quarterly report.
[1:15:26] We have not presented,
I think, for about six months.
[1:15:29] We did not present in June.
[1:15:31] So I'm going to try to keep this
[1:15:34] 115 slide
presentation short. But,
[1:15:38] but we do have some material.
[1:15:40] We appreciate your good.
[1:15:43] I did want to just
thank publicly our team.
[1:15:47] We have some team members here.
[1:15:48] DC Galen Williams, DC
[1:15:51] LaShawn Dudley, DC Rachel Maher,
program manager
[1:15:55] Kimberly Esteban
I think our budget director,
[1:15:57] Henry
Thompson is right here as well.
[1:15:59] So, they are an amazing team.
[1:16:01] I've loved working with them
ever since I've been here.
[1:16:03] I've been about 15 years,
[1:16:05] but I've really relied on them
heavily in the last few months
[1:16:07] and just really appreciate
you publicly
[1:16:09] for supporting me
in the department
[1:16:12] as we continue to grow.
[1:16:13] Did want to start,
[1:16:15] because it has been a minute
just to kind of start level set.
[1:16:19] We have a departmental mission
[1:16:21] which is to provide
equitable access
[1:16:23] to outstanding recreational,
natural and cultural experiences
[1:16:26] that enhance the happiness,
health, and well-being
[1:16:28] of all Atlantans.
[1:16:29] My understanding
of the mission statement is that
[1:16:31] this is what we should be doing
[1:16:33] currently, and this is what
we are aiming for every day.
[1:16:36] Our vision statement is what
we are trying to shoot for
[1:16:38] in the future,
which is to make recreation
[1:16:40] and parks
the heart and soul of Atlanta
[1:16:42] through a diverse yet
[1:16:43] seamless and interconnected
system
[1:16:45] of parks, recreation
and natural areas.
[1:16:47] I think that is a great vision
statement.
[1:16:49] I often say
[1:16:50] Department of Parks is the heart
and soul of Atlanta,
[1:16:52] but I actually love the sentence
that the mayor uses often,
[1:16:56] which is by creating healthy,
thriving neighborhoods.
[1:16:59] We're building the best city
[1:17:01] in the country to raise a child,
[1:17:02] the best city in the country
to raise a child.
[1:17:04] That makes a lot of sense.
[1:17:06] It's easy to remember,
and I think it fits very well
[1:17:09] into what DPR is all about.
[1:17:10] And we do that
by investing in people
[1:17:12] and places, one community
at a time.
[1:17:15] About five years ago in 2022,
we embarked on a master plan.
[1:17:20] It's called activate ATL.
[1:17:22] I love this plan
to. It's very thick.
[1:17:24] It has many technical
guides to it,
[1:17:26] but it really equates to three
bottom line areas
[1:17:29] that we're going to focus on.
[1:17:30] Invest in Atlanta's assets,
connect with our resources
[1:17:34] and grow the system.
[1:17:35] And I feel like we're doing
that.
[1:17:36] We're on a trajectory
to continue to do that.
[1:17:39] So as we start
this presentation,
[1:17:41] I just wanted
to kind of start with that.
[1:17:42] So the big Tada mentioned it
before.
[1:17:44] We are now
number 18th in the country.
[1:17:48] From the national
[1:17:50] dresser Public Lands score.
[1:17:52] We were 49th when the Mayor
Dickens took offense.
[1:17:55] So we have I think we are number
one in terms of the quickest
[1:17:58] and the largest amount of places
risen in the score.
[1:18:02] That is only one
reflection of who we are.
[1:18:04] But that's a good one.
[1:18:06] We do intend to be a top
ten Parks and Rec system soon,
[1:18:10] and we have a couple of ways
I can explain how we'll plan
[1:18:12] to get there
through this presentation.
[1:18:14] We have been featured in news
articles over 40 times
[1:18:18] since April.
[1:18:19] Almost all of them are good.
[1:18:21] But we have a lot to
to be proud of,
[1:18:24] including our bathrooms
that have been mentioned
[1:18:25] many times today,
our 45th year of camp.
[1:18:28] Best friends.
[1:18:29] We have a $9.4 million
[1:18:31] grant from the Jeff Bezos
through our partner, Park Pride.
[1:18:34] We have partnered to have Make
Atlanta your own gym campaign
[1:18:38] with Fulton County.
[1:18:39] Emory and Morehouse.
[1:18:41] And we have reduced
and increased
[1:18:44] sliding scale program
to get more kids,
[1:18:46] more participants
in our programs,
[1:18:48] which we thank both the mayor
and council for that
[1:18:52] want to try to just kind of
go through several of our pods.
[1:18:55] And we have many, several
groupings of, initiatives
[1:18:58] that we do. I'm going
to start with youth and seniors.
[1:19:00] As I mentioned,
this was the 45th
[1:19:02] anniversary of Camp
Best Friends year over year.
[1:19:05] Our numbers have increased.
[1:19:06] We had a 13% increase
with youth.
[1:19:09] We had a 52% increase in teens.
[1:19:11] That's significant
and astounding.
[1:19:13] And we had a 28% increase
with seniors.
[1:19:15] We offer summer camps
at 17 locations
[1:19:19] for youth and teens, and we have
five locations for seniors.
[1:19:23] So we had a fantastic summer.
[1:19:26] But as soon as
that ended in one week off,
we started after school program.
[1:19:29] We have about 1000 people
that children that participate
[1:19:32] in our after school program
that is offered at 18 sites.
[1:19:36] And we also start our prime time
[1:19:38] senior program,
which is offered at 20 sites.
[1:19:40] All of these programs
have support.
[1:19:42] Thanks to council, the millage
that we have been provided
[1:19:46] and our own resources through
the General Fund to provide
[1:19:49] Stem, academic enrichment,
[1:19:53] cultural experiences,
tutorial programs
[1:19:58] and creative learning
for all of our programs.
[1:20:01] Our seniors get the same type of
[1:20:03] services provided,
whether it be aerobics,
[1:20:06] water aerobics, opportunities
for crafts, cooking.
[1:20:09] So we are very excited that
[1:20:11] those programs are all in place
right now.
[1:20:13] They are all open for enrollment
right now.
[1:20:15] As of the last check,
we had 1500 prime time seniors.
[1:20:19] That has a record
for us at this time,
[1:20:21] and we hope to see that it is
all free for prime time seniors.
[1:20:24] So if you have seniors
in your district, please tell
[1:20:26] encourage them to register.
[1:20:28] We do have a fall program that
we're offering this year at four
[1:20:32] use sites and one senior site,
as well as two teen sites.
[1:20:35] So that is for apps the week
of October 12th to the 16th.
[1:20:39] And if you have anybody
who would like to register
[1:20:41] for those programs,
they are open now.
[1:20:44] I did want to talk briefly about
two very important programs
[1:20:47] that are over now
[1:20:49] in some sense for the summer,
[1:20:50] but these have been
really wildly successful
[1:20:52] for us
this year. Number one is camp
[1:20:55] camp Best Friends, Lake Altoona.
[1:20:57] If you did not know, we have 200
acres up on Lake Altoona.
[1:21:00] It is absolutely beautiful.
[1:21:01] We had over 144 participants
this year.
[1:21:05] That is
a major increase over last year
when we resurrected the camp.
[1:21:08] It had not been used
[1:21:09] as an overnight camp
for a number of years.
[1:21:10] Covid was part of that,
[1:21:12] but for other reasons to
the camp needed to be updated,
[1:21:14] and we have seen the number of
children increased week to week,
[1:21:18] and it looked to that
for next year.
[1:21:20] We offer an obstacle course,
we have ski boats,
[1:21:22] we have a pontoon boat,
we have archery,
[1:21:24] we have paddle boards,
we have kayaks.
[1:21:26] We actually liked it so much.
[1:21:27] We brought 350 of our own staff
up there for a day at the lake
[1:21:30] at the end of the season.
[1:21:31] Had a wonderful time.
[1:21:32] It is available for rentals.
[1:21:34] I talked to lingerie and Clay,
who runs that operation for us,
[1:21:38] and they had a rental as early
as last week.
[1:21:40] They come up on a Friday
or Saturday, leave on Sunday
[1:21:42] and all that's
available to the public.
[1:21:44] It's a wonderful spot.
Lake Altoona is beautiful.
[1:21:46] The other one is aquatics.
[1:21:48] We had over
76,000 visits to our.
[1:21:51] We had 11 pools open
this summer.
[1:21:53] We have one
that is down for reconstruction.
[1:21:55] That was Pittman.
[1:21:57] But over the 98 day season,
we had 76,000.
[1:22:00] I should have left this
as a quiz.
[1:22:01] But our top three pools
[1:22:02] this year was were Grant,
Johnny White and Adams.
[1:22:05] The interesting thing is
that has always fluctuated.
[1:22:08] It is not always
the same three pools.
[1:22:12] And I find it really interesting
that Adams was one of our pools
that has not been on the top
[1:22:14] three for a number of years,
[1:22:15] so I'm really excited to see
that it's balanced
[1:22:17] and people
are going to different pools.
[1:22:20] So we'll see how that goes next
year.
[1:22:22] We did host our first swim meet.
[1:22:23] There's a little picture
down on the bottom.
[1:22:25] We have our own developmental
swim league.
[1:22:26] That's what DSL stands for.
[1:22:28] And we did our a swimming
at Grant Park.
[1:22:30] And that was wonderful.
And we hired 92 lifeguards.
[1:22:33] We're going to need
a lot more next year.
[1:22:34] I have a picture
of this new pool
[1:22:36] we're building at Pittman
[1:22:37] Park, Pittsburgh community,
and I'm super excited about it.
[1:22:39] But you'll see why.
[1:22:41] We also had all of our pools
staff with both Ranger
[1:22:43] and an AP. D had
very few incidents this summer.
[1:22:46] Thank God everybody was safe
and that's always the
[1:22:49] our standard bearer.
[1:22:50] Year over year,
[1:22:51] I talked a little bit
about the teen program,
[1:22:54] the Atlanta teen program,
[1:22:56] what we call the Atlanta
Teen Leader Program,
[1:22:58] or the Atlanta Teen Academy
has grown by leaps and bounds.
[1:23:01] We are currently at 16 sites.
[1:23:03] That includes two at Promise
centers.
[1:23:05] One is it metropolitan?
[1:23:07] One is. It's called southwest,
but it's on MLK.
[1:23:11] We are planning on moving
to our third at promise site,
which is at the,
[1:23:14] the Walter and Andrew
Young YMCA on Campbellton.
[1:23:17] We hope to be there by January.
[1:23:18] This program this summer,
had over 650 children,
[1:23:23] teens enrolled, and 175 of them
were hired for us.
[1:23:27] They work at our summer
camps. They work at our
[1:23:31] senior
sites, and they work at our,
at our youth sites.
[1:23:34] So in addition
to all the opportunities
[1:23:38] they have through the,
[1:23:40] the camp, the program,
they also get a job.
[1:23:43] One important factor
you have to be enrolled
[1:23:45] in the team leader program
by December
[1:23:47] to get a job
for the following year.
[1:23:49] So if you have teens
that are interested,
[1:23:51] please have them enroll now
[1:23:53] before the end of the year,
before December 31st
[1:23:56] so we can offer them
into the program for employment
[1:24:00] next summer.
We do have a number of programs
that are set for the fall.
[1:24:04] One is we're opening up two
new teen renovated teen rooms.
[1:24:07] One is at Roselle
Fan, one is at Grove.
[1:24:10] And we have a whole
litany of opportunities
for teens that are coming up.
[1:24:13] We are working with the Atlanta
Hawks on the Million Meal
[1:24:15] Packing program, providing food
and meals.
[1:24:18] That's in a couple of weeks.
[1:24:19] We're doing something
kind of unique.
[1:24:21] We're doing
a parent appreciation.
[1:24:22] So if you have a team
that's involved in our program,
[1:24:26] we're going to do a parent
appreciation on October 3rd.
[1:24:29] We want to see the parents.
We know that's a success rate.
[1:24:32] You can't beat if the
if the parents
[1:24:34] of the children are program
or behind that program.
[1:24:37] We'll get you more information
on that on October 3rd.
[1:24:39] We also have
[1:24:41] a couple of programs
listed on the bottom,
[1:24:42] which is our annual
[1:24:44] haunted house at Pittman
Park that is usually drawn,
[1:24:47] they decorate the entire
facility as a haunted house.
[1:24:51] We've drawn thousands
to that event in the past.
[1:24:53] We have teens giving on
November 19th.
[1:24:55] We do a sneaker and coat drive.
[1:24:57] You can offer coats and sneakers
here at City Hall.
[1:25:00] The airport has been a huge help
[1:25:02] providing coats and sneakers
for us on this program.
[1:25:05] Usually the the sneakers and
coats are given out at Martin.
[1:25:08] That's going to be held on
November 21st,
[1:25:10] and then we'll have a Winter
Wonderland program for our
[1:25:13] teens on December 18th.
[1:25:15] So we're looking forward to
that as well.
[1:25:17] Want to jump to athletics
and meals?
[1:25:20] We have made a concerted effort
in the last few years
[1:25:22] to increase the number of sports
outside of football,
[1:25:26] basketball and baseball,
and that is really paid off.
[1:25:30] These programs are still small.
[1:25:31] There are things like flag
football, girls softball
[1:25:36] and soccer,
and we've seen a tremendous
increase in those programs.
[1:25:39] They're still small.
[1:25:40] We had over 1200 children
right now
[1:25:42] participating in our football
tackle football program.
[1:25:44] We have 400
[1:25:45] in our cheer program,
[1:25:47] and we have over 100
in our girls volleyball program.
[1:25:49] So we still have
quite large programs,
[1:25:51] but we are trying to expand
into these other opportunities.
[1:25:54] Another
one of those areas is Tots,
[1:25:56] and I know a lot of
y'all are participated.
[1:25:58] I know Councilmember Dozier,
Councilmember Winston's
[1:26:00] children have participated
in those programs.
[1:26:02] We offer both.
[1:26:04] Todd Olympics.
We're doing Tot football
right now.
[1:26:05] Goes to Tot soccer,
basketball, baseball.
[1:26:08] It is all a riot and
it is all chaos all the time.
[1:26:12] But we do offer those programs.
[1:26:14] And then one area
that we're really focusing on,
[1:26:16] I'll speak on this a little bit
later is adult sports.
[1:26:18] We don't do enough of them.
[1:26:19] We have started to do this
the second year.
[1:26:21] We offer an intra departmental
softball league.
[1:26:24] It is nuts.
[1:26:25] It's every Wednesday
[1:26:26] we fill the entire
parking lot at Southside Park.
[1:26:29] We have many injuries to many
city employees at these events,
[1:26:33] but they're having a great time.
[1:26:34] And I literally mean
the parking lot is full.
[1:26:37] So on tomorrow
[1:26:38] night, Wednesday night,
if you want to go down
[1:26:39] and just see a bunch of city
employees,
[1:26:41] have a good time,
it is it is fantastic.
[1:26:43] So we're really appreciative
[1:26:45] of our athletics team
for doing that.
[1:26:47] Our meal program,
we offer meals year round.
[1:26:51] Most of them
we are well above,
I think, 95% reimbursement rate.
[1:26:54] All these programs are offered
[1:26:55] through
the Department of Agriculture,
[1:26:57] but we offered 56 sites where
we offered meals this summer.
[1:27:01] 27 of those are literally sites
that we own, like a rec center.
[1:27:06] For a total of 147,000 meals
were distributed this summer.
[1:27:10] Over 2000 of the participants
were met through a bus
[1:27:13] that we have. It's a rolling bus
that provides the meals.
[1:27:16] And then we had another 21 sites
that we actually have
[1:27:19] the vendor deliver
the meals directly to the site,
[1:27:23] for them to get fed, and
then we get reimbursed for that.
[1:27:26] We offered a new program
called plates in the Park, where
[1:27:29] our our nutrition team
literally takes,
[1:27:33] hot plate,
hot plates and burners and goes
to each of our rec centers
[1:27:36] and senior centers and cooks
[1:27:38] with the participants
of the meals
[1:27:39] that will kick off this year
on those fall camps.
[1:27:42] I was mentioned to you.
[1:27:43] And then it continues to every
single site, in the system.
[1:27:47] And we're using Dunbar this year
as our hub
[1:27:50] for the nutrition program.
[1:27:51] So we'll be bringing other sites
[1:27:52] to Dunbar to learn to cook
and do demonstrations.
[1:27:56] And we have a hydroponic garden,
as well as
[1:27:58] probably one of the best outdoor
gardens in the city,
[1:28:00] just outside, Dunbar's Walls.
[1:28:03] So looking forward to that.
[1:28:05] Didn't want to kind of leave.
[1:28:07] It seems like
it was a while ago,
[1:28:08] but we had a huge summer
with FIFA.
[1:28:10] Just wanted to mention
all the things we did.
[1:28:12] We offered a several community
watch parties.
[1:28:15] We gave a soccer ball
[1:28:16] to every single child
that was enrolled in camp.
[1:28:19] Best friends. Our
theme was one world, one goal.
[1:28:22] We offered the Teens on Point,
which is a group that helps
[1:28:27] build construction and carpentry
skills with teens.
[1:28:30] They built over 40 goals
that we put out
[1:28:31] at all of our parks
for the summer.
[1:28:33] We introduced Foot Golf,
[1:28:35] which is a foot version soccer
version of golf at Candler Park,
[1:28:38] which actually turns out,
if I'm not mistaken,
[1:28:40] to actually be drawing
more people during the hours
[1:28:42] that it's offered
for that than for golf.
[1:28:45] So that was kind of interesting.
[1:28:46] We offered,
as you mentioned before,
[1:28:48] the Throne labs were brought,
[1:28:49] not just for FIFA,
but it was brought to make sure
[1:28:52] we had them in place for FIFA.
[1:28:53] That's been super successful.
[1:28:55] I have some more information
about that later.
[1:28:56] We did watch parties
for our staff,
[1:28:58] and we also developed
an enhanced maintenance plan,
[1:29:01] which we worked very closely
with other departments,
[1:29:03] Department of Public Works,
[1:29:05] a Dot and others
to try to really focus.
[1:29:07] When we have these large events
and towns, what can we do
[1:29:09] in the downtown areas
or where people are located?
[1:29:11] Try to make sure the bathrooms
and service litters picked up
[1:29:14] grass
mode on an accelerated schedule,
[1:29:16] and we're able to use that
and try to use those
[1:29:20] for future events.
So I'm glad we
we went through that exercise.
[1:29:23] The next
sector I want to talk about
[1:29:25] is just the fact
that this doesn't really end.
[1:29:27] We continue.
We have a Playmobil,
which we bring out.
[1:29:30] It's available for use.
[1:29:31] If you have any of your events
[1:29:32] you like the Playmobil
to attend.
[1:29:34] I think our last schedule event
this year is October 3rd.
[1:29:37] We did a 19 camp best friends
events, 20 special events,
[1:29:40] and we've been to about 50
parks.
[1:29:41] We'll just go to a park,
bring the vans, set it up,
[1:29:44] play Jenga, play bowling, play
whatever we have in the van
[1:29:48] and it's available.
[1:29:49] We also do
popsicles in the park.
[1:29:51] We did one last week at Grove
Park on Thursday
[1:29:53] will be at Roselle Fan
[1:29:55] and then Brownwood after that
for the following week.
[1:29:57] And we've been doing movies,
unfortunately.
[1:30:00] Councilmember Bond,
we keep seeming to get rained
[1:30:02] out for your events,
but we will make them up.
[1:30:05] We were actually doing a makeup
[1:30:06] for Councilmember
Amos this weekend.
[1:30:08] So this weekend on Friday
will be at Grove Park
[1:30:10] and then night park on Saturday,
[1:30:12] and then Shirley, Clark,
Franklin and Adams Park.
[1:30:13] And we are going to make up
for the ones we missed.
[1:30:16] It turns out the sun
showed up too,
[1:30:17] so we almost could have had it.
[1:30:19] But anyways, that's,
[1:30:20] Yeah, I know the next item
we're going to talk about
[1:30:23] is just in that
same vein. We have a great
[1:30:26] group of community,
[1:30:29] coordinators that work for DC,
LaShawn Dudley.
[1:30:32] We've done 22 citywide events,
reaching over 3500 neighbors
[1:30:37] since June.
Some of those are listed
on the screen.
[1:30:38] We do National Night Out
partnering with APD. Obviously,
[1:30:41] we do a fresh cut series
where you can get haircut.
[1:30:44] There also have other beauty,
instruction that's offered.
[1:30:48] We've offered
that at multiple sites.
[1:30:50] We have a Disability
Pride month,
[1:30:52] Community Connections
with the Urban Indigo
[1:30:54] Foundation,
back to school bashes,
[1:30:56] and we've done
a touch truck experience
[1:30:58] with our friends
[1:30:58] at DPW,
[1:31:00] upcoming events,
as we mentioned,
[1:31:01] or popsicles in the park
and movies in the park.
[1:31:03] We have a number of ribbon
cutting.
[1:31:04] We expect that Lang Carson Park,
[1:31:06] the interior improvements
have officially been completed.
[1:31:08] We are building a new playground
at Deerwood Park,
[1:31:11] and all of the improvements
that Lillian Cooper
[1:31:14] Shepherd Park,
including a new playground,
[1:31:16] accessible parking lot
[1:31:18] and driveway
have been completed as well.
[1:31:20] I will mention
I was kind of surprised by that.
[1:31:22] We sometimes we try
to branch out into wellness.
[1:31:25] We had over 30
[1:31:27] men show up for prostate
awareness just two days ago, and
[1:31:30] I was really impressed by that.
That was that was great.
[1:31:32] Thank you, LaShawn and Phillip
for putting that on.
[1:31:35] That's something
we're going to continue to do.
[1:31:36] 30 people for something
like approximate awareness.
[1:31:38] That's that's good, that's good.
[1:31:40] We need
to keep pushing that as well.
[1:31:43] Wanted to talk about
just staying on that same van.
[1:31:46] And I mentioned earlier
we do have a program
[1:31:47] called
Make It Lana, your Own gym.
[1:31:49] The prostrate awareness
was one of those opportunities.
[1:31:52] What we're trying to do
is partner with our
[1:31:54] partners at Emory, at Fulton
County Board of Health,
[1:31:57] to try to let people know that
parks are a great opportunity
[1:32:01] for just overall wellness,
whether it be hiking,
[1:32:04] biking, swimming,
whatever we have.
[1:32:06] It's a free, great alternative
to trying to be a gym or
[1:32:10] join a gym.
[1:32:11] We offer everything
from the prostate exam
[1:32:15] I mentioned,
but sometimes we just do
the pop singles in the park
[1:32:16] or we offer a blood
pressure screening.
[1:32:18] So if you see these
[1:32:20] and you're
in your neighborhood, please
encourage people in general
[1:32:22] just trying to make sure
that people understand
[1:32:23] that we have a lot of outdoor
fitness activity
[1:32:26] and equipment that we can use,
and we're a great opportunity
[1:32:29] if you just want to stay healthy
and well in our city.
[1:32:33] Next topic is going to be on
golf and racket sports.
[1:32:37] We had a record
breaking year in FY 26.
[1:32:40] We had 4.9
million brought in in revenue
and over 192,000 rounds.
[1:32:46] This year alone,
we mentioned the foot golf
that we started at Candler.
[1:32:48] We've done
a number of open houses.
[1:32:50] I think this Saturday
as it Browns Mill,
[1:32:53] we offer opportunities
for all ages
[1:32:55] just to get acquainted
with the golf staff
[1:32:57] and see what our programs are.
[1:32:59] I'm disappointed
that Councilmember
[1:33:02] Lewis isn't here today.
He asked for a ball dispenser
at Brown's Mill one time,
[1:33:05] and we got it
installed yesterday.
[1:33:06] So it is fully completed
and I'm glad that's happened.
[1:33:09] It was a great,
great suggestion.
[1:33:11] I appreciate him for doing that.
[1:33:12] We did also re
[1:33:15] do five
[1:33:16] greens at Chastain
and four T boxes at Top Homes.
[1:33:20] We had some issues
that needed to be
[1:33:23] what the course
[1:33:24] superintendent explained to me
is many of our courses are on
[1:33:26] what they call life support,
meaning that the Greens,
[1:33:29] they can be made well,
they can look good,
[1:33:31] but over time
they're not sustainable.
[1:33:33] So it's better just to resolve
them, get them refreshed.
[1:33:35] We're looking at a program
to have all of them done
[1:33:37] at Chastain
within the next growing season,
[1:33:40] so we're looking forward to
that.
[1:33:41] It's really made a difference.
[1:33:42] I got to go out and two of them,
[1:33:43] they'll have the Mayor's Cup
out there next week at Chastain,
[1:33:46] and we're super excited to host
that event for Racket Sports.
[1:33:50] We've had over 7000
adult and junior players
[1:33:53] with our partner with Agape
Tennis.
[1:33:55] One thing we have noticed is
we still have room to grow
[1:33:59] the tennis program
at Washington and Joseph McGee,
[1:34:02] and we have offered
you can see some of these,
[1:34:04] and I'm happy
to send them to you as well.
[1:34:06] 360 free tennis lessons
and pickleball classes
[1:34:09] were hosted at Magee
and Washington.
[1:34:11] We offer a $5, class
kickoff in September,
[1:34:15] through November
at Magee and Washington.
[1:34:17] So for $5,
you can get training in either
[1:34:19] tennis or pickleball
at either of those two sites.
[1:34:22] And we offer
a free cardio program
[1:34:24] that sponsor
with their partners at Beltline.
[1:34:26] So if you have people
[1:34:27] if you can't get a court
at one of our other sites,
[1:34:30] please look at Washington
and Magee. Those are.
[1:34:32] I know Councilmember
Bond has been there many times.
[1:34:35] They're wonderful courses
[1:34:36] there, right on the Beltline,
Washington's
[1:34:37] right on the Beltline,
and as a great facility.
[1:34:41] And we're just looking to try
to continue to see momentum with
people using those facilities
[1:34:46] for park operations.
[1:34:48] Just a couple of highlights.
[1:34:50] We did move into a new skilled
services warehouse.
[1:34:52] We were in Little Five Points
and what was known as the Base
[1:34:55] Recreation Center.
[1:34:56] It was not a good center for
[1:34:58] for a skilled services team
that needs to build things.
[1:35:01] But we'd been there for years.
[1:35:02] That property was turned over.
[1:35:04] It was part of the
the title work we did with apps.
[1:35:06] So we are now in a lease
facility off Marietta.
[1:35:10] It is wonderful.
That's
a picture of the warehouse
[1:35:11] we've actually never had
and now we do.
[1:35:14] So we're looking
very much forward
[1:35:15] to seeing that team continue
[1:35:17] to develop in their metrics
and be able to get things done
[1:35:20] across
all our parks and rec center.
[1:35:23] We did also
send many of our staff
or are sending many of our staff
[1:35:26] to a maintenance management
school.
[1:35:29] There's something we used to do.
We kind of over Covid,
they stopped offering them.
[1:35:31] So our opportunity is to try
to create succession planning,
[1:35:34] to try to develop
in-house talent.
[1:35:37] Cannot be overlooked.
[1:35:38] And we're looking really forward
[1:35:39] to think
that program starts in February.
[1:35:41] And then we did permit 22 gaited
park events this weekend.
[1:35:45] Is Shaky Knees, probably
[1:35:46] one of our largest events
in Piedmont Park.
[1:35:48] We've had a good season so far
[1:35:50] and hope that discontinues,
Park Ranger program.
[1:35:54] They're an amazing
bunch of people there.
[1:35:56] Pictured here, at Woodruff Park.
[1:35:58] We work very closely
with Kathryn
[1:36:00] and her team at Woodruff,
but at all of our parks,
[1:36:03] the the park ranger team
[1:36:06] is not a they're not
they're not post certified.
[1:36:09] They do not have citation
ability, but they are amazing.
[1:36:13] They are often
the people that make
[1:36:14] first contact with people
when there are issues.
[1:36:17] We have them at
many of our special events.
[1:36:19] They ride the Beltline
on the bottom.
[1:36:21] They're actually trained by a PD
through a bicycle course,
[1:36:25] and overall,
they're part of our larger
[1:36:27] safety and security team.
[1:36:28] That team actually won
top honors
[1:36:30] this year, is being recognized
as the Department of the year
[1:36:34] for Safety and Security.
[1:36:35] We also had the safety
professional of the year,
[1:36:38] Kevin Burke,
and our employee of the year,
[1:36:39] which is Carl McKinney,
who built that warehouse
[1:36:41] and worked very hard
with the skilled services team.
[1:36:43] So I'm very proud of that group.
[1:36:46] Look forward.
We have also,
if you've been to Woodruff Park,
[1:36:48] there used to be a reading room
down there and we,
[1:36:51] have turned that
into a ranger station.
[1:36:53] And during FIFA,
we worked with the a C of VB
[1:36:56] to get brochures,
maps of downtown.
[1:36:58] And it's been wonderful.
[1:36:59] So we've kept that open
ever since.
[1:37:01] We're painting it over.
[1:37:02] So it says Ranger Station.
[1:37:04] The team likes working there,
and we're
[1:37:05] getting a lot of good contacts
just for people
[1:37:08] that are trying to find
their way around downtown.
[1:37:11] These are some of our metrics.
[1:37:12] I know it's a lot to take in,
but I will highlight
[1:37:14] what's going on
here is we have a target
[1:37:16] for almost everything we do
in the operations side.
[1:37:19] The next column is 2026, the
current year from April to July.
[1:37:23] The next column is 2025.
[1:37:25] Most of our numbers on
that screen
[1:37:27] are showing
improvement year over year.
[1:37:29] There are a couple that are not,
[1:37:31] the one that we are looking
[1:37:33] most closely on is garbage cans
collected.
[1:37:35] That is a we're
still at a high rate at 90%.
[1:37:38] Some of our parks are just
getting very heavily used,
[1:37:41] and some of them require
multiple visits to keep garbage
[1:37:46] cans clean. We see that.
[1:37:47] We recognize
that we will take this
[1:37:49] this season, in the off season
where it does die down to relook
[1:37:52] at that.
We're also working with DPW
[1:37:53] that has some metrics
that they can use
[1:37:55] as well as some technology, so
we're looking forward to that.
[1:37:59] On the flip side,
the arborist numbers have come
[1:38:01] way up from 57% a year ago
to almost to 100%.
[1:38:06] The last three weeks
have been horrible
[1:38:07] and we've had plenty of trees
in the street,
[1:38:11] so I'm not sure it's going
to stay that way forever,
but super proud of that.
[1:38:13] The other one I'll mention
is just our carpentry division.
[1:38:15] I mentioned
with our skilled services team,
[1:38:17] so much of what we do in parks
ends up being called carpentry.
[1:38:20] That could be welding,
could be fencing,
[1:38:22] could be doors, could be locks,
windows, everything.
[1:38:25] And it's just a lot.
[1:38:26] So that's an area
we're working on, dividing
[1:38:28] that between two supervisors
with dedicated crews
[1:38:31] working on certain areas
to try to see if that might help
[1:38:35] raise that metric.
[1:38:36] We are getting the work done,
[1:38:37] but it's taking us longer
than we'd like to see.
[1:38:39] Still keeping a pretty fairly
high metric at 75%.
[1:38:42] And our total work orders
[1:38:43] for this
period went up by almost 500.
[1:38:45] So there's obviously work
to be done,
[1:38:48] but I feel pretty confident
we've got a good plan.
[1:38:51] Natural resources
this is a group
[1:38:52] that was also funded
through the millage.
[1:38:55] I just wanted to make sure
people were aware
[1:38:57] of some of the good work
they're doing.
[1:38:58] We also received an IRA grant,
[1:39:00] for about I think it's $5
million that hired three people.
[1:39:04] They are out, actually,
[1:39:05] in all of our natural areas,
determining
[1:39:07] what kind of ecological systems
are present,
[1:39:10] whether they're covered in kudzu
or whether they're pristine
[1:39:12] and they're keeping a record
of all of that.
[1:39:14] So we think we'll have all of
that completed by this fall.
[1:39:17] Invasive removal.
[1:39:19] This is something we probably
don't speak enough of.
[1:39:21] But over the last two
fiscal years,
[1:39:22] we spent over $1 million
[1:39:24] in reducing invasive removal
across the city.
[1:39:28] We have some
big projects at South Bend, but
many smaller projects as well.
[1:39:31] The smart tree inventory.
[1:39:32] You might have heard of this
from Planning and Design.
[1:39:34] It's a co project.
Every single street
[1:39:36] tree in the city
of Atlanta has been radar,
[1:39:41] viewed through
what they call leader,
which is light detection system.
[1:39:43] It's actually assessing
the health of that tree
[1:39:45] and will also give us
an opportunity
[1:39:47] to then send an arborist out
to try to see
[1:39:49] if that tree needs to come
down, prune or what have you.
[1:39:51] Very few cities
have even undertaken that.
[1:39:54] We've found
167,000 trees in city,
[1:39:58] right of ways that have been
detected through leader.
[1:40:00] That program is done.
[1:40:01] We're expecting the data
dump on that this fall.
[1:40:04] We also hired an environmental
coordinator.
[1:40:06] Name is Elena Edwards.
[1:40:09] She's fantastic.
It's our first environmental
coordinator right now.
[1:40:10] She's
working with all the different
[1:40:12] partner groups to learn
what they do
[1:40:14] and try to find out
where the voids might be.
[1:40:16] And she's going to be working
closely
[1:40:17] with our campus friends
and senior program and teens.
[1:40:21] And then we did
get our first wayfinding package
[1:40:25] installed at Cascade Springs
Nature Preserve.
[1:40:27] Work closely with Council
President Marcy Overstreet,
[1:40:30] to get that project done.
[1:40:32] The importance of that project
is that we are actually
[1:40:34] mapped and,
[1:40:37] with disc codes
and GIS map, the entire trails.
[1:40:41] We've had plenty of people
that have gotten lost in Cascade
Spring Nature Preserve
[1:40:44] and don't know
how to get to them.
[1:40:45] So they actually now
[1:40:47] have GIS pinpoints
that we can send back to 911.
[1:40:51] And there are many,
[1:40:52] many, many trails,
whether it be Morningside,
[1:40:54] whether it be Blue Heron,
whether it be like Charlotte.
[1:40:57] And we're just trying
to replicate this program.
[1:40:59] So we're super excited
[1:41:00] to have
the first one off the page,
[1:41:02] and we'll be moving forward
with that.
[1:41:04] Moving Atlanta forward.
[1:41:05] This is our parks design office.
[1:41:07] We have 71 projects
to a tune of $146 million.
[1:41:12] Every single one of the projects
have been initiated.
[1:41:15] We have one
which is in planning and
[1:41:16] scoping,
which is kind of the first step,
[1:41:19] which is our south side
[1:41:20] ball field renovations,
the cloverleaf and south side.
[1:41:24] But all other projects
are, as you see, we have 35 in
close out, 22 in construction,
[1:41:28] nine in procurement
for an engineering and the one
[1:41:31] with scoping and planning.
[1:41:32] We do have some very large
projects
[1:41:34] like the William Walker
Natatorium, the renovation,
[1:41:37] complete renovation,
teardown of Grove Park,
[1:41:41] and Reverend
James Orange are just three
[1:41:43] that are going to be large
projects, no doubt,
[1:41:45] but those are all in progress
as well.
[1:41:47] Since March of 2026,
probably the last time we spoke
[1:41:50] to we've actually completed
Brownwood Rec Center.
[1:41:53] The Southwest Maintenance
District is being redone.
[1:41:55] That project is still ongoing.
[1:41:57] Alexander Park has just started.
[1:41:59] We've done about 30 citywide
Ada projects.
[1:42:02] Many pools have been renovated,
including Moseley,
[1:42:05] which actually got
a new splash pad, and Candler.
[1:42:08] And then we are just about to
start the South Bend Rec Center.
[1:42:11] In addition to that,
we're doing master
[1:42:13] planning
in a number of projects.
[1:42:14] The Chattahoochee Brick Company,
[1:42:16] that site is actually being
coordinated with DCP as well
[1:42:20] as well as Riverlands Corridor,
Memorial Drive, Greenway.
[1:42:24] We'll see a little bit slide.
[1:42:25] We continue to buy property
[1:42:26] along that greenway
to make that happen.
[1:42:28] And that is moving forward.
[1:42:29] Red's Farm
Visioning and Frankie Allen,
[1:42:32] which is now known as Bagley
Park,
[1:42:34] also has a visioning plan
that was just completed.
[1:42:37] These are just some pictures
of some of the good work
[1:42:39] parks design has done.
That's the Pittman pool.
[1:42:42] I know Councilmember Bond.
[1:42:43] You know that pool.
[1:42:43] Well, it's
gone. It's coming back.
[1:42:46] And it's going to look something
like that in the middle.
[1:42:48] This is going to be our first,
facility.
[1:42:52] We met with the community.
Doctor Williams met
with the community last weekend.
[1:42:55] They were super excited
about it.
[1:42:57] I'm super excited about it.
[1:42:58] This will open next May.
[1:43:00] It has a 19ft slide
and a slightly smaller slide.
[1:43:04] It's got a lazy river.
[1:43:05] It continues to have lap lanes,
which is important.
[1:43:08] We've had Olympians
that have come out of,
[1:43:11] Pittman Park,
[1:43:13] Muhammad, Steve Lundquist,
these are names that we want
[1:43:15] to keep that competition
[1:43:17] and the ability to swim laps
at that pool.
[1:43:19] It also has a splash pad.
[1:43:20] We don't have anything
like this.
[1:43:21] Nothing like this in the city
of Atlanta right now.
[1:43:25] The closest
I think we're talking about if,
you know, in DeKalb County,
[1:43:26] they have a splash place
called Browns Mill
[1:43:29] and this will be
kind of our Browns Mill,
[1:43:31] which I mentioned next year,
[1:43:32] we're going to need
a few more lifeguards.
[1:43:34] On the top is a project
working on closely with Abi.
[1:43:38] It's the new pump track
[1:43:40] that is being built at Shirley
Clark Franklin Park.
[1:43:42] People have
already gotten into this park
[1:43:44] because they're so excited
to get on this, this track.
[1:43:47] We expect that'll be officially
open in November.
[1:43:50] On the bottom is Adams
Park Pool,
[1:43:51] the one I told you it was third,
this year for attendance.
[1:43:55] It had an old metal shell
that is being
[1:43:57] totally replaced and rebuilt.
[1:43:58] And then the large picture
is the conceptual drawing,
[1:44:01] for the Reverend James
Orange redesign,
[1:44:04] which we did many, many meetings
with the community about.
[1:44:07] And we're super excited
where we ended up.
[1:44:08] And I appreciate everyone's help
in getting us there.
[1:44:13] As we mentioned,
public restrooms,
you know, we get
[1:44:15] I don't know if this has been
[1:44:16] mentioned to you before,
but we actually get a report
[1:44:18] every month that says last
month,
[1:44:20] in August, we had 10,290
people use our Throne labs.
[1:44:24] We added two new ones
just in the last month.
[1:44:27] One is right outside City Hall
here.
[1:44:28] One is at John Calhoun Park.
[1:44:30] We know exactly how many people
are using them
[1:44:32] and sometimes they leave
comments like, this was great.
[1:44:34] I felt like
I was in my own home.
[1:44:36] So I mean, it is
it is really fantastic.
[1:44:38] They're all maintained
through the program.
[1:44:41] If there's an issue,
you can use your phone to either
[1:44:43] get access or report a problem.
[1:44:45] It is a
it is not a permanent solution.
[1:44:47] Possibly, but it's a good
solution and it's working well.
[1:44:50] We can move them
if we find out that
[1:44:52] we maybe didn't
pick the right location,
[1:44:53] if there's a better location
and we can expand the program.
[1:44:56] So looking forward to that.
[1:44:59] Just the last couple of slides
administratively,
[1:45:01] just so you know,
[1:45:02] we have about 500 employees
that are full time
[1:45:05] in the summer. We double that.
[1:45:08] It goes to
about 583 additional employees
every year to manage that.
[1:45:11] Appreciate our
HR team for helping us do that.
[1:45:15] A large part of of
[1:45:16] of all of
[1:45:18] what we do
is, is training and making sure
our people are properly trained
[1:45:21] before they
get out in the field.
So we spend a lot of time trying
to go through that process.
[1:45:24] And one way to do that
is to make sure our department
stays accredited.
[1:45:26] This isn't
accreditation year for us,
[1:45:29] so we have a whole team
that is working on
trying to meet 140 standards.
[1:45:32] There are only several hundred
[1:45:34] out of the thousands
of parks departments in the city
or in the country
[1:45:36] that are accredited,
and we're one of them.
[1:45:38] So we're looking forward to
that process.
[1:45:40] Will be submitting our
application for that in January.
[1:45:43] On a staffing note,
we do have a relatively stable
[1:45:48] vacancy rate
now, overall, about 17%.
[1:45:52] I did want to note
our goal would be closer to ten
if we if we could.
[1:45:56] But I did want to note
recreation as a 5% vacancy rate.
[1:45:59] That's astounding.
That is excellent work.
[1:46:01] I appreciate the work they've
done to try to retain staff.
[1:46:04] And if we do leave staff
[1:46:05] that they're
backfilling those quickly.
[1:46:07] And I think that
needs to be be commended.
[1:46:11] These are our millage numbers.
[1:46:12] Just want to give you a sense.
[1:46:13] One of the reasons why
[1:46:15] we have grown up in the rankings
is because we are well funded.
[1:46:18] We appreciate being well funded.
[1:46:20] Millage was a big part of that.
[1:46:21] The way this works
in the millage,
[1:46:23] if you remember,
50% of all millage dollars,
[1:46:26] go to Doctor Williams with his
park planning and design, 40%
[1:46:30] go to park operations
and maintenance, 3%
[1:46:33] go to safety and security,
[1:46:34] two go to wreck, and then 2%
go to administration.
[1:46:38] Last year our expenditures
were about 51 million.
[1:46:41] We expect this year
[1:46:42] our revenues are going to be
about 42 million.
[1:46:44] The difference
being that we have some funds
[1:46:46] that are carried over.
[1:46:47] And so that's how why
[1:46:48] there's a difference between
what an expenditure
[1:46:51] might be versus
versus a revenue.
[1:46:53] But we are very appreciative
of that and use it every day.
[1:46:57] Last three
slides and I'll shut up.
[1:47:01] I want to just bring us back
to what we started
[1:47:03] with, with our main three goals
invest, connect and grow.
[1:47:05] So there are many items
I could speak to you about,
[1:47:08] but this is one of the things
that KDS Committee
[1:47:10] brought up that they wanted
to make sure this year
[1:47:13] that our plan
matched, our activate ATL plan.
[1:47:17] And so I just wanted to give you
some examples
[1:47:19] of how we're trying to do that.
[1:47:21] So investing
[1:47:22] of course
would be things
like improving the condition
[1:47:24] of existing facilities,
investing in human capital
[1:47:27] training and resources,
[1:47:28] investing in programmatic
opportunities,
[1:47:30] reimagining golf courses
and the like.
[1:47:32] So one way of we have done
that is we've invested in trying
[1:47:35] to increase our adult,
as I mentioned, adult offerings.
[1:47:39] So we've actually dedicated
one person who will have a team.
[1:47:43] That person has already started.
[1:47:45] They're putting out surveys
as we speak
[1:47:46] to try to figure out what we are
[1:47:48] missing as a department in terms
of offering adult programing,
[1:47:51] and that is how we're investing
[1:47:52] both back into the city
and into our program
[1:47:55] to make sure we're offering,
what we need to be offering.
[1:47:57] We've also included
many inclusive playgrounds.
[1:48:00] Bessie
Branham was just open right now.
[1:48:02] We're currently constructing
Peachtree
[1:48:04] Hills and Perkinson
Park three, to name a few.
[1:48:07] And then our math project,
of course, we're investing
[1:48:09] across the entire city
for connecting.
[1:48:13] This would be things
like expanding
[1:48:14] trail network,
improving wayfinding.
[1:48:16] I mentioned that
prioritizing youth
[1:48:18] and seniors, developing
environmental education
[1:48:22] mentioned that,
and provided volunteer
opportunities with park pride
[1:48:24] and developing a robust
communications
[1:48:26] and marketing plan
for Ada access.
[1:48:29] As I mentioned, we've done
at least 30
[1:48:30] Ada projects
so far with the math project,
[1:48:33] and we've created,
thanks to council and the mayor.
[1:48:36] We've adopted
the trails ATL master plan
to make sure we are connected
[1:48:38] for small business connection.
[1:48:40] I thought this one
was kind of unique
[1:48:41] something assets to look at
and we absolutely do this.
[1:48:44] I know there was a person
that was just here before.
[1:48:46] She's still here.
[1:48:47] But we hire about 18,
[1:48:53] small businesses to
help us provide services
to our after school program.
[1:48:56] Just what you do.
And that's why I got your card.
[1:48:58] But we offer 18 of those.
[1:49:00] We offer hire
everything from DJ's
[1:49:02] to ice cream
[1:49:04] to small food vendors
when we do things
[1:49:05] like midnight basketball
popsicles in the park.
[1:49:08] So I do see a connection there.
[1:49:10] And we work very closely
with Abi
on their marketplace program,
[1:49:12] which is allowing
[1:49:13] entrepreneurship
on the Beltline.
[1:49:15] We are doing a review
of our parks system to connect.
[1:49:19] We're going to make our eye
[1:49:20] parks, which is our online
reservation program and app.
[1:49:23] Currently, we do not have that
ability for it to be an app.
[1:49:27] It's web based.
That's something
we're looking forward to.
[1:49:28] We've already done
the homework on it.
[1:49:29] We just need to implement it
soon.
[1:49:31] And then, as I mentioned before,
[1:49:33] connecting
with our residents, we
[1:49:35] initiated a new sliding scale,
which makes it increase
[1:49:38] a higher income level can
actually qualify to pay less.
[1:49:42] And that's super important.
[1:49:43] And it paid off big time
this summer.
[1:49:45] And we've already
[1:49:47] continued to use that
at their after school program.
[1:49:49] And then in terms of growth,
last one, I promise
[1:49:52] we are acquiring parkland
through the acquisition
[1:49:55] of joint use, increased parkland
acreage through partnerships
[1:49:58] and ensuring communities
have access to the offering.
[1:50:01] We have added 96 acres.
[1:50:03] Last year,
[1:50:04] Tatum Lake
was one of the largest ones,
[1:50:06] but we've already added
at least 30 acres this year.
[1:50:10] As you know,
Bunin
property was just purchased
[1:50:11] in the very last day
of the fiscal year.
[1:50:13] We have three
pending acquisitions
[1:50:15] that are already held
by our partner,
[1:50:17] at the Conservation Fund
that'll be coming forward.
[1:50:20] One is 404 Hamilton E homes.
[1:50:22] The other one is Boeing Forest,
[1:50:23] and the third
one is a memorial greenway,
[1:50:25] which is a the old daddy D site
that has now been
[1:50:29] been acquired by the
the Conservation Fund
[1:50:32] and will be making resolutions
to purchase that from them soon.
[1:50:36] Overall, we are at
4636 is our acreage.
[1:50:39] We are still small
[1:50:41] in terms of our acreage
compared to a lot of our peer
[1:50:43] cities,
but we are super connected.
[1:50:45] We have an 80 to 85% connected,
which is basically known
[1:50:49] as a ten minute walk to a park.
[1:50:50] It also includes trails, so
Beltline is a big part of that.
[1:50:54] But that's huge.
Where one of the smallest,
maybe by peer cities
[1:50:57] with actual acreage,
but one of the most connected.
[1:50:59] And so that's where I think
we just need to continue
[1:51:01] to buy acres where we can,
but try to focus on that,
[1:51:04] on that connectivity.
Last picture.
[1:51:07] These are just our staff,
I love them.
[1:51:09] I just want to mention
a lot of our staff,
[1:51:12] you know,
they work for a paycheck
just like we all do.
[1:51:14] These staff members,
[1:51:17] I will see them
almost every Saturday
and Sunday, every event.
[1:51:19] They're not there
on their paycheck.
[1:51:21] They're there to see oftentimes
[1:51:24] either
the product of their work,
[1:51:25] the kids that are
in their programs compete.
[1:51:28] They are an amazing staff
[1:51:30] and know most of them
are probably working right now.
[1:51:32] But if you do see them, please
let them know I appreciate them.
[1:51:35] They make my job and I think
all of our jobs so much easier.
[1:51:38] Parks and rec
staff are amongst the best,
[1:51:40] and I really appreciate
working with them
[1:51:42] and value them as colleagues.
[1:51:43] With that, I'll
turn it over. Any questions?
[1:51:51] And the bus came.
[1:51:53] Applause.
And in a move that will surprise
no one,
[1:51:54] the first question
is from Council Member Dozier.
[1:51:58] Thank you, Mr. Chair.
[1:51:59] I love you too.
[1:52:00] Good to see Commissioner Voss.
[1:52:03] Firstly,
before I start my questions,
[1:52:04] I just want to say kudos to you
[1:52:06] and the department on number 18.
[1:52:08] That's a huge jump.
[1:52:10] And I've been so appreciative
as a council rep to be able
[1:52:15] to see the work
that you all have been doing
in real time,
[1:52:16] that progress being made day
in, day out.
[1:52:19] I know that these aren't
necessarily DPR projects right
[1:52:22] now, but I know district four
is going to be adding to that.
[1:52:25] And the belt lines here
[1:52:27] with another park
that they're working on over
[1:52:28] in the northwest corner
of my district.
[1:52:30] And know Park Pride
just got a $9.4 million grant
[1:52:34] to expand operations
at or expand the landscaping.
[1:52:38] And the just
[1:52:40] the community
work over at Four Corners
Park in the southeastern corner
[1:52:44] of my district.
And so I'm really excited about
both those projects, and I'm
[1:52:47] looking forward to that,
both helping expand that score.
[1:52:51] Just on the latter of those
two projects before Corners
[1:52:53] Park, I know there's been some
conversations with the community
[1:52:56] about the need to ensure
that the recreation center
[1:53:00] there meets the same quality
that we were expecting with this
[1:53:04] $9.4 million grant.
[1:53:05] This, this, I mean, this is
a point of ignorance on my in.
[1:53:09] But typically when we are
evaluating opportunities for a
[1:53:13] like a James Orange Recreation
Center improvement,
[1:53:17] what is that process typically
look like for the department?
[1:53:19] I recognize
for like moving forward.
[1:53:21] I understand
like the comprehensive
[1:53:22] transportation plan
[1:53:23] fees into this project
sort of ideation process,
[1:53:27] but I'm not sure
what that looks like
[1:53:28] for vertical construction,
for parks improvements,
[1:53:31] those sort of things that would
receive potentially received
[1:53:35] capital dollars
to expand facilities operations.
[1:53:38] So, you know,
what are y'all thinking?
[1:53:41] How does that look?
How do we provide impact
and put to you all
[1:53:44] so that those sorts of projects
[1:53:45] get prioritized now
and we see that one? True.
[1:53:48] I mean, to have $9.4 million
[1:53:50] going to the park,
but not include the rec center,
[1:53:52] something
we absolutely need to look at.
[1:53:54] Rick McDevitt has been a long
[1:53:55] standing fixture
in that community.
[1:53:56] Columbus Ward
and the team out there,
[1:53:58] we start
just the way you mentioned.
[1:53:59] I don't think it'd
be much different.
[1:54:01] The only difference with
that one
[1:54:02] is because it has been a partner
site.
[1:54:04] We would obviously
sit down with them first
and try to figure out
[1:54:06] what that looks like,
what their immediate needs are.
[1:54:08] It's a it's
a rather small center.
[1:54:10] So we have to kind of look
and see what opportunities.
[1:54:13] We've we've already spoken
with Park Pride
[1:54:15] who's managing that grant
to try to help
[1:54:17] see if they can help
at least get us to that point
and you'll
[1:54:20] be part of that process.
[1:54:22] Okay.
And I would love to do whatever
I can
[1:54:24] to make sure that we can advance
that going forward.
[1:54:27] Similarly,
I'm no longer representing
[1:54:29] the Oakland City community.
I'm sad about that.
[1:54:31] However, a lot of those meetings
that you talked about that
[1:54:33] you, in the department
had participated
[1:54:36] in with the community over
the last four and a half years.
[1:54:38] I was in a lot of those meetings
taking my lumps to.
[1:54:41] And so I just
whenever y'all have a timeline
[1:54:44] for the groundbreaking,
I would love to be there,
[1:54:46] even though it's no longer
in my district.
[1:54:49] I deeply care
about that project,
[1:54:51] and I know the community
has worked hard to make sure
[1:54:53] that they get a product
that they can be proud of,
[1:54:55] and I just want to be there
when we break the ground.
[1:54:57] Fair enough.
I wanted to add that,
[1:55:01] a question about the
[1:55:03] all the amazing work
that's happening around
[1:55:05] campus, friends,
and just the general programing
[1:55:07] that's happening
at recreation centers,
[1:55:09] especially in my district.
[1:55:11] I have two active
recreation centers, Dunbar
Neighborhood Center and K Scott.
[1:55:15] Sometimes I'm there
[1:55:16] with my kiddos,
[1:55:17] sometimes I'm there
for community meeting,
[1:55:19] and I'll run with running
to the staff and talk with them
[1:55:21] and they'll let me know.
[1:55:23] Hey, Councilmember Dojo,
we had this amazing event,
you know, last week.
[1:55:25] Wish you could have been there.
[1:55:27] I wish we saw you there.
And it's like, you know,
I get a little FOMO.
[1:55:29] And so,
[1:55:31] if there's any way that
that your team can help
[1:55:34] and I'm sure my colleagues
would appreciate this as well,
[1:55:36] there's events like that
or any sort of programing
[1:55:39] or opportunities for our offices
to be plugged in to the events
[1:55:42] that are happening
at our recreation centers.
[1:55:44] That would be
greatly appreciated.
[1:55:47] I know oftentimes,
especially for the events
that are that center my seniors,
[1:55:51] there's often asked for like,
hey, can you sponsor a lunch?
[1:55:54] Or can you help provide,
[1:55:57] gifts or things for this event
that we're doing?
[1:56:00] And we'd love to make sure
that our office is where
[1:56:03] that there's that need
and can have an ample
[1:56:05] opportunity
to provide support for them.
[1:56:08] That's fair enough.
And Aquia Pippins,
who runs to Scott
[1:56:09] as a force to be reckoned with.
[1:56:10] She does amazing things.
She has an amazing fish
[1:56:12] fry often,
and I'm not invited either.
[1:56:14] We need to get on that list.
But no, I am invited.
[1:56:16] But we need to make sure we do.
[1:56:18] That is amazing and has a very
strong senior base there.
[1:56:21] And absolutely we'll do that.
[1:56:23] Yeah.
And I just
I also want your staff
[1:56:24] to feel empowered
to reach out to me and my team.
[1:56:26] And there's a
[1:56:28] there's sometimes
people can be a little shy,
[1:56:30] reach out
to a member of council.
[1:56:31] But I want to have that open
line of communication that's
[1:56:34] fair to be supportive.
[1:56:37] The cool season
stats that you shared earlier.
[1:56:41] I, you know, love
[1:56:43] how far we've come along
with the expansion and the
[1:56:47] support of our pool operations.
[1:56:48] I know when I was chair
of this committee,
[1:56:51] when Councilmember
Winston
was chair of this committee,
[1:56:52] there was a lot of conversation
[1:56:53] about the vendors
who were doing the maintenance
[1:56:57] and challenges
with recruiting lifeguards.
[1:56:59] And there's, you know,
the disposition of our pools
[1:57:02] today is much better than it was
just a few years ago.
[1:57:06] My only question is overall
poll season.
[1:57:09] I know a lot of our
the ability for us to have open
[1:57:13] pools is tied to the fact
that many of our lifeguards are
[1:57:17] students, are APS students.
[1:57:20] And when school's
back in session
and we then have to close pools.
[1:57:23] It's been an unusually hot year
this year.
[1:57:25] And even beyond Labor Day,
we we're continuing to see.
[1:57:29] I mean, it's 90 degrees today
[1:57:31] and we're
in the middle of September.
[1:57:33] I wonder
[1:57:36] as far
as like y'all's recruitment
efforts in terms of lifeguards
[1:57:39] are all looking at ways
to recruit populations
[1:57:45] outside of our typical
[1:57:46] high school student population,
[1:57:47] whether it's college students,
whether it's seniors,
[1:57:50] just as a way,
so we can expand pool
[1:57:52] operations beyond mid-August
and beyond when school starts.
[1:57:57] Just, I mean,
was hot, September still hot,
and we'd love to see
[1:58:00] our pools, our outdoor pools,
be able to stay open for longer.
[1:58:04] No. Absolutely.
Absolutely correct.
And I cringe this this year.
[1:58:05] I mean, we've had
we've had washout August 2nd
[1:58:08] where it's rained every day
and we looked like geniuses
[1:58:10] for for not being open,
but I mean, not
[1:58:12] you know what I'm saying?
[1:58:13] It just it doesn't seem.
[1:58:14] But this year,
obviously they were needed.
[1:58:17] We have already because
of the Pittman Park pool.
[1:58:19] Honestly, that's going
to change everything for us.
[1:58:22] We don't anticipate
there's no way
[1:58:23] that pool is going to be built
and not
[1:58:26] we don't want it to be closed.
[1:58:27] There are some days of the week
[1:58:29] we might not be open
every single day.
[1:58:31] Weekends for sure,
that type of thing.
[1:58:33] You know, Councilmember
Bond and I have
[1:58:34] talked about this before.
[1:58:37] You know, we
we do need to expand
into wide variety of people
who are applying.
[1:58:40] Not everybody needs to be
an Apps student
[1:58:42] if we're trying
to keep our pools open.
[1:58:44] We love APS
students to be our lifeguards,
[1:58:45] but we need a mix.
[1:58:47] We've only been
running our pools now
[1:58:48] for a few short years.
[1:58:49] Recently we went back to that.
[1:58:51] We had a contractor
and it's taken a little bit of,
[1:58:55] you know,
I think we have gotten better
every year,
[1:58:57] but we're going to have to
really make a big jump next
year. Yeah.
[1:58:59] No, that would be great.
And I mean, he'll send me
to train training.
[1:59:02] I'll put in a couple of shifts
in if I want
[1:59:04] to get my certification.
[1:59:05] So I just want to make sure we
wrote you down.
[1:59:07] Yeah. Gotcha.
[1:59:09] Another question that I had
[1:59:12] is with regards
to the nutrition club
at Dunbar that you alluded to,
[1:59:15] want to make sure
that you all talking to
[1:59:16] the folks
at the community garden.
[1:59:18] I know it's no longer
stewarding that rise.
[1:59:21] I believe
it's a new organization
[1:59:23] that is now has taken over.
[1:59:26] Just want to make sure
that it's healthy.
[1:59:27] There's some already
some collaboration
[1:59:28] that's ongoing there
or the one they're doing this
[1:59:31] fall will be
all hydroponic. I'll be inside.
[1:59:33] But that that would be
the anticipated would be.
[1:59:35] Yes. To meet work
with rise for next spring.
[1:59:38] And if y'all need a point
of contact, I'm happy to help
[1:59:40] make that connection happen
soon. Georgia is great.
[1:59:43] Was proud to be at their,
changing
[1:59:46] of the guard ceremony
a couple, a couple of weeks ago.
[1:59:49] But they and they have interest
in making sure that
[1:59:52] that guard is not just like,
[1:59:57] like, you know,
we're growing things,
but they want to cultivate youth
and young people
[1:59:59] and give them opportunities to
learn how to Stewart the land.
[2:00:01] And with the recreation center
being right there with another.
[2:00:05] This is the last year
Dunbar Elementary School.
[2:00:07] But there's
so many opportunities
[2:00:08] for cross-pollination
and collaboration.
[2:00:10] I don't want to lose
sight of that.
[2:00:11] And so I'll follow up
from this meeting
[2:00:14] with that connection separately.
[2:00:17] I know there is a food pantry
that operates out of Dunbar
[2:00:21] Neighborhood Center
that's operated
[2:00:22] by Blessed Divas, which they do
community cleanups,
[2:00:25] but they also have this Saturday
food pantry.
[2:00:28] And I wonder if that there's
an opportunity
[2:00:30] to connect with them,
since they're already at Dunbar,
[2:00:31] to plug them into that nutrition
program as well.
[2:00:34] So if you haven't connected
with hadn't thought.
[2:00:37] But I do know about
that's a very popular pantry
for sure every Saturday.
[2:00:39] Yeah. So I'll follow
up on that as well. And then
[2:00:43] lastly, the
connection of small businesses.
[2:00:46] I'm excited to see that y'all
are growing that that program.
[2:00:49] One thought
I have, like in terms
[2:00:51] of the types of businesses
[2:00:52] that I get a lot of feedback
from my constituents
[2:00:55] that they love to see
[2:00:56] if there's more opportunities
for concessions type
[2:00:58] opportunities,
whether it's like,
[2:01:00] you know, I would love to buy
a cup of coffee at a rec center,
[2:01:03] sort of, sort of thing.
I know they're working.
[2:01:06] We're figuring things out
over at Grant Park.
[2:01:08] But those the more those
opportunities that we can find,
[2:01:11] it doesn't have to be
at that scale.
[2:01:12] But sometimes a parent like me
might be at their kids
[2:01:16] basketball practice
and would love a cup of coffee.
[2:01:20] I'm sorry.
And that is one of the items
in the day. No it wasn't.
[2:01:22] That is part of our activate
ATL plan.
[2:01:25] It is. It is not one.
I would say we've moved
the needle too far in the first.
[2:01:27] That has not been
one of the ones
[2:01:28] we've we've done that we had
[2:01:30] we have we had one concession
at the state tennis just open.
[2:01:34] We're using
that kind of as a bellwether.
[2:01:36] Obviously,
Grant Park is another one.
[2:01:39] We've
got some work to do on that one.
[2:01:40] Yeah, and that was my last
point of feedback.
[2:01:43] But once again, congratulations.
[2:01:46] Definitely want to continue
to figure out ways
[2:01:49] to expand the Throne Labs
partnership so that we move it
beyond pilot and move it into a
[2:01:53] like a more sustained part
of our city operations.
[2:01:56] But just appreciate
all that all been doing for us.
[2:01:58] Thanks for the support.
[2:02:00] Mister chair, I yield.
Thank you.
[2:02:02] Next up, Council
member Michael Julian Bond.
[2:02:08] Thank you, Mr.
[2:02:09] Chair. Thank you,
[2:02:11] Commissioner Doug, for was
the outstanding presentation.
[2:02:15] And I'm sure that the members
of the public who,
[2:02:20] missed you guys presenting
[2:02:23] were probably astounded by
how much the width and breadth
[2:02:27] of how much you all actually do
and have accomplished.
[2:02:30] And I would encourage you
and, well, my hat's off to you
[2:02:35] and your staff,
and I would encourage you
to take this link and share it.
[2:02:40] You know, to people
who follow you.
[2:02:43] I don't know,
[2:02:45] but used to be able to sign up
for notifications
[2:02:49] for different departments.
[2:02:50] But if that's possible, I would
encourage you to share it.
[2:02:53] To whoever follows you with
social media or email direct.
[2:02:58] I think it's very informative
and people would benefit
[2:03:01] to know how well their tax money
is being spent.
[2:03:05] And and I also want to
compliment you.
[2:03:08] I mean, I've had the occasion
we run into each other
[2:03:11] over a Washington park
[2:03:13] when I'm
[2:03:15] using my
benefits, you know, over there.
[2:03:19] As matter of fact,
[2:03:20] this is my full time now, but
I'm forced to be here instead.
[2:03:25] But I just want to compliment
you all on how great things are,
[2:03:29] and I'm so happy that we do have
we have taken that sunshine
[2:03:35] and to have our own lifeguards,
to have our own staff
[2:03:38] of these facilities,
to just work out beautifully.
[2:03:42] I mean, it's just amazing
[2:03:44] what you all have been able
to do internally.
[2:03:47] And I really appreciate it
[2:03:49] and just wanted
to be on the record for that.
[2:03:51] But I wanted to follow up
really on the situation
[2:03:55] with the restrooms
because, every,
[2:03:59] every time I'm out that
I swim between 60
[2:04:03] Martin Washington
and I go to, the Y sometimes,
[2:04:07] but everybody always stops him
about the restrooms in
[2:04:11] some of our public parks
and facilities.
[2:04:14] I'm glad the one outside of here
[2:04:16] is working well
and functioning well.
[2:04:18] Are there any plans
to expand them in other parks?
[2:04:22] Not necessarily.
[2:04:25] Well, along the trails
and parks, actually, because,
[2:04:30] you know,
folks who who are diabetics,
who may have special needs,
[2:04:33] probably needs more access
to a restroom than most.
[2:04:36] And this is working so.
[2:04:38] Well, what are the long term
plans?
[2:04:41] Are probably expanding that use.
[2:04:43] No, that's
an excellent question.
[2:04:45] We we're not opposed to the
the permanent one.
[2:04:47] The one that lasted out here
lasted for over 20 years.
[2:04:50] And this one,
they take a long time to build
[2:04:52] when they're permanent
and there's other functions.
[2:04:54] And we were interested in
seeing what this program can do.
[2:04:57] Having said that,
we are at the same time
[2:04:58] putting in permanent restrooms.
[2:05:00] We're putting on one right now.
[2:05:01] Two, actually, for Councilmember
Winston,
[2:05:05] we've been using a product
called the Portland Loop.
[2:05:08] We added one at Cohen Park,
and this will be our second one.
[2:05:10] If that goes well,
that's an opportunity.
[2:05:13] They kind of come pre-fab.
They're very nice.
[2:05:15] We did the same thing
at William Walker.
[2:05:16] We brought one
and that's worked out well.
[2:05:18] So I think trying not to go
always brick and mortar
[2:05:21] and trying to see
what's on the market.
[2:05:22] The market's gotten much better.
[2:05:24] I think the opportunity
[2:05:25] we're going
to have to balance out
[2:05:26] is it
probably doesn't make sense to
[2:05:27] continue to,
[2:05:28] you know, rent
to own type of thing
[2:05:30] when we can just build
at some point.
[2:05:32] But I think
the benefit of the, the,
[2:05:33] the throne lab is
we can identify
[2:05:36] if it's a good location.
[2:05:37] You know, you wouldn't
want to put something,
[2:05:38] invest all the hard
in the concrete mortar
[2:05:41] and then find out that
maybe it should have gone here.
[2:05:43] So that's kind of the benefit
I think.
[2:05:45] I think that's I think Galen
would agree with me on that.
[2:05:47] But no, we're absolutely
want to do permanent restrooms.
[2:05:50] We have almost
every one of our restrooms,
[2:05:54] currently open
that are currently there.
[2:05:56] For a long time,
a lot of our restrooms
[2:05:58] were there,
but they just weren't open.
[2:06:00] One of those examples
would be like, call your park.
[2:06:02] We have a beautiful
restaurant above,
[2:06:03] and that's that's
all fully functioning now.
[2:06:05] So we've made all of the ones
that we currently have available
[2:06:08] and are open to use.
[2:06:10] We just got to look
at those new sites.
[2:06:12] Okay.
And I'm always security minded.
[2:06:16] And so I wanted to shift to,
I guess, cameras or,
[2:06:21] and I don't necessarily
mean flock cameras, but,
[2:06:24] you know, the type of cameras
everybody likes, right?
[2:06:27] Those cameras. Yeah. Yeah.
[2:06:31] To expanding
them amongst our trails,
[2:06:33] you know, in our trail network
as as more people
[2:06:36] find out how interconnected
our parks are, obviously
[2:06:40] more people
are going to be biking.
[2:06:42] They're going to be walking.
[2:06:43] What are some of the long term
plans?
[2:06:45] And making
sure that our trail network is,
[2:06:50] is, has as many cameras
as possible,
[2:06:53] and all of them plugged into
the video integration system
[2:06:56] and monitored.
Yes. Good. Good question.
[2:06:58] We have over 2500 cameras
that are in the
[2:07:01] the venue integration system
right now.
[2:07:03] We've taken most of our parks
and trails.
[2:07:06] That's just it's
part of the system now.
[2:07:08] We put in the trail
we put in the park.
[2:07:10] A nota is a good example
of that.
[2:07:12] Working with Abi
[2:07:13] that cameras will be at a node
[2:07:14] when that park opens
in a few months.
[2:07:16] Cameras will be a part of the
new bike park I mentioned up at,
[2:07:20] Shirley Clark Franklin.
Same with the new pools.
[2:07:22] So it's actually
just become integrated into what
[2:07:24] the cameras you're speaking of
are just part of our part
[2:07:26] and parcel of the of the design
and scoping.
[2:07:29] Okay.
So it's it's no longer
any special plan is just
[2:07:33] what's required from now on.
[2:07:35] It is it's
[2:07:36] actually we found it's
just so much easier because of
the conduit, the electrical,
[2:07:39] all the connections
that need to be made.
[2:07:40] It's just you're almost
better off doing it that way.
[2:07:43] Okay.
All right, well,
that takes care of my question.
[2:07:46] Thank you again.
Thank you. Presentation.
[2:07:50] Oh, yeah.
Got to
because I love the heated pool,
[2:07:54] at Washington Park.
[2:07:56] You know,
when I go to the private sector
[2:07:58] pool, it's
like swimming and ice water.
[2:08:02] But watching Park is.
[2:08:04] It's refreshing.
We should market it that way.
[2:08:06] Thank you.
[2:08:07] Yeah.
[2:08:08] We got hot water. It's good.
[2:08:11] Councilmember Collins,
[2:08:14] I'll. I'll make a quick.
[2:08:16] But thank you so much.
This is
this is a great presentation.
[2:08:18] I just want to give a shout out.
[2:08:20] Just for me
having an opportunity
[2:08:22] to get to fully get engaged
just with our Parks and Rec.
[2:08:26] So just want to give a shout out
to the cutest golf tournament
[2:08:29] that I went to the Tub Cup,
at Hamilton Homes.
[2:08:33] Golf course.
[2:08:35] The whole daddy caddy.
It was just.
[2:08:37] It was super cute.
[2:08:38] But what it showed us is also
[2:08:41] our children are engaged in the
the sport of golf as well.
[2:08:46] And so just having an
opportunity to learn more
how we are able to support, our,
[2:08:50] you know, as we get to budget
season or whatnot.
[2:08:54] What are some of those
opportunities that we can expand
investment in some of the,
[2:08:57] you know,
additional programing as well?
[2:08:59] And also just the understanding
that our four golf courses
[2:09:03] throughout the city are public
golf,
[2:09:07] you know, our
our public golf courses as well,
and what additional support
[2:09:11] is needed there.
We just want to give a shout out
to your team
[2:09:13] for that and everything else
[2:09:15] that you all are
are doing in Parks and Rec.
[2:09:19] Truly a great
experience for our families
and citizens in the in Atlanta.
[2:09:22] So I just want to put that out
there.
[2:09:24] No. And thank you so much.
[2:09:26] I've seen you
several, several times
in many events recently,
[2:09:27] and thank you for checking us
out and seeing what's going on.
[2:09:29] It's been great. Yeah.
[2:09:30] Thank you,
Councilmember Kelsey Bond.
[2:09:34] Thank you for the presentation,
Commissioner.
[2:09:37] I just wanted to echo
Council Member Dozier question
[2:09:40] about keeping the public pools
open longer.
[2:09:43] Definitely got
[2:09:44] emails from parents
[2:09:45] asking about that.
I think they may have closed
[2:09:48] like a week
before school started.
[2:09:50] So my question is,
[2:09:52] is the biggest barrier
to keeping them open longer?
[2:09:54] Is it staffing
or is it general funding?
[2:09:57] Well, to be honest with you,
that was just an error
[2:10:00] this year.
[2:10:01] The the
there's normally the calendar.
[2:10:03] The last two years
the apps calendar has been
[2:10:05] a little different
than in other years.
[2:10:07] And I just don't think we
scheduled that right this year.
[2:10:10] And I talked to our aquatics
department. We all agreed.
[2:10:12] We tried to keep a few pools
open on the weekends after that.
[2:10:14] I don't expect
that to happen again.
[2:10:16] There was normally our
our our our rule is
[2:10:20] they closed the Sunday before
apps goes back.
[2:10:23] Well, the way the calendar work
[2:10:25] this year, that provided
a whole week of kids
[2:10:28] being out of school
and the pools being open.
[2:10:30] And I think it was like
a thousand degrees.
[2:10:31] So I mean,
that was just not good.
[2:10:34] And by the time we had
let the staff,
[2:10:36] you couldn't really recapture
that.
[2:10:38] That was an error.
It won't happen again.
[2:10:39] It was a count, that calendar.
[2:10:41] We didn't really do
anything different.
[2:10:42] But the way the calendar
fell this year,
[2:10:44] it gave you the whole week off.
[2:10:46] That won't happen again.
[2:10:47] That's that's great to know.
[2:10:49] And, but if we were it,
you know,
[2:10:52] hopefully this isn't true, but
we're likely to see Septembers
[2:10:56] continue to be
this hot going forward. So,
[2:10:59] what is the possibility of
[2:11:00] looking of keeping pools
open into September
[2:11:03] look like for the future?
[2:11:05] I think in the Labor Day,
what we probably will not do
is keep every pool open.
[2:11:08] It'll be like this one.
[2:11:09] I'm talking about the new one,
[2:11:10] and we'll try to do it
[2:11:11] geographically based on
where people are swimming
[2:11:13] and making sure
we have someone easy access.
[2:11:15] But yeah, that's
that's the plan. Cool.
[2:11:16] I will mention and
[2:11:19] Clyde Higgs is here to
we are open
[2:11:22] and this is not swimming.
And I Councilmember bond
I have this conversation.
[2:11:23] Splash pads are not pools.
[2:11:25] Kids need to learn how to swim
and and all that.
[2:11:27] But we do have a number of
splash pads. We're up to about.
[2:11:29] We're opening a new one at a
no to park, which will open up
[2:11:32] next year.
[2:11:33] The one at Pittsburgh.
[2:11:34] Pittman
will have a new splash pad.
[2:11:35] And so we have opportunities
to stay cool.
[2:11:37] And we've tried we worked
with you with that too.
[2:11:39] But I know that's not swimming,
swimming and swimming.
[2:11:41] And you need to have
an opportunity to learn
[2:11:42] how to swim.
[2:11:44] Yeah.
No I was going to ask
about the splash pads because I
[2:11:46] seen kids at the Old Fourth
Ward.
[2:11:47] One is so cute and I'm not sure
when they close.
[2:11:51] 1st October. Okay, great.
[2:11:52] Okay. All splash pads are May
1st to October 1st.
[2:11:55] Awesome.
[2:11:58] All right.
Those are all my questions.
Thank you. Thank you.
[2:11:59] Council Councilmember Winston.
[2:12:02] Thank you, Mr. Chair.
And I also reiterate comments
from my colleagues.
[2:12:05] Great presentation.
[2:12:07] You know, love
getting an overview
[2:12:08] of everything and appreciate
all the hard work from
[2:12:10] from your team out in the field.
[2:12:12] I see folks at different events
around my district.
[2:12:15] The southeast maintenance team
is doing an incredible job
[2:12:18] at all the parks in my district,
so just please let them know
[2:12:21] that we thank them from all
their hard work and dedication.
[2:12:24] You did mention improvements
to the I Park website.
[2:12:28] Just want to know if you can
expound on that a little bit.
[2:12:30] Coming. No. That's great.
[2:12:31] And, you know,
[2:12:33] and it's interesting
because that's actually
considered like the the basis
[2:12:36] like that's
what everybody uses in parks.
[2:12:37] But it's just not always
that friendly.
[2:12:39] So the first step
is going to be to have an app.
[2:12:41] So you don't have to
actually be on your computer,
[2:12:42] and you can actually do it
from an app.
[2:12:44] But there are some other
structural behind.
[2:12:47] There's a hub.
They just kind of makes
it more easy to manage through.
[2:12:50] And then you and
I have talked about
[2:12:51] we also just have to talk about
some of our classes
[2:12:53] are filling up before we even
get them on I parks.
[2:12:56] And so just that managing
all of that
[2:12:59] is kind of
what we're looking for.
[2:13:00] We have no issue
with starting the app.
[2:13:02] I think by the end of the,
you know,
[2:13:03] within this calendar year,
but just trying to make sure
[2:13:06] we're posting things,
[2:13:07] class sizes,
all of that, that just needs
[2:13:09] to be taken into account.
[2:13:11] And we see that
and feel that on our side.
[2:13:14] Yeah.
Really encouraging
to see the popularity
[2:13:15] in a lot of the programs
that we have,
[2:13:17] especially less swim lessons.
[2:13:19] But, you know,
[2:13:21] when we're
opening them up at midnight
and they're full at 1201,
[2:13:23] you know, Am is making it tough
and not equitable for everybody
[2:13:26] to be able to use part of it.
[2:13:28] So definitely
would like to change that.
[2:13:29] And I was joking around
with Council Member Dozier.
[2:13:32] I said,
[2:13:34] you know,
if we don't
get these improvements to
I parks done quickly,
[2:13:36] our wives are going
to be down here
[2:13:38] public comment
at your next quarterly report,
yelling at all of us.
[2:13:41] Well, and I think
I think the app is important,
[2:13:43] I think
[2:13:44] most people
do have access
on, on their phone,
[2:13:45] which they might not have
if since we don't
[2:13:47] have the app right now
as part of our program.
[2:13:49] So I do hope that makes it
more equitable in sense.
[2:13:51] But we just
[2:13:52] I mean, I'm
[2:13:53] glad to see
I mean, our swimming,
[2:13:55] just to be clear,
like we were zero.
[2:13:57] I mean, we we came back
from nowhere to being.
[2:13:59] All of our classes are full,
so we have to catch up with that
[2:14:03] demand for sure.
I mean, we were during Covid,
we're not offering anything.
[2:14:06] And now we're,
you know, full strength.
[2:14:09] And we need to
even look at the next level
of what we can offer.
[2:14:10] And I'm your biggest cheerleader
in that.
[2:14:12] My four and five five now
six year
[2:14:14] old can both swim
thanks to Yolanda
[2:14:15] at the Recreation Natatorium.
[2:14:17] So, big thank you to her
and her team over there.
[2:14:21] You know, excellent swimmers
because of the program.
[2:14:23] So we appreciate
it. Thank you. Yeah.
[2:14:26] Swing
back to Councilmember Bond.
[2:14:30] Thank you.
I forgot my other question,
which was in the spirit of heat
[2:14:33] safety
as it continues to be hot.
[2:14:35] Is there an inventory of water
fountains at our public park?
[2:14:39] We do, we do.
[2:14:40] We have some? Yep. I surely do.
[2:14:42] And is there an inventory of
which are functioning currently?
[2:14:45] We do, we do we?
[2:14:47] We could almost have a team,
especially between April
[2:14:50] and May.
[2:14:51] Almost. Or. I'm sorry.
[2:14:53] April and October
have like a team
that just did water fountains.
[2:14:55] We borrowed the right water
fountains.
[2:14:57] They're commercial,
[2:14:58] they get heavily used
and we are always
[2:15:00] chasing our tail on that one.
[2:15:01] But yes,
we have a list of all of them.
[2:15:03] We know where all of them are.
[2:15:04] Call 311. We do have a plumber.
[2:15:06] They go out there,
happy to get them all fixed.
[2:15:10] Awesome.
I think we might have an open
ticket for one at Central Park,
[2:15:13] so that was just on my mind.
[2:15:15] That one makes me sad
[2:15:16] because that was supposed to be
a new one.
[2:15:17] Okay, that's
that's not good. But anyways.
[2:15:19] Thank you.
We'll look into that. Thank you.
[2:15:22] Thank you sir.
[2:15:23] Thank you. Appreciate it.
[2:15:26] More applause.
[2:15:26] There we go.
[2:15:27] Let's see.
[2:15:31] That takes us to communications.
[2:15:34] Item number
126C5078A communication
[2:15:38] by Mayor Andre
Dickens appointing Mr.
[2:15:41] Davis
to serve
as a member of the Atlanta
[2:15:42] Development
Authority board of directors,
[2:15:45] as the Atlanta Planning
Advisory Board representative.
[2:15:48] This appointment
is for a term of four years.
[2:15:51] Without objection, let's
go ahead and read in two, three
and four as well.
[2:15:55] 26R4023A resolution by Community
[2:15:59] Development Human Services
Committee appointed Mr.
[2:16:01] Tim Sweet
Wood to the City of Atlanta
[2:16:05] Special Event
Technical Advisory Group
as the City Council appointee
[2:16:07] representing a class
A gated and secured
[2:16:10] event production
hosted within Piedmont Park
[2:16:12] within the last three years
and for the purposes 26 R 4024,
[2:16:17] a resolution by Community
Development
[2:16:19] Human Services
Committee appointing Mr.
[2:16:21] Kevin James to
[2:16:22] to the City of Atlanta Special
Event Technical Advisory Group
[2:16:25] as the City Council appointee
representing class B or C
[2:16:29] event production
hosted within Piedmont Park
[2:16:31] within the last three
years and for the purposes
[2:16:35] 26 R 4025,
[2:16:37] a resolution by Community
Development Human Services
[2:16:39] Committee appointed Minister Bob
Johnson to the City of Atlanta
[2:16:42] Special Event
Technical Advisory Group
[2:16:44] as the City Council appointee
[2:16:45] representing class D, R, E
event production
[2:16:48] hosted within Piedmont Park
within the last three years
[2:16:50] and for other purposes.
[2:16:52] Thank you.
I'll make a motion
to hold second by Winston.
[2:16:56] The vote is open.
[2:17:06] The vote is closed.
Six days to go next. These
items are held in committee.
[2:17:08] Takes us to section
number letter I.
[2:17:10] If we can read captions
six, 789 and 1026 01516
[2:17:16] an ordinance to waive chapter
two, article nine, Division one,
[2:17:20] section 2-9 ten and to ratify
the City of Atlantis.
[2:17:23] Submission of an application
[2:17:25] on behalf of the Department
of City Planning to apply for
[2:17:28] and to accept a fiscal year 2026
led Hazard Reduction
[2:17:31] Demonstration Grant from the US
[2:17:33] Department of Housing and Urban
Development, Office of Lead,
[2:17:36] Hazard Control and Healthy Homes
for the purpose
[2:17:39] of administering the D program
in an amount not to exceed
[2:17:43] $7,750,000.00, payable
over the next four years.
[2:17:48] To authorize the execution
[2:17:50] of any necessary agreements,
to accept the award,
[2:17:52] and to implement the grant
to amend the FY 2026,
[2:17:56] the Intergovernmental Grant
fund budget in the Fi 2026
[2:17:59] Community
Development Grant fund budget
[2:18:02] by adding to anticipations
and appropriations in an amount
[2:18:05] not to exceed
seven $7,750,000.00.
[2:18:10] To authorize and fund positions
within DCP.
[2:18:12] For the purpose of administering
[2:18:14] and overseeing the grant award,
and for other purposes.
[2:18:17] Item number 72601517.
[2:18:20] An ordinance by Community
Development
[2:18:22] Human Services Committee
[2:18:23] to waive the procurement source
selection provisions
[2:18:26] containing Division
four of chapter two,
[2:18:29] article
ten of the City of Atlanta
Dakota Ordinances,
[2:18:31] as well as any other
conflicting code provisions
[2:18:34] to authorize the mayor
or his designee to enter
[2:18:36] into the First Amendment
to the agreement number listed.
[2:18:39] Right of way
maintenance
with Maroney Enterprise
[2:18:41] doing business and Castro
Landscape
[2:18:43] to include the Department
of Parks and Recreation
[2:18:46] as an authorized user
and its associated
[2:18:48] funding in an amount
not to exceed two $2,650,000.00,
[2:18:54] and to add funding on behalf
of the Department
[2:18:55] of Transportation, and amount
not to exceed $400,000.00.
[2:19:00] All contracted work
will be charged to
[2:19:02] and paid from the Council listed
hearing and for the purposes.
[2:19:08] Item number 82601518.
[2:19:11] An ordinance by Community
Development
[2:19:12] Human Services
Committee to waive chapter two,
[2:19:14] article nine, Division one,
[2:19:16] section two, nine, ten
two retroactively authorized
[2:19:19] and ratified
the City of Atlanta.
[2:19:21] Submission of the Automated
Permitting Systems Demonstration
[2:19:24] Notice of Funding Opportunity
Application
[2:19:27] from the United States
Department of Housing and Urban
[2:19:30] Development
on behalf of the Atlanta
Department of City Planning,
[2:19:34] for an amount
not to exceed $1,500,000.00
[2:19:37] to be utilized
for the deployment
[2:19:39] of an automated Building Code
permitting systems
[2:19:41] demonstration,
and for the purposes.
[2:19:44] Item number 92601519,
[2:19:48] an ordinance by Community
Development Human Services
[2:19:50] Committee admitting the FY 2027
Intergovernmental Grant
[2:19:53] fund budget
by adding to anticipation
[2:19:55] and appropriation
in the amount of $1,165,808.00
[2:20:02] to include the budget amount
for the Santa
[2:20:04] Fe Build a House and complex,
[2:20:06] and authorizing
the mayor, his designee,
[2:20:08] on behalf of the City
of Atlanta, to enter
[2:20:10] into a housing assistance
payments
[2:20:11] contract with G and S Santa
Fe Villa effective January 1st,
[2:20:15] 2027 through December
31st, 2027 and amount.
[2:20:19] Not to exceed $1,165,008.00.
[2:20:24] For the purpose
of paying rental subsidies
for 100 units for low income,
[2:20:28] formerly homeless individuals
at Santa Fe Villa
[2:20:30] Housing Complex pursuant
to the section eight Moderate
[2:20:33] Rehabilitation Program sponsored
by the US Department
[2:20:36] of Housing and Urban
Development.
[2:20:38] All contracted work
to be charged to
[2:20:40] and paid
from the fund department
[2:20:42] organization and members listed
hearing and for the purposes
[2:20:46] item number ten 260 1520.
[2:20:49] An ordinance by Community
Development Human Services
[2:20:51] Committee authorizing
the mayor has designee,
[2:20:54] on behalf of the Department
of Grants and Community
[2:20:56] Development, to amend the 2026
Community Development
[2:20:59] Fund budget for the purpose
of Reprograming 2025 Community
[2:21:03] Development Block
Grant program funds in an amount
[2:21:06] not to exceed $1 million
in special to facilitate timely
[2:21:10] and efficient exponential
[2:21:13] of FY 25 c, d, b, g funding.
[2:21:17] To reprogram and allocate
[2:21:18] funding to the Department
of Parks
[2:21:20] and Recreation and amount
not to exceed $1,000,000.00.
[2:21:24] And to authorize the Chief
Financial Officer,
[2:21:26] on behalf of the Department
of Parks and Recreation,
[2:21:28] to amend the Fiscal Year
2026 Community Development
[2:21:31] Fund budget for the Department
of Parks and Recreation to add
[2:21:35] to appropriation in amount
not to exceed $1,000,000.00.
[2:21:39] All contracted works
[2:21:40] shall be charged to and pay
from the accounts
[2:21:42] listed here in
and for the purposes.
[2:21:44] Thank you.
Takes us to our regular agenda
ordinances
[2:21:46] for second
reading item number 112601493.
[2:21:50] In ordinance by Community
Development Human Services
[2:21:52] Committee, authorizing
the mayor of his designee
[2:21:54] on behalf of the Department
of Parks and Recreation,
[2:21:56] to enter into a memorandum of
[2:21:58] understanding
with Atlanta Beltline
[2:22:00] as part of its Smart Cities
initiative
[2:22:02] to install, operate and maintain
two publicly accessible
[2:22:06] electric vehicle
charging stations
and parking spaces
[2:22:08] at the historic fourth Ward
Skate Park,
[2:22:11] providing for the exclusive
use of the charging stations
[2:22:13] by City of Atlanta fleet
vehicles during designated hours
[2:22:16] at no cost to the
city and for the purposes.
[2:22:19] Any questions or comments?
[2:22:22] All right.
So you know, and I'll make
a motion to approve second.
[2:22:24] Second by Collins.
[2:22:28] The vote is open.
[2:22:32] Is closed six days.
[2:22:32] Your item is favorable.
[2:22:34] Item number 122601503
[2:22:38] an ordinance by council members
Dustin Hillis, Antonio Lewis,
[2:22:41] Andrea Elbow, Wayne Martin,
Isha Collins and Byron de Amos
[2:22:45] to mend chapter 158,
article two, Division
[2:22:48] 20, section 15889.
[2:22:52] Reduction of the City
of Atlanta.
[2:22:55] Code of Ordinances
to remove certain
[2:22:57] of the conditions required
to secure a reduction or waiver
[2:23:00] of required tree recompense
for affordable for sale units
[2:23:04] in furtherance of the
[2:23:06] need to balance its goal of tree
canopy preservation.
[2:23:08] With its goal to incentivize
the development
[2:23:12] of affordable housing,
and for the purposes.
[2:23:15] Thank you.
Colleagues, I talk to the lead
sponsor of this paper,
[2:23:17] and we're going to hold this
for a cycle to tweak some of the
[2:23:21] loose ends.
And so I will make that motion.
[2:23:23] Second by Dozier.
[2:23:26] The vote is open.
[2:23:34] Is closed six years.
[2:23:35] Your next item is held.
[2:23:37] Thank you.
Our number 30.
[2:23:40] 260 1510
[2:23:42] an ordinance by Councilmember
Matt Westmoreland
[2:23:44] to amend the Atlantic City
Code, part two.
[2:23:47] Part 20, section 20, Dash 1004
[2:23:51] to update the City of Atlanta
short term rental policy.
[2:23:54] And for the purposes.
[2:23:55] I want to make a motion
to amend to
[2:23:58] have the effective date
become January 1st, 2027.
[2:24:01] Second by Dozier.
[2:24:03] A couple of questions.
[2:24:05] The vote is open.
[2:24:09] Make a motion to the men,
the first
[2:24:13] to amend it.
[2:24:13] There is a vote to amend.
[2:24:24] The vote is close five days.
[2:24:26] Your next item is amended.
[2:24:27] Thank you.
Councilmember. Council.
[2:24:29] Yes. Just wanted to.
[2:24:31] I didn't get a chance.
[2:24:32] I know, council member
Westmoreland.
[2:24:35] Mr. chair,
[2:24:36] we were just talking
[2:24:37] in terms of this,
[2:24:38] and I know the change
[2:24:39] will remove the primary
residence and one additional
[2:24:44] residence requirement.
[2:24:45] And just curious in terms
of any of the implications on
[2:24:49] what that means.
[2:24:54] I guess in terms of.
[2:24:59] What it will allow, is a person
that owned
[2:25:02] multiple properties in the city
to now be able to
[2:25:08] will now be able to
[2:25:10] get a permit
for short term rentals.
[2:25:13] And so what
I just do a deeper dive
[2:25:15] in terms of understanding
how this will play out.
[2:25:19] Is that is there a cap on the
[2:25:22] is there a conversation
on the cap on that?
[2:25:25] We've seen where you have
an owner that has a has multiple
[2:25:30] LLC. Will each LLC allow them
to add multiple properties?
[2:25:37] And so I think while I'm
a supporter
[2:25:40] of allowing the autonomy
of short term rentals,
[2:25:43] I also want to make sure
that we're not putting our
[2:25:49] we're not putting ourselves
in a place
[2:25:51] where we are
creating an additional level of,
[2:25:57] temper, you know, in
terms of short term, you know,
[2:26:00] temporary housing or short
term capacity in that regard. So
[2:26:05] as the author of this paper
[2:26:08] and the person who wrote these
nine words
[2:26:10] five years ago,
I completely agree with you.
[2:26:13] Council passed
this ordinance in March of 2021.
[2:26:16] It was supposed to take effect
in September of 2021,
[2:26:18] and then we delayed
until March of 2022.
[2:26:21] It has never been enforced.
[2:26:23] And the reasons for that stemmed
from these nine words
[2:26:26] and the belief
that it may lead to litigation.
[2:26:30] And so for the last five years,
[2:26:31] we have enforced
none of this ordinance.
[2:26:34] I would like to enforce
everything, the rest of it.
[2:26:37] And if that means that
we can delete these nine words
[2:26:39] to enforce the rest of it
for the first time
[2:26:41] ever, and all of the guardrails
[2:26:43] and protections that
come with it for our residents,
[2:26:46] I think that is a win.
[2:26:49] Are there any guardrails
[2:26:52] being new to this before
[2:26:54] the, you know,
after this created,
[2:26:57] are there any guardrails
that we have not.
[2:27:00] Are there any guardrails
in place like,
[2:27:04] we, you know,
like a reasonable portfolio cap
[2:27:07] that we've seen in some areas,
[2:27:10] permitting additional property
that are actually
[2:27:13] truly considered
commercial multi
[2:27:15] property,
short term rental operators.
[2:27:17] Have we looked at
[2:27:21] you know, you know,
[2:27:22] the guardrails in terms
of truly local ownership.
[2:27:26] Just some of those things
[2:27:27] I just you know, just curious
in terms of where the guardrails
[2:27:30] where are we with enforcement.
[2:27:31] Because while I do agree
[2:27:33] with you 100% in
terms of the enforcement piece,
[2:27:37] you know, just wanting to see
what they'll guard guard rails
[2:27:40] were I know there was a case
that was shared in terms of
[2:27:44] of challenging what
[2:27:45] this looked like
coming out of another circuit.
[2:27:49] And while it's not,
[2:27:53] while
it's not leading authority,
[2:27:55] it does have persuasive
authority for sure.
[2:27:58] So I don't know if Madam
Attorney or anyone help me.
[2:28:02] Help. Help me help.
[2:28:04] Y'all
give me some understanding
in terms of moving this through.
[2:28:08] Is this,
you know,
will this truly achieve
[2:28:10] what we're trying to do without
[2:28:12] the unintended consequences
of creating another system
[2:28:15] that we may have to draft policy
to regulate at another level?
[2:28:20] My my quick thought on that.
[2:28:22] And then I'll turn it over
to the city
attorney is at the moment,
[2:28:25] anything can become a short term
rental in Atlanta
[2:28:28] because we're not enforcing
any of the ordinance.
[2:28:30] And I would like for us
to start doing that.
[2:28:34] And there are a great number
of protections
[2:28:37] that sit in the ordinance
that we passed five years ago.
[2:28:40] And I will send you
a copy of it.
[2:28:43] Okay. Great.
I'll defer
to the to the Madam Attorney.
[2:28:50] Good afternoon.
Amber Robinson, City
of Atlanta, Department of Law
[2:28:54] from from a legal standpoint,
I don't really
[2:28:58] they're not concerned
[2:29:00] with the removal
of the residency requirement,
[2:29:04] which is a effectively
[2:29:05] what the language that's being
deleted has acted as that
[2:29:10] you must be a city of Atlanta
resident in order to secure
[2:29:15] a short term rental license.
[2:29:20] And so the removal of that
[2:29:22] residency requirement,
[2:29:25] actually lifts
some of the concern
[2:29:30] that has been raised by citizens
within the city of Atlanta,
[2:29:35] as well as citizens
outside of the city
[2:29:38] of potential
constitutional issues.
[2:29:42] It is correct.
[2:29:43] We have not received any
[2:29:46] any challenges
to this ordinance.
[2:29:49] But as stated by Council Member
Collins, there has been a
[2:29:54] that's come down
from circuit courts of appeal.
[2:30:00] In other
circuits that would indicate
that there might be some issue.
[2:30:04] So from a legal standpoint,
[2:30:06] there are no concerns
[2:30:09] with this proposed amendment.
[2:30:20] And just really quickly,
Mister Chair.
[2:30:23] Do you the other
the corresponding legislation
[2:30:27] that you were referring to
with the guard rails?
[2:30:30] The original ordinance
we passed was 2016 56.
[2:30:33] Okay.
[2:30:35] And that has the I didn't
get a chance to look at it.
[2:30:37] That has a guardrails in there.
[2:30:39] It has the framework to
to regulate short term
[2:30:42] rentals in Atlanta. Okay.
[2:30:44] All right. Well, let me I'll
look at it really quick.
[2:30:46] I mean, I don't like I said,
my biggest issue is the fact
[2:30:49] of what we're with the, the,
[2:30:50] the unintended beast
that we may create by just
[2:30:53] allowing any short term
rental owner and,
[2:30:57] long term tenant to be able
just to have
[2:31:00] an unlimited access to register
short term rentals in the city.
[2:31:04] There are I look at the.
[2:31:06] I look at that legislation
right now.
[2:31:08] But I do think if it
[2:31:09] if it truly does create
something,
[2:31:11] we may have to explore
additional guardrails
[2:31:14] such as like, you know,
portfolio caps or measures
[2:31:18] or some of the other lessons
learned that we've seen through
[2:31:20] other major cities. So
[2:31:24] I share that concern,
which is why I'd rather us
[2:31:26] have an ordinance
[2:31:27] that we're enforcing,
rather than one
[2:31:29] that we're not enforcing at all,
which is where we currently
[2:31:31] find ourselves.
[2:31:38] With your brother.
But, you know,
I think, you know,
[2:31:41] still what will be
the enforcement in this regard?
[2:31:44] Sorry.
[2:31:46] You all
I think that, you know,
because that this has been
an ongoing conversation,
[2:31:48] this being an ongoing
conversation.
[2:31:50] Council member by Councilmember
[2:31:52] Amos has introduced legislation
[2:31:54] to create an office
for enforcement.
[2:31:56] So will this policy
change truly,
[2:31:59] truly move the needle
in actual enforcement?
[2:32:03] Like,
do we have a measure in here
[2:32:05] that requires an annual
reporting to understand the
[2:32:08] the numbers
of short term rentals?
[2:32:10] Who are the owners
thinks of that nature?
[2:32:12] Do we have any of that in place?
[2:32:14] It is in the ordinance
that isn't being enforced,
[2:32:18] which is why I'm trying
to get us to start doing that.
[2:32:22] And these are the words
that have been holding us back
for far too long for who?
[2:32:25] But okay. Go ahead.
[2:32:29] Go on.
[2:32:30] I'm. I'm telling. Okay.
[2:32:31] Councilmember bond followed
by Councilmember Winston.
[2:32:35] Yeah, I have
I have similar concerns
to Council Member Collins
[2:32:38] and maybe I'm not understanding
correctly, but,
[2:32:42] Amber, could you maybe explain,
[2:32:45] how these specific lines are
keeping?
[2:32:48] Explain again
how these specific lines
[2:32:50] are keeping us from enforcing
the other ordinance?
[2:32:55] Yes. And I want to be clear
[2:32:58] about the quote unquote,
like keeping phrase.
[2:33:03] Right.
We have not been challenged.
[2:33:05] There's not a court order
[2:33:07] or anything
saying that this is a this
[2:33:10] we are not allowed to enforce
our short term rental ordinance.
[2:33:15] There have been concerns
raised due to post
[2:33:18] adoption of this,
[2:33:22] set of ordinances,
[2:33:24] litigation that occurred across
throughout the United States
[2:33:28] that has said some doubt
concerning the enforceability,
[2:33:34] of the residency requirement.
[2:33:37] Due to that doubt,
policy decisions have been made.
[2:33:43] In order to
[2:33:45] mitigate against the potential
for liability.
[2:33:50] As a result,
that while the Department
[2:33:53] of City Planning will process
[2:33:57] and issue a short term
rental license in accordance
[2:34:00] with this ordinance, and
I believe has been doing so the
[2:34:04] throughout since the effective
date of the ordinance.
[2:34:09] If a person or entity operates
[2:34:13] a short term rental
without the license.
[2:34:18] There have not
there have been various official
[2:34:20] and then unofficial moratoria,
[2:34:22] which is stated that
there would not be any citation
[2:34:27] or enforcement for the operating
without a permit,
[2:34:30] because that's
where you get into
[2:34:33] whether or not they would be
permitted to secure a license
[2:34:38] if they wanted to comply due
[2:34:41] to the residency restriction
in the in the ordinance.
[2:34:48] So the removal of the residency
restriction
[2:34:52] will remove any argument
that they were unable
[2:34:55] to come into compliance
with the remainder
[2:34:58] of the ordinance due
to the residency restriction.
[2:35:02] So then any such persons
would not have that
[2:35:06] as an argument, and we believe
the city could more reliably
[2:35:14] such persons
[2:35:16] without the current potential
[2:35:20] for liability under said. So.
[2:35:24] We currently are not citing
people
[2:35:27] who don't apply for a permit.
[2:35:31] Okay.
[2:35:34] That kind of makes sense,
I think,
[2:35:36] because at face value,
[2:35:39] this amendment
looks like it's just
[2:35:43] striking regulations of short
term rentals.
[2:35:47] I don't feel comfortable voting
yes on this.
[2:35:49] So I will either vote
no or abstain.
[2:35:52] Just anecdotally,
[2:35:55] I have a close friend
who lives in my district
[2:35:58] across the street from Piedmont
Park.
[2:35:59] Amazingly, somehow she pays
very cheap rent in,
[2:36:02] like a 20 unit
apartment building.
[2:36:05] But half the units in
her building are Airbnbs.
[2:36:09] And so we're continuing to see
the proliferation of short term
[2:36:12] rentals,
eating up the little supply
[2:36:14] we do have
of affordable housing.
[2:36:16] And without additional
guardrails in place.
[2:36:20] Simply striking this line
makes me feel very queasy. So.
[2:36:25] Yeah.
[2:36:27] Councilmember Winston.
[2:36:28] Thank you, Mr. Chair.
[2:36:31] One on this piece of legislation
right here
[2:36:33] that I am supportive of.
[2:36:36] To me,
it removes this area
of this great area
[2:36:38] that we're operating in
right now
[2:36:40] where people aren't
being compliant.
[2:36:43] And because they aren't
being compliant,
[2:36:44] we aren't able to enforce
all the rules
[2:36:46] that are in place at the moment.
[2:36:48] So by removing this,
[2:36:50] like sort of gray area
that we're operating in now,
[2:36:52] it will encourage more
[2:36:54] participation, legal
participation in the program by
[2:36:57] registering as an STR operator.
[2:37:00] That being said,
I'm glad to hear that
[2:37:03] you are Councilmember Bond.
[2:37:05] Kind of queasy about this
because I have been working with
[2:37:09] our Chief Housing officer, Mr.
[2:37:10] Amanda Ryan,
who's sitting in the back.
[2:37:12] We are working to
[2:37:13] hopefully introduce legislation
[2:37:15] soon that will create
more guardrails,
[2:37:17] especially as it pertains
to multifamily, short term,
[2:37:21] short term rental housing.
[2:37:24] Restrictions in the city.
[2:37:27] So I'm hoping to get
colleagues on board as we flesh
that out a little bit more.
[2:37:30] I'm sure all of you now
are familiar
[2:37:31] with the landmark,
which is now in district one.
[2:37:34] I know John mentioned earlier
about some of the issues
[2:37:38] we've had.
I know Councilmember
Bond is Michael Julian Bond
[2:37:39] and spoke on that as well.
[2:37:41] And so I am looking forward
to getting your support in
[2:37:44] that as kind of a step two
[2:37:46] after hopefully this legislation
is passed by my colleagues.
[2:37:49] So with that, I will yield, Mr.
[2:37:51] Chair.
[2:37:54] Thank you, Councilmember
Collins.
[2:37:58] Yeah.
[2:38:00] I yeah.
[2:38:02] So while I'm
thank you for correcting
[2:38:04] because that was
my question is 20 dash.
[2:38:07] 01556. Yep.
[2:38:10] In the guardrails
I think for me, I think what
[2:38:12] we're just the hesitancy is
whether you remove this or not.
[2:38:17] Does it still
[2:38:21] the ability of
it and what are those barriers.
[2:38:24] And so it says a short term
rental license may be obtained
[2:38:27] by short term rental owner
or a long term tenant of a short
[2:38:31] term rental
for their primary residence
[2:38:33] and one additional unit
[2:38:34] without any
additional requirements fees.
[2:38:36] We're removing that all together
so you can be a short term
[2:38:40] rental owner
with multiple properties
[2:38:41] in Atlanta and get permits
to operate all of those,
[2:38:45] and it can be ten homes,
it could be five.
[2:38:47] It could be what.
[2:38:49] You know what. Whatever.
[2:38:50] So I think hearing that you guys
are working on the guardrails,
[2:38:54] I would love to be a part
of that conversation.
[2:38:57] And be a part
of the additional parameters
[2:39:01] just to ensure
that we're not creating.
[2:39:04] We're not, again, like,
[2:39:05] we're not creating
a larger monster
[2:39:07] in our particularly in
our housing market in Atlanta,
[2:39:10] nor the attractiveness
of this city, period.
[2:39:14] Where even hotel revenue
[2:39:17] was down
10% from by 10% from World Cup,
[2:39:21] because most people did in fact
[2:39:23] use short term
rentals for their stay.
[2:39:24] So I just wanted
to put that out there.
[2:39:27] I yield, Mister Chair.
[2:39:28] I'm going to look at this
2020 to get caught up.
[2:39:31] And my
[2:39:33] we're not
creating a monster to the extent
[2:39:36] there is a monster,
it already exists.
[2:39:38] And we're not doing anything to
to regulate the monster.
[2:39:42] I feel like
we're back in the Star Wars.
[2:39:45] Comments from yesterday.
[2:39:47] Batman.
[2:39:48] Sorry, Batman.
[2:39:50] And so it.
[2:39:52] I hear Councilmember Bonds
comment that it appears that
[2:39:56] we're
[2:39:57] removing an enforcement,
but what we're actually doing
[2:39:59] is enforcing something
for the first time ever.
[2:40:02] Councilmember Dozier.
[2:40:05] Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I just wanted to just kind of
add my $0.02 on the matter.
[2:40:07] That last statement
that you just made
[2:40:08] is exactly why
I'm supporting this legislation.
[2:40:11] I've been on the record
and very clear on the record
[2:40:13] and even gotten some lunch
from some of my
[2:40:17] constituents.
[2:40:18] Because I voted against
every single piece of short
[2:40:21] term rental legislation
that's come before this body.
[2:40:25] Since I've been on
the city council,
because I've been adamant that
[2:40:29] I think we adopted a great piece
of legislation back in 2021,
[2:40:32] and we have never enforced it.
[2:40:34] It was a point
of consternation of mind
[2:40:36] when I was a chair
of this committee.
[2:40:37] Every time Department of City
Planning and Mr.
[2:40:41] Greg Pace was before us.
[2:40:43] I would always ask,
[2:40:45] when are we going to be
enforcing short term rentals?
[2:40:47] When are we going to be forcing
short term rentals?
[2:40:49] And the fact that we still
haven't after all these years
[2:40:53] has been a point of frustration,
but because this allows us to
move forward with an opportunity
[2:40:57] to enforce this
for the very first time
[2:40:59] as a city in this city
at a time.
[2:41:01] As Councilmember,
Kelsey had alluded to,
[2:41:07] where
housing, the housing
market has been shrinking.
[2:41:11] And many of us
are representing communities
[2:41:14] that have been dealing
with party houses
and other nuisance issues,
[2:41:16] that not having a mechanism
in place at all
[2:41:18] to where we can actually take
these owners to task, these,
[2:41:22] these property owners
to task through
[2:41:25] this process
has been very frustrating.
[2:41:27] And so I am lifting
the veil of my reluctance
[2:41:32] to support any short
[2:41:33] term rental legislation,
[2:41:34] because this takes us back
to where
[2:41:35] I think we should have been
in the first place,
[2:41:37] and enforcing
something that this body
[2:41:39] did a due diligence on to,
to adopt back in 2021.
[2:41:43] So with that, I will move
to approve as amended.
[2:41:47] And I'll look forward
to having further conversation.
[2:41:50] Second Council member
Collins. Yep.
[2:41:53] One last question.
[2:41:55] And I mean walk me through how
this will ensure enforceability.
[2:42:01] It will more than
[2:42:03] how we have been able to ensure
it over the last four years.
[2:42:07] Now we know that this is the the
[2:42:10] sentence that keeps coming back
in conversations
[2:42:12] with planning and law, primarily
[2:42:14] planning about why we're not
enforcing what we have.
[2:42:16] And so if that's what
we've been told
[2:42:18] is legislators,
then we are removing
[2:42:20] what we have been told
is the reason
[2:42:22] we're not enforcing something
so that we will.
[2:42:24] So I'll clarify.
[2:42:26] Walk me through how this is
precluding you from enforcing
[2:42:30] or planning from enforcing
[2:42:33] currently.
[2:42:34] Now what we what we have.
[2:42:37] So I want to be clear.
[2:42:40] We're not saying it is
precluding, right?
[2:42:43] There is a there is
an indication through case law
[2:42:47] that has come down from other
circuits that this provision
[2:42:53] is constitutionally dubious.
[2:42:56] And if it were to be enforced
[2:42:59] there, such that a person
[2:43:02] who is a nonresident attempts
to secure a permit
[2:43:08] from the Department
of City Planning
[2:43:10] is there denied,
because they do not
[2:43:13] they're not a resident
of the city of Atlanta,
[2:43:16] that they would then have
a potential cause of action
[2:43:20] against the city for violation
[2:43:23] of their constitutional rights.
[2:43:26] And so because of that baseline
[2:43:32] where we find ourselves,
[2:43:35] what stems from that is
you can't then cite people.
[2:43:40] If we've decided that
we don't want to go around
[2:43:43] denying people for licenses
because of this residency
[2:43:47] requirement,
that then when people operate
[2:43:52] and they don't have a permit
because we're not enforcing
[2:43:57] that baseline
residency requirement, then
[2:44:03] we can't cite them
[2:44:05] for operating without a permit.
[2:44:08] So at the very least,
before we even
[2:44:11] get to
any of the other more detailed,
[2:44:14] regulations
that are in this short term
[2:44:17] rental ordinance, the
the initial regulation
[2:44:21] of operating without a license
is not something
[2:44:26] that the Department
of City Planning has decided
[2:44:30] to enforce.
[2:44:38] Okay.
[2:44:40] I mean, okay,
[2:44:41] there's a lot of, you know, I'm
going to leave it here.
[2:44:44] The there is no current case
in our jurisdiction
[2:44:49] that has challenged
any of this, right?
[2:44:52] The case has been referred to us
is come out of Fifth circuit,
[2:44:56] which is Texas, Mississippi,
Louisiana
[2:44:59] won one most conservative
circuits in the country.
[2:45:02] So as as a potential part
[2:45:07] of what could be challenged,
[2:45:11] it's not a Leavenworth circuit,
which is
[2:45:13] and I hate to get
into the legal pieces of this,
[2:45:17] but what I'm hearing
you saying is that this is
[2:45:20] we are being asked to let change
[2:45:23] based on what we possibly could
think, could be
[2:45:27] brought to us to be challenged.
[2:45:31] I struggle with that
because there's an ordinance
[2:45:33] that you said that
said, we've been at this
[2:45:35] for the last six years
and it hasn't been challenged.
[2:45:40] Well, we haven't
[2:45:41] been enforcing
the problematic provisions.
[2:45:45] So there hasn't
been a potential plaintiff
withstanding to challenge it.
[2:45:49] So. Okay. I just okay.
[2:45:51] I think there's a
I'm going to leave it here.
[2:45:56] And we can as I'm struggling
with the I'll just I'll abstain
[2:46:00] because while I do support
short term rentals in a space,
[2:46:04] I am also understanding our role
as legislators that
[2:46:09] we legislate the move policy
that that is enforceable,
[2:46:14] not based on the choice
to enforce or not.
[2:46:17] And so for me, it's like,
[2:46:20] I don't know
if it's the fearless part
[2:46:21] to say, well, if it's something
that you don't like,
[2:46:25] but we're but it's legal,
which is what we're being told,
[2:46:28] then there is a system
to challenge it.
[2:46:31] So I'll, I'll just I'll leave it
there.
[2:46:34] I'll leave it there and I'll get
some more information.
[2:46:36] Mister chair, over time.
[2:46:39] Go from there.
[2:46:40] So thank you, I yield.
[2:46:41] Councilmember bond. Yep.
[2:46:44] Yeah.
Sorry, y'all.
[2:46:46] Is there a
[2:46:48] if this were to pass
the next full council meeting?
[2:46:52] Is there a commitment
from the Department of City
[2:46:55] Planning to begin enforcing this
after the passage?
[2:47:19] Department of city
planning? Yes.
[2:47:23] Great.
[2:47:24] Awesome.
[2:47:25] Follow up question.
[2:47:27] If this is removed,
is there any upper limit on
[2:47:31] how many short term rentals
one person can own or operate?
[2:47:38] Short term
rentals are not permitted
in the Home Park neighborhood.
[2:47:41] So that's it.
[2:47:43] Is there any appetite at all?
[2:47:46] Oh, okay.
[2:47:47] From council members
to hold this
[2:47:50] until we can put in place
an upper limit,
[2:47:53] because that's not the same
as residency requirement.
[2:47:55] Correct.
[2:47:59] I'll answer your question,
which is?
[2:48:01] This is slated to take effect
[2:48:03] per the amendment we just did on
July January 1st, 2027.
[2:48:06] If you'd like to work on
[2:48:08] legislation that addresses
that by January 1st,
[2:48:10] I'd be more than happy to be
a part of that conversation.
[2:48:12] Miss Robinson, I do want to,
[2:48:16] it's not in the legislation,
but it is understood
[2:48:19] from a Georgia law
contractual standpoint
[2:48:23] that if a person is a member
of like a condo
[2:48:28] homeowner's association
or other such,
[2:48:34] contractual organization
that restricts
[2:48:38] how a person is able
to utilize their residence,
[2:48:43] this would not in any way
supersede it.
[2:48:46] So, for instance,
if you live in a condo
[2:48:50] association
where you are not permitted to,
[2:48:54] short term rental your condo,
[2:48:57] you still would not be able
to short term rental your condo
[2:49:01] regardless of any action
that we take here
[2:49:05] or don't take here
like it cannot have an effect
[2:49:09] on those private
right to contract.
[2:49:12] So there are
privately enforceable
[2:49:18] restrictions
on the number of short
[2:49:20] term rentals throughout the city
in those in that manner.
[2:49:24] And as the Commissioner
states, there is at least one
[2:49:29] neighborhood in
the city where through zoning,
[2:49:32] short term rentals are currently
prohibited.
[2:49:37] Zoning can be utilized
by this body to limit short
[2:49:42] term rentals in a similar manner
or in other manners,
[2:49:46] like through through
various land use amendments.
[2:49:50] Okay.
[2:49:53] Council Member Winston, does
the paper you're working on
[2:49:56] touch on upper limits.
[2:50:01] We're still fleshing it out.
Okay. We'd love to be part
of those conversations.
[2:50:03] Yeah. We'll talk. We'll talk.
All right.
[2:50:05] Thank you.
[2:50:06] Motion by Dozier.
[2:50:07] Second by Westmoreland.
[2:50:10] The vote is open.
[2:50:16] The vote is closed.
[2:50:17] Three.
[2:50:20] Three, eight.
Three. Abstention.
That motion is not carried.
[2:50:22] Yes it does.
[2:50:23] Three motion.
[2:50:24] Yeah. Three zero nays.
[2:50:25] Three abstentions.
[2:50:27] Takes us on to resolutions.
[2:50:29] Item number 1426.
[2:50:31] Hour 3988.
A resolution by Council.
[2:50:34] Byron de Amos, Michael
Julian Bond, Wayne Martin,
[2:50:37] Aysha Collins, Jason Dozier,
Dustin Hillis, Antonio Lewis,
[2:50:40] Matt Westmoreland, Jason H.
[2:50:42] Winston, and Liliana Bakhtiari,
[2:50:43] authorizing the installation
of a historic marker
[2:50:46] to honor the late
Reverend Joseph
[2:50:47] Boone for his lifelong service
to the city of Atlanta
[2:50:50] and his contributions
to the Civil Rights movement.
[2:50:52] And for the purposes.
[2:50:54] I understand
there's been a request
[2:50:55] to hold this item,
so I will make that motion.
[2:50:57] Yes. Second by Dozier.
[2:51:01] The vote is open.
[2:51:07] The vote is closed.
[2:51:08] Jonas, this item is held.
[2:51:09] Adam 1526 hours 3997.
[2:51:13] A resolution by Council Member
Mary Norwood
[2:51:15] requesting the Chief
operating officer to coordinate
[2:51:18] with the Department of City
Planning
[2:51:19] and the Atlanta Beltline,
Atlanta Housing
[2:51:22] and the Metro Atlanta Land Bank,
[2:51:24] to create a comprehensive
inventory of vacant
[2:51:26] and underutilized
privately owned properties
[2:51:28] within the City of Atlanta,
[2:51:30] which may be developed
for housing and other uses,
[2:51:33] and which shall identify
properties
[2:51:34] which are not residential,
not publicly owned or vacant.
[2:51:38] Abandoned or neglected
[2:51:39] may qualify
as nuisance properties
[2:51:41] and are under 30% forested
and for the purposes.
[2:51:45] Councilmember
Collins has a question for law.
[2:51:50] Yeah.
Just curious on this,
on this resolution.
[2:51:53] In terms
of I know this being, like
[2:51:58] Norwood,
it don't isn't there already
[2:52:02] inventories and spaces
where you can identify like
[2:52:05] you can identify nonresidential,
privately owned
[2:52:10] property.
[2:52:12] Vacant land
abandoned, as stated in in here.
[2:52:18] I apologize.
[2:52:21] They're very well.
Might be, though
I am not familiar with what
[2:52:25] property databases
[2:52:28] or other resources exist.
[2:52:32] So I, I'm I'm unable to advise
[2:52:36] like the county records or
[2:52:39] I CD.
[2:52:41] Yeah.
That I believe
would be an operational question
[2:52:45] which I and I'm
I'm not able to answer that
from the legal standpoint.
[2:52:48] Okay.
Commissioner we have an operator
I know.
[2:52:51] Yes. APD
[2:52:55] or to this.
[2:52:56] So with just a little
[2:52:58] bit of tweaking,
we could have this exact list.
[2:53:01] So just want to let you know,
[2:53:03] Council member Michael Bond.
[2:53:07] Thank you, Mr. Chair.
[2:53:09] This is similar to
a piece of legislation
I did several years ago.
[2:53:12] The city's Office of Real Estate
has a list of all city
[2:53:16] owned property.
[2:53:18] Everything.
You know, it's mostly
curb cuts and, you know,
[2:53:21] some right of way stuff.
[2:53:22] But it was on average,
it was about 1300,
[2:53:26] maybe 1400 pieces of property
[2:53:31] at that time.
And that was like
maybe 6 or 8 years ago.
[2:53:34] So I'm sure the list
has changed.
[2:53:36] But the Office of Real Estate,
[2:53:39] they know everything
that the city has.
[2:53:43] So I think
that this is an attempt to
I don't want to speak for
[2:53:47] Miss Norwood,
but that's what it reads
as an attempt to create a list.
[2:53:52] Again,
[2:53:54] if if I may respond that.
[2:53:56] Councilmember.
[2:53:57] Yes. Councilman runs actually.
[2:54:00] Absolutely correct.
This legislation was based off
of his legislation
[2:54:03] that he just referenced.
[2:54:05] But this is not being me.
[2:54:09] This legislation
relates to private
[2:54:12] property as opposed to city
owned real estate.
[2:54:15] Oh, okay.
[2:54:18] And I think that's where just
my question
[2:54:19] is in terms of,
[2:54:22] I mean, there's a resolution
[2:54:24] we it could be in terms of
just understanding
[2:54:27] the nature of tracking,
you know, nature of inventory to
[2:54:31] track private, privately owned
property when we have other,
[2:54:37] you know,
we have other spaces to gather
that I know it says here
[2:54:39] to potentially be developed for
housing and other uses, usages
[2:54:44] for other uses.
[2:54:46] So I think I just
I mean, there's more questions
[2:54:48] that we can have in terms of who
what who will hold this list.
[2:54:53] What for?
I just don't want to create
a space where people are being
[2:54:56] targeted in terms of their,
their actual private property.
[2:55:02] I think that's different
from you, Councilmember Bob,
[2:55:04] where it was our city, you know,
publicly owned property,
[2:55:07] which is which is different.
[2:55:08] So those are
some questions that I have.
[2:55:13] Any other questions or comments?
[2:55:17] All right.
I motion by dozer which I will
second motion to approve a hold.
[2:55:20] Approve.
[2:55:22] The vote is open.
[2:55:31] That was four years.
[2:55:32] One day one abstention.
This item is favorable.
[2:55:34] Item number 1626 R 3998.
[2:55:38] A resolution by Councilmember
Mary Norwood
[2:55:40] requesting the mayor
of his designee
[2:55:42] to establish a process
whereby persons and entities
[2:55:45] who apply for permits related
to the installation or repair
[2:55:48] of any pervious surface
necessary
[2:55:51] to transverse lot size,
one third of an acre and larger,
[2:55:55] and the District Council member
[2:55:56] representing the location
wherein
[2:55:58] the proposed installation
or repair is to occur,
[2:56:02] may have an opportunity
to attend a joint conference
[2:56:04] with the representatives
from the city departments
[2:56:07] and offices
charged with reviewing
[2:56:09] such applications and enforcing
the City of Atlanta stormwater
[2:56:13] and other ordinances, state law,
and state regulatory standards
[2:56:16] applicable to the installation
[2:56:17] and repair
of the impervious surface
[2:56:19] necessary
to transverse these larger lots
[2:56:22] prior to the city's issuance
of any final decisions
[2:56:24] related to such applications,
and for the purposes.
[2:56:28] Thank you.
Based on conversations
between the relevant departments
[2:56:30] and the sponsor, I'm going to
make a motion to file second by.
[2:56:37] The vote is open.
[2:56:43] The vote is closed.
Six days. You'll notice
item is filed.
[2:56:46] Thank you.
1726R3999A resolution
by Council members Kelsey Bond,
[2:56:51] Liliana Bakhtiari,
[2:56:53] Michael Julian Bond,
Antonio Lewis, Jason Dozier,
[2:56:56] Wayne Martin, Jason H.
[2:56:57] Winston, Byron
D Amos, and Westmoreland
[2:56:59] affirming the City of Atlantis
support for light rail transit
[2:57:02] along the full 22 mile
Bell Line corridor.
[2:57:06] Recognizing light rail
transit as a central component
[2:57:08] of the adopted
Atlanta Beltline vision,
[2:57:11] or affirming
the use of the existing
[2:57:13] Beltline transit right away.
[2:57:14] Supporting roles on grass design
where feasible.
[2:57:17] Requesting
coordinated implementation
[2:57:19] and funding updates from Mayor
Dickens administration, Marta
[2:57:23] Elena, Beltline and other
relevant city departments.
[2:57:26] And for the purposes.
[2:57:28] We're gonna have a motion
to amend in a moment to add
[2:57:30] two sponsors, I believe.
[2:57:32] But first,
I will make a motion
to bring forward
[2:57:33] the substitute
in our packet. Second.
[2:57:41] The vote is open.
[2:57:51] Yes, Councilmember.
[2:57:52] Well,
[2:57:54] well, everyone please vote. Yes.
[2:57:59] Okay okay okay.
[2:58:00] Councilmember. Bond. Okay.
[2:58:03] And this is the
combined substitute from legal
and the administration.
[2:58:07] Correct? Okay.
[2:58:09] Could I ask a question
of the administration
[2:58:12] substitute?
[2:58:16] Yeah.
I was wondering
if y'all could explain
the rationale between the two
[2:58:19] about the two resolved clauses.
[2:58:22] Yes. Sorry.
[2:58:24] I was giving a second
for Chief of staff to walk
[2:58:26] in, but I will speak
in the meantime.
[2:58:28] Katie Molla,
deputy chief of staff.
[2:58:29] Thank you all for having us.
[2:58:31] Yeah, the two pieces of
recommended substitute language
[2:58:34] that we've had before you.
[2:58:35] The first one, I believe in
[2:58:37] the order, is a piece
around affordable housing.
[2:58:40] And we believe very strongly
that affordable
[2:58:43] housing and density
must be intricately linked.
[2:58:46] I might defer actually,
to our chief of staff
[2:58:48] and let him take it from here.
[2:58:50] They asked about the why the two
pieces of the substitute. Oh.
[2:58:54] Thank you. Who you could
have kept. You keep going.
[2:58:57] She was doing fine.
[2:58:58] Keep finishing.
[2:58:59] So the first piece was around
affordable housing and density.
[2:59:02] And while we are enthusiastic
about transit, and particularly
[2:59:05] along the corridor,
[2:59:07] we want to make
sure that that conversation
[2:59:08] is inextricably linked
to affordable housing.
[2:59:11] As transit around the world
begets density,
[2:59:15] that density has to be coupled
with affordable housing.
[2:59:18] Otherwise, we risk a fairly
substantial displacement risk.
[2:59:23] And so we know many of
you care about that risk.
[2:59:25] And we just want to make sure
that any plan we bring forth to
[2:59:28] you is inclusive of that
affordable
[2:59:31] housing need
that must be coupled.
[2:59:33] So the
the analysis and reporting
that we'll bring back to
[2:59:36] you will be inclusive
of the transit,
[2:59:37] but it will also be inclusive
of the financial need
[2:59:39] and the pathways to to fund
a permanent mechanism to support
[2:59:43] affordable housing along
any future transit corridors.
[2:59:46] The second piece is around
[2:59:49] the need to make sure
that any again,
[2:59:52] report and analysis
that we bring back to you
[2:59:54] on how to deliver
this is inclusive
[2:59:56] of the entirety
of a transit vision.
[2:59:58] And so while it
[2:59:59] includes the Beltline corridor,
[3:00:00] it also includes things like our
[3:00:02] infill stations that the mayor's
previously announced.
[3:00:04] It includes things
like last mile connectivity,
[3:00:08] prioritizing our transit
dependent writers,
[3:00:11] and that we have a funding
pathway to fund that entirety.
[3:00:14] That does not mean
that we are going to say
[3:00:16] that we need a proposal
[3:00:18] that is all or nothing
right away,
[3:00:20] but that there is
a line of sight
[3:00:22] to funding,
to funding that entire vision.
[3:00:24] And that's
what we'll bring back to you.
[3:00:25] And we would just ask that
this council affirms
[3:00:27] its commitment
to fund a complete vision
[3:00:29] and not a piecemeal vision.
[3:00:31] So those are the rationale.
[3:00:33] Thank you for that.
[3:00:34] Yeah, that was my
[3:00:35] kind of follow up question
about the second resolved clause
[3:00:39] is whether the intention was,
[3:00:41] are we trying to have
a funding vision
[3:00:45] and like something that's really
we feel as possible
[3:00:48] and something we're able
to move on versus
[3:00:51] I see the word available.
[3:00:53] And I just wanted to make sure
that doesn't mean, you know,
[3:00:56] we feel like we have to have in
front of us the full funding,
[3:01:02] source before
moving forward and committing.
[3:01:06] Yeah.
I think the spirit of it is not
that that
[3:01:07] money is in the bank today
and we have it,
[3:01:09] but that we believe
they are viable
[3:01:11] funding sources
for the duration of the project.
[3:01:14] And so,
[3:01:17] you know,
with the federal climate
being what it is,
we will likely prioritize
local funding sources for now.
[3:01:21] And so we will present to you
a proposal that will be able
[3:01:24] to fund the entirety of that
that we believe is viable today.
[3:01:28] So that's the vision.
[3:01:29] Yeah,
that makes a lot of sense to me
[3:01:31] because
we want to be responsible.
[3:01:33] And just thinking about how,
[3:01:34] you know, future
presidential administrations or,
[3:01:37] you know, gubernatorial
administrations
[3:01:39] may be more favorable.
[3:01:40] And so just keeping that in mind
[3:01:42] that in the future
there might be more funding.
[3:01:45] Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you.
[3:01:47] Thank you.
[3:01:48] Will you please
vote on the motion
[3:01:49] to bring forth the substitute?
[3:01:54] Councilmember Brown?
[3:01:58] It's closed six years
to substitute before you.
[3:02:01] Any other questions or comments?
[3:02:05] Councilmember Collins yes.
[3:02:08] Go ahead.
Jason,
you probably going to say,
[3:02:11] oh, wow. Okay.
[3:02:12] I think just in terms of
[3:02:15] because this has been
an ongoing conversation, we know
that, Martin, there's new ship
[3:02:19] that Marta leadership
that is now firmly in place.
[3:02:22] We see some
[3:02:25] that is happening
[3:02:26] and some structural pieces
that are necessary for this.
[3:02:31] What is the next?
[3:02:32] Where are we
in that conversation
[3:02:35] and where are we in
terms of picking
[3:02:39] the conversation
[3:02:40] back up
in terms of Beltline rail
[3:02:42] and what the overall
comprehensive plan
[3:02:44] planning should be?
[3:02:45] Yeah, you.
[3:02:49] Hello, Mr.
[3:02:51] chair, members of the committee.
[3:02:52] Council member Collins, the.
[3:02:55] Oh, hello. Oh, I got right now.
[3:02:58] Yeah.
The short
answer to that question
[3:02:59] is that we've never stopped
planning.
[3:03:01] The the byproduct of,
[3:03:07] the overall
mayor's transit vision
[3:03:10] was in part with the Beltline
presented last week.
[3:03:14] And so we have been
diligently working on
[3:03:17] not just a rail vision
or a transit vision
[3:03:21] for the Beltline
or rail vision for the Beltline.
[3:03:24] But we've also been diligently
working on a comprehensive
[3:03:26] transit vision
for their entire city.
[3:03:27] And so what you will
ultimately come back with?
[3:03:30] Yes, you'll have a plan
[3:03:31] that can be funded,
that can be implemented
[3:03:34] for all 22 miles around rail,
but you'll also have
[3:03:38] additional items to consider
to bring additional transit
[3:03:42] to underserved communities
like Thomasville Heights,
[3:03:44] for example,
or like down the entire
[3:03:47] Hallowell or Bankhead corridor.
[3:03:48] And so we are working diligently
[3:03:51] with our partners
at the Beltline and with Marta.
[3:03:54] GM hunt would have
actually been here today
[3:03:56] had it not been for a meeting
that he had in D.C.
[3:04:00] with the Secretary
of Transportation, actually.
[3:04:01] And so we are in coordination,
and we're prepared
[3:04:04] to move forward
with the planning process.
[3:04:07] And just to get shovels
in the ground and in, in,
[3:04:10] in this in,
in this piece of legislation,
[3:04:14] we're it we're asking for
we'll be asking
[3:04:17] for the next steps
of that court of that plan,
[3:04:22] response,
interagency responsibility,
[3:04:24] like that full plan
by the end of January 2027.
[3:04:28] Are we on track in that regard?
[3:04:31] Yeah.
So I can I'll let Clyde
speak for for the Beltline.
[3:04:34] But we believe that three month
window is more than enough time
[3:04:38] to bring back a plan
[3:04:39] that can be implemented
around Beltline rail.
[3:04:42] Yeah. Thank you.
Thank you chief.
[3:04:45] Oh, I see you Mr.. Here.
[3:04:46] That's why I need my glasses
y'all.
[3:04:47] I know
I'm squinting left and right.
[3:04:50] Yeah, right.
[3:04:51] Yeah I think my glasses
my through you off as well
[3:04:53] where glass is on occasion.
[3:04:55] But, but thanks for that
question.
[3:04:57] Mr. Chair, chief of staff,
[3:05:00] I appreciate the opportunity
[3:05:02] to be here, but yes, we think
that is is plenty of time.
[3:05:06] We do want to make sure
that we're being very responsive
[3:05:09] to that community comment
period as well.
[3:05:13] And not to be presumptuous
after,
[3:05:16] you know,
we hear from community.
[3:05:18] We want to make sure
that there is a real, real
responsiveness to to what we get
[3:05:22] from the community
survey as well.
[3:05:24] But we do believe that's a
that's enough time.
[3:05:27] I will say
with regards to the resolution,
[3:05:30] this is an exciting time
for for sure.
[3:05:33] But I do want to make sure
that we definitely pivot to
[3:05:36] to a conversation
about about funding.
[3:05:39] I mean, that that is probably
the biggest piece out there
[3:05:44] right now.
You probably heard
from our team.
[3:05:45] There's about a $3.5 billion
[3:05:48] nut to crack with regards to
to Beltline transit.
[3:05:52] And and that's 2025 numbers
just to be clear.
[3:05:56] And then it also does
not include the operating cost
[3:05:59] for for transit on the Beltline.
[3:06:02] It also doesn't
include infill stations.
[3:06:05] So we really have to think
and get aggressive about what
[3:06:08] our funding strategy
will look like.
[3:06:10] So, hate to be
[3:06:12] the sobering person here,
but I just want us to go big.
[3:06:15] Let's go strong. Let's go hard.
[3:06:17] But we can figure this out.
[3:06:19] No, no, thank,
thank you for that.
[3:06:21] I think the transparency,
[3:06:25] I mean,
yeah,
the transparency is necessary,
[3:06:26] particularly this,
but I think it's all tied to
[3:06:28] that resolved clause.
[3:06:29] So, Mister Chair, I defer is
hasn't been a second.
[3:06:33] There is not been a motion.
[3:06:34] Okay. Motion to approve.
[3:06:36] Second motion
[3:06:37] to approve on substitute
as amended by Councilmember.
[3:06:41] We didn't amend the paper yet.
I thought we did.
[3:06:44] I thought we did.
No, no, you are you are right.
[3:06:47] Would someone like to make
a motion to amend to add names
[3:06:51] of sponsors?
I'll make a motion
to amend additional sponsors.
[3:06:54] That will be Ish Collins,
representing the Great Post
[3:06:58] three at ATL,
also known at large.
[3:07:01] And, who else wanted to ask
[3:07:07] Mister chair?
Oh, Dustin
Hill is our great district nine
[3:07:10] representative to this paper.
[3:07:12] Got a motion to amend by Colin,
second by Dozier.
[3:07:15] The vote is met through is.
[3:07:21] Closed six
Z on this item has been amended.
[3:07:24] Thank you.
[3:07:25] Thank you. Motion to approve.
[3:07:28] Got a motion to approve
on substitute, as amended
[3:07:30] by Collins. Second by Dozier.
Council member.
[3:07:33] Bond of the Michael Julian
variety of the.
[3:07:37] You, Mr. Chair.
[3:07:38] Thank you, Mr. Chair.
[3:07:40] Thank you,
Mister Higgs, for being here.
[3:07:43] And this is a very
exciting moment.
[3:07:47] Since I remember
when the young man
[3:07:50] was bringing his paper
from Georgia Tech
[3:07:53] and talking about the Beltline
as a concept
[3:07:57] when it was still just
railroad tracks.
[3:08:01] And so to be here today
to see that we're poised on
[3:08:04] the precipice
of actually having the rail
[3:08:07] come to a realization
[3:08:09] is a wonderful dawn
here in the city to go
[3:08:14] with so many other great efforts
from this administration.
[3:08:17] I wanted
to put this in the atmosphere,
[3:08:20] even though we are not finished
with the Beltline,
[3:08:24] but I've always thought the
beltline should have spokes.
[3:08:28] There ought
to be other trails of the past.
[3:08:31] Other.
[3:08:34] I mean, I've got this bus rapid
transit thing that runs
[3:08:37] right outside of where I live
and I can take
[3:08:42] I've counted
[3:08:44] very rarely abuts on it,
[3:08:48] but if something's
going to circle
[3:08:52] Atlanta, other
things need to be linked to it.
[3:08:55] And whether it's an overlaying
of our more modern projects
[3:09:01] that still remain
to be finished,
[3:09:04] or other opportunities
to light rail or other bus rapid
[3:09:08] transit
linked into the planning,
[3:09:11] I think we ought to
[3:09:12] lay that groundwork so
we don't take another 20 years
[3:09:16] to kind of be at this point.
[3:09:18] You know, one of the things
growing up here in Atlanta,
[3:09:22] and I started writing Marta,
when I was in the third grade,
[3:09:26] was a cello to go from
Oglethorpe School over to E.R.
[3:09:31] Carter to be in the symphony.
[3:09:33] Right.
[3:09:35] The cost cost $0.15
[3:09:38] to know Marty at that time,
[3:09:42] I really thought
when they were building the
[3:09:46] they started building the east
west line through March Brown.
[3:09:50] When I was in the fourth grade,
we used to play in that tunnel.
[3:09:54] You know how dangerous
it used to be for kids.
[3:09:58] We'd go in that tunnel
and could not see the other end.
[3:10:01] Could have collapsed on us.
[3:10:03] And it'd be the memorial,
[3:10:04] be the overlooked elementary
memorial tunnel
[3:10:09] for the children.
But the point being is that
that put us in the mindset.
[3:10:12] Then in the mid 70s,
that we'd have monorails, trains
[3:10:17] running all through the city,
[3:10:20] you know, much
like a Disneyland, you know, or
[3:10:23] some type of space age
I speed rail
[3:10:28] project,
you know, around the city.
[3:10:30] And that still can happen,
you know,
[3:10:32] that still
can happen where we have,
[3:10:37] clean
transportation,
affordable transportation.
[3:10:40] And I'm going to reintroduce
the paper that I sent over
[3:10:43] the Marta a couple of years ago,
asking them to do an analysis
[3:10:48] of what would it take for
[3:10:51] Lanta residents
to ride Marta for free?
[3:10:55] How much money would
we have to contribute,
[3:10:58] whether it's property
tax or sales tax or,
[3:11:02] you know, just for everybody
who's got a land address or land
[3:11:05] identification
to get on the train
[3:11:07] for free, for everybody
to get out of their cars.
[3:11:09] Now they send back
to the analysis,
[3:11:11] but the wrong analysis.
[3:11:13] They looked at different routes
for free
[3:11:16] and I was like,
no, what we want is for for
[3:11:19] I got a Georgia driver's
license, a resident of Atlanta.
[3:11:23] I can show it to a modern bus
driver and Marta terminal
[3:11:26] get on the train
and I when Marta had.
[3:11:29] And I'm going to wrap up
and I'm going on.
[3:11:31] So when Marta used to have
their free train riding
[3:11:35] days, you couldn't get on there.
[3:11:38] It was packed.
[3:11:40] It would do it
like Labor Day weekend
or over a three day period.
[3:11:43] People would ride
Marta everywhere
[3:11:45] they went because they could
get on for free.
[3:11:48] So people will ride the train.
[3:11:50] They just gotta have the right
incentive to do so.
[3:11:53] So Council Member Bond,
you know, from what
[3:11:58] I'm told, there's
always high expectations
from council members named bond.
[3:12:01] And you've done a great job
in introducing this.
[3:12:05] I'm proud to be a co-sponsor
on it and want to compliment
[3:12:09] you publicly
[3:12:11] for your vision and
and for pushing this here today.
[3:12:15] Thank you.
[3:12:16] All right.
But having said that, you know,
this is just a
[3:12:18] this a good thing and it's good
to witness it and I withdraw.
[3:12:25] Believe we have a motion
[3:12:26] from Collins
and a second by Dozier.
[3:12:29] Correct.
[3:12:30] The vote is open.
[3:12:34] The vote is closed.
[3:12:36] Six days of your days.
This item is favorable
on substitute, as amended.
[3:12:39] Thank you.
Mercifully brings us
to the end of our agenda.
[3:12:42] That's correct.
[3:12:42] Are there
any of there are general
[3:12:44] remarks, Councilmember
Collins. No, no no, no.
[3:12:46] Oh, okay.
[3:12:49] Yeah.
I just wanted to say,
thank you to everybody.
[3:12:53] And I know a lot of the public
commenters left, but thank you
[3:12:56] to those of you who showed up,
you know,
[3:12:58] thank you to all the folks
who've been rallying
[3:13:02] behind public transit
for a really long time.
[3:13:05] Atlanta deserves this, right?
[3:13:07] Like we deserve a city
where everybody can get around,
[3:13:10] whether you own a car or not.
[3:13:11] We deserve to have a city
where, you know, we prioritize
[3:13:16] getting cars off the road
and taking care of our climate,
reducing our carbon footprint.
[3:13:20] And, you know,
this is really going
[3:13:22] to determine
the future of our city.
[3:13:25] Is it a city that is planning
with intention as we grow?
[3:13:29] Are we planning for density
along transit routes?
[3:13:32] So just really excited
[3:13:34] to work with everybody
in the coming months and, to see
[3:13:38] the final product and report
back to City council. And,
[3:13:44] Mr. Higgs,
use the word aggressive
and I'm ready to get aggressive.
[3:13:47] All right. Thank you.
[3:13:49] Anything else?
[3:13:51] All right. We are adjourned.