[4:09] Hello, everyone.

[4:13] It's right at 1:00.

[4:18] I'm going to give the council members.

[4:21] Hello, everyone.

[4:26] I'm going to give the council members

[4:27] a about another minute to trickle in

[4:31] so that we can be up to at least eight.

[4:33] Let's see. Four.

[4:35] That's it. Oh, we have eight.

[4:37] In that case, we can get started.

[4:39] Yes we can.

[5:01] Okay. Again. Good afternoon.

[5:02] Today is September 21st, 2026.

[5:05] I am your council president for the Atlanta City Council.

[5:10] And you are at our full council in our mark.

[5:14] I was going to say Martin Luther King in our Marvin Arrington

[5:17] Council chamber and welcome.

[5:20] Madam clerk, please call the roll.

[5:22] Good afternoon.

[5:24] Madam president, we have council president Marcy Color Overstreet present.

[5:27] Council member Michael Julian Bond, post one at large council

[5:31] member Matt Westmoreland, post two at large here.

[5:34] Council member Collins. Post three at large.

[5:38] Councilmember Jason H.

[5:39] Winston. District one here.

[5:41] Council member Kelsey Bond.

[5:43] District two

[5:44] Council member Byron de Amos.

[5:46] District three here.

[5:48] Council member Jason Dozier, district four present.

[5:51] Council member Liliana Bakhtiari,

[5:53] district five present.

[5:54] Council member Alex Wan, district six

[5:57] council member Thomas Worthy, district seven present.

[6:00] Council member Mary Norwood, district eight present.

[6:04] Council member Dustin Hills, district nine present.

[6:07] Council member Andrea Boone, district ten present.

[6:10] Council member Wayne Martin, district 11 here

[6:12] Councilmember Antonio Lewis, district 12.

[6:15] Let's go. Let's get it.

[6:16] Madam president, we do have a quorum of members present.

[6:18] Thank you.

[6:20] I'll entertain a motion to adopt the agenda.

[6:22] So moved by Lewis. Second by Bakhtiari.

[6:25] We can do this by unanimous consent.

[6:27] Madam clerk, please call the count for unanimous consent.

[6:30] We have 12 year, 12 year old nays.

[6:33] This agenda is adopted.

[6:35] That brings us to our invocation.

[6:37] And today, our invocation will be delivered by Pastor

[6:40] Patrick Lattimore of Greater Fair Hill Baptist Church.

[6:45] He and his congregation were gracious enough to

[6:50] host us in our second presidential Town

[6:54] hall this past week, and I want to thank Dustin

[6:57] Hillis for being our guest speaker there.

[7:01] Thank you so much for partnering with me.

[7:05] And I want to thank you, pastor, for opening up your home to us.

[7:08] And thank you for being here today to deliver our invocation.

[7:12] Let me turn that on.

[7:17] Good morning.

[7:19] Good afternoon.

[7:20] Amen.

[7:24] We honor President Collier Overstreet

[7:27] and the council members.

[7:29] Let us pray.

[7:32] O God of wisdom and grace.

[7:36] Lord, we come before you today with hearts full of gratitude.

[7:40] Thanking you, first of all for the gift of this city.

[7:43] Call it lanta.

[7:45] Lord, we thank you for the rich tapestry

[7:47] of our neighborhoods and for the vibrant history

[7:51] and bright promise of this dear city.

[7:56] Lord, we thank you for the leaders who are gathered in this room.

[8:00] And Lord, we thank you, Lord,

[8:02] for calling them and choosing them

[8:06] and them yielding to unselfish service for your people.

[8:11] Lord, we ask that you grant them

[8:13] wisdom beyond their own understanding.

[8:16] Give them clear minds, compassionate hearts, and

[8:20] the courage to make decisions that lift up every resident.

[8:25] Help them, the Lord, to protect the vulnerable.

[8:28] Support all families and be good stewards

[8:31] of our resources with fairness and honesty.

[8:35] Remind us all, Lord,

[8:38] that true leadership is measured by the lives

[8:41] that are improved and impacted in our communities,

[8:44] the lives that are strengthened.

[8:47] Unite us, Lord, in our diversities,

[8:50] bridge our divisions and guide our hands

[8:53] as we work together to build our beloved community.

[8:58] Lord, we ask that you root us in justice,

[9:01] root us in peace, but also root us in equity.

[9:06] Bless the blessed of the deliberation today.

[9:09] Guide our steps and watch over this great city

[9:12] called of lanta and all of those who call it home.

[9:16] In your holy name we pray.

[9:18] Amen. Amen.

[9:20] Thank you so much, Pastor Latimore.

[9:24] And with that,

[9:26] everyone, please rise and join me

[9:28] in the Pledge of Allegiance.

[9:33] I pledge allegiance

[9:34] to the flag of the United States of America.

[9:38] And to the Republic for which it stands.

[9:41] One nation under God, indivisible,

[9:44] with liberty and justice for all.

[9:47] Thank you.

[9:51] Thank you so much.

[9:51] Thank you very much.

[9:59] And bring the pastor right here.

[10:05] That brings us to proclamations,

[10:07] commendations and special awards.

[10:11] Will all those here.

[10:13] In recognition of Louise

[10:16] Thornton Hornsby, please come forward to the desk.

[10:20] Right.

[10:30] Yes. As I echo

[10:31] the comments of our council president,

[10:33] everyone here for the Honorable Judge Louise T Hornsby, please

[10:37] make your way to the stage now.

[10:38] We'll make room for you as we celebrate this great

[10:42] warrior of the law.

[10:46] Southwest Atlanta resident.

[10:57] Okay.

[11:37] As everyone's coming up, getting settled.

[11:39] Just want to do a little housekeeping reminders.

[11:42] As per our code, each proclamation can only last

[11:46] a maximum of 15 minutes.

[11:50] So we'll keep that in mind.

[11:52] And today we're we have a new process

[11:56] of making sure that our time clock is not covered by the,

[12:03] any videos that may be running in the background.

[12:07] This council did a new resolution to

[12:10] impose a stop clock that is shown at all times

[12:14] during proclamations.

[12:16] That's why we have great receptions in our

[12:19] areas throughout the atrium, upstairs and downstairs.

[12:23] But for this 15 minutes, we celebrate.

[12:39] All right.

[12:43] Can we take one more opportunity to give a round of applause

[12:45] for this honorable, woman in the person of the honorable

[12:49] Judge Louise T Hornsby?

[12:59] It is such an extraordinary privilege of mine.

[13:02] As a native of Atlanta

[13:04] and a graduate of Atlanta Public schools and of Morehouse

[13:08] College to recognize another native of Atlanta,

[13:11] a graduate of Atlanta public schools, David

[13:13] T Howard High School,

[13:14] where my mentor and hero, Maynard Jackson, also attended

[13:17] and an alumna of Spelman College.

[13:20] And this amazing person. That's right.

[13:22] This amazing person that we're talking about

[13:25] is the honorable Louise T Hornsby.

[13:28] We have a proclamation for her on today.

[13:30] Council member Boone and I, we know that it is,

[13:34] we have to take the opportunity to celebrate all of our legends

[13:38] and heroes in this city.

[13:39] And we like to do it while they're alive

[13:40] and can still smell the flowers. Is that all right?

[13:42] Yeah, absolutely.

[13:44] Absolutely. In good shape.

[13:45] Looking good. Healthy.

[13:48] So what we're going to do is start with a quick video.

[13:50] And then we'll move on with our program.

[13:52] Please play the video.

[14:05] She may be retired,

[14:07] but when Louise Thornton Hornsby

[14:09] walks through the doors of the practice

[14:10] she shared with her daughters, Christy and Avis,

[14:14] she's happy to offer the benefit of her expertise

[14:17] and her treasured words of wisdom.

[14:20] It has been a great experience

[14:23] to be able to come into the office and say,

[14:25] hey, I've got this case, can I, you know, talk to you about it.

[14:31] This Atlanta native is a mother of five,

[14:34] grandmother of ten, and great grandmother to two.

[14:38] She's also considered a trailblazer,

[14:41] but her path to law was no cakewalk.

[14:43] After graduating from Spelman College,

[14:45] her initial training came through a legal apprenticeship.

[14:49] Then came a setback.

[14:50] She didn't pass the bar on her first attempt,

[14:53] but her fierce tenacity pushed her to keep going.

[14:56] Hornsby enrolled at John Marshall

[14:58] Law School, graduating in 1965.

[15:01] One year later, she passed the bar, becoming

[15:05] the sixth black woman to do so in the state of Georgia.

[15:08] And initially she screamed.

[15:11] And how I passed the bar. I passed the bar.

[15:25] Passed a bar like a drinking establishment.

[15:28] I was like, what's she doing?

[15:30] And when she sat down and explained what it meant.

[15:34] Pretty much around that time,

[15:36] I decided that I was going to be a lawyer, too.

[15:40] She did more than just teach me how to try cases.

[15:43] She taught me how to be a good person toward other people.

[15:47] Judge Myra Dixon met Hornsby shortly after being hired

[15:51] at the Fulton County Public Defender's office.

[15:53] It's been 46 years of friendship.

[15:56] I knew right away that she had a different

[15:58] kind of love for people.

[16:00] At a time when the legal profession

[16:01] offered few seats, if any, to black women.

[16:05] She earned hers and left the door wide

[16:08] open for others, including her daughters.

[16:11] I changed my major, the criminal justice,

[16:13] because I worked in the traffic court with her and I loved it.

[16:19] Hornsby's career didn't stop there.

[16:22] Former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young later

[16:25] appointed her solicitor general for the city of Atlanta.

[16:29] But Hornsby's vision continued

[16:31] to expand, leading her to open her own practice.

[16:34] Hornsby and Associates, in 1996.

[16:38] When her youngest, Christie, passed the bar in 2013.

[16:41] She formed the Hornsby

[16:42] Law Firm, LLC with her mother and sister, Avis.

[16:46] And I walked over here and I got my little card,

[16:49] and I was part of the group and part of the firm.

[16:53] I knew God, it blessed me.

[16:55] I allowed two of my dreams of my career to come true,

[17:00] to be a public, to family, and to work with my mama.

[17:04] Over five decades of service to the community.

[17:07] Her life's work is the blueprint.

[17:10] It's a legacy that inspires all of us to keep going.

[17:13] We saw her working.

[17:15] We saw her moving and shaking.

[17:16] And so we always knew anything was possible

[17:19] for a woman, a black woman in Atlanta.

[17:23] It's no one like her.

[17:27] And there will never be anyone like her.

[17:30] Living history.

[17:41] Proclamation from the Atlanta City Council

[17:44] in recognition of the Honorable Louise T Hornsby.

[17:49] And it reads. Whereas Louise Thornton Hornsby is a native of Atlanta.

[17:52] Distinguished attorney, civil rights leader, advocate,

[17:56] entrepreneur and devoted mother whose life reflects

[18:00] a legacy of perseverance, service and achievement.

[18:03] And whereas Miss Hornsby graduated from the David T

[18:07] Howard High School in 1954 and attended

[18:11] Spelman College before pursuing a legal education.

[18:14] During the Jim Crow era,

[18:16] she graduated from John Martial Law School in 1965,

[18:21] and in 2022 became the inaugural recipient

[18:25] of the law school's Lifetime Achievement Award.

[18:28] And Whereas, Miss Hornsby became the sixth black woman

[18:32] to pass the Georgia Bar examination,

[18:34] and has been a member of the sta

[18:44] Beginning a legal career spanning more than five decades.

[18:47] And Whereas,

[18:48] Miss Hornsby became the first

[18:49] African-American assistant public

[18:51] defender in Fulton County, later serving as a part time judge

[18:54] in the City of Atlanta Traffic Court

[18:56] before being appointed by Mayor Andrew Young

[18:59] to serve as solicitor

[19:00] for the City of Atlanta Traffic Court, and Whereas,

[19:03] Miss Hornsby founded the Victim Witness Assistance Program

[19:07] in the City of Atlanta Traffic Court and established Hornsby and Associates in 1996,

[19:12] later becoming the Hornsby Law Firm, LLC,

[19:15] where she practiced alongside her daughters

[19:18] until her retirement, which is much deserved in 2022.

[19:21] And Whereas throughout her career,

[19:24] Miss Hornsby has been recognized for civil rights work

[19:26] and contributions in the legal profession,

[19:29] including recognition

[19:31] from the National Bar Association and the Our Prudence Herndon Award.

[19:34] And Whereas her commitment to serve to service

[19:37] extends beyond the legal profession

[19:39] through her leadership with the Georgia Women's

[19:41] Political Caucus, Pyramid Recovery Center, Leadership

[19:45] Atlanta, the DHM RF Foundation,

[19:48] and numerous civic, legal, and governmental organizations.

[19:52] And Whereas

[19:53] Miss Hornsby considers her greatest achievement

[19:55] to be her five children, including John Marshall School

[20:00] Law School graduate Christie Hornsby Battle and her ten grandchildren.

[20:03] And Whereas, Louise Thornton Hornsby's life and legacy

[20:08] demonstrates the power of education,

[20:10] perseverance, public service

[20:12] and breaking barriers for generations to come.

[20:15] Now, therefore. Yes.

[20:22] Now, therefore

[20:23] be it proclaimed that we,

[20:24] the members of the Atlanta City Council,

[20:26] on behalf of the residents of Atlanta, proudly recognize

[20:30] the Honorable Louise T Hornsby for her life's work

[20:33] and extraordinary contributions to the legal profession,

[20:36] civil rights, public service, the Atlanta community.

[20:40] And we celebrate her enduring legacy of leadership,

[20:43] perseverance, and service to generations of Atlanta, be

[20:46] it further resolved and proclaim that this occasion serves

[20:49] as a tribute to the Honorable Louise

[20:51] T Hornsby's enduring legacy, steadfast faith, distinguished

[20:55] public service, and lifelong commitment

[20:57] to empowering young people, especially women,

[21:00] especially women especially especially women,

[21:06] through education, mentorship, and community service.

[21:09] Ladies and gentlemen, today is Judge Louise

[21:12] T Hornsby Day in the city of Atlanta.

[21:17] Council member Andrea.

[21:29] Two. This living

[21:30] legend, this civil rights leader.

[21:33] Thank you for all you have done for the city of Atlanta.

[21:37] Your work has not gone unnoticed

[21:40] and the history books will reflect that.

[21:43] You were an unsung hero in the city of Atlanta, but

[21:48] you will be sung today in your native of Atlanta, Georgia.

[21:56] At this time.

[21:59] At this time, we would like to hear from the Honorable Wanda Dallas,

[22:02] Brandon Wilson, the Honorable Keith Gammage, and nephew,

[22:06] Frank Rucker, in that order.

[22:13] I got one minute.

[22:14] Okay.

[22:15] Good afternoon. Okay.

[22:17] Distinguished city officials, honored guest family,

[22:21] friends and colleagues.

[22:23] It's truly an honor to stand here before you today

[22:25] to pay tribute to a woman

[22:27] who has had an extraordinary impact on my life,

[22:29] my legal career.

[22:31] Judge Louise Hornsby.

[22:32] My first job out of law school was at the at traffic court.

[22:37] I'd been a stay at home mom

[22:38] while attending law school, and I want to volunteer

[22:41] at the City of Atlanta traffic court, so I came.

[22:43] I wasn't being paid.

[22:45] And then your mom offered me a job.

[22:48] Paying job. I said, oh, no, I'm good. I'll just keep volunteering.

[22:50] She said, go home and talk to your husband

[22:52] and find out what he said.

[22:54] Well, needless to say, he said, take the job.

[22:56] So that decision changed the course of my life.

[23:00] You taught me to believe in myself, have compassion

[23:03] for others, and to pursue excellence in everything I do.

[23:06] You created a workplace that felt like family.

[23:09] Your daughters were there.

[23:10] Everybody I can remember almost everyone who worked there.

[23:13] We worked hard because we respected you

[23:15] and because we wanted to give you our very best.

[23:18] And while we were prosecutors, you never allowed us to forget

[23:21] that our ultimate responsibility was not simply to win.

[23:25] It was a seek justice.

[23:27] Now, I learned that when you walked in the courtroom,

[23:29] everybody rose.

[23:31] Okay. She would say this.

[23:34] If it works like a duck and like a duck, then what is it?

[23:39] It's a duck.

[23:40] And she would tell the jurors, don't

[23:42] check your commonsense at the door.

[23:43] In other words, no matter what the evidence was.

[23:46] Don't forget that you can figure this out

[23:48] based on your common sense.

[23:49] So I want to say one last thing.

[23:51] I'm going to make this really, really short.

[23:54] Your greatest lesson was respect.

[23:55] You show to every person who came through

[23:57] the criminal justice system.

[23:58] You taught me that.

[23:59] And as I moved through my career

[24:01] for 33 years, you've been my mentor,

[24:03] my role model, my teacher, my family.

[24:07] The greatest evidence of a mentors impact is not what they teach you,

[24:09] but what you cared for because of them.

[24:12] I carry you with me every single day.

[24:15] The last thing when my mom passed away, I came to you.

[24:19] And I was very heartbroken.

[24:20] And you said to me, and I'll never forget this.

[24:22] You said your mother would be so, so proud of the woman

[24:27] that you have become.

[24:28] And you became the mom that I lost from that moment.

[24:31] I will never, ever let you out of my heart, out of my life.

[24:35] And every time I sit on that bench,

[24:37] I sit there because of you.

[24:38] Thank you so much. Thank you.

[24:41] Brandon Wilson, Brandon Wilson.

[24:55] That's a good afternoon. My name is Brandon Hornsby Wilson, and I'm a proud third

[24:59] generation Hornsby attorney, having followed in the footsteps

[25:02] of my grandmother, my mother and my aunt.

[25:06] Grandma Louise was a.

[25:09] All right, I got one minute.

[25:11] My Louise was the first African-American female public

[25:13] defender in the state of Georgia.

[25:15] So it is no surprise that I pursued a similar path

[25:18] as her and my mother.

[25:20] And becoming a third generation Hornsby public defender.

[25:23] Today, I have been tasked with speaking on behalf of Grandma

[25:26] Louise's grandchildren, who are here today.

[25:28] And I hate to tell you all that makes me the favorite.

[25:31] Just for today.

[25:34] I was asked to talk about the legacy

[25:35] of my grandmother, and in doing so,

[25:37] I think back to a conversation I had with my mother.

[25:39] And prior to starting the Jeep DC,

[25:42] she said, always introduce yourself as Brandon

[25:45] Hornsby Wilson unless they don't like us,

[25:48] in which case you're Brandon Wilson.

[25:51] She explained that people knew

[25:52] that the Hornsby name in the legal community,

[25:54] and that stood for hard work

[25:56] and legal excellence, which began

[25:58] with the trailblazing work of my grandmother.

[26:00] I wear the name Hornsby

[26:01] very proudly, along with my mother in art,

[26:05] but all three of us are only afforded the ability to carry that name with pride

[26:08] because of the pathway path by Grandma Louise.

[26:10] Growing up always knew I wanted to be a lawyer,

[26:13] and in the early stages of me being a lawyer,

[26:15] I had an interaction with a judge and the judge

[26:20] basically said

[26:21] that, well,

[26:22] I've been I'm being a little rushed here,

[26:24] so we're going to skip to the end.

[26:25] The the legacy of my grandmother, Louise is one of

[26:30] being a great lawyer. That's further expounded by the people who are up here

[26:32] today, who carry with her a piece of the legacy.

[26:35] I just hope that we can continue her legacy going forward.

[26:38] Thank you.

[26:42] The Honorable Keith, followed by Frank Rucker.

[26:45] Please come on up, Frank.

[26:47] Good afternoon. My name is Keith Gammage.

[26:48] I serve as solicitor general

[26:50] just up the street in Fulton County.

[26:53] I first met the amazing, amazing Solicitor Emeritus Hornsby

[26:58] through her daughter, Avis Hornsby, more than 20 years ago.

[27:02] Avis taught me how to practice law.

[27:05] She taught me as a young public defender

[27:08] based on the enriching love of justice and balance

[27:13] that Louise T Hornsby taught her.

[27:17] And when I was ready to run for Solicitor General,

[27:20] I followed in the footsteps of solicitor Meredith Hornsby.

[27:25] And she is the embodiment of justice that has been smart,

[27:29] that is fair,

[27:31] and that is about public safety and second chances.

[27:34] We love you. And I wouldn't be here without you. You're here.

[27:39] Our own Frank Rucker nephew.

[27:43] And then the lady of the hour,

[27:45] the honorable judge Louise T Hornsby.

[27:49] Well, Madam Counsel, I want to tell him

[27:52] I had to do this, but this is easy.

[27:54] I just want to.

[27:55] First of all, this is my honor.

[27:58] And basically, she and my mother carried the family, you know,

[28:02] and I would say it through our many years of just hardship.

[28:07] You know, they are, you know, behind what we all

[28:11] became, myself, deputy general manager

[28:13] of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta National Airport.

[28:16] And they drove within us that will to succeed.

[28:19] So we wouldn't be here without you.

[28:22] And I'm so glad that you're mine.

[28:24] All right.

[28:24] Thank you.

[28:28] And now the honorable Judge Louise T Hornsby.

[28:32] If you can stand to your feet, please stand to your feet.

[28:47] Thank you.

[28:47] Andre. Oh.

[28:55] I'm almost oma whelmed.

[29:00] But I thank you.

[29:01] I think you all for coming.

[29:03] I thank you for coming

[29:06] and honoring me today.

[29:10] I don't know what and I, I hadn't

[29:13] prepared anything to say, but, you know, I'm a lawyer.

[29:17] I and I must say so, you know, that's all I.

[29:22] But anyway, I'm just glad.

[29:24] I'm glad to be here.

[29:25] In fact, I'm glad to be here, you know?

[29:28] Really, you know,

[29:30] I thank God first I say I thank God first.

[29:35] Amen. You know, I thank God that and and all my friends out here,

[29:38] I see them just out in the in the crowd, you know,

[29:43] and, and and I'm just thankful.

[29:46] And it is not much to say,

[29:49] but thank God for letting us all live

[29:52] and be able to do what we do when we do it.

[29:57] All right.

[29:59] You know, and we used to not be able to do it when we wanted to do it,

[30:03] but now we can and thank God for changing things.

[30:06] And he has changed them.

[30:09] And I thank him.

[30:11] And I know you thinking

[30:14] I didn't

[30:15] plan on anything and saying anything,

[30:19] you know, and, and,

[30:21] and and that's all I can say is I am overwhelmed

[30:25] and I'm overwhelmed with, with with what you're doing.

[30:29] And I never thought in all my life,

[30:34] that this would happen to me.

[30:37] And I thank you.

[30:44] And I thank my friends for coming,

[30:48] and and I hope that that that that

[30:51] that all is well with us and that we can remember

[30:55] to do unto others as they would have you do unto them.

[31:00] That's right. And and that's all I say, you know.

[31:03] And that's all I can say.

[31:05] God bless you.

[31:11] Let's give it up for Wayne Marx and a young man

[31:14] who saw fit to honor the honorable Judge Lewis.

[31:18] Thank you, Wayne Martin.

[31:20] Thank you, Wayne Martin.

[31:22] Also, part two of this celebration

[31:26] will take place next door.

[31:28] Right next door.

[31:29] We will get a chance to take pictures and fellowship.

[31:33] So please do not leave.

[31:34] We have a wonderful reception planned.

[31:37] Today is Louise T Hornsby Day in the city of Atlanta.

[31:42] And now

[31:44] and now we will have our official photo,

[31:46] our official photo step right, right in front of the screen.

[31:52] Thank you. Stanley Hornsby as well.

[33:43] That's right.

[33:44] I agree 100%.

[33:50] Oh. How you doing?

[34:18] Oh. Our next proclamation

[34:25] is in recognition of coach Charles Phillips

[34:28] Miles, College Hall of Famer.

[34:34] Presided by the Honorable Andrea Boone.

[34:37] So she's going to switch out hatch.

[34:51] You can go that way, too.

[34:53] Oh. You're good.

[34:55] Look, I'm looking not even at her hand.

[34:56] How about that?

[34:57] Thank you. Welcome.

[35:00] Thank you.

[35:38] Will all those here to honor

[35:41] Coach Charles Phillips.

[35:44] Give ourselves a hand?

[35:45] Oh! Whoa!

[35:48] Come on up, everyone.

[35:50] That's here to honor Coach Charles Phillips,

[35:54] a legend in the city of Atlanta,

[35:56] Georgia.

[36:00] From Booker T Washington to Miles College.

[36:04] Come on up, everybody.

[36:06] We got em all here today.

[36:08] Look at this.

[36:09] He brought them out.

[36:10] He brought them out.

[36:13] He brought them out.

[36:16] That's why I came over here early

[36:18] to say the wheel.

[36:22] You got to describe people, man.

[36:27] Come on, everybody.

[36:29] Come on up. We got our commissioner, Doug boss in the house.

[36:32] Come on up, Commissioner.

[36:36] Coach Tracy Alexander.

[36:38] Coach Doug Smith in the house.

[36:42] Cocoa in the house.

[36:44] Raimondo Davidson in the house.

[36:46] We got them all here today. Look at that.

[36:48] We got pace in the house,

[36:51] y'all. This is a big deal.

[36:55] Come on, y'all, y'all fill in right here.

[36:57] Y'all fill in right here.

[37:10] Oh. Hey, you.

[37:16] Some people need to stay.

[38:46] Okay, everyone, please turn.

[38:49] Turn and face the camera.

[38:55] Look at this. He brought the broader Atlanta, Georgia out.

[39:00] Yeah, a native of Atlanta.

[39:02] Look at this, y'all.

[39:03] We we we get ready to fill this city hall atrium up.

[39:06] Well, thank you. Cocoa.

[39:08] Come on.

[39:10] Keep the. Thank you.

[39:12] We have our commissioner, Doug Voss here with us

[39:14] as well.

[39:21] Is the video ready?

[39:27] At this time?

[39:29] Atlanta. We honor one of our own coach Charles Phillips.

[39:39] And now a short video.

[39:46] My name is Jason, and he's my dad.

[40:51] Dear. I'm a recreation program supervisor

[40:53] here at the city of Atlanta.

[40:55] Charles is so deserving of this proclamation

[40:59] because he is the true definition of what recreation

[41:03] is. My name is Paul Morgan,

[41:24] and I want to, first of all, congratulate Charles

[41:27] on being voted into the Mouth Hall of Fame.

[41:31] I met Charles when he was about six years old.

[41:34] He was a little general then.

[41:36] He was always obedient.

[41:38] He wanted to participate in everything.

[41:41] And Charles was one of the people who came to me a lot.

[41:46] He wanted to learn everything about everything he recreation.

[41:50] So I'm Simon. You came.

[41:52] I'm here to celebrate my dear friend, Mr.

[41:54] Charles Phillip on an outstanding career

[41:58] in football, Parks and rec, etc.

[42:02] so was a great mentor, a great friend, a great boss.

[42:06] I really love how he embraced us in the rec world.

[42:11] Well, first and foremost, I would like to say

[42:13] congratulations to Charles Phillips on this

[42:16] amazing accomplishment to.

[42:19] I think it's the highest honor of the city to receive a proclamation.

[42:22] So congratulations.

[42:24] Hey everybody, name is Nicholas Clark.

[42:25] I'm the operational director

[42:26] of teen services for the city of Atlanta.

[42:28] So today, I'd like to say congratulations, Charles.

[42:31] Congratulations on your proclamation.

[42:33] I'll tell you all the time you're the true

[42:35] example of recreation.

[42:46] Special recognition proclamation recognizing Coach

[42:49] Charles Phillips, the mall's college Hall of Famer.

[42:53] Whereas Charles Phillips is a proud native of Atlanta

[42:56] whose life respects a long standing commitment

[42:59] to his community, athletics and public service.

[43:02] And Whereas, raised in the John Egan Homes community,

[43:05] Charles attended Mary Cloud Bethune Elementary School, John

[43:09] F Kennedy Middle School, and Booker T

[43:11] Washington High School, where he distinguished himself

[43:14] as a three sport athlete in baseball, football and soccer.

[43:18] And Whereas following his graduation from Booker T

[43:20] Washington High School,

[43:22] Charles earned a football scholarship to Savannah State University

[43:25] before transferring to Miles College in Birmingham, Alabama,

[43:29] where he built an outstanding collegiate football career.

[43:32] And Whereas a three year starter in team

[43:35] captain for the Miles College Golden Bears,

[43:37] Charles established himself as an exceptional strong safety,

[43:41] earning recognition as the team's

[43:43] most valuable defensive player.

[43:44] After leading the bears and interceptions

[43:46] and ranking second in tackles.

[43:48] And Whereas during his college career,

[43:51] Charles recorded more than 100 tackles, five intersections,

[43:55] ten tackles for loss, 18 pass breakups and eight sacks.

[43:59] Leaving a lasting legacy

[44:00] with the Golden Bears football program.

[44:03] Whereas in recognition

[44:04] of his exceptional athletic achievements,

[44:07] Phillips was inducted into the Mouse College Sports

[44:10] Hall of Fame in October 2025, and Whereas now serving

[44:15] as Recreation Program

[44:16] Supervisor, Charles continues to positively impact

[44:20] allow youth, young people, families and neighborhoods.

[44:24] Now, therefore, be it resolved that the members

[44:26] of the Atlanta City Council now hereby proclaim today

[44:30] as Charles Phillips Day in the city of Atlanta, Georgia.

[44:47] Our speakers will come in this order.

[44:49] First Speaker Commissioner Doug Vos, followed by Raymundo

[44:53] Davidson, Commissioner Doug Vos.

[45:03] Thank you.

[45:05] Thank you, Council Member Boone and Councilmember Martin

[45:07] and all the council members

[45:09] for bringing this proclamation forward.

[45:11] I've known Charles for 15 years.

[45:13] He never would have told me

[45:14] that he had been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

[45:16] That's just Charles Humble.

[45:18] Charles is humble.

[45:19] But let me tell you also this

[45:21] Charles is one of the most passionate, dedicated

[45:24] and driven individuals I have come to known

[45:26] professionally in the last 15 years.

[45:28] I'm going to tell you,

[45:30] I think what's special about that,

[45:31] it has nothing to do

[45:32] with his athletic

[45:34] that has to do with his personal characteristics

[45:36] that he brings to the table every single day.

[45:38] I will tell you this also is that

[45:40] many of us are looking around the room.

[45:42] Many of us came to Parks and Recreation through athletics.

[45:46] We did. We had an athletic background, Charles.

[45:47] That is only one part of what he brings

[45:50] to the Department of Parks and Recreation.

[45:51] Whether it's working with

[45:53] early childhood development and Grove Park,

[45:55] whether it's working with

[45:57] Coach Michael at Dunbar, with the teen program,

[46:00] with silk screening, with sewing, with cooking.

[46:03] He is into all of that.

[46:04] And then I'm going to just mention

[46:06] where is Charles senior group?

[46:07] Where are the seniors? Charles Phillips senior group

[46:12] supporting Aquia and the seniors.

[46:15] Charles, it's more than about athletics.

[46:17] That's how we come to this.

[46:19] That's how we we develop our our skills as Department of Recreation

[46:24] staff members. But it's a lot more than that. Charles, congratulations.

[46:26] I am very proud to be your teammate.

[46:28] Thank you.

[46:32] Davidson.

[46:33] Office of the mayor.

[46:39] Good afternoon.

[46:41] Charles.

[46:42] I hadn't written the speech, but,

[46:45] I think I just hold up on it because I.

[46:47] I don't know how valid it was, but anyway.

[46:50] Congratulations, brother.

[46:51] Thank you for everything you do in the city.

[46:54] Thank you for what you do for our young people.

[46:57] You know, you're you're a part of a brotherhood that you can't

[47:01] pledge in or be invited to or or pay your way into.

[47:05] You have to be chosen.

[47:07] And you were chosen to be in that brotherhood, brother.

[47:10] And not many of us have been.

[47:12] So congratulations. We thank you for what you do.

[47:15] I'm very proud of you. And I love you.

[47:21] Greg.

[47:22] Favors.

[47:31] Got him.

[47:32] You got me.

[47:34] You right? All right.

[47:36] Okay. That's all I need.

[47:38] I'm gonna be real.

[47:39] I'm gonna be real.

[47:39] I'll be real quick.

[47:42] I'm Charles big cousin.

[47:45] Because I'm proud of you.

[47:49] And reason why I say that

[47:50] a lot of a lot of people up here know we from the real Atlanta.

[47:55] So being from the real Atlanta, he experienced,

[47:58] like a lot of us did,

[47:59] saying what we can't do, what we won't do and saying no,

[48:04] but through perseverance, through right mentorship,

[48:08] having the right people around you, keeping you accountable.

[48:12] He's become the man that he's

[48:14] I'm sure he dreamed and embodied to be all his life.

[48:17] And he's still going because he's still pointed his kids.

[48:19] He still got a lot to give back.

[48:22] And I just want to start just by saying that, because I only have a minute.

[48:24] I can be up here all day because we're very proud of you

[48:27] and everything you do and everything

[48:29] you continue to do and you will do.

[48:37] Rosalind Flanagan.

[48:44] You got to.

[48:45] Okay.

[48:46] Oh, okay.

[48:47] Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome.

[48:49] We're here to celebrate Charles today, a great human being,

[48:54] an athlete. And I been knowing Charles since he was probably about 8

[48:56] or 9 years old from Kennedy.

[48:58] And my husband coached him, the late Anthony Flanagan.

[49:01] And we had many shared many times together.

[49:04] And as far as him going to college,

[49:06] we followed him to college.

[49:07] And also, congratulations, Charles, to your Hall of Fame

[49:11] induction and also for the city of Atlanta recognizing you.

[49:14] It's a lot of stories

[49:15] that I can tell you about Charles,

[49:16] but I want you to know that Charles is a great human being

[49:19] and he loves everyone.

[49:20] And, you know, he gets along with everyone.

[49:23] And so I thank you for being here today to support him.

[49:27] And I thank you, Charles.

[49:28] And I pray that one day that your jersey, your helmet

[49:32] or your shirt will be beside your coach,

[49:34] Anthony Flanagan, in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

[49:37] Thank you and God bless.

[49:45] Mr. Ali Wilson, Mao's college graduate.

[49:48] Thank you. Raimondo and Ali.

[49:50] Charles Phillips kept pushing back on this.

[49:54] These guys said it's got to happen.

[49:56] It's got to happen.

[49:57] So thank you.

[49:58] Raimundo and Mr.

[49:59] Ali Wilson, native of Atlantans.

[50:03] Good afternoon.

[50:05] We're going to keep this real shout.

[50:07] You know I tell folks ain't

[50:08] but two types of people in that letter.

[50:10] Them that went to Washington High and them they wanted to go.

[50:15] But we're

[50:16] we're really proud of Charles when I was down there Miles.

[50:19] You know I was telling we got somebody for you.

[50:21] So it was Charles and DJ and death.

[50:25] They put us back on the map. They did that, and they.

[50:27] And they did it the right way.

[50:29] You didn't have to make them go to class.

[50:31] They went to class willingly. So we just so proud.

[50:33] And look how he brought that Lantern together.

[50:35] One Atlanta Hawks and restoration versus all y'all.

[50:44] Before we hear from the Honorable Byron D Amos and Jason Dozier,

[50:46] I would like to recognize coach Doug Smith, coach Tracy

[50:50] Alexander, and the entire team in Southwest

[50:53] Atlanta for doing all you do for the city of Atlanta.

[50:56] Thank you.

[50:57] The Honorable Byron D Amos.

[51:02] Very quickly. You know, it's it's amazing.

[51:05] They still asking anything good

[51:07] still come out of the West Side.

[51:10] You know

[51:11] the West side has produced some giants

[51:13] and some legends that our kids read and hear about every day,

[51:16] but they have no idea that they are taught and touch

[51:20] and around legends that they have no idea about.

[51:24] Now they know about a coach, Charles,

[51:26] because we are telling the story.

[51:28] A young man that followed the footsteps of Bethune Elementary

[51:31] that is now closed, Kennedy, which is now Hollis Innovation

[51:35] Academy, and the Booker T Washington High School

[51:39] to be able to stay here

[51:40] months, family and friends and look out of months.

[51:42] And I see people that help raise me.

[51:43] I see people that help guide me.

[51:45] And we're all still standing here

[51:47] ready to do the same thing for the next generation.

[51:49] So thank you.

[51:50] To my colleague, Councilwoman Boone, for actually allowing me

[51:54] to present this special recognition award,

[51:57] to coach Charles Phillips for my old college Hall of Fame.

[52:01] I'm not going to read it all, but he has an additional award coming to you, brother,

[52:04] for all the places we've been in, we can't talk about.

[52:08] Right? Right. For all the places we are going to go to.

[52:10] Thank you. And I love you. Thank you.

[52:17] The honorable Jason Dozier.

[52:20] Good afternoon y'all.

[52:22] I'm going to be brief. I just wanted to acknowledge my brother, Coach

[52:24] Charles Phillips,

[52:25] who serves

[52:27] two of my recreation centers in my district, both

[52:29] at K Scott Recreation Center, over in mostly Park

[52:31] and then near to my heart

[52:33] because I live in the Mechanicsville community,

[52:34] Dunbar Neighborhood Center in Mechanicsville.

[52:37] And to see how this brother serves our community

[52:41] in so many different ways,

[52:42] whether it's for the young people

[52:43] at Dunbar, my

[52:44] my oldest daughter has been in the parks

[52:46] recreation system out there, and I know that she has someone

[52:49] that she could look up to every single day

[52:50] putting the work, giving back in this community.

[52:53] And then I know I see a lot of my seniors at CA Scott here today.

[52:56] And so I know that, you know, as I get older

[52:59] and if you're still working for the department,

[53:00] Parks and Recreation, when I'm still out there,

[53:03] I know I'm going to be in good hands.

[53:04] But I just want to say thank you. Congratulations.

[53:06] And I look forward to

[53:07] to continuing to serve alongside

[53:09] you in this work and serving our communities.

[53:10] Also, this brother puts him work.

[53:12] I see him every every now and then over at the city hall.

[53:16] Jill. And so I got a workout partner over here too.

[53:18] So that's what to say. Thank you.

[53:19] And ladies once again, brother. Thank you.

[53:23] Thank you to

[53:26] and the entire team. Part two of this celebration will happen in the City Hall.

[53:30] Atrium is going down. Don't miss it.

[53:32] We are going to honor Charles Phillips.

[53:35] And now for the man of the hour, the man of this season,

[53:39] a Booker T Washington High School graduate, miles

[53:43] College Hall of Famer, a native son of the city of Atlanta

[53:47] Charles Phillips.

[53:55] Oh, man on TV.

[53:58] Okay.

[54:05] To the member of council.

[54:08] To the to president Overstreet.

[54:10] Thank you.

[54:11] To be a golden bear is forever.

[54:13] Miles College taught me.

[54:15] He taught me discipline, brotherhood,

[54:16] and to represent something bigger than myself.

[54:19] But long before Miles direction of made me,

[54:22] they still shake me. As a kid.

[54:24] They checked my car before they did me.

[54:26] They taught me respect how to be on time, how to be a man.

[54:29] They kept me up the street and showed me a different way.

[54:31] Parts of it saved my life.

[54:33] I want to say this clearly.

[54:35] The staff and I, Wrexham are the true Hall of Famers.

[54:38] If it wasn't for a wreck sooner, it wouldn't be a chance

[54:40] to a Hall of Famer standing here today.

[54:42] I never forgot where I came from.

[54:44] That is why I brought the Golden Bear spirit back home for 20

[54:48] plus years. For 20 plus years, I stayed dedicated to this city,

[54:52] to our kids and summer camps, after school

[54:54] and sports, to my prioritized seniors.

[54:58] A safe, joyful place to guarantee and be honored

[55:02] to our community. Keeping doors open for every family for 20 plus years.

[55:05] I came back to keep the doors open for that next kid,

[55:08] just like someone kept the doors open for me.

[55:11] I want to thank my Park and Rec family, thankfully

[55:14] shaping me and then served with me for more than 20 years.

[55:17] I also want to thank Ace Book, Keep Your Brown Knit Club,

[55:22] Ramona, Daisy Pace Union, Paula Morgan, Sandra Morgan, and Clyde Wilson

[55:25] for your unwavering support and belief in me.

[55:27] My sincere appreciation to Council Member, Boone

[55:30] District ten for your leadership and honoring me today.

[55:34] Thank you for that.

[55:38] Finally. Finally this this this my last. In the last.

[55:40] This is my last one.

[55:43] Thanks to my mother.

[55:45] She she she here today?

[55:48] Yeah.

[55:49] Mom, you put me in that.

[55:50] Rick's in a for a reason.

[55:52] Miles gave me the opportunity.

[55:55] Elena gave me the purpose.

[55:57] But you gave me the foundation.

[56:00] This is for every Golden Bear pass in future.

[56:02] And this for every Leonard kid in the rec center right now.

[56:05] Wondering if someone believes in them.

[56:07] We believe in you.

[56:09] This is also, for every prior

[56:10] time, seeing our sisters who taught us to keep going.

[56:13] Allowed to. You made me.

[56:15] You saved me.

[56:16] And I would never stop serving you.

[56:18] Thank you, Golden bears.

[56:26] And now, and now and now we

[56:29] will have a our special picture presentation.

[56:32] But we would like to recognize Gina, president of Pace

[56:36] and doctor Thomas Gaucher, retired educator.

[56:40] APS is here as well.

[56:47] And now

[56:49] coach Charles picture right here.

[57:01] Okay.

[57:05] Really? Really.

[57:10] Squeezing one one.

[1:01:11] I love you.

[1:01:17] All right.

[1:01:20] Thank you.

[1:01:21] So to you that.

[1:01:26] And now we're going to celebrate

[1:01:30] small Business Opportunity Week.

[1:01:38] Raimundo.

[1:01:40] That's that's that's the last one.

[1:01:45] Thank you.

[1:01:46] Let us go on, you guys.

[1:01:49] Everything

[1:01:51] all right?

[1:01:55] Come on down.

[1:01:58] That's how you.

[1:02:13] I think it's been taking us up there.

[1:02:16] Well, everyone here for the Small Business Week

[1:02:19] proclamation, please make your way forward.

[1:02:25] Small business

[1:02:26] opportunity week proclamation.

[1:02:29] Supporters, please come forward.

[1:02:33] Right.

[1:02:35] Congratulations.

[1:02:37] Yes. I guess. How are you?

[1:02:39] Stacy.

[1:02:40] Pleasure.

[1:02:45] Yes, yes.

[1:02:47] How are you?

[1:02:48] Good to see you all.

[1:02:51] Good, good.

[1:02:53] All right.

[1:02:56] Is it right?

[1:02:57] Right.

[1:03:03] We know that our state of Georgia

[1:03:07] and the city of Atlanta.

[1:03:11] Both have a rich history.

[1:03:23] All right,

[1:03:25] you ready?

[1:03:26] That's it.

[1:03:27] All right.

[1:03:32] This proclamation will be presided

[1:03:33] by the Honorable Wayne Martin.

[1:03:36] Thank you so much, Madam President.

[1:03:37] We know that the state of Georgia

[1:03:39] and the city of Atlanta both have, rich and storied histories

[1:03:43] in the promotion and celebration of small businesses.

[1:03:48] Our number one employer in our state and within our city.

[1:03:50] And we found it not robbery to spend time today

[1:03:54] recognizing small business opportunity week

[1:03:57] in the city of Atlanta with a proclamation,

[1:04:00] from this city council of Atlanta.

[1:04:02] And it reads, whereas

[1:04:03] the state of Georgia is proud to be recognized

[1:04:05] as the number one state for business,

[1:04:07] supported by a competitive, business climate and thriving

[1:04:11] community of small businesses, entrepreneurs across the state.

[1:04:15] And whereas, small business on the backbone of Georgia's

[1:04:18] economy, representing more than 1.2 million businesses

[1:04:22] and employing more than 1.7 million Georgians across diverse

[1:04:26] industries and communities, and whereas Atlanta's

[1:04:29] small businesses, entrepreneurs

[1:04:31] and locally owned enterprises are essential to the city's

[1:04:34] economic vitality, creating jobs, driving innovation,

[1:04:38] strengthening neighborhoods

[1:04:38] and contributing to the unique character

[1:04:40] and prosperous prosperity of communities.

[1:04:44] And Whereas Georgia's small businesses drive innovation, create jobs,

[1:04:47] and strengthen our local community

[1:04:49] to the state's long term economic growth,

[1:04:51] resilience and prosperity.

[1:04:53] And whereas organizations like the Georgia Business Council

[1:04:56] work to develop, convene and advocate for small businesses

[1:05:00] by helping companies build capacity, strengthen supply

[1:05:03] chain readiness, expanding connections and access.

[1:05:06] And Whereas, Georgia's small businesses,

[1:05:09] entrepreneurs and locally owned enterprises are essential

[1:05:12] to the city's economic vitality, creating jobs, driving

[1:05:16] innovation, strengthening neighborhoods

[1:05:18] and contributing to the unique character

[1:05:20] and prosperity of all communities. And whereas.

[1:05:25] Give me one moment here.

[1:05:28] The collaboration between small business,

[1:05:31] corporate partners, government agencies and community

[1:05:34] organizations help strengthen Georgia's business ecosystem,

[1:05:38] support workforce development, and create pathways for success.

[1:05:41] And Whereas, Small Business Opportunity

[1:05:43] Week serves as a time to recognize and celebrate the

[1:05:47] resilience and economic contributions

[1:05:49] of Georgia's small businesses

[1:05:52] while encouraging continued investment in entrepreneurship, innovation

[1:05:55] and business growth across the state.

[1:05:57] Now, therefore,

[1:05:59] be it proclaimed that we, the members of the Atlanta City

[1:06:01] Council, on behalf of the residents of Atlanta,

[1:06:02] do hear about recognizing the important contributions

[1:06:05] of small businesses

[1:06:06] and entrepreneurs to the economic vitality

[1:06:09] and prosperity of our city and state.

[1:06:11] Commend the Georgia Business Council

[1:06:13] and its partners for their commitment

[1:06:15] to supporting small business growth and opportunity,

[1:06:17] and designate September 20th 1 to 25, 2026,

[1:06:22] as Small Business Opportunity Week in our great city

[1:06:25] and we encourage all residents, business, community leaders

[1:06:29] and organizations to recognize and support the small businesses

[1:06:32] that strengthen our communities, create

[1:06:34] opportunities, and help drive Atlanta's continued

[1:06:37] economic success.

[1:06:38] We celebrate Georgia's Small Business Opportunity Week.

[1:06:45] Now we will have remarks.

[1:06:48] What's the name?

[1:06:50] Berry love for Mr.

[1:06:51] Berry? Love, right.

[1:06:54] All right.

[1:06:58] Good afternoon. My name is Barry Love, and I am the managing director

[1:07:02] of a AI powered technology firm called Get Real Time Feedback.

[1:07:06] And I'm extremely proud to stand before you today

[1:07:09] as the chair of the Information technology group

[1:07:13] within the Georgia Business Council's Small Business Input

[1:07:18] Committee, it's truly an honor to join the City Council

[1:07:23] today as we recognize Small Business Opportunity Week.

[1:07:27] As a small business owner, I know firsthand

[1:07:31] growing a business takes more than a great idea.

[1:07:34] It takes perseverance, access to opportunity,

[1:07:38] strong relationships, and a community

[1:07:41] that believes in the value that small businesses bring.

[1:07:44] This is why the recognition is so important.

[1:07:47] Small businesses are creating jobs, bringing

[1:07:50] new ideas, innovation to the marketplace.

[1:07:54] Investing in our neighborhoods and contributing every day to

[1:07:58] Atlanta's economic strength.

[1:08:01] I also want to recognize the

[1:08:03] small business owners that are here with us today.

[1:08:06] Thank you for taking the risk.

[1:08:08] Doing the work and continuing to build your success strengthens

[1:08:13] not only your business, but our entire community.

[1:08:18] On behalf of the Georgia Business Council's Small Business Input Committee,

[1:08:21] thank you to the Atlanta City Council

[1:08:23] for recognizing Small Business

[1:08:25] Opportunity Week and for supporting

[1:08:27] an environment where small businesses

[1:08:30] can connect, grow and compete.

[1:08:34] We appreciate this proclamation and look forward to continuing

[1:08:37] to work together

[1:08:38] to strengthen Atlanta's small business community.

[1:08:42] Very proud to stand here under the leadership

[1:08:44] of several of

[1:08:48] my colleagues within the organization,

[1:08:51] specifically Vanessa, Sanji,

[1:08:56] Emily. But our illustrious leader, Stacey Key,

[1:08:58] who really has done a phenomenal job in guiding us.

[1:09:02] So for more information on the organization, please feel free.

[1:09:06] W w w Georgia Council

[1:09:09] and thank you so very much for this honor.

[1:09:11] Thank you very much. All right.

[1:09:15] Any of my

[1:09:17] colleagues would like to come forward and offer brief remarks

[1:09:19] before we move on to our picture.

[1:09:20] Taking time.

[1:09:22] Councilmember Alex one.

[1:09:27] Thank you, Councilmember Martin, for doing this.

[1:09:29] I think this is a well deserved proclamation and time

[1:09:33] to illuminate and highlight the importance of small business

[1:09:36] businesses here in Georgia.

[1:09:37] Here in Atlanta,

[1:09:38] my father was a small business owner,

[1:09:40] and I think the unsung piece of it is,

[1:09:42] and why it's so important, is I reflecting back now

[1:09:46] on my childhood, I realized how much he invested

[1:09:49] and dedicated and sacrificed to make that happen.

[1:09:52] And it is because of that

[1:09:54] commitment that our small businesses have

[1:09:56] that they become such an integral part

[1:09:58] of our communities.

[1:09:59] They're there and determined to weather everything, and may

[1:10:03] not have the same kind of,

[1:10:05] gumption to stick it out that

[1:10:08] an outsider or a large company may make a different

[1:10:11] have different calculus on those decisions.

[1:10:13] But I just do think it's important

[1:10:14] that we continue to lift and support

[1:10:17] and find ways to help develop and nurture and foster

[1:10:21] this important part of our, our economic ecosystem

[1:10:24] and also just respect all the work

[1:10:26] that all of y'all do, because it is

[1:10:28] one of the things that you just have

[1:10:30] to stay through the good times and the bad times,

[1:10:32] the tough times and the easy times.

[1:10:34] But just for the small business community to know that that

[1:10:37] support network is there from that for them,

[1:10:39] I think is critical to, again, helping them

[1:10:42] stay committed to their success.

[1:10:43] So, Councilmember Martin, thank you for doing this.

[1:10:45] Thank you. Councilmember. All right.

[1:10:49] Let's go down and take a photo.

[1:12:01] You. Okay.

[1:12:06] So that completes our

[1:12:09] proclamations and special awards section.

[1:12:12] We are moving on to any remarks by our council members.

[1:12:16] This is the time when

[1:12:20] you can express condolences and we can take moments of silence.

[1:12:23] Does anyone want to do that?

[1:12:26] Council Member Amos,

[1:12:28] thank you, Madam President.

[1:12:30] I want to make sure we stop and as a city

[1:12:34] to send our condolences to the family of,

[1:12:39] Reverend Ella Graham,

[1:12:42] or the Harvey Holmes community.

[1:12:45] We lost Miss Graham, last week,

[1:12:48] a couple of days after our senior day out.

[1:12:51] Reverend Graham was the warrior

[1:12:54] for the Vale Holmes, community,

[1:12:57] never letting up an opportunity to advocate for her community.

[1:13:03] We celebrated the community organization.

[1:13:05] I think it was 65 years last year,

[1:13:08] and she had been there for all of the celebrations.

[1:13:12] But more importantly, as we do this work day to day here

[1:13:14] in the city, Miss Carla Smith, who actually works in,

[1:13:19] Atlanta.

[1:13:20] Dot you know, the only thing

[1:13:22] Reverend Graham wanted was her streets paved and her community.

[1:13:26] And I am proud to say that, Miss Smith,

[1:13:29] you got this done for Miss Graham so she could ride

[1:13:33] through her streets, turn into her neighborhood,

[1:13:35] as she say, without in the pothole.

[1:13:38] So, the work that we do every day touches the lives

[1:13:41] of individuals

[1:13:42] that we really don't know

[1:13:43] how important it is, but I just want to bring that up.

[1:13:46] And also, just like I said, send our words of condolences

[1:13:49] to the family. Thank you, thank you.

[1:13:51] Any other council members?

[1:13:53] Council member bond.

[1:13:57] Thank you. Madam President, I want to add my

[1:13:58] voice of condolences to the Graham family.

[1:14:00] When I was first elected to district three.

[1:14:05] One of the biggest issues in Harwell

[1:14:07] Holmes was putting a traffic light there,

[1:14:11] what was then Hightower Road and Harwell Road,

[1:14:14] with several people coming out of that subdivision.

[1:14:17] We either hit a few were killed, and of course the

[1:14:21] children leaving Douglas high schools

[1:14:24] very dangerous because they couldn't

[1:14:26] didn't have a light to cross the street.

[1:14:28] Mr. Graham, when I first was elected,

[1:14:31] sat me down in her home, and that was issue

[1:14:35] number one, you know, that she was having him for.

[1:14:39] She just was an amazing woman.

[1:14:42] She cared and loved her community.

[1:14:46] Was really the the red blood cells

[1:14:49] and the blood of that community very intricately.

[1:14:52] And want to extend my condolences as well.

[1:14:56] Councilmember Amundsen, thank you for bringing that up.

[1:14:59] But I also want to

[1:15:02] acknowledge the passing of Gerald, two of my

[1:15:04] my uncle Ronnie Robinson, who lost his life.

[1:15:10] Saturday before last and will be funeral ized tomorrow.

[1:15:14] Native Atlanta loved the city, loved his family.

[1:15:18] And he'll be sorely missed.

[1:15:23] Okay.

[1:15:24] Thank you.

[1:15:25] Any other council members?

[1:15:32] Okay. For these mentioned today and others not mentioned.

[1:15:37] Let's take a moment of silence.

[1:15:50] Thank you.

[1:15:53] Okay. So that brings us to the remarks by the public.

[1:15:56] We'll now hear remarks from the public.

[1:15:57] Each speaker will have two minutes or up to ten minutes

[1:16:01] with donated time pursuant to our city code

[1:16:05] who have received donated time.

[1:16:07] You'll be placed at the end of the speakers list,

[1:16:11] but let's get started on our list.

[1:16:14] We're going to start with our first three.

[1:16:15] That will be Michael Collins, Henry Jordan, and Noble Atom.

[1:16:20] L, and you each have two minutes.

[1:16:24] Please come forward.

[1:16:25] Michael Collins, you have two minutes.

[1:16:28] Okay.

[1:16:33] We'll start over.

[1:16:34] Okay. Thank you.

[1:16:36] My name is Michael Collins, and I'm with Etel.

[1:16:39] Etel opposes the proposed sale of the Atlantic City

[1:16:42] Detention Center to Fulton County.

[1:16:45] Playfair. Etel cares about this because

[1:16:47] our coalition came together around a simple principle.

[1:16:50] Major decisions about Atlanta's future

[1:16:52] should put communities first and should be made transparently

[1:16:56] with meaningful public participation.

[1:16:58] That applies to the World Cup, the Super Bowl, but also applies

[1:17:02] to decisions about public safety, public resources,

[1:17:05] workers, and the kind of city we are building

[1:17:09] with the community over Cage's coalition.

[1:17:11] We just held a press conference this morning

[1:17:13] where many people spoke out against the sale,

[1:17:16] including people who were directly involved

[1:17:18] in the original process to reimagine AC, DC,

[1:17:21] that history matters.

[1:17:23] Atlanta asked people to invest their time and expertise

[1:17:26] in imagining a different future for this facility,

[1:17:29] and for how our city responds to people in crisis.

[1:17:32] We cannot simply discard that work without explaining

[1:17:35] what changed and why.

[1:17:38] It'll also raised concerns about AC, DC workers.

[1:17:41] We absolutely care about what happens to them.

[1:17:44] The reimagining process

[1:17:45] contemplated a transition for those workers.

[1:17:49] The answer should be a just transition that protects

[1:17:52] workers, not abandoning the broader vision.

[1:17:55] I want to applaud Council Member Amos.

[1:17:59] Great suit, by the way.

[1:18:00] Louis Worthy Collins, great name, Kelsey Bond

[1:18:04] and Michael Julian Bond.

[1:18:06] Good first and last name for raising serious concerns

[1:18:09] and asking important questions

[1:18:11] at last week's public safety meeting.

[1:18:13] I appreciate the council holding this work session

[1:18:17] so these questions can be addressed publicly,

[1:18:19] but there is a major contradiction here.

[1:18:22] At the same time, the mayor is pursuing this sale.

[1:18:24] The administration is taking actions that threaten Pad,

[1:18:27] one of the one of Atlanta's most important alternatives

[1:18:31] to arrest and incarceration.

[1:18:33] It's incredibly frustrating to watch the city move forward

[1:18:36] towards expanding a jail approach, while undermining Mr.

[1:18:40] kind of diversion the city needs.

[1:18:42] Thank you. Thank you.

[1:18:44] Henry Jordan, you have two minutes.

[1:18:48] United three. Two.

[1:18:49] God, everyone is here.

[1:18:51] Deliver me from my enemies.

[1:18:52] Oh my God, defend me from them that rise up against me.

[1:18:57] Psalms 59, chapter verse.

[1:19:00] First, though David was Saul, son in law, Saul sent me in to kill him.

[1:19:04] I had a vision when the Lord revealed

[1:19:06] that I was telling you the truth.

[1:19:08] Then you start returning the income Jesus created through me.

[1:19:11] Submit yourselves, therefore the God

[1:19:14] resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

[1:19:17] James Forbes, chapter seven verse is this the devil?

[1:19:20] Do not submit to fear of flee from Satan,

[1:19:23] but saying against him.

[1:19:24] Jesus, give us the power to stand against Satan.

[1:19:27] I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord.

[1:19:31] Psalms 118, chapter 17, verse next, and verses 5 to 18.

[1:19:36] The King

[1:19:38] then leads the problem in worship

[1:19:41] with himself as the speaker, though interrupted

[1:19:45] at times by anthropoid reframes offered by the people

[1:19:51] receive us.

[1:19:53] We have wronged no man's.

[1:19:55] We have corrupted no man.

[1:19:57] We have defrauded no man's sacraments.

[1:19:59] In seven, chapter 11 verse.

[1:20:01] Jesus desires for me to receive pay for the work he's

[1:20:04] doing through me.

[1:20:05] It's for the protection of his people.

[1:20:08] The reason he created the gift in me.

[1:20:11] Thank Jesus for your cooperation in this matter.

[1:20:15] Obey Jesus if you're not asked.

[1:20:20] If you do not ask for destruction,

[1:20:24] a lot of people will die because you

[1:20:27] because of your grief for the money.

[1:20:30] When you get money

[1:20:32] that's not really yours and you take credit for it.

[1:20:35] Then you work in deceit, defrauded shipping.

[1:20:38] Treachery is the way of the flesh that leads to death.

[1:20:41] And we want life and not death.

[1:20:44] That's when I try to speak the Word of God.

[1:20:46] The Word of God has life for us that we need, and I know I

[1:20:50] need it.

[1:20:52] Thank you.

[1:20:53] Noble and l.

[1:20:57] Greetings.

[1:20:58] I'm noble at El Moorish American,

[1:21:02] better known as a more.

[1:21:04] And today I'm going to present my nationality card.

[1:21:07] Because a lot of people act

[1:21:09] or don't know what a national he is.

[1:21:12] So from nationality card, it reads,

[1:21:16] American national identification card societies,

[1:21:22] birth rights and Appalachian anthem poker el

[1:21:27] and says the national.

[1:21:28] My national domicile is North America.

[1:21:31] My race is human.

[1:21:33] To be a national.

[1:21:36] You have to be part of the human race and being part of the human race.

[1:21:40] That means you have a land, a nation,

[1:21:42] and as a member of the land, you are a national.

[1:21:47] My ancestors estate is North America,

[1:21:50] Central America, and Mexico.

[1:21:53] Another name for Africa.

[1:21:55] Ancient name for the continent. Africa.

[1:21:57] America. Okay. And,

[1:22:01] I started

[1:22:06] Freehold by birthright from a gentle and inheritance.

[1:22:10] Aboriginal native American

[1:22:14] heirs of North America.

[1:22:16] National people of the land.

[1:22:18] Divine law.

[1:22:20] United States Code of Law, title 22, chapter two,

[1:22:25] section 141 for one of a general

[1:22:30] and permanent character a 222141

[1:22:34] not taxed by the Constitution and it says Constitution.

[1:22:39] Article one, section two, clause three.

[1:22:44] Treaties.

[1:22:45] All officers, department agents,

[1:22:50] employees, personnel and assigns, etc.

[1:22:54] are bound by oath

[1:22:56] to uphold and support the Constitution

[1:22:58] for the United States of America.

[1:23:01] Republic. Thank you.

[1:23:03] That's two minutes.

[1:23:04] Okay. Thank you so much for coming.

[1:23:07] Our next three speakers, Thomas Leary,

[1:23:10] Cody Turner, and Jan Rivers.

[1:23:13] You each have two minutes. You can come forward.

[1:23:21] Everyone, I'm here to speak in support of Beltline Rail.

[1:23:25] Council members. There's no technology more proven in all human history

[1:23:30] than the train. Not the car, not autonomous pods, not pneumatic tubes

[1:23:34] flying in the air, not whatever it is.

[1:23:36] Elon Musk is trying to do

[1:23:37] in the tunnels under Las Vegas trains.

[1:23:40] They've tried a million times to beat trains

[1:23:42] and it just hasn't been done. You just can't beat them.

[1:23:44] So you can imagine my confusion and frustration sometimes when,

[1:23:49] elected officials at every level of government expressed doubt

[1:23:51] towards most efficient and licensed

[1:23:53] form of transportation ever yet devised.

[1:23:58] You know, imagine a senator rolling their eyes

[1:23:59] at the very concept of indoor plumbing.

[1:24:01] And how would you react

[1:24:02] if the governor insisted that we conduct a dozen studies

[1:24:05] before we introduced this new fangled electricity?

[1:24:08] You know, today we have a chance to finally do the right thing.

[1:24:12] Let's support rail.

[1:24:14] You know, instead of entertaining a dozen

[1:24:17] bad ideas, let's instead enact a good idea.

[1:24:20] The best idea.

[1:24:22] In fact, let's show the world that Lanta isn't a city of dithering

[1:24:25] do nothings,

[1:24:26] but rather a city

[1:24:26] that recognizes

[1:24:27] the brilliance of of common sense

[1:24:30] and when to embrace in a good idea

[1:24:31] whose time has long since come.

[1:24:33] City council members.

[1:24:34] Mayor Andre Dickens build this train.

[1:24:41] Thank you.

[1:24:42] Cody Turner, you have two minutes.

[1:24:46] Thank you.

[1:24:48] My name is Cody Turner. I'm here to voice my support for Beltline rail.

[1:24:50] I'll admit, I'm a newcomer to Atlanta.

[1:24:52] I was born in Georgia,

[1:24:54] but I've only lived in Atlanta for the last 16 years,

[1:24:57] which is far less time than many other people in this room.

[1:25:00] But I love Atlanta,

[1:25:01] and I want to live here for the rest of my life.

[1:25:03] I want to raise a family here,

[1:25:05] but to do that, I need Beltline rail.

[1:25:08] I live in Atlanta without a car,

[1:25:10] and I can tell you that it's never been better to

[1:25:12] live without a car in Atlanta than it is right now.

[1:25:15] But we could make it even better,

[1:25:17] and we could make that possible for hundreds of thousands

[1:25:19] of other people if we build Beltline rail.

[1:25:22] I've been a supporter of Beltline Rail

[1:25:24] since I attended my first public meeting in 2014.

[1:25:28] I was inspired by the scope and the goals of the Beltline.

[1:25:31] It wasn't just a single project affecting one neighborhood.

[1:25:35] It was a vision to reconnect a city.

[1:25:39] And so once I understood that the Beltline

[1:25:41] was going to transform Atlanta, I was all in.

[1:25:43] I attended every meeting I could.

[1:25:45] And in 2019, I was asked to join Beltline University, where Abi

[1:25:50] spent six weeks educating us into all of the project details.

[1:25:54] And that started and it ended with Beltline Rail.

[1:25:58] So that's how I know Beltline

[1:25:59] rail is not just a bike path or a walking trail.

[1:26:02] It is those things,

[1:26:04] but it's a transit corridor

[1:26:05] and the Beltline is a transit project.

[1:26:08] The mayor said a year ago

[1:26:09] that he wanted to start with the West Side.

[1:26:11] That sounds great.

[1:26:12] Last year, I asked Abi when we could expect

[1:26:15] Beltline rail on the west side, and they said seven years.

[1:26:18] It's a year later.

[1:26:19] Are we a year closer?

[1:26:21] I don't know.

[1:26:22] Abi won't make comments and the mayor changes his answer

[1:26:26] every time that I've heard him asked.

[1:26:28] So I don't think this resolution is asking anything new.

[1:26:31] It's only asking that the mayor, Abi and Marta

[1:26:36] show the progress that they've made to deliver this promise to Atlanta.

[1:26:39] So I thank the City Council for supporting this resolution,

[1:26:42] and I thank Council Member Bond

[1:26:43] for having the courage to lead on keeping this promise.

[1:26:46] Thank you. Thank you.

[1:26:50] Jan Rivers.

[1:26:52] You have two minutes.

[1:26:56] Hello, Council. My name is Jan Rivers. I'm a City of Atlanta native.

[1:26:59] I live in Kirkwood and Liliana Bakhtiari district.

[1:27:03] And I also want to thank you for supporting most of you

[1:27:07] for supporting this resolution.

[1:27:10] Atlanta voters have already paid multiple

[1:27:12] hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes via

[1:27:14] the more Marta referendum past ten years ago

[1:27:18] that went towards this, and many more projects

[1:27:20] that have not yet been delivered.

[1:27:22] But good news, we can still deliver this.

[1:27:26] And so Beltline Beltline trail is a good idea.

[1:27:30] We want this.

[1:27:31] The people want this.

[1:27:32] Your constituents want this.

[1:27:34] I want to emphasize that passing this resolution is doing

[1:27:37] what City Council can do to fulfill the commitment

[1:27:40] made to Beltline Rail ten years ago.

[1:27:43] The people we have done our part

[1:27:45] ten years ago by passing the more Marta tax.

[1:27:48] And then more recently we have connected

[1:27:51] grassroots wise with everyone in the city.

[1:27:54] And again, I am that your constituents do

[1:27:58] want Beltline rail. We know this.

[1:28:00] So now the people have done our part.

[1:28:03] City council is doing your part.

[1:28:05] I call on Council member one Worthy and Norwood to also,

[1:28:12] pass this resolution.

[1:28:13] And so now we need for the mayor and Abi and Marta

[1:28:17] to prepare the plans and report to council

[1:28:20] to implement the People's Project Beltline Rail,

[1:28:24] and to present plans for its funding

[1:28:26] and a timeline to completion.

[1:28:28] Thank you.

[1:28:29] Thank you.

[1:28:32] Our next three speakers

[1:28:35] Clary Mahaffey, Shakti Dias,

[1:28:39] Matt Bass those are the next three speakers

[1:28:42] who each have two minutes.

[1:28:44] You can come forward.

[1:28:47] You have two minutes.

[1:28:53] I cannot afford a car.

[1:28:55] I'm a DoorDash bike courier

[1:28:56] forced into the gig economy by Donald Trump's policies.

[1:28:59] I'm an ordinary working at Lannon, barely making ends meet

[1:29:04] since I first moved out and got my own place a decade ago.

[1:29:08] My rent has doubled, my grocery bills have tripled,

[1:29:11] my earnings have only increased by about 20%.

[1:29:16] Unlike the wealthy business owners who oppose Beltline rail,

[1:29:18] Marta bike and foot are my only forms of transportation.

[1:29:23] I spent eight hours a day on the Beltline

[1:29:25] doing this exhausting work in all weather.

[1:29:27] Rain or shine. Snow or heat wave?

[1:29:30] I've worked through heat indices of over 100 nearly

[1:29:33] every day this summer, blistering even for Atlanta.

[1:29:36] Time and again I've worked.

[1:29:37] And as I've worked, I've seen our seniors

[1:29:39] struggling down the beltline, hunched over walkers as scooters

[1:29:43] zoom around them,

[1:29:44] walking miles in the dangerous heat

[1:29:46] just to get to the grocery store.

[1:29:49] I've watched people in wheelchairs struggle up hills.

[1:29:51] I've watched parents

[1:29:52] with young kids try and wrangle them in traffic.

[1:29:55] I am lucky enough I can get around on my bike.

[1:29:57] But not everyone is.

[1:29:59] The Beltline, as it stands, is not for everyone.

[1:30:02] As a city, we too often fall short on accessibility.

[1:30:05] I see missing or flooded curb cuts.

[1:30:08] Buildings with no ramps or ramps is only an afterthought.

[1:30:10] Streets with missing or broken sidewalks or walking paths

[1:30:13] unnecessary, unnecessarily interrupted by a single stare.

[1:30:18] To live is to age.

[1:30:20] One day you too

[1:30:22] will will be unable to drive, bike or walk long distances.

[1:30:27] Beltline rail will give our elderly and disabled neighbors

[1:30:32] unprecedented access to our city.

[1:30:33] The Beltline is a good start, but by adding light rail,

[1:30:36] we can put other cities to shame and be a leader

[1:30:39] among American cities in accessibility.

[1:30:41] Thank you.

[1:30:43] Thank you.

[1:30:51] Good afternoon, Council members.

[1:30:52] My name is Shakti Das.

[1:30:53] I'm a constituent from DeKalb County.

[1:30:55] Speaking on behalf of the.

[1:30:57] Speaking in support of the resolution made by Kelsey Bond for the Beltline Rail.

[1:31:01] My first date with my romantic partner was possible

[1:31:04] because of Marta.

[1:31:05] We went to Raghuram and Java Lords

[1:31:07] over in Little Five Points, and what I did was I took Marta

[1:31:10] over to the park Reynolds Town station.

[1:31:14] The date ended with me

[1:31:15] sharing a kiss with them

[1:31:16] before they dropped me off at said station.

[1:31:19] And we have been basically inseparable ever since.

[1:31:22] There was a point where I lived up in Roswell,

[1:31:26] and I was part of Atlanta's burgeoning

[1:31:28] storytelling community, where I would take bus route 185

[1:31:33] from Roswell all the way down to North Spring Station,

[1:31:35] then take that all the way downtown

[1:31:37] to attend these meetings and just share stories

[1:31:39] with people and make a lot of friends.

[1:31:41] And I went there so often, month by month,

[1:31:45] that I eventually became someone who would be involved in creating these events.

[1:31:47] They're no longer held at the venue anymore,

[1:31:49] but I hold that community dear to me.

[1:31:54] Not to mention an endless amount of concerts

[1:31:55] and endless amount of social experiences.

[1:31:57] And this very city Council meeting, which I came to

[1:32:00] by walking from five point stations.

[1:32:03] Here is the gist.

[1:32:06] When you give people sustainable, affordable public transit

[1:32:08] that doesn't require the high cost of gas,

[1:32:10] that doesn't require a high monthly payment on a car,

[1:32:14] and that doesn't require putting their life on the line on Georgia highways.

[1:32:16] Something I'm sure that all of us,

[1:32:18] everyone in this room can relate to.

[1:32:19] And don't get me started on how

[1:32:20] I 285 is consistently ranked

[1:32:22] as one of the deadliest highways in the nation.

[1:32:25] When you give people sustainable, affordable public transit,

[1:32:27] they find opportunity and community.

[1:32:30] I have spent years defending Marta,

[1:32:32] talking about the experiences it has allowed me to have,

[1:32:36] while acknowledging that a desperately needs expansion in state

[1:32:37] funding and the Beltline rail is an incredible start to that.

[1:32:41] It will give so many people

[1:32:43] the access and community they need ASAP.

[1:32:45] I have waited years to see an expansion to transit

[1:32:49] in Atlanta like this, so more people can see Atlanta in a visceral, nuanced way.

[1:32:52] The way that I see it. Thank you.

[1:32:57] Thank you.

[1:32:58] Our next speaker, Matt Bass.

[1:33:00] You have two minutes.

[1:33:02] Thank you. Good afternoon Council.

[1:33:03] My name is Matt Bass.

[1:33:05] I'm an attorney here in town.

[1:33:06] Many of you I have known for going on two decades.

[1:33:10] A couple of you at this point.

[1:33:12] I'm here today in support of Beltline Rail.

[1:33:15] I'm asking you to build it.

[1:33:16] We, ten years ago started funding this project.

[1:33:20] And I think it's high past time that we at least get started on it.

[1:33:23] I would like to see it before I die.

[1:33:25] And I don't know about you guys, but I'm more than halfway

[1:33:27] done at 45.

[1:33:28] I don't know where you are,

[1:33:30] but I would like to see this before we die.

[1:33:32] So I'm asking you, please

[1:33:34] get started on the Beltline rail. Now.

[1:33:36] Deliver on the

[1:33:37] the thing we've been funding for ten years,

[1:33:39] and let's move Atlanta forward.

[1:33:41] Thank you so much. Thank you.

[1:33:45] Our next three speakers Bentley Hudgins,

[1:33:49] Lucas Carter, Ivan Stack.

[1:33:53] You each have two minutes.

[1:33:54] Bentley. Hudgins two minutes.

[1:33:58] Good afternoon, Council members.

[1:34:00] Thank you all for having us.

[1:34:01] My name is Bentley Hudgins.

[1:34:03] I'm the Democratic nominee

[1:34:04] for Georgia's 90th state house district,

[1:34:07] which covers the majority of the city of Atlanta and DeKalb County.

[1:34:10] I come today to support Councilmember bonds.

[1:34:13] Resolution.

[1:34:14] Joined by many of you here.

[1:34:16] I just want to emphasize a couple of points.

[1:34:18] We should fund the full 22 mile loop.

[1:34:22] And in our city, like has been said before,

[1:34:25] increasing access through expanding public transit

[1:34:27] is not just an accessibility issue.

[1:34:29] It's also a way for working class people

[1:34:31] to be able to get around and reduce the amount of people

[1:34:34] on our roads and take action.

[1:34:38] Now for the worsening climate crisis.

[1:34:40] That will just make things

[1:34:41] even more stressful for our infrastructure.

[1:34:44] Atlanta is a climate refuge, and being able to anticipate

[1:34:49] an influx of more residents as our city grows is important,

[1:34:52] and making sure that everybody in our city can get around.

[1:34:56] Atlanta is behind on transit, which is wild

[1:34:58] because our city was founded on public transit.

[1:35:01] If you walk around the city of Atlanta like I do,

[1:35:04] you can see the echoes of our history and houses

[1:35:07] that don't have driveways

[1:35:08] on the front of their yards

[1:35:10] because they were originally built with the streetcars.

[1:35:13] There are so many wonderful parts of our city

[1:35:15] that I would love to have celebrated again.

[1:35:17] And when I join the state legislature, I'll join Mayor

[1:35:21] Keisha Lance bottoms in her efforts, hopefully

[1:35:24] when she wins, to get state funding for Marta

[1:35:27] so that we can fund more projects and expand public

[1:35:30] transit overall.

[1:35:33] The last thing that I wanted to say is I wanted to oppose a proposal

[1:35:37] to limit donated time for public comment.

[1:35:40] We started with a limited then,

[1:35:42] and now it's going to ten and it could go to eight.

[1:35:44] And I think it's important that we hear from the people,

[1:35:47] at the state legislature, as an advocate,

[1:35:50] I've been there for a while,

[1:35:51] and many times you don't get to donate time,

[1:35:54] and it's just up to the whims

[1:35:55] of whoever decides to chair the committee.

[1:35:56] And most people, even if they drive

[1:35:58] from across the state, get one minute to speak.

[1:36:00] And I would not like to see that happen here in City Hall.

[1:36:07] Thank you.

[1:36:09] Our next speaker,

[1:36:12] Lucas Carter.

[1:36:13] Two minutes.

[1:36:15] Greetings, Council.

[1:36:16] My name is Lucas Carter.

[1:36:17] I work as a planner over in DeKalb County.

[1:36:20] First off, I want to say

[1:36:21] thank you to the council members that have already voted yes

[1:36:24] to get the belt line resolution up here.

[1:36:28] And to those clapping to,

[1:36:31] it seems like the common theme with the previous

[1:36:33] comments has been accessibility.

[1:36:35] And that is something, you know, I'm pretty provision that I'm able bodied.

[1:36:38] And I can also take time off work to be here today.

[1:36:40] But it is something I do think about a lot,

[1:36:42] because I spend almost every day on the Beltline for one reason

[1:36:46] or another,

[1:36:47] and I see the types

[1:36:48] of people out there and also who's not out there.

[1:36:51] So I for today's vote, I think it goes beyond Beltline

[1:36:55] rail, and it's really a discretion of momentum

[1:36:57] and how seriously the city wants to take this issue,

[1:37:00] not just beltline rail isolated, but also

[1:37:03] transits and connectivity regarding all of the city.

[1:37:06] And also accountability itself

[1:37:10] with how we administrate the city.

[1:37:12] And that's all I have to say.

[1:37:14] Thank you.

[1:37:15] Thank you.

[1:37:19] Ivan.

[1:37:19] Shutterstock.

[1:37:22] Good afternoon Council.

[1:37:23] My name is Ivan.

[1:37:25] I'm a voter in district two, district six.

[1:37:27] Alex wants district, and I want to

[1:37:29] thank you all for your leadership

[1:37:31] when it comes to Beltline Rail, for considering this resolution

[1:37:34] and for all of the City

[1:37:36] Council members who have stepped up as co-sponsors,

[1:37:38] who have helped to advance this through committee,

[1:37:39] and who might advance this today.

[1:37:42] As a disabled person,

[1:37:45] someone who is visually impaired,

[1:37:46] I know very much how owning a car, being able to drive

[1:37:50] a car is a privilege and not a right.

[1:37:52] And I want to make sure

[1:37:54] that our tax dollars go to support

[1:37:55] everybody who needs access to our infrastructure.

[1:37:59] I also want to commend City Council

[1:38:01] for amending the resolution to tie together

[1:38:04] affordable housing with transit, and the importance

[1:38:07] for having these two aspects interlinked.

[1:38:12] Affordable housing and transit do go together.

[1:38:15] Just last week,

[1:38:16] one of the organizations that co-founded the anti-trans

[1:38:23] group here in Atlanta went to Invest Atlanta and got a $15 million tax break

[1:38:27] while reducing their affordable

[1:38:29] housing that they were going to have in Amsterdam

[1:38:30] lock at Beltline adjacent property.

[1:38:32] And it is vital that we make sure

[1:38:35] that our affordable housing dollars

[1:38:37] and our public transit dollars go together.

[1:38:40] Support for one is support for the other,

[1:38:42] and it's really important

[1:38:43] that you all linked this together

[1:38:45] and that you maintain that leadership.

[1:38:47] Supporting transit, supporting housing is vital.

[1:38:51] Thank you so much for your leadership on this.

[1:38:55] Thank you.

[1:38:57] Next three speakers, Michael

[1:38:58] Keith, Christie Linz,

[1:39:02] Taryn Hicks.

[1:39:04] You each have two minutes.

[1:39:05] You can come forward.

[1:39:08] Michael Keith two minutes.

[1:39:14] Thank you. I live in district three, which is where I vote

[1:39:16] and I am a huge supporter of Beltline rail.

[1:39:20] I think that this is imperative that we have this,

[1:39:23] and it's not just district three that will benefit from this.

[1:39:26] It is every single part of Atlanta.

[1:39:29] This is connecting us all together.

[1:39:30] All 22 miles of this.

[1:39:32] This is not just for one district.

[1:39:33] This is not just for one piece of Atlanta.

[1:39:36] This is for all of us.

[1:39:37] I'm so excited to have this built.

[1:39:41] Thank you so much. I've been paying for this for the last ten years.

[1:39:42] Let's get it done.

[1:39:45] Thank you.

[1:39:47] Christie lands two minutes.

[1:39:50] I just want to thank everybody

[1:39:52] who has signed on as a co-sponsor

[1:39:55] or who has supported it as a committee.

[1:39:58] Especially want to thank Kelsey Bond for bringing this.

[1:40:02] And Liliana,

[1:40:03] who has been a constant supporter about unreal and so

[1:40:06] and all the rest of you for finally getting accountability

[1:40:10] and getting this done and coming up with a plan

[1:40:13] to really build 22 miles of rail around our Beltline

[1:40:17] that would not be impeded by car traffic, that could help

[1:40:20] all of our city transform into a more equitable

[1:40:24] and accessible place to be for everyone.

[1:40:26] Thank you.

[1:40:30] Toron hits.

[1:40:31] You have two minutes.

[1:40:33] Hi, my name is Taran Hicks.

[1:40:35] I live in district three.

[1:40:37] Everyone here has given some really good,

[1:40:41] reasons for why we need Beltline rail.

[1:40:43] But I want to go over some things

[1:40:45] that don't make any sense.

[1:40:47] So we're leaving logic behind

[1:40:49] for the next minute and 47 seconds.

[1:40:53] A lot of people say

[1:40:55] the Beltline will put money in the pockets of big business.

[1:40:59] And by a lot of people, I mean a very specific

[1:41:01] group of people who have kind of cobbled

[1:41:03] together that very interesting talking point.

[1:41:06] I would like to point out that

[1:41:09] any project takes money and the money

[1:41:12] gets paid to businesses.

[1:41:14] That's how this works.

[1:41:16] So I don't know what that's supposed to mean.

[1:41:19] Claim number two,

[1:41:22] the beltline is going to hurt businesses on the boat line.

[1:41:26] I don't see how that

[1:41:28] would make any sense, given the fact that millions of people

[1:41:31] being quickly dropped off in front of your business

[1:41:34] or within very, very close walking distance

[1:41:38] would do anything but increase business.

[1:41:41] I don't understand the argument there.

[1:41:47] And also, this is the most cynical

[1:41:49] claim that I've heard so far, and it's one that really,

[1:41:53] as a black person, is really kind of insane.

[1:41:56] You hear a lot of, I'll call it fake woke

[1:42:00] from the more moderate or right wing

[1:42:03] figures in local politics, but nationally as well.

[1:42:06] When anything good is about to happen, they say, well,

[1:42:10] it might hurt minorities in some way.

[1:42:12] The Beltline might worsen gentrification.

[1:42:16] It's bad for black people.

[1:42:17] Oh, I didn't know that.

[1:42:20] Impoverished minorities, underprivileged

[1:42:23] folks enjoy paying more to get around.

[1:42:26] I feel like that's news to me.

[1:42:28] So let's leave behind the bad arguments and the fake woke

[1:42:33] the posturing and come back to reality

[1:42:35] where things make sense and build the rail.

[1:42:39] Thank you.

[1:42:43] Our next three speakers, Jonathan Hull,

[1:42:47] Gwendolyn Smith, Andy Faber,

[1:42:51] you each have two minutes.

[1:42:53] You can come forward.

[1:43:00] Hello.

[1:43:01] My last name is pronounced Holly.

[1:43:03] I'm sorry, Miss Jonathan. That's okay.

[1:43:06] My name is Jonathan. I'm a resident of Kirkwood District five.

[1:43:07] I'm here to urge you all to vote.

[1:43:09] I on Council member bonds resolution to build

[1:43:13] 22 miles of light rail in our city.

[1:43:16] Talking points have already kind of hit you guys.

[1:43:19] Ten years ago, the city voted 71% to build this

[1:43:23] rail, and construction has not begun yet.

[1:43:24] That is kind of embarrassing.

[1:43:29] I also just kind of want to zoom out a little bit and remind you all that

[1:43:31] this is how cities are supposed to function.

[1:43:34] If people vote on something like that,

[1:43:38] you kind of have to do it.

[1:43:39] You can't do it like zero for ten years.

[1:43:42] So let's please get this done.

[1:43:44] I also just feel sentimentally

[1:43:48] that I should remind everybody that Atlanta is unique among American cities, in that

[1:43:51] it has no connection to a navigable river

[1:43:54] or deep water port.

[1:43:55] There's very, very few cities in the country

[1:43:57] that are this size that are like that.

[1:43:59] And the reason that this city exists in the way that it does

[1:44:02] is because it was founded as the terminus of a rail.

[1:44:05] Our city owes its very existence to the concept of trains.

[1:44:09] We should have the best rail system in the country.

[1:44:12] We shouldn't have next to nothing.

[1:44:15] So please make this happen.

[1:44:17] That is all. Thank you very much. Thank you.

[1:44:22] Gwendolyn Smith, you have two minutes.

[1:44:25] My name is Smith and I'm going to switch lanes right now.

[1:44:30] I live at 10th and Jennifer high rise.

[1:44:33] And on Friday I was beat in front of 10th.

[1:44:39] And Jennifer about another young lady that lived in a high rise.

[1:44:43] I'm going to switch lanes from that,

[1:44:46] letting you know the high rise attempting.

[1:44:49] Jennifer have a major red flag, but I'm gonna switch lanes

[1:44:54] a little more. I asked the mayor on his second term

[1:44:57] to get me out of harm's way, and he said I was pussy rag.

[1:45:03] This is the outcome of the whole idea.

[1:45:07] I've been running and running and running from this town.

[1:45:10] I've been here all my life.

[1:45:12] I have 15 grandchildren.

[1:45:15] I have five girls.

[1:45:16] I have two boys.

[1:45:19] I worked it for a living.

[1:45:20] I never used drugs, alcohol.

[1:45:23] And this is the outcome of the bad system.

[1:45:27] And I have been trying

[1:45:29] to get out of 10th and Jennifer high rise.

[1:45:33] I ask the mayor to step out on the balcony

[1:45:36] of 10th and Jennifer. High rise.

[1:45:38] I shook his hand and I asked them from a sister

[1:45:42] to a cousin to get me out of harm's way,

[1:45:45] and he said I was a pussy rag.

[1:45:49] And this has been a long journey,

[1:45:52] and this has been a difficult journey

[1:45:54] to see me at 56 years old,

[1:45:58] with a devastation like this.

[1:46:00] I haven't looked like this

[1:46:01] since I was 19 when I was in abusive relationship.

[1:46:05] God bless you all

[1:46:07] and I want y'all to understand this is not over.

[1:46:15] Okay.

[1:46:16] Thank you.

[1:46:18] Andy Farber.

[1:46:21] Good afternoon.

[1:46:22] My name is Andy Faber.

[1:46:23] I use public transportation every day.

[1:46:26] A few years ago, while in grad school, working

[1:46:28] unpaid internships and racking up student debt,

[1:46:30] my car gave out on me.

[1:46:32] Because of this, I am entirely public transportation dependent.

[1:46:35] I currently live in Decatur

[1:46:37] and I work as a therapist in Kennesaw.

[1:46:39] This is a six hour commute round trip.

[1:46:41] I am quite familiar with public transportation in the greater

[1:46:45] metro Atlanta area, and I have some stories.

[1:46:48] My favorite one was taking the 15 to the Decatur station

[1:46:52] and getting stuck behind a train on the bus packed with people.

[1:46:56] We had moms with strollers, grocery clerks in uniform,

[1:47:00] students reading textbooks

[1:47:02] all running late and all stuck in a cramped bus.

[1:47:06] Instead of tempers rising, someone started singing

[1:47:09] Donna Summer's Bad Girls.

[1:47:10] You know, to to.

[1:47:13] Beep beep.

[1:47:14] Yeah, we all joined in singing in this

[1:47:18] very silly little human moment.

[1:47:20] And eventually the train passed and the bus started moving.

[1:47:24] It was a really great reminder

[1:47:25] that if the bus teachers anything,

[1:47:27] it is that we will get there when we get there.

[1:47:31] So let's get Beltline rail there.

[1:47:34] Public transportation connects us to each other.

[1:47:37] It connects us to our city, to our jobs, to our joy.

[1:47:41] The sooner Beltline rail is up and running, the sooner

[1:47:44] we can reap the benefits of a more united city.

[1:47:47] I am so grateful for this resolution

[1:47:49] and I am ready to see some follow through.

[1:47:51] I am ready for Beltline rail now.

[1:47:54] Thank you.

[1:47:56] Thank you.

[1:47:59] Stephen IMO

[1:48:02] Kelly Draper Deegan.

[1:48:05] Advice.

[1:48:06] You add value and I hope I didn't butcher that too bad.

[1:48:10] You have two minutes.

[1:48:12] Thank you.

[1:48:14] My name is Steve. An email. I'm currently a resident of Old Fourth Ward,

[1:48:15] but I've lived in both Lenox and Midtown.

[1:48:19] Where you live in Atlanta affects every part of your life.

[1:48:21] Not just what you have access to,

[1:48:23] but how stable your ability to get around is.

[1:48:26] My wife and I have only had one car since we moved to Atlanta,

[1:48:29] and that means

[1:48:31] that I've had to rely on public transit at times where that is very difficult.

[1:48:34] However, that inconvenience is shouldered mostly

[1:48:36] by the working poor in the city, and not nearly enough as often

[1:48:40] as people like me.

[1:48:43] But it doesn't have to be a hassle to use public transit.

[1:48:46] Major cities across this country

[1:48:49] and around the world have made it so convenient to ride transit that the wealthy opt to use it,

[1:48:53] making it a public good that everyone relies on,

[1:48:56] which is a goal that I believe at Lanta needs to take on.

[1:48:59] Part of how they accomplish that is that they continue

[1:49:02] to build more of it and maintain it.

[1:49:04] But when it comes to expanding public transit,

[1:49:07] the question is always, how could we possibly pay for that?

[1:49:13] When every paper published in every case study points

[1:49:16] to public transit investment being one of the largest drivers

[1:49:18] of economic equity and prosperity.

[1:49:21] How can we possibly afford not to pay for it?

[1:49:26] We have a generational transit project

[1:49:29] that could be started tomorrow

[1:49:31] and see its first riders within three years,

[1:49:33] if the mayor wanted to put his weight behind it.

[1:49:36] Delaying this further will choke the city in cars,

[1:49:38] and we have seen what building for the car looks like.

[1:49:40] It looks like our downtown right now, where some 25% of it

[1:49:44] is dedicated to parking.

[1:49:47] We are tired of being told that our city of 500,000 people

[1:49:49] cannot have what it needs and deserves,

[1:49:51] because a few rich donors and business owners

[1:49:53] believe that the city should cater

[1:49:55] first to their property values

[1:49:57] and last to the needs of the city.

[1:49:59] Get Atlanta back on track.

[1:50:01] Push this project forward.

[1:50:02] Build more Marta and build Beltline rail.

[1:50:05] Thank you. Thank you.

[1:50:10] Kelly Draper, you have two minutes.

[1:50:14] Hello. Thank you so much for bringing this resolution forward.

[1:50:17] Council member Bond and my council member

[1:50:20] Bakhtiari and everyone else who has done so.

[1:50:24] This resolution being voted on today

[1:50:25] in support of Beltline Rail gives me hope for Atlanta.

[1:50:28] And I urge you to vote yes.

[1:50:30] This long range vision is exactly

[1:50:32] what every generation needs.

[1:50:33] I learned about Ryan Gravel

[1:50:35] Beltline Vision soon after moving here 21 years ago.

[1:50:38] I saw it as key to Atlanta becoming an equitable,

[1:50:42] sustainable and great city where all could prosper.

[1:50:46] In fact, hope of Beltline rail coming to fruition

[1:50:48] actually kept my husband and I here

[1:50:49] when we considered moving out of state.

[1:50:52] We voted to increase our own tax burden to chip in

[1:50:54] toward the crucial long term goal.

[1:50:57] The mismanagement of funds we longtime

[1:50:59] Atlantans have been helping

[1:51:02] Marta save up for has been a big blow to our confidence in the city.

[1:51:06] But seeing this resolution to support rail in the Beltline

[1:51:08] has given us hope that Atlanta can make it right.

[1:51:11] We didn't vote for more, Marta,

[1:51:13] just so that more Atlantans could enjoy

[1:51:14] a blissful morning jog with a beautiful view.

[1:51:17] We didn't vote for more Marta, so that only those

[1:51:20] who are able to enjoy walking and biking everywhere

[1:51:22] could get more places safely.

[1:51:24] These things are important, but do not even come close to

[1:51:28] serving the needs of the most vulnerable people in the city.

[1:51:31] Not everyone can walk in the worsening heat, much less

[1:51:34] walk for and be on time,

[1:51:35] or walk far and be on time for work or an appointment.

[1:51:40] So everyone should write a bike, then write.

[1:51:43] What about people with disabilities, chronic health

[1:51:45] conditions, old age, or too many small children to pile onto?

[1:51:50] A bike

[1:51:51] rail is not antiquated.

[1:51:53] We didn't get rid of rail

[1:51:54] because it was no longer a good idea.

[1:51:57] We decided to build society

[1:51:58] around cars and the consequences of that.

[1:52:00] You hopefully already understand.

[1:52:04] Vote yes to get Atlanta back

[1:52:06] on track toward an equitable, sustainable future.

[1:52:09] Thank you.

[1:52:10] Thank you.

[1:52:14] Decant at.

[1:52:21] Hello. My name is Deegan and I'm a resident of Ponce Highland.

[1:52:24] I just wanted to share some thoughts on on support

[1:52:28] and of belt Iron Rail.

[1:52:30] Atlanta poisons itself to be a world class, global city.

[1:52:34] And one of the major crux of any such city

[1:52:37] would be to have robust public transit infrastructure.

[1:52:40] And it's disappointing

[1:52:41] that Atlanta has struggled with this for so long.

[1:52:45] It's very important that we get Beltline rail going.

[1:52:49] For the mere fact that it is

[1:52:51] a graded form of public transit that's high capacity

[1:52:55] in a city that's so plagued with the ills of car centrism.

[1:53:01] The goal of the city should be to reduce the amount of cars

[1:53:04] that are circulating around the city at all times.

[1:53:08] I mean, we've seen it in other parts of the world

[1:53:10] where this path just leads to a dense fog of,

[1:53:15] smog all over the city.

[1:53:17] I'm originally from Los Angeles myself, and I

[1:53:20] was a young child when the air in that city was terrible.

[1:53:24] It was just a perpetual haze,

[1:53:25] and I don't want to see that happen to Atlanta.

[1:53:28] So, I'm just resting my support for Beltline rail.

[1:53:32] I understand building the entire 22

[1:53:34] miles of rail will take a while, and,

[1:53:38] maybe I don't even get to write it,

[1:53:40] but that doesn't matter, because I think, a society grows great when old men.

[1:53:46] Plant trees under the shade.

[1:53:47] They may not sit. Thank you.

[1:53:49] Thank you.

[1:53:52] Our next three speakers,

[1:53:55] Kenneth Colvin, Hans Klein.

[1:53:59] Barn.

[1:54:00] Ivan.

[1:54:04] Irvan, Kenneth

[1:54:05] Colvin, you have two minutes.

[1:54:12] Madam president, council members and members of the public,

[1:54:14] thank you for allowing me to speak.

[1:54:16] I currently work at Martinsville Control Center before Atlanta.

[1:54:20] I worked in rail control center in DC.

[1:54:23] I had a full career in air traffic control.

[1:54:26] On speaking tonight in my personal capacity,

[1:54:28] not on behalf of Marta,

[1:54:29] because I believe Atlanta has reached an important moment.

[1:54:33] I want to start with the number 48,

[1:54:35] approximately 48 miles of heavy rail

[1:54:37] that is the backbone of the system we have today,

[1:54:40] an extraordinary investment by generations before us.

[1:54:43] But, Elena, today is not the Atlanta of 1979.

[1:54:47] Our population is larger.

[1:54:48] Our employment centers have changed, our suburbs have grown.

[1:54:51] Our economy has become regional.

[1:54:53] So ask you, can we build Atlanta

[1:54:56] the next 50 years on a transportation footprint designed for the last 50?

[1:54:59] I don't believe we can.

[1:55:01] That brings me to the Beltline.

[1:55:03] I strongly support moving forward the high capacity

[1:55:05] transit rail on the Beltline,

[1:55:06] but I believe the Beltline has to be about more

[1:55:10] than building another rail line.

[1:55:11] It has to be about building a regional network.

[1:55:14] For too long, we have looked at transportation

[1:55:17] through individual jurisdictions,

[1:55:18] individual projects and individual interests.

[1:55:21] But our residents do not live their lives that way.

[1:55:24] They cross city limits, they cross county lines.

[1:55:27] They travel to jobs, schools, hospitals, airports.

[1:55:29] They experience one region.

[1:55:31] So our transportation system

[1:55:33] should reflect the region we have become.

[1:55:35] Lana cannot do this alone.

[1:55:36] Our surrounding counties cannot do this alone.

[1:55:39] The economy doesn't stop at the city limits.

[1:55:41] Traffic doesn't stop the county line,

[1:55:43] and neither should our transportation.

[1:55:46] So we ask. The council will use the Beltline as a catalyst.

[1:55:47] Bring and build a transportation network,

[1:55:50] not a collection of projects that generations

[1:55:52] before us built the footprint of Atlanta.

[1:55:54] Now it's our turn to build the footprint of ours.

[1:55:56] Atlanta has the pieces. Now.

[1:55:58] We need the vision, the courage to connect them.

[1:56:00] Marta can be the backbone,

[1:56:01] the beltline can be the connector,

[1:56:03] and the region must become the network.

[1:56:05] Thank you. Thank you.

[1:56:10] Hans Klein, you have two minutes.

[1:56:15] Hello. My name is Hans Klein. I'm a professor at Georgia Tech School of Public Policy,

[1:56:17] and I serve as the president of Better Atlanta Transit.

[1:56:20] All Atlanta agrees

[1:56:22] that we should invest in transit, but we need to invest intelligently.

[1:56:25] We need to get the most mobility for the least cost.

[1:56:28] We need to promote equity,

[1:56:30] and we need to deploy transit on routes that serve demand.

[1:56:33] Rail on the Beltline does not do this.

[1:56:38] Beltline rail is not a good transit solution.

[1:56:42] The Beltline circumferential route does not serve demand.

[1:56:45] We need transit routes that criss cross the city.

[1:56:48] Rail technology is overly expensive.

[1:56:51] A better option is street based transit.

[1:56:53] Like bus rapid transit,

[1:56:55] the Beltline circumferential route is also not equitable.

[1:56:59] It does not reach outlying neighborhoods.

[1:57:02] Beltline rail would damage our wonderful linear park.

[1:57:06] It would compromise Atlanta's emerald necklace.

[1:57:10] In summary, yes,

[1:57:11] let's invest in transit, but let's do it intelligently.

[1:57:15] We need cost effective technology on appropriate

[1:57:18] routes. That's not beltline rail.

[1:57:21] And that went a lot faster than I expected.

[1:57:23] So I'll add one more thing.

[1:57:25] I'm concerned.

[1:57:26] I'm concerned that the current debate

[1:57:28] is distracting us from the real issue

[1:57:30] on the Beltline, and that is safety.

[1:57:32] People are getting seriously damaged and injured on the

[1:57:36] on on the Beltline right now because we're mixing high speed

[1:57:40] bicycles and and micromobility with pedestrian

[1:57:45] people walking around.

[1:57:46] We've got to separate these two modes of transport.

[1:57:49] We've got to separate heels and wheels.

[1:57:51] It's a matter of time before somebody gets killed.

[1:57:53] And when that happens, everybody sees it coming.

[1:57:57] The responsibility

[1:57:58] for that horrible event will be on the shoulders

[1:58:01] of this government and this city council

[1:58:03] and on Atlanta Beltline Inc..

[1:58:05] So safety is really what

[1:58:07] we should be talking about when it comes to the Beltline.

[1:58:09] Thank you very much,

[1:58:11] and I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you. Thank you.

[1:58:16] Barn.

[1:58:18] Ervin.

[1:58:23] Two minutes.

[1:58:24] Hello.

[1:58:25] My first time here.

[1:58:28] I've been here 40 years.

[1:58:29] I am an economist by

[1:58:32] training chartered accountant.

[1:58:34] But most importantly, I spent 21 years in the transit industry

[1:58:39] helping special needs transportation

[1:58:42] for 500 agencies across the nation.

[1:58:46] So I hate to be spoiled the party,

[1:58:50] but there's this thing called, costing and money.

[1:58:55] And if we are going to give transportation

[1:58:59] and transit to as many people as needed.

[1:59:02] We have to make sure that transportation on a per trip

[1:59:07] basis is within reasonable norms,

[1:59:11] a reasonable norm, rule of thumb, like,

[1:59:15] you know, going to a restaurant costs you $25

[1:59:18] or takeaway food is ten, or a t shirt is 12.

[1:59:23] When it comes to transit, a transit right generally

[1:59:27] rule of thumb is $10,

[1:59:30] of which a city should pay 30%,

[1:59:33] $3, $7,

[1:59:36] and the rider pays 30%, so the fare is 30%.

[1:59:41] City pays subsidize transportation.

[1:59:43] That is what transit is, is subsidized.

[1:59:46] Transportation is phenomenal.

[1:59:48] It changes people's lives and the lives of the person

[1:59:53] that it changes. When you say, what do you think of transportation?

[1:59:56] I would say, yeah, a

[2:00:00] single woman who comes home after work has three children,

[2:00:04] three miles to the next,

[2:00:08] supermarket.

[2:00:09] And, she needs it, right?

[2:00:12] She can't go and get fresh food.

[2:00:14] I have a lot of sense that I've written out here.

[2:00:17] Actually, not a lot. One page.

[2:00:19] And I very much like to leave it behind with you in order to,

[2:00:25] have further discussions.

[2:00:26] But please look at cost.

[2:00:28] What is the cost of the right

[2:00:29] and what is the cost that the fair pays?

[2:00:33] Thank you. Councilmember Bakhtiari is coming to grab those from you.

[2:00:37] Okay. Our next three speakers.

[2:00:42] Jay Miller,

[2:00:43] Chris, Donda, Dada, and y'all.

[2:00:47] Agathon,

[2:00:49] you each have two minutes.

[2:00:52] Jay Miller two minutes.

[2:00:54] Thank you.

[2:00:54] Good afternoon.

[2:00:56] Yes, I support public transit, but

[2:00:58] has has already been said smart public transit.

[2:01:02] Not just any public transit.

[2:01:04] This 3 to 4 to perhaps $5 billion proposal

[2:01:10] of having rail around the Beltline goes in a circle.

[2:01:14] There's no indication that that's going to reduce

[2:01:17] the transit issues.

[2:01:18] We have people who are out in the suburbs.

[2:01:21] They're not going to

[2:01:23] get into town somehow and then take a circular track.

[2:01:27] People who are going through town are not going to take this.

[2:01:30] People who are going to get their groceries,

[2:01:32] for the most part, aren't going to go around in a circle

[2:01:36] to procure what they need to have.

[2:01:39] There are issues with people who are physically disadvantaged

[2:01:44] or otherwise, and we need to address those concerns, but we can do so

[2:01:48] with customized vehicles, shuttle vehicles and so forth

[2:01:51] that get people from point A to point B

[2:01:54] without going around in a circle and endangering the Beltline

[2:01:58] as it is now, as it's already been pointed out.

[2:02:02] All you have to do is go to the Beltline on any weekend day.

[2:02:06] Nice day and you will see numerous mishaps

[2:02:09] or near mishaps that occur all the time.

[2:02:12] You had rail right next to it with a fence.

[2:02:15] Since you're hemming these people in

[2:02:18] and there's going to be a tragedy at some point, there's

[2:02:20] already been serious injuries, so that needs to be addressed.

[2:02:23] We should look to the future, not to pass for solutions.

[2:02:29] What are those? What's being done at Hartsfield-Jackson?

[2:02:31] What's being done in the Cumberland district?

[2:02:33] There are already experimented with shuttles.

[2:02:36] They're heavily trafficked areas.

[2:02:38] We as I said, we need to address these separate paths to

[2:02:43] enhance safety. Finally, let's look at who's going to be paying for this.

[2:02:46] We're looking at Siemens or HDR, or what DSA would call fat

[2:02:51] cat corporations who are going to build this rail

[2:02:54] and they're going to make a profit.

[2:02:57] Who's going to pay? It's going to be the Atlanta citizens. Thank you.

[2:03:02] Thank you

[2:03:03] Chris Dada.

[2:03:07] You have two minutes.

[2:03:12] Good afternoon,

[2:03:12] honorable council members.

[2:03:15] I am here to tell you that proposals to study

[2:03:19] and implement streetcars on the Beltline are absurd.

[2:03:23] Suppliers of mass transit should have done their homework

[2:03:27] to get Atlanta business

[2:03:29] expecting the city to pay for studies as ludicrous

[2:03:33] in private industries like automotive,

[2:03:38] suppliers do their own R&D and their own

[2:03:42] proposals and expenses.

[2:03:47] As good stewards of taxpayer

[2:03:49] dollars, I would expect that you would

[2:03:51] make the right choices

[2:03:52] for mass transit for our great city of Atlanta.

[2:03:55] My research and humble opinion streetcars are the

[2:03:59] most ineffective, inefficient means of mass transit.

[2:04:03] I have seen data that the cost per passenger mile

[2:04:07] runs between $24 a mile

[2:04:11] to $98 a passenger mile.

[2:04:14] That's an order of magnitude greater

[2:04:16] than other means of mass transit.

[2:04:19] Moreover, there's no feasible way to build rail

[2:04:23] all around the Beltline.

[2:04:24] It's impossible to go past Ponce Krog

[2:04:29] north of Piedmont Park or South Memorial Drive,

[2:04:32] just to name a few of the literal,

[2:04:35] physical roadblocks that exist to putting streetcars up.

[2:04:41] I belong as stewards of taxpayer dollars.

[2:04:44] I would expect you to make the right choices for mass transit.

[2:04:49] I belong to an organization called Bat Better

[2:04:52] Atlanta Transit, which looks for ways to improve

[2:04:55] our city's public transit system.

[2:04:58] Thank you for your attention.

[2:05:01] Thank you.

[2:05:02] Next speaker y'all I

[2:05:06] g pong.

[2:05:08] Please pronounce your name.

[2:05:12] I got it. All right, so hello and good afternoon.

[2:05:14] My name is Yao, and I live about, like,

[2:05:16] a six minute bike ride from here near Grand Park.

[2:05:19] And today, I want to attempt to make

[2:05:21] a simple economic argument in support of Beltline rail.

[2:05:25] I believe if you want to see Atlanta grow,

[2:05:28] if you want to expand the tax base of of the city,

[2:05:31] then we must build public transit.

[2:05:35] Cars. Autonomous or not, are not a mass transit solution.

[2:05:38] Cars do not scale.

[2:05:40] I would go as far as to say that car dependency is

[2:05:43] what's choking Alina's growth.

[2:05:47] Let's use

[2:05:48] New York City as an example, right?

[2:05:51] If New York City was as car as Atlanta,

[2:05:53] they would have had to demolish half the city

[2:05:55] just to build all the

[2:05:56] the streets, the highways and the parking for it all.

[2:05:59] Imagine ten lanes of traffic

[2:06:01] coming right through the middle of your city.

[2:06:03] That would be kind of crazy, right?

[2:06:06] The space we dedicate to

[2:06:07] cars could instead be dedicated to housing and businesses.

[2:06:11] Roads don't pay property taxes.

[2:06:12] People do.

[2:06:14] Small businesses thrive more,

[2:06:15] more when there is consistent foot traffic.

[2:06:18] We need alternatives to cars in traffic.

[2:06:20] We need expanded public transit.

[2:06:22] We can start with public.

[2:06:23] We start with Beltline rail.

[2:06:25] Before we paid into a V, a more martyr, right?

[2:06:29] With that said, thank you to the council members

[2:06:31] who've already signed on for this resolution.

[2:06:33] And thank you for your time.

[2:06:39] Thank you.

[2:06:42] Our next three speakers, Megan Gordon,

[2:06:45] Jonathan O'Brien, and Paul Susanna.

[2:06:54] Megan Gordon.

[2:06:56] You have two minutes.

[2:07:02] My apologies.

[2:07:05] Good afternoon.

[2:07:06] My name is Megan Gordon,

[2:07:07] and I'm the policy director at Care Georgia,

[2:07:09] the state chapter of the nation's largest

[2:07:11] Muslim civil rights organization.

[2:07:13] We provide free legal support to Muslims

[2:07:15] facing religious discrimination

[2:07:16] and advocate for policies that support Georgia muslims.

[2:07:20] I'm here today to share my appreciation

[2:07:22] for the City Council's recent introduction

[2:07:23] of community control over police surveillance,

[2:07:26] and to share how important this is to Atlanta muslims.

[2:07:29] To understand exactly how important, though,

[2:07:31] you must understand

[2:07:33] the unique Muslim experience of state surveillance.

[2:07:36] Ever since nine over 11,

[2:07:37] all Muslims have been viewed a suspect.

[2:07:40] The federal government began spying on mosques, tracking

[2:07:43] who was part of the faith community

[2:07:44] and questioning them about their theology.

[2:07:46] Since President Trump returned to office,

[2:07:49] the federal government has used everything in its power

[2:07:52] to punish people who protest the genocide in Palestine.

[2:07:56] At a time when the government is abusing its power

[2:07:58] by targeting individuals with opposing views,

[2:08:00] a black box of technology allowing authorities to identify

[2:08:03] and track us across city streets is terrifying.

[2:08:07] The federal government began by saying it would only

[2:08:09] spy on terrorists,

[2:08:10] and the city says that it will only spy on criminals.

[2:08:13] But what we have learned is that these definitions

[2:08:15] can stretch over time to include disfavored groups.

[2:08:19] Experience warns us to be extremely skeptical,

[2:08:22] which is why we are so excited about

[2:08:24] see cops and the opportunity to have information

[2:08:26] about these technologies and input into how they're used.

[2:08:30] If the city wants to use surveillance technology,

[2:08:32] all we ask is that you give us

[2:08:34] the information necessary to understand how it works,

[2:08:37] that you trust us.

[2:08:39] Lanterns to assess the pros and cons,

[2:08:41] and to make an informed decision

[2:08:42] about what we can support and to allow us to have input.

[2:08:46] Thank you so much for C cops for addressing this urgent

[2:08:49] and relatively new issue and technology and in city life.

[2:08:53] Let's get it done.

[2:08:54] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[2:08:57] Jonathan O'Brien.

[2:08:58] You have two minutes.

[2:09:06] Good afternoon.

[2:09:07] In September 2024, my now wife,

[2:09:10] and I bought a house in the Washington Park area,

[2:09:13] and we was hoping to hoping it would be our forever home for,

[2:09:17] you know, ourselves and our now growing family.

[2:09:19] We just had a baby, but currently,

[2:09:21] there's an abandoned house next door to us that has weeds

[2:09:25] so high that you can barely see the front of the house.

[2:09:29] And there's like, literally piles of trash in the backyard.

[2:09:33] And with the baby.

[2:09:35] I don't want my kid growing up next door to trash.

[2:09:38] And you all wouldn't either.

[2:09:40] We've contacted code enforcement.

[2:09:43] We've been emailing back and forth for the last two years.

[2:09:47] They've taken the homeowner to court.

[2:09:49] He ever fails to appear or just pays out a simple fine.

[2:09:54] And at this point, like, we're just asking for enforcement.

[2:09:58] Like we don't care that they're squatters in the house.

[2:10:03] They don't bother us.

[2:10:03] We don't bother them.

[2:10:05] Everyone should be housed.

[2:10:06] Who cares about that?

[2:10:08] We care about the trash.

[2:10:09] We care about the upkeep.

[2:10:11] Like on our street, we have brand new sidewalks installed.

[2:10:17] Great. Y'all just installed sidewalks in front of an abandoned house.

[2:10:21] With that you can barely see and like,

[2:10:25] can I show you all the pictures

[2:10:26] of the house like that I just took this morning

[2:10:30] so y'all can see the piles of trash and the weeds as tall as those flags.

[2:10:36] Yes. No.

[2:10:36] Maybe so. Okay. Who cares.

[2:10:39] But also like since I'm here we should definitely expand

[2:10:43] like Beltline rail and we should expand Marta.

[2:10:45] Like why is that a question.

[2:10:48] Like,

[2:10:50] I don't know if you all have ever been to Barcelona,

[2:10:52] but in Barcelona

[2:10:53] you can literally get anywhere in the city on train.

[2:10:58] They have rail built out everywhere except like by mentioning ruins.

[2:11:01] And Mexico City

[2:11:02] has the second largest rail network in North America.

[2:11:05] Why don't we?

[2:11:09] Thank you.

[2:11:11] So, so so can I show some of these pictures?

[2:11:14] Oh, sorry.

[2:11:15] I'm sorry. Your time is up. All right. Cool.

[2:11:17] Can I show some of these pictures?

[2:11:19] Sir, someone from my office is on the way to see you.

[2:11:22] Thank you. They'll meet you.

[2:11:24] Paul.

[2:11:25] Chill. Sano,

[2:11:27] please pronounce your last name.

[2:11:28] My name is Paul. Okay.

[2:11:31] I'm here to speak in support of resolution

[2:11:34] 26 R 3999,

[2:11:38] calling on support for light rail transit along

[2:11:42] the full 22 miles of the Atlanta Beltline corridor.

[2:11:46] Just a couple of points I want to make.

[2:11:49] I think we can all agree everyone in the city can agree

[2:11:53] that Atlanta would be a better city if we had fewer cars.

[2:11:58] Atlanta would be a better city if we had fewer cars.

[2:12:02] When I moved to Atlanta in 2014,

[2:12:05] there was a lot of discussion about the Atlanta Beltline.

[2:12:09] Some people were for it

[2:12:12] and some people were opposed to it.

[2:12:15] However, once 1 or 2 segments of the walking

[2:12:19] trail were built, a lot of opinions changed.

[2:12:22] A lot of people saw it and says, hey, I like that.

[2:12:25] I want that in my neighborhood.

[2:12:27] I believe light rail on the Beltline will be the same way.

[2:12:32] Right now, some people are for it.

[2:12:34] Some people are against it.

[2:12:35] But I honestly believe once we build a little bit of it

[2:12:39] and people see it, they're going to say,

[2:12:41] I want that in my neighborhood.

[2:12:43] I want it now.

[2:12:44] So I urge you to vote for this resolution.

[2:12:48] Thank you.

[2:12:51] Thank you.

[2:12:52] Our next three speakers, K and Paris.

[2:12:56] Marcus. Lamar. Emmett. Lump.

[2:12:59] You each have two minutes.

[2:13:01] Please come forward.

[2:13:05] Hello?

[2:13:06] K and Paris.

[2:13:08] I'm a resident of district 12, Antonio Lewis's district.

[2:13:12] I've been there for the past eight years.

[2:13:14] I was in district five before.

[2:13:17] For five years.

[2:13:17] I went to college at Emory.

[2:13:20] And graduate school at Emory as well.

[2:13:23] I'm here because I believe there are matters

[2:13:26] involving the city of Atlanta that deserve greater oversight.

[2:13:29] I also had a joke.

[2:13:30] I'm also a proud city of Atlanta water bill payer,

[2:13:33] unlike many of the corporations that are anti beltline rail.

[2:13:36] So, one concern around the contracts

[2:13:41] that are given out around the Beltline,

[2:13:43] specifically the spoke bus trolley.

[2:13:45] The city has given $3 million of our dollars to the pilot,

[2:13:49] which ended up costing about $180 per rider

[2:13:52] because no one takes it.

[2:13:53] It averages about one and a half riders per day,

[2:13:56] and the low ridership is

[2:13:57] because it doesn't go along the Beltline.

[2:14:00] I'm also concerned that

[2:14:03] there is a push for expanding tags when the money has not been

[2:14:07] spent appropriately. From the 2016 infrastructure and rail initiatives

[2:14:10] that the city approved overwhelmingly.

[2:14:13] Rail is one of the safest modes of transportation.

[2:14:15] Two years ago.

[2:14:19] Fatal car crashes surpassed homicides in the city of Atlanta, and

[2:14:22] I wanted to have Beltline rail to keep Atlanta safe.

[2:14:27] A recent report estimates that the Beltline generated

[2:14:29] 23 billion in economic output for Atlanta,

[2:14:32] with 31 million in tax revenue for the city

[2:14:34] and over 100 million to the state of Georgia.

[2:14:37] Last year, rail would bring even more money.

[2:14:40] Ryan Bell's 1996 thesis for the Beltline

[2:14:43] was for rail in an updated evolution in 2005.

[2:14:48] He specifically said the Beltline

[2:14:49] thesis was focused on transit

[2:14:51] as an infrastructure tool designed to encourage

[2:14:53] economic development in town neighborhoods.

[2:14:57] While transit remains the key

[2:14:58] ingredient to the project has continued to evolve

[2:15:01] and now includes a significant and exciting new component.

[2:15:05] Parks and trail.

[2:15:08] Thanks. Thank you.

[2:15:11] Our next speaker is Lamar Marcus.

[2:15:14] Lamar, you have two minutes.

[2:15:25] Good to see you.

[2:15:27] Council president, members of the council and the people of Atlanta.

[2:15:31] I said before and I said again, Elena, water

[2:15:34] crisis is not the only it's not about old pipes.

[2:15:37] It's about old systems.

[2:15:39] Systems that allow billing errors,

[2:15:42] mis coding of accounts, weak enforcements,

[2:15:46] and slow response to problems in the fields.

[2:15:49] And when employee raised concerns

[2:15:51] about safeties and operations and accountabilities,

[2:15:54] those complaints cannot get stuck between departments

[2:15:58] and the mayor's office.

[2:16:00] This is how small problems become citywide failures.

[2:16:04] So here's where I'm calling for you as a council to do.

[2:16:08] Number one is to have one

[2:16:11] reconcile number and a public dashboard.

[2:16:14] The council and the public deserve a single audit

[2:16:19] deficiency figure and an agency schedule

[2:16:22] and a quarterly performance metric collection disputes,

[2:16:26] resolution and time and write offs.

[2:16:28] Number two fairness with enforcement.

[2:16:31] Protect hardship.

[2:16:33] Households with structured payment plans.

[2:16:35] Target assistance but enforce collection

[2:16:38] on large commercial and institutional accounts

[2:16:41] and stop classification errors that distort accountabilities.

[2:16:46] And number three a repair and response standards

[2:16:49] that the public can see published the

[2:16:53] the backlog as published response times and report on

[2:16:58] and weekly reports and work open versus work completed.

[2:17:02] This is not about blaming workers.

[2:17:04] This is not about leadership.

[2:17:06] It is about building a city that can account

[2:17:08] for every dollar and every mile of pipe.

[2:17:11] Because every dollar we fail to collect, and every week

[2:17:15] and every week we fail to fix becomes

[2:17:17] becomes a cost to the resident that pays.

[2:17:20] Later, I'm back to partner with the people of Lanta

[2:17:24] and and be a watchdog for results.

[2:17:27] If we can measure it, we can manage it.

[2:17:30] If we can manage it. Thank you.

[2:17:32] We can fix it. And I'm back for a higher seat, George, and we will fix it.

[2:17:35] Thank you.

[2:17:37] And can you guys claim this?

[2:17:38] Next speaker is emit lamp

[2:17:42] or loop.

[2:17:48] Hi, my name is Emmett Lumpy.

[2:17:50] I live in Capital View.

[2:17:52] I work in the power industry and I'm here to talk

[2:17:53] about data centers again.

[2:17:55] As you might be aware, the Georgia Public Service

[2:17:58] Commission unanimously approved Georgia Power's

[2:18:00] plan to add 9.9GW of new generation capacity,

[2:18:03] this primarily to meet the projected demands

[2:18:07] of the data centers. And I want to emphasize that that is projected,

[2:18:10] not actually approved.

[2:18:11] There's no,

[2:18:12] much of it is not being backed by fully executed contracts.

[2:18:16] The construction of this generation

[2:18:17] expansion is estimated at $16.5 billion.

[2:18:22] We know who's going to be paying for that.

[2:18:24] But as part of the agreement,

[2:18:25] the PSC included some stipulations for Georgia Power,

[2:18:29] such as allocating significant costs for the portfolio

[2:18:31] portfolio to the large load customers in its next

[2:18:35] base rate change,

[2:18:38] sufficient to ensure incremental revenue from the large load

[2:18:41] customers has downward pressure of at least eight

[2:18:43] and a half dollars per month to the typical resident.

[2:18:47] Starting in 2029.

[2:18:50] So basically we'll be paying for the upfront cost

[2:18:53] and then maybe see some benefit from it in 2029.

[2:18:57] If all of the data center demand materializes.

[2:19:02] I understand that many aspects of this,

[2:19:04] of the financial aspects of the data center conversation

[2:19:08] are out of the control of the Atlantic City Council,

[2:19:11] such as the sales tax exemption that the state provided.

[2:19:14] That is going to cost us about $2.5 billion

[2:19:17] worth of revenue in 2026 and 3,000,000,000 in 2027.

[2:19:21] But there are some things that you guys can do.

[2:19:24] For example, Fulton County recently changed their appraisal methods

[2:19:26] for data centers, and that will generate about $87

[2:19:28] million worth of revenue.

[2:19:29] Virginia was able to claw back

[2:19:31] $600 million in 2026 with an electricity consumption tax.

[2:19:35] Similar taxes could be implemented here

[2:19:37] at a local level for high volume

[2:19:39] electricity and water consumption.

[2:19:41] Regardless of what the mayor comes back with

[2:19:43] and his data center strategy.

[2:19:44] I think that the city council needs to be proactive

[2:19:46] about this stuff and start putti

[2:19:52] Thank you.

[2:19:54] Next we speakers Dan Phillips, Sheila.

[2:19:57] Louder.

[2:19:58] Mikayla.

[2:20:00] Harvey, you each have two minutes.

[2:20:01] Please come forward.

[2:20:04] Dan Phillips two minutes.

[2:20:12] Good afternoon, city council.

[2:20:14] My name is and I am a Georgia Tech student.

[2:20:17] Excuse me, is Dan Phillips not here?

[2:20:21] My apologies.

[2:20:23] Okay, just one second.

[2:20:24] So he's not here.

[2:20:25] What about Sheila? Louder.

[2:20:29] Okay. She.

[2:20:30] Louder is number 48.

[2:20:32] She would need to go next.

[2:20:37] And we will see you directly after.

[2:20:39] Mashallah.

[2:20:42] To council.

[2:20:43] I'm here again. Sheila. Louder.

[2:20:47] Yes, again. After appearing at your council meeting a few weeks ago

[2:20:51] about the incompetence of Sharon Johnson, an investigator

[2:20:54] in the city's law department.

[2:20:57] Thank you, Councilwoman

[2:20:58] President Overstreet, for trying to get me assistance

[2:21:03] with resolving the issue of my son's car being damaged by a city forestry

[2:21:06] truck while he was at work on City of Atlanta property.

[2:21:10] And thank you, Councilman Bond, for attentively and I say

[2:21:15] attentively, listening to each speaker, unlike some on this

[2:21:21] council.

[2:21:22] While the Beltline transit is important.

[2:21:25] Why can't my son, as a black man get his car claim resolved

[2:21:30] after seven months?

[2:21:31] Sharon Johnson can't be a paid employee.

[2:21:34] And I repeat, she can't be a paid employee.

[2:21:37] She must be a volunteer.

[2:21:39] She is slow to return calls

[2:21:41] and follow up on her claims in writing or telephone.

[2:21:45] She does, however, make my son aware when they do speak, that

[2:21:49] the claim will be depreciated because of the age of his car.

[2:21:54] My son has been unable

[2:21:56] to get the process and procedures for processing

[2:21:59] claims, only to be told to go to the city's website.

[2:22:03] Really Sharon, why can't this be mailed or email

[2:22:08] when it is asked for?

[2:22:12] Instead?

[2:22:14] Valuable time has been wasted by my son

[2:22:17] and I paying parking fees

[2:22:19] and using gas to come down here and speak before you.

[2:22:23] Fortunately, today

[2:22:24] I spoke in person with Miss Raphael Johnson,

[2:22:27] who tried to give me assistance and I thank her for that.

[2:22:31] Will my son claim be resolved before the Beltline is built?

[2:22:35] Thank you.

[2:22:42] Michelle. Harvey, you have two minutes.

[2:22:44] I apologize for the rush.

[2:22:46] Start to reintroduce myself.

[2:22:48] My name is Michelle Hart, and I am.

[2:22:50] And I am a Georgia Tech student.

[2:22:51] I am come in support of the Police

[2:22:53] Transparency Ordinance by Council member Dozier.

[2:22:56] Being a Georgia Tech

[2:22:57] Yellow Jacket has made me prideful

[2:22:58] to be a proud resident of the city of Atlanta.

[2:23:01] But today I won't be using my speaking

[2:23:03] time to talk about myself,

[2:23:04] but about a fellow student, Kayden Chow.

[2:23:06] Kayden Chow is a freshman at Georgia Tech

[2:23:09] that is studying computer science.

[2:23:10] Caden is part of the test and math club on campus,

[2:23:13] and Caden, just like the rest of the students on campus, are

[2:23:18] and kind. And exactly one week ago, Caden had gone missing

[2:23:20] and it took nearly 72 hours to locate him safely.

[2:23:24] It took him three days, 20

[2:23:25] 4:00 cameras on campus, and a police department

[2:23:29] managing a city with the greatest number of security cameras

[2:23:31] in the entire country to find Caden.

[2:23:33] And while I admire the hard work and coordination

[2:23:36] of the Georgia Tech in Atlanta Police Department,

[2:23:38] I see, agree and echo

[2:23:40] the concerns of the still rising

[2:23:41] numbers of technology across the city,

[2:23:43] each flawed camera able to record people's faces,

[2:23:46] cars, and able to coordinate data in certain organizations

[2:23:50] with loose privacy regulations and able to congregate and

[2:23:54] redeem private, all without our permission and spite it all.

[2:23:57] It did not speed up the search for Caden.

[2:23:59] And while we wait for an explanation

[2:24:01] for why this search of a system of high tech cameras

[2:24:05] were not able to increase the speed of the search,

[2:24:07] I see headlines of how these cameras are being used.

[2:24:09] Otherwise, Georgia police officers

[2:24:12] would rather spend their precious time

[2:24:13] stalking their ex-girlfriends and chasing

[2:24:15] in personal fights on tax dollars we are funding.

[2:24:18] So that's why I'm in support

[2:24:19] of the community control over police surveillance.

[2:24:22] Sea cops initiative, introduced today in the city,

[2:24:25] is serving to its people

[2:24:26] to listen to the concerns of the public and build

[2:24:28] trust that the APD is not abusing

[2:24:30] Master Valence technology that we, the Residents fund.

[2:24:33] If AP truly echoes their model in creating a faster

[2:24:37] and safer city. The app must involve communities, needs and opinions

[2:24:39] when it comes to making the city safe. Thank you.

[2:24:45] Thank you.

[2:24:48] Our next three speakers Rachel, Janet,

[2:24:52] Carol.

[2:24:52] Kane, Kelly.

[2:24:55] You each have two minutes.

[2:24:58] Rachel. Janet

[2:25:01] two minutes.

[2:25:02] Good afternoon. Members of the City Council.

[2:25:04] My name is Rachel Young

[2:25:05] and I am a fourth year student at Emory University.

[2:25:08] I'm here today to emphasize the importance of a community

[2:25:11] input provision in ordinance 2601401.

[2:25:15] While the legislation is a much needed step

[2:25:17] forward in cementing

[2:25:18] surveillance technology safeguards into city law.

[2:25:21] Citizen engagement a core component of a well

[2:25:24] functioning democracy, must be properly incorporated

[2:25:27] despite Atlanta's expansive flock network.

[2:25:30] We, the ordinary residents, the various subjects

[2:25:32] of mass surveillance, currently have no say

[2:25:35] in how these cameras are being used.

[2:25:38] In order to prevent these powerful technologies

[2:25:39] from being misused, infringe upon our rights and privacy.

[2:25:42] Public oversight in the form of the opportunity

[2:25:45] to meaningfully participate at public hearings

[2:25:47] before surveillance technologies are employed

[2:25:50] and proper authorization from our elected officials

[2:25:53] should be codified into city law.

[2:25:55] This ensures community input remains lasting

[2:25:58] and is not subject to removal

[2:25:59] from by future administration changes.

[2:26:02] I'd like to draw on my personal background for a second.

[2:26:06] My parents grew up in mainland China, where surveillance technology

[2:26:08] spanned every corner of the country,

[2:26:10] and citizens aren't provided a say in their implementation.

[2:26:13] And growing up with this awareness

[2:26:15] has taught me the importance of laying down

[2:26:17] fundamental democratic safeguards around technology.

[2:26:21] I'm urging that the important decisions

[2:26:23] impacting all of us not be made unilaterally behind

[2:26:27] closed doors. As you consider this ordinance, I ask that you give Atlanta's

[2:26:30] residents a permanent seat at the table

[2:26:32] in making decisions about

[2:26:34] the surveillance technology being deployed in our city.

[2:26:36] Thank you.

[2:26:39] Thank you.

[2:26:41] Carol Kane, you have two minutes.

[2:26:47] Beltline rail may fit in well in areas

[2:26:50] that have not fully been developed

[2:26:51] or are not easily accessible by Marta, but it's not a one size

[2:26:55] fits all project for an area like the East Side Trail.

[2:26:58] Could be a death sentence.

[2:26:59] The area has

[2:27:00] already been heavily developed,

[2:27:02] and there's very little room for a rail system,

[2:27:04] especially under the Highland Bridge.

[2:27:06] I've lived there for 38 years

[2:27:08] and have seen the proposed area flood every time it rains.

[2:27:11] There's actually a creek where the rails would be built.

[2:27:14] This means that area would have to be dug out,

[2:27:16] drainage pipes installed,

[2:27:18] and green space in front of homes destroyed.

[2:27:20] In typical Atlanta fashion, this will probably take years.

[2:27:23] While businesses and residential homes

[2:27:25] are negatively impacted as they were

[2:27:27] during the streetcars construction.

[2:27:29] Years of heavy construction to force rail in what is serves

[2:27:33] as a green space for pedestrians and cyclists could destroy

[2:27:36] what has already taken years to build.

[2:27:39] What really needs to happen is an expansion

[2:27:41] of the existing trails that pedestrians

[2:27:43] are not being run over by e-bikes and scooters,

[2:27:46] especially in the segment between

[2:27:48] Krog Street and Pond City Market.

[2:27:50] The terrain of this area

[2:27:51] presents challenges that autonomous vehicles

[2:27:55] may better support. I'm not sure how you would take rail through the Krog Tunnel.

[2:27:58] Join it several blocks through Cabbagetown.

[2:28:01] Perhaps a Marta station in the old CSX

[2:28:03] yard would be a possibility to connect that area.

[2:28:06] Then there's the question is who's going to maintain it?

[2:28:09] Is it going to be better maintained than Marta,

[2:28:11] or is it going to become a filthy,

[2:28:12] urine smelling train that nobody wants to ride?

[2:28:15] Are people going to ride it?

[2:28:16] More people are going to ride it

[2:28:17] than the seemingly always empty streetcar.

[2:28:20] Knowing the area well, I would say

[2:28:21] keep the vibrant park setting

[2:28:23] that is working on the East Side Trail.

[2:28:25] Allow pedestrians and cyclists to have one area to enjoy

[2:28:28] without a train right on top of them.

[2:28:30] Build beltline rail in the areas that still have room for it,

[2:28:33] that truly benefit for it, and connect it

[2:28:35] with autonomous vehicles where that makes sense.

[2:28:38] Thank you.

[2:28:41] Thank you.

[2:28:46] Kelly.

[2:28:54] Okay, not seeing Kelly,

[2:28:56] we're going to move on to our next three.

[2:28:58] Andrew

[2:28:59] Damian Harper and Kevin Cryan, you each have two minutes.

[2:29:04] You can come forward.

[2:29:11] Good afternoon.

[2:29:12] My name is Andrew.

[2:29:14] I'm an Atlanta resident and a student at Georgia Tech.

[2:29:18] I'm here to support community control over

[2:29:20] police surveillance.

[2:29:23] We all know that AI surveillance

[2:29:25] is being used by abusers to harass women.

[2:29:28] We know it is being used to attack immigrants.

[2:29:30] Monitor women seeking reproductive care.

[2:29:33] Punish people for speaking out in protests,

[2:29:36] and that community members

[2:29:37] have no say in how this technology is being used,

[2:29:40] or who can access the data they collect.

[2:29:45] Atlanta residents need to have a guaranteed right to weigh in before the city

[2:29:48] signed surveillance contracts that affect us all.

[2:29:50] These decisions have no right

[2:29:52] to be made behind closed doors without a public vote.

[2:29:55] Not when it is actively harming our communities.

[2:29:58] I'm with Georgia Tech Students for Democratic Society,

[2:30:01] and we're giving a tour of all the flock

[2:30:03] cameras on campus on Wednesday, October 7th.

[2:30:07] Come out if you want to learn more about mass

[2:30:09] surveillance technology and how it harms all of us.

[2:30:12] And also as a city planning student,

[2:30:14] I can't go without saying build Beltline rail already.

[2:30:22] Thank you.

[2:30:24] Damian Harper.

[2:30:29] Have two minutes.

[2:30:33] Thank you, council members.

[2:30:34] And I'd also like to especially thank,

[2:30:38] Kelsey Bond, Jason Dozier and Liliana Bakhtiari

[2:30:41] for their commitment to making this city

[2:30:45] more safer for pedestrians and also for the focus

[2:30:48] on our poverty issues within the city.

[2:30:52] What I'm speaking about today is going to be the proposed sale

[2:30:55] of the Atlanta City Detention Center to Fulton County.

[2:30:59] I want to begin with the principal.

[2:31:01] The people with the least power should have

[2:31:03] the strongest institutional protections.

[2:31:05] That principle matters most inside a detention system,

[2:31:09] because the people affected by its decisions often

[2:31:12] have the least ability to influence them.

[2:31:16] Atlanta has spent years reimagining AC, DC.

[2:31:20] The center for Diversion and Services now operates

[2:31:23] within the facility, providing an alternative to jail

[2:31:26] for people experiencing mental health issues, substance abuse,

[2:31:29] abuse, homelessness and extreme poverty.

[2:31:33] The proposed sale already preserves space for that center

[2:31:37] and allows Atlanta's municipal detainees to continue being housed at AC, DC.

[2:31:41] So I'm not asking for the council

[2:31:43] to pretend those protections don't exist.

[2:31:45] I'm asking what more can we preserve

[2:31:48] before we transfer this institution?

[2:31:51] Fulton County has identified a need for this facility

[2:31:55] that gives Atlanta

[2:31:56] an opportunity to negotiate the terms of the transfer.

[2:31:59] Use that opportunity.

[2:32:01] Establish measurable standards for length of stay,

[2:32:04] use of force deaths and serious medical incidents,

[2:32:07] mental health and substance

[2:32:09] abuse, substance use, treatment, diversion, rehabilitation,

[2:32:13] and connections to housing and employment that make those results public.

[2:32:16] I'm not asking for Atlanta

[2:32:18] to dictate the sheriff's lawful authority.

[2:32:20] I'm asking the city attorney and the administration

[2:32:22] to determine what additional protections

[2:32:24] can legally be incorporated into the sale

[2:32:26] and intergovernmental agreements before

[2:32:28] this transaction is finalized.

[2:32:30] Because $68 million is the price of the property.

[2:32:34] It should not automatically be the price of Atlanta's future influence.

[2:32:38] Thank you.

[2:32:41] Kevin Kline, you have two minutes.

[2:32:48] Good afternoon, fellow citizens

[2:32:49] and members of the City Council.

[2:32:51] My name is Kevin Judith Criner.

[2:32:52] I live in Midtown district three,

[2:32:54] and as a African-American student

[2:32:56] studying at Georgia Tech,

[2:32:57] I walk, scooter and drive through our city

[2:32:59] almost every single day under the shadow

[2:33:02] of persistent digital monitoring.

[2:33:05] We are often told that automatic license plate readers are a PR like.

[2:33:09] Cameras exist to keep us safe.

[2:33:11] But this safety, built on some automated, unfettered

[2:33:13] dragnet surveillance is neither safe nor just.

[2:33:16] To keep this brief, I only have two points.

[2:33:18] First, the technology is fundamentally

[2:33:20] ineffective at addressing the root causes of harm.

[2:33:22] Independent civil liberties research from the ACLU

[2:33:25] and Electronic Frontier Foundation

[2:33:28] shows that well under 1% of scans are linked to criminal activity, hot lists,

[2:33:30] or any criminal investigation at all.

[2:33:32] Instead of solving violent crimes,

[2:33:34] these systems track millions of innocent people

[2:33:36] going about their private routines,

[2:33:37] visiting family, attending faith services, or glowing the class

[2:33:42] a la me and several other Atlanta students as we've just sown

[2:33:44] and including children and their parents, my own included.

[2:33:48] My father was falsely flagged in a hit and run case.

[2:33:52] They flagged his own license plate

[2:33:54] instead of the man who hit him.

[2:33:55] Second flock infrastructure creates profound

[2:33:57] discriminatory risks for black residents

[2:33:59] in Atlanta, as shown for racial bias

[2:34:02] training with every other form of AI.

[2:34:04] When surveillance networks are layered in historically over

[2:34:08] corridors, they will reinforce existing racial

[2:34:10] disparities under the guise of neutral algorithms.

[2:34:14] Across Georgia, we have already seen

[2:34:15] how unchecked access leads to abuse.

[2:34:17] But officers facing criminal charges

[2:34:19] and internal audits for treating these systems

[2:34:21] like personal tracking databases

[2:34:23] and dragnet deploy without community consent

[2:34:25] means that black motorists bear the brunt of these pretext.

[2:34:28] Stops and digital monitoring.

[2:34:30] True public safety

[2:34:31] requires genuine community investment,

[2:34:33] accountability, and traditional oversight.

[2:34:35] I urge this cancel to pass the Cops ordinance and establish

[2:34:40] enforceable community control over police surveillance.

[2:34:43] Thank you. Thank you.

[2:34:46] Our next two speakers,

[2:34:48] Marjorie McLeod Katz Leatherwood.

[2:34:52] You each have two minutes.

[2:34:57] I don't see Margie.

[2:34:59] Excuse me.

[2:35:00] Oh, yes, I do.

[2:35:07] Which? McLeod. You have two minutes.

[2:35:09] Were you asking me a question? Yes.

[2:35:16] I was going to donate my time to Nicki.

[2:35:19] To two minutes.

[2:35:21] Okay, that's.

[2:35:22] Is she already here? Yes.

[2:35:25] Okay, I'll add it over there.

[2:35:28] So our next is Caps Lock.

[2:35:30] Leatherwood.

[2:35:40] Hello. I like being plural. That's cool.

[2:35:42] My name is Kat Leatherwood and I am a resident of East Atlanta.

[2:35:46] I wanted to thank you for signing on to

[2:35:47] and voting for the resolution to follow through on

[2:35:50] building the Beltline rail that is funded,

[2:35:52] land set aside and has been promised.

[2:35:55] When I first moved to Atlanta,

[2:35:56] I was actually able to afford to live on the Beltline

[2:35:59] and it was an incredible opportunity for me

[2:36:01] being new to Atlanta.

[2:36:02] I was very excited to learn about the history

[2:36:04] of my new home, and I learned that the Beltline

[2:36:06] was a reconstruction era effort to connect factories

[2:36:08] around Atlanta, and was the engine

[2:36:10] for the industrialization and growth of Atlanta.

[2:36:13] And I really enjoyed getting

[2:36:16] to see the effort to revitalize the Beltline as a transit corridor

[2:36:18] with a walking path and light rail path.

[2:36:20] When I was physically able,

[2:36:22] I was I loved being able to hop on my bike

[2:36:24] and use the Beltline and other paths

[2:36:25] that connected our city and explore

[2:36:27] different areas of the city.

[2:36:29] As more of the Beltline expanded,

[2:36:31] the more of the city I could see,

[2:36:32] the more people I could meet.

[2:36:34] I found a similar experience on Marta hopping on the train

[2:36:37] and busses to help me access parts of the city

[2:36:40] where it's prohibitively expensive

[2:36:42] when enough parking isn't available.

[2:36:43] Traffic will throw me behind or I don't have access to

[2:36:47] my vehicle has all been a linchpin in being access all of the city.

[2:36:49] As someone who grew up in rural Mississippi,

[2:36:51] you don't appreciate public

[2:36:53] transit until you have to ride 15 miles to work on your bike,

[2:36:56] especially when you have the knees, I do.

[2:36:58] I think any and all efforts to connect the city and provide

[2:37:01] a sensible transit for everyone is always a worthy cause.

[2:37:04] It's also a worthy cause to protect Atlanta for the future.

[2:37:07] As the planet heats up, I think it's appropriate

[2:37:09] we provide safe transit for our residents

[2:37:12] and start putting a dent in climate change to prevent further damage.

[2:37:15] Instead of leaving residents

[2:37:16] vulnerable to pipeline explosions

[2:37:18] hitting our wallets and depending on dangerous cars.

[2:37:20] It's an investment far more important

[2:37:21] to our children and our children's children.

[2:37:23] The building a bigger jail or cop city structures spared

[2:37:27] no expense building or destroying forests,

[2:37:29] as 1.16 people die in Atlanta from being struck by vehicles,

[2:37:32] there is no price tag to pulling and polluting dangerous cars

[2:37:35] off the road.

[2:37:36] There is no price tag

[2:37:37] on reducing the need for parking

[2:37:38] garages and lane expansions that damage

[2:37:40] more green space than light rail, I think.

[2:37:44] Thank you. And it definitely isn't s on here, so it's just cat.

[2:37:48] All righty.

[2:37:49] Our next two speakers.

[2:37:51] Last two of the two minute speakers.

[2:37:54] Doctor Dewayne Robinson, you have two minutes and Curtis

[2:37:58] Harrison, you'll have two minutes.

[2:38:03] Anyone see doctor DeWine?

[2:38:07] I did earlier.

[2:38:10] He's on the way.

[2:38:12] Well, why don't you come on forward, then?

[2:38:15] Mr. Harrison, you do not.

[2:38:18] You get two minutes,

[2:38:21] and that'll give doctor Dawn

[2:38:22] time to get in here.

[2:38:28] Amen. Praise the Lord, everybody.

[2:38:30] Me being a prophet of God, I come in Jesus name.

[2:38:32] So everybody mentioning God, but nobody mentioned in Jesus.

[2:38:37] Well, I'm I'm here to talk about

[2:38:39] the transit, but in a different way.

[2:38:41] Gwinnett transit that there's there's no busted running

[2:38:45] with that county on Sundays at all.

[2:38:49] And I think I spoke with the mayor about

[2:38:52] possibly putting mortar there,

[2:38:54] but they say, because, you know,

[2:38:55] I'm a very educated type person, that they don't want to.

[2:38:59] Many folk on the train to support crime come off the bus and train.

[2:39:03] But I see more cars than people with more crime

[2:39:06] through the cars.

[2:39:08] So they're saying, which is a bias statement,

[2:39:10] you know, that they don't want no martyr

[2:39:14] busses in Gwinnett County, because

[2:39:18] be more people walking up and down the streets.

[2:39:20] But I'm like, we're 2026. And

[2:39:24] that's kind of like pastime, you know,

[2:39:27] that you don't want people in your city.

[2:39:30] And we got all this technology and stuff.

[2:39:32] So that's what I came to talk about

[2:39:34] was that, that, that that trains the bus.

[2:39:38] There's no bus at all.

[2:39:39] No transportation at all on Sundays

[2:39:43] from Gwinnett County to Atlanta.

[2:39:47] So I did speak with the mayor

[2:39:48] about this, and I spoke with Annette County

[2:39:50] about this as well, that how, how and why

[2:39:55] I have to get stranded

[2:39:58] in when that county and can't leave their until Monday morning

[2:40:03] from Saturday night because the last, the last

[2:40:05] the last bus comes from,

[2:40:09] I think Snellville

[2:40:10] to Indian Creek Saturday at the time of 9:00.

[2:40:15] And that's it. And I think that's real bias if I must use that word.

[2:40:17] I don't think it's racial bias.

[2:40:19] I think it's biased

[2:40:21] or prejudiced,

[2:40:22] but I don't think it's prejudice like against black.

[2:40:24] I think it's present is against people, period.

[2:40:27] So I will leave it like that.

[2:40:30] Thank you, doctor Dawn.

[2:40:36] Okay. That'll take us to our

[2:40:38] yielded time paper.

[2:40:40] I mean little time speakers.

[2:40:42] And our first yield at time speaker is Matthew Nursey.

[2:40:46] You have four minutes.

[2:40:48] Is Benjamin Perrine here?

[2:40:52] Okay.

[2:40:53] Thank you.

[2:40:58] Matthew, you have four minutes.

[2:41:02] Special.

[2:41:06] All right.

[2:41:07] Thank you. Council.

[2:41:07] My name is Matthew Nursey.

[2:41:09] I'm with the Housing Justice League.

[2:41:11] I live in district five in Kirkwood.

[2:41:15] Relatively easy walk to the Beltline.

[2:41:17] I walk to the Beltline quite often.

[2:41:19] It would be really nice to be able to

[2:41:22] have some real, meaningful transit on the Beltline as well.

[2:41:26] And so that's what we are here to speak in support of.

[2:41:29] I want to say thank you to all the council members

[2:41:33] who have already signed on.

[2:41:34] Got to say, I'm actually like really pleasantly surprised

[2:41:37] with, with the support that this has gotten us,

[2:41:42] I, you know, I wanted to keep it positive today, but I will say

[2:41:46] some previous comments got me a little round up.

[2:41:48] So I want to be very clear.

[2:41:50] There is no organized opposition to this project.

[2:41:54] That's not me saying that.

[2:41:55] That's the Secretary of state, actually, you know, and so

[2:42:01] how I'd like to know also how many

[2:42:04] tragedies are occur in Charlotte

[2:42:07] where they also have a streetcar.

[2:42:09] And I want to say I traveled around a lot this summer so far.

[2:42:13] And this year I've been to, you know, D.C.

[2:42:18] twice. I've been to New York City, Chicago twice, Boston.

[2:42:23] One thing that all those places have in

[2:42:24] common is it's really easy to get around.

[2:42:27] And no matter what class you are,

[2:42:29] people are taking the train, people are taking the busses.

[2:42:33] And I, you know, every time I leave Atlanta

[2:42:35] and come back, I'm, you know, I'm happy to live here.

[2:42:38] This is a great city.

[2:42:40] But we really we could we we consider ourselves to be

[2:42:43] in that class of those cities, those other cities, you know,

[2:42:46] hosting World Cups and Super Bowls,

[2:42:48] wanting to have Democratic conventions.

[2:42:50] We need to expand our transit.

[2:42:53] And so it's only getting hotter and hotter.

[2:42:56] I was out at the press conference today,

[2:42:59] you know, it's almost October.

[2:43:00] It's still like 90 degrees outside.

[2:43:03] Elena. Notoriously bad with traffic.

[2:43:05] But, even apart from the

[2:43:08] the sense this project makes with climate,

[2:43:12] I really in particularly,

[2:43:15] I, I was in food service and hospitality

[2:43:18] for a long, long time.

[2:43:20] And so to me, in the modern economy, food service workers

[2:43:24] are, are really like the backbone of the economy.

[2:43:27] Right.

[2:43:28] And they don't really get the respect

[2:43:30] they deserve. You know, a lot of times

[2:43:32] their needs aren't really catered to.

[2:43:34] And I can say that a lot of people

[2:43:36] who work on these restaurants

[2:43:38] and in these stores and shops along the Beltline,

[2:43:42] I'm sure they would love to have transit

[2:43:44] to be able to take affordable.

[2:43:47] Public transit options.

[2:43:49] And so,

[2:43:52] you know, it was mentioned earlier, the scooters that are dangerous.

[2:43:53] I agree,

[2:43:54] I think a lot of people on their scooters are,

[2:43:56] you know, they're trying to get to work in time.

[2:43:58] So that kind of makes my point, right?

[2:44:01] The Waymo's that's definitely something that's not, like,

[2:44:04] as prevalent in every other city as it is here in Atlanta.

[2:44:07] And, you know, I also think that those

[2:44:09] are dangerous for a number of reasons.

[2:44:11] It's not something that we've really voted on or asked for.

[2:44:14] Whereas this beltline rail is a project that we all voted for,

[2:44:18] we've been paying into for quite a long time.

[2:44:20] And I want to say that Housing Justice

[2:44:21] League was part of the Beltline for all campaign.

[2:44:24] I just want to emphasize that this was not just about,

[2:44:28] you know, beltline rail.

[2:44:30] The beltline was also supposed to be an affordable

[2:44:33] housing, you know, infrastructure project as well.

[2:44:37] And so we really need to get back to

[2:44:39] when we and I'm hoping Beltline

[2:44:41] rail can help spur some of this development.

[2:44:43] We've heard the mayor

[2:44:45] say a lot recently that development doesn't necessarily mean gentrification,

[2:44:48] and I believe that.

[2:44:49] But we got to work to make it happen.

[2:44:51] So along the Beltline, when we have this transit,

[2:44:55] it can connect people who are living there,

[2:44:56] hopefully in units that are deeply affordable. 30%.

[2:45:00] Am I below?

[2:45:02] And another thing that I noticed in New York

[2:45:04] that we don't have here, that's public housing.

[2:45:07] We got to start talking about it. Public housing.

[2:45:10] Thank you, thank you.

[2:45:15] Our next speaker is Matthew Sampson.

[2:45:18] You have eight minutes.

[2:45:20] Let's see.

[2:45:21] Is Isabel Philip here?

[2:45:26] Okay. Just want to be sure you're here.

[2:45:30] Benjamin Bynum,

[2:45:32] it's Benjamin Bynum here.

[2:45:34] Do you see him, Mr.. Matthew?

[2:45:38] Benjamin bynum.

[2:45:39] Okay, what about Nathan?

[2:45:42] Okay, that will give you

[2:45:44] six minutes instead of eight.

[2:45:48] All right.

[2:45:49] Unless I'm missing Benjamin Bynum.

[2:45:54] Oh, yeah, it seems like he might have

[2:45:57] had to head out, which is.

[2:45:58] And I'll go ahead and start my comment.

[2:46:00] But, yeah, seems like he had to head out,

[2:46:02] which is why it's so important that we,

[2:46:03] you know, make it, more flexible for people's ability to,

[2:46:06] you know, support doing public comment.

[2:46:09] Right, so we can exercise,

[2:46:11] and make our voice heard as constituents.

[2:46:14] So, like a lot of other folks.

[2:46:15] Oh, introduce myself real quick.

[2:46:17] I'm not you, Samson.

[2:46:19] I live in old Fourth Ward, was born and raised in Atlanta.

[2:46:22] So I'm really familiar with the Beltline.

[2:46:24] I remember when,

[2:46:26] I live over by Boulevard and

[2:46:27] when they used to be just kind of nothing over there.

[2:46:29] You know, we had the abandoned,

[2:46:32] like, City Hall East,

[2:46:33] you know, the the big Sears store and everything.

[2:46:35] And I remember when it all like, it feels like

[2:46:36] it got came to life so fast.

[2:46:39] But it was a thing that was really kind of alienating for me

[2:46:42] as someone from a, you know, family is not that wealthy.

[2:46:45] And, if you go to City Market.

[2:46:47] Now, you know, it's not you kind of

[2:46:49] got to make a lot of money to be able to shop there.

[2:46:51] I would say,

[2:46:52] and that's why,

[2:46:56] you know, getting back to the original vision of the Beltline and building belt is so important.

[2:46:58] I'm really, really happy with all the support

[2:47:00] this resolution has gotten so far.

[2:47:03] And I feel really confident that it's going to pass today. So,

[2:47:06] you know, I just want to

[2:47:08] talk a little bit more about why I believe it's so important.

[2:47:12] You know, I think this is

[2:47:13] probably the most transformative public transit

[2:47:15] project that we can do right now in recent history in Atlanta.

[2:47:20] Right. We're talking about reconnecting all these neighborhoods that have been divided

[2:47:23] with redlining and, like, literally physically bulldozed

[2:47:26] and had highways put in between them.

[2:47:28] And this is something that can bridge,

[2:47:29] you know, rebuild those connections.

[2:47:32] We have the opportunity to do something

[2:47:33] that I think is almost unprecedented.

[2:47:35] And even the history of not just that land in the state, but,

[2:47:38] probably in this country, we talk about

[2:47:40] actually committing ourselves to investing in,

[2:47:44] something for the public good

[2:47:46] and to go against, I would say, what has otherwise

[2:47:49] been like a gentrifying force for so long.

[2:47:51] You know, there are some speakers earlier,

[2:47:53] I was kind of surprised by the rhetoric they were using.

[2:47:55] You don't say it out loud, usually,

[2:47:56] but talking about the Beltline as an emerald necklace, like,

[2:48:00] yeah, the Beltline has been a park of sorts, right?

[2:48:02] It has been a destination for people

[2:48:05] that some folks get to go to.

[2:48:06] And a lot don't.

[2:48:08] And a lot. It's just straight up can't. Right.

[2:48:11] But the Beltline is something

[2:48:12] that's supposed to be for everyone.

[2:48:13] So with transit and with us investing in affordable

[2:48:17] housing on it too, you know, I'm happy to see that get added to the resolution.

[2:48:20] I, I feel really optimistic that we can have something

[2:48:23] wonderful in, you know, ten, 20 years down the line.

[2:48:27] Something else I wanted to talk about is just, you know,

[2:48:30] there is so much support from the public

[2:48:33] for Beltline Rail and again,

[2:48:34] for the original vision of the Beltline.

[2:48:36] In my own experience,

[2:48:38] you know, reaching out to folks in district 58,

[2:48:40] which goes from old fourth Ward to southwest Atlanta.

[2:48:42] In a lot of these Beltline neighborhoods,

[2:48:44] when people get pitched on the concept of Beltline rental

[2:48:47] because a lot haven't even heard of it because it's been so long

[2:48:48] since we voted on the referendum.

[2:48:50] You know, we're seeing like 70% of people

[2:48:52] are supportive of the idea of the full loop, right?

[2:48:57] Something else is, you know, there's this petition that has 1600 signatures,

[2:49:00] but also something really cool, that it got back

[2:49:03] today is a poll that I did with this, progressive

[2:49:07] think tank called the center for Strategic Politics.

[2:49:09] It just got those results back. And so,

[2:49:13] we found with 520, 25 likely municipal voters

[2:49:17] that 83% are supportive of Beltline rail.

[2:49:20] And then there are only 3% that were against.

[2:49:22] And that the last the remaining percentage

[2:49:24] of just people who were neutral on the issue.

[2:49:26] So, there is overwhelming support from the public

[2:49:29] for Beltline rail.

[2:49:32] Let's see,

[2:49:34] that's I think that's all I got again.

[2:49:36] I'm really happy to see, you know,

[2:49:38] I feel really confident that y'all are gonna

[2:49:40] we're going to pass this today.

[2:49:42] We're going to get back on track.

[2:49:43] And commit to the original vision

[2:49:45] of the Beltline, as, you know,

[2:49:47] something for everyone that's equitable, in part of a,

[2:49:50] you know, just better future for Atlanta going forward.

[2:49:54] So thank you all.

[2:49:56] Thank you.

[2:50:01] Our next speaker is Tiffany Roberts.

[2:50:03] You're going to have ten minutes.

[2:50:06] Let's see is Ashley Conyers here.

[2:50:09] Okay. Marty Cowart.

[2:50:14] Devin Franklin.

[2:50:18] And connect King.

[2:50:20] Thank you. You have ten minutes.

[2:50:24] Thank you. Council president Overstreet.

[2:50:26] For the benefit of the public.

[2:50:28] My name is Tiffany Roberts.

[2:50:29] I'm the director of public policy

[2:50:31] for the Southern Center for Human Rights. And,

[2:50:35] we are a nonprofit law firm here in Atlanta

[2:50:37] committed to decriminalizing race

[2:50:39] and poverty in America's deep South.

[2:50:41] We've been doing this for 50 years.

[2:50:45] We lament the necessity of offering these remarks today

[2:50:50] in preparation for the work session that is scheduled for this week

[2:50:53] to discuss the particulars of the proposed sale

[2:50:56] of the Atlantic City Detention Center to Fulton County.

[2:50:59] We lament it. Yet here we are.

[2:51:01] As a former public defender, it really did my heart.

[2:51:04] Good to see the Hornsby legacy honored today.

[2:51:09] Mr. Franklin and I had the benefit of working

[2:51:12] under the tutelage of people like Avis Hornsby

[2:51:14] when we were public defenders in Fulton County.

[2:51:17] And it's important for us to give folks their flowers.

[2:51:20] We must honor our legends while they are still here.

[2:51:24] And honoring our legends also means honoring their legacy

[2:51:30] and what they taught us this morning.

[2:51:33] We presented flowers to Miss Marilyn

[2:51:35] when the founding executive director of women on the rise.

[2:51:38] We gave her her flowers and appreciation

[2:51:41] for being the trailblazer who who started the campaign

[2:51:45] to repurpose and closed the Atlanta City Detention Center.

[2:51:49] Miss win is somebody I met when I was a baby organizer,

[2:51:53] right after she was released

[2:51:54] from prison for the seventh time,

[2:51:57] and she imagined a better way for her because she knew the services

[2:52:00] that were unavailable to her when she was being processed

[2:52:03] in the criminal legal system, until she said that she had

[2:52:06] an addiction problem, which she actually didn't have.

[2:52:08] She just knew that that was the only way to get

[2:52:11] help, was to say that she had an addiction

[2:52:13] so that she could receive services

[2:52:15] from the criminal legal system.

[2:52:17] I met Miss Win as a member of an organization

[2:52:19] called Building Locally to organize

[2:52:21] for community safety,

[2:52:22] building locally to organize for community safety,

[2:52:25] also known as blocks.

[2:52:26] Blocks is where Pad came from.

[2:52:28] Blocks is where bill reform champions came from.

[2:52:32] Blocks is where the the fight against the ban of sex workers

[2:52:35] from the city came from.

[2:52:37] Blocks is where the marijuana reclassification came from.

[2:52:40] And so many other initiatives blotches who lobbied to

[2:52:44] to disband the Red dog unit, for example,

[2:52:46] we are a scrappy little group founded in a living room.

[2:52:50] But we came together because we believed in the city.

[2:52:52] We believed in young people.

[2:52:53] We believed in ourselves.

[2:52:56] I share this not because

[2:52:58] I want any fanfare, but because I need for you

[2:53:02] all to understand that for every promise

[2:53:05] that this city breaks, there is a human face.

[2:53:09] There is a human story.

[2:53:13] Every time the mayor convinces you

[2:53:15] to break a promise, whether it be Beltline rail

[2:53:18] or the repurposing of the Atlanta City Detention Center.

[2:53:22] There are human beings who suffer.

[2:53:26] For example, we urge you to look at the RFP

[2:53:29] that was just published

[2:53:31] for mobile diversion services and police assisted diversion.

[2:53:35] The RFP that obviously seeks to replace Pad.

[2:53:40] I think it is a disaster.

[2:53:42] Not only would it open the city to a lot of litigation,

[2:53:45] because the vendors that the city seeks

[2:53:47] may or may not be paid

[2:53:49] based on a formula established by the city,

[2:53:51] but it also rolls back some of the progress we've made.

[2:53:54] You all had a problem with office hours

[2:53:56] for Pad being at one point 7 a.m. to 7 p.m..

[2:53:59] Well, this RFP requires that the Dickens administration

[2:54:03] is the face of the dismantling of so much hard

[2:54:07] work of civil society to make the city

[2:54:10] a kinder place to people who are marginalized and need help.

[2:54:17] We are calling upon you to order to

[2:54:19] to honor the moral obligation to keep your word.

[2:54:24] The moral obligation, MLK, Carol said,

[2:54:29] hide nothing from the masses of your people.

[2:54:33] Tell no lies to our people.

[2:54:36] Claim no easy victories.

[2:54:39] We have some handouts for you.

[2:54:41] Miss Conyers will provide to you that we hope can help shape

[2:54:45] what the work session looks like this week

[2:54:47] for the Atlantic City Detention Center.

[2:54:50] Talk.

[2:54:51] We've also emailed those attachments to you in PDF.

[2:54:54] The first handout is called beyond 901 Rice Street,

[2:54:58] and it's about how this conversation

[2:55:01] about the humanitarian crisis that we told you

[2:55:04] was a misplaced conversation four years ago

[2:55:09] is still right for conversation.

[2:55:12] On the back, you'll see the human rights abuses that have occurred during

[2:55:15] the term of this lease outside of 901 Rice Street.

[2:55:19] And the one I want to lift up the most is that 17

[2:55:23] year olds children in sheriff custody are being held

[2:55:27] in a separate building, where the windows are boarded up

[2:55:31] and they are being held

[2:55:32] in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day.

[2:55:36] These are children

[2:55:38] in pretrial detention, enjoying the presumption of innocence.

[2:55:43] What is the year of the youth

[2:55:46] when we are willing to hold

[2:55:48] 17 year olds and torture chambers for months on end,

[2:55:52] while our criminal legal system

[2:55:54] moves at a shell at a snail's pace?

[2:55:56] The second handout that you have is about the staffing crisis.

[2:56:00] Staffing at the Fulton County

[2:56:02] Sheriff's Department is at about 50%.

[2:56:05] And what the monitor

[2:56:06] has repeatedly said is if the sheriff does not address

[2:56:10] the staffing crisis, there is little that you can do

[2:56:13] in the way of space to remediate

[2:56:15] because all of the human rights

[2:56:17] abuses we talk about, whether it's use of force,

[2:56:20] unsanitary conditions, inedible food,

[2:56:23] all of those issues come back not only to culture,

[2:56:28] but to staffing. And there must be questions posed in this work session

[2:56:31] about what the sheriffs plan, what the

[2:56:33] what the county's plan is when it comes to staffing.

[2:56:36] They added fewer than 20 people

[2:56:38] to the staff since the monitors last report.

[2:56:41] We recommend that you do a population review,

[2:56:45] the legislation that you passed.

[2:56:47] We raised concerns that you did not have

[2:56:50] power to request certain data.

[2:56:52] And so we help to establish the

[2:56:54] the Jail Population Review Committee.

[2:56:56] We are not aware of anyone

[2:56:58] other than Southern Center and our partners doing robust

[2:57:01] open records requests to review data

[2:57:03] during the term of this lease.

[2:57:05] And so we ask that you formalize the collection of data.

[2:57:09] We ask that you collect data regarding specifically

[2:57:12] the treatment of 17 year olds in the county's custody.

[2:57:16] We ask that you collect data regarding if you are

[2:57:20] willing to do a lease back with Fulton County,

[2:57:23] and Sheriff Libert will have absolutely any power

[2:57:26] over people in Atlanta who are mostly held

[2:57:29] on disorderly conduct and driving on suspended licenses.

[2:57:32] Charges on a based on the last report

[2:57:34] from the Department of Corrections.

[2:57:36] That you have some assurances that there will actually

[2:57:39] be services provided to those people

[2:57:41] who are being held on crimes of poverty,

[2:57:44] that there are services and protections

[2:57:46] actually available

[2:57:47] to those people who are there because they can't afford

[2:57:50] to renew their driver's licenses.

[2:57:53] It is your responsibility.

[2:57:55] For years ago, you said that you needed more information.

[2:57:59] Four years ago, you said you were going

[2:58:01] to get people off of floors, but they are still there.

[2:58:05] And there are some of you who are willing to hold up

[2:58:08] the fact that there are still people

[2:58:10] sleeping in boats

[2:58:11] on the floors of the jail to say, we must respond.

[2:58:15] Four years ago we told you that was not the response.

[2:58:18] We also provided you with the Policy

[2:58:21] Working Group report from the Task Force

[2:58:23] to Reimagine the Atlantic City Detention Center.

[2:58:26] I was one of those working group members,

[2:58:28] and there are

[2:58:29] legislative proposals that you can pass,

[2:58:31] regardless of what you do with the building.

[2:58:34] And we believe that you owe it to your constituents to minimize

[2:58:37] the number of people who find themselves

[2:58:39] incarcerated in a jail, especially under the under

[2:58:43] the control of a sheriff who conservative judges

[2:58:49] have critiqued, has critiqued,

[2:58:52] asking how he sleeps at night.

[2:58:58] Council Member Martin, you aptly said last week

[2:59:02] that the people in the Atlantic City Detention Center and 901

[2:59:05] Right Street are our neighbors, and that is true.

[2:59:09] But I think Southern Center can do you one better.

[2:59:11] As the only law firm who has successfully

[2:59:13] sued Fulton County four times, one four times,

[2:59:16] and we're in current active litigation

[2:59:18] over his treatment of women in your detention center.

[2:59:21] They are not only our neighbors, they are our clients

[2:59:24] and our friends.

[2:59:26] It is our investigators who are in our jails talking to

[2:59:30] these folks. Before we came today, Mr.

[2:59:31] Franklin went to his mailbox and he pulled out a letter

[2:59:34] from someone incarcerated in Fulton County.

[2:59:37] Single space, handwritten three page letter

[2:59:41] documenting all of the existing human rights abuses

[2:59:45] under Patrick Libert leadership.

[2:59:48] We are hopeful that this work session provides an opportunity

[2:59:51] for you to collect data points for you to get that data for you

[2:59:56] to honestly interrogate, for you to honestly

[2:59:59] interrogate that data.

[3:00:02] This is not hypothetical for us,

[3:00:06] and I know that you all find that we come here too much.

[3:00:09] And I promise you, if you saw my docket,

[3:00:13] you would know that there are a million places we could be.

[3:00:15] But we promised the community that we would not abandon them

[3:00:18] in this fight. And we won't.

[3:00:21] And we thank Councilmember Bond for honoring the legacy

[3:00:24] of Maryland women and women on the rise.

[3:00:26] Thank you so much.

[3:00:27] Thank you.

[3:00:32] Our next speaker is

[3:00:35] Nicki Bugs.

[3:00:36] Nicki bugs.

[3:00:37] You have minutes because Margie

[3:00:41] McLeod actually gave you two more minutes, and.

[3:00:47] I need to see if Kip car is here.

[3:00:51] Kip, I thought I saw him earlier, I don't see.

[3:00:55] Oh. Hey.

[3:00:57] And Ron Z

[3:01:00] is Ron Z here?

[3:01:04] Miss bugs? Yes.

[3:01:05] Is Ron Z here?

[3:01:06] He was here, I don't know.

[3:01:08] Okay, so I can give you six minutes.

[3:01:11] Okay. That's fine. Thank you.

[3:01:14] All right.

[3:01:15] I am here

[3:01:17] speaking on the behalf of homeowners at the landmark condominium.

[3:01:21] We've been completely abandoned

[3:01:23] to a severe public safety catastrophe.

[3:01:26] An epidemic, if you will, a critical,

[3:01:29] unmitigated crisis.

[3:01:32] August 1st was a six year.

[3:01:35] And we fighting this cause six years. Six.

[3:01:40] And like the young lady just said that just spoke.

[3:01:44] Been here so many times.

[3:01:45] So you know exactly who I am.

[3:01:47] And you know exactly what this fight is for.

[3:01:53] This is past the juncture

[3:01:55] of an unlicensed manager

[3:01:58] and an HOA dispute.

[3:02:00] It's past that this is well beyond a civil matter.

[3:02:05] But here we are.

[3:02:08] The city constantly talks about home affordability.

[3:02:11] Well, the landmark was once the cornerstone

[3:02:13] of affordable homeownership.

[3:02:15] It was.

[3:02:18] But here we are

[3:02:20] paying over $1,300 a month for a

[3:02:24] for gas, electricity, spotty internet

[3:02:27] and a double building of water.

[3:02:31] That's what we have.

[3:02:34] Now because of unchecked

[3:02:36] chaos and government neglect,

[3:02:39] our property values have plummeted.

[3:02:42] We have lawsuits.

[3:02:45] We're forced to live in a state of constant danger, facing endless abuses, threats

[3:02:48] and absolute terror in our very own homes.

[3:02:55] On July 4th,

[3:02:58] two women were shot.

[3:03:01] Two this is part of what we deal

[3:03:05] with on a daily basis.

[3:03:10] August 10th

[3:03:12] an assault rifle.

[3:03:13] The guy walked straight into the building.

[3:03:14] We don't have security anymore.

[3:03:16] We have somebody that kind of maybe sits at the desk.

[3:03:20] And 1847, this is what we have.

[3:03:23] That's what we deal with.

[3:03:30] Syringes, people

[3:03:32] sleeping in the hallway, homelessness,

[3:03:36] all of that.

[3:03:38] That's what we deal with on a daily basis.

[3:03:41] But we're held by the stringency of the law

[3:03:44] to make sure that we follow the law.

[3:03:49] This is our home.

[3:03:50] And I know, I know, you're sick of hearing it.

[3:03:52] I'm sick of talking about it.

[3:03:55] Where your constituents, we are your constituents,

[3:03:59] we pay the taxes here,

[3:04:02] but no one seems to care what is happening with us.

[3:04:05] And on every corner, every block,

[3:04:07] there's a new building being erected.

[3:04:13] The landmark was affordable.

[3:04:16] That he was now more higher than than the monthly,

[3:04:20] than your mortgage.

[3:04:23] That's absurd.

[3:04:27] This is Judy Clement.

[3:04:29] Judy Clement started this fight.

[3:04:32] She died

[3:04:34] without resolution.

[3:04:37] Judy Clement.

[3:04:39] Yeah.

[3:04:40] Hi, Lily.

[3:04:41] So, yeah.

[3:04:43] If there's any way that we can help you, help us.

[3:04:47] This will not only just help us

[3:04:48] at the landmark, it'll help other homeowners.

[3:04:52] It'll help other homeowners.

[3:04:53] Something has to go in place. You have an ordinance.

[3:04:56] If that were enforced, we will be in a different spot.

[3:04:59] We'll be talking to you about something

[3:05:01] completely different right now.

[3:05:02] I would actually be up there saying,

[3:05:03] I want to work with you and hire me and let's figure this out,

[3:05:08] okay? Instead, we're fighting for our homes.

[3:05:11] We have foreclosures, lawsuits.

[3:05:13] That's all we've been dealing with since I last saw you.

[3:05:17] That's all we've been dealing with.

[3:05:21] And that's where we are.

[3:05:22] Yeah.

[3:05:24] Something's gotta give.

[3:05:26] And it's not us.

[3:05:27] I'll be here every day,

[3:05:30] every hour, every meeting.

[3:05:33] This has been my home for the last six years.

[3:05:35] I just might as well added in as as, This.

[3:05:39] The prior street address is my my second home.

[3:05:43] This has got to change.

[3:05:45] You now have another ordinance.

[3:05:47] Something has got to change.

[3:05:49] And as you drive down the street, instead of driving,

[3:05:52] get out and walk the streets.

[3:05:54] Find out what's really happening out there.

[3:05:56] This is where we are.

[3:05:58] This is your constituent.

[3:06:01] Just one person.

[3:06:02] But I'm speaking for many.

[3:06:04] If you can fix this in your backyard, which is the landmark,

[3:06:07] it'll help the rest of the homeowners.

[3:06:09] But we have to be our priority.

[3:06:12] We can't be about a dollar sign.

[3:06:14] We can't be something, a negotiating factor.

[3:06:19] We supported you.

[3:06:21] Please support us.

[3:06:23] Thank you.

[3:06:25] Thank you.

[3:06:31] Our next yield at time speaker is Christopher Bruce.

[3:06:34] You have six minutes.

[3:06:39] Let's see here.

[3:06:42] Gail in Zamana,

[3:06:46] are you here?

[3:06:49] Christopher, do you see Gail?

[3:06:52] Gail Gallo,

[3:06:55] did you just walk out?

[3:06:58] Let's bring Gallo back in.

[3:07:00] Okay. That is not a. About.

[3:07:02] We did just walk out to Ali.

[3:07:05] Ali. It's right there.

[3:07:07] Alrighty. Good.

[3:07:09] We'll add in,

[3:07:11] Council president I'll use for.

[3:07:14] In fact, I'm not going to use all six.

[3:07:15] I'm going to give you all your time back,

[3:07:18] but I will produce Gail.

[3:07:21] Okay.

[3:07:22] Okay.

[3:07:25] Good afternoon. May I begin? Yes, please. Thank you, Council president.

[3:07:27] Good afternoon, Council members.

[3:07:30] My name is Christopher Bruce, deputy executive director of the ACLU of Georgia.

[3:07:32] I want to point out that Atlanta is at a turning point.

[3:07:36] This is when we are deciding on surveillance technology.

[3:07:40] This conversation is not simply about flock cameras,

[3:07:43] software or data.

[3:07:45] It is about every resident who calls Atlanta home,

[3:07:48] in every person who comes here to work, worship, study,

[3:07:53] receive medical care, attend a convention,

[3:07:57] visit family protest, or enjoy this city.

[3:08:02] A person should

[3:08:03] not surrender their right to privacy

[3:08:06] simply because they cross over to the city lines and limits.

[3:08:11] So for months, the ACLU of Georgia,

[3:08:14] our coalition partners,

[3:08:16] the mayor's office, and members of the City Council have worked

[3:08:19] in good faith toward a workable ordinance.

[3:08:23] We appreciate your time and openness.

[3:08:26] And city leaders who brought about this conversation.

[3:08:30] Our goal has been to help develop

[3:08:32] an ordinance that the city can implement.

[3:08:34] The council can oversee,

[3:08:35] and the community can understand and trust.

[3:08:38] We know different versions of this ordinance exist,

[3:08:42] and we support the one that we all know

[3:08:45] is what we've always asked for.

[3:08:48] And that's community input standards and audits.

[3:08:51] So this is when I do count out.

[3:08:54] Council Member Jason Dozier,

[3:08:55] thank you for putting this forth.

[3:08:57] Thank you for the changes that have been made.

[3:09:00] We're happy to work with you on that.

[3:09:02] Council Member Bond, thank you for

[3:09:04] being a steady hand and all the others.

[3:09:06] Council member Winston Amos, all of you again,

[3:09:11] Council President Overstreet, I know you laughed at me

[3:09:13] last time

[3:09:14] for pointing out things

[3:09:15] and for the ones that we haven't talked to.

[3:09:18] We will be in your district, so you'll be hearing from us soon.

[3:09:24] Principles.

[3:09:25] That's what we're here for.

[3:09:27] Before surveillance technology is purchased, deployed

[3:09:30] or significantly expanded, the the city should explain its

[3:09:34] purpose, cost, capabilities and supporting evidence.

[3:09:37] The public should know what information it collects,

[3:09:40] how long the information will be retained, who will access it,

[3:09:43] and whether it will be shared with other agencies,

[3:09:46] the company or government.

[3:09:49] The ordinance should include protections

[3:09:51] against discriminatory and unauthorized use.

[3:09:53] It should require meaningful audits, public reporting,

[3:09:56] independent review and consequences

[3:09:58] when established rules are violated.

[3:10:01] Basically, this ordinance should reflect our democracy.

[3:10:06] It should be transparent.

[3:10:08] It should be something that we all can upheld

[3:10:10] because transparency

[3:10:12] after deployment tells people what has already happened.

[3:10:16] Community participation before deployment

[3:10:19] gives the people a voice on what will happen in their city.

[3:10:25] This distinction is particularly important

[3:10:28] in the city of Atlanta.

[3:10:29] We all know Doctor Martin Luther King was surveilled

[3:10:33] with unchecked government.

[3:10:35] Law enforcement wiretapped is telephones.

[3:10:38] Place listening devices in its rooms

[3:10:40] monitored his relationships, collecting information

[3:10:43] as part of a campaign to discredit him.

[3:10:46] Doctor King's history reminds us

[3:10:49] that surveillance does not always remain limited to the people subjected of crimes.

[3:10:53] It can be turned against people who challenge power.

[3:10:58] An ordinance developed for the people of Atlanta

[3:11:01] should also be developed with the people of Atlanta.

[3:11:06] Now, to be clear, this is not directed at our mayor.

[3:11:09] Past mayors, future mayors.

[3:11:11] This is directed to all of you at city council

[3:11:15] and saying that

[3:11:16] the power belongs to the people

[3:11:18] and that you should hear from them.

[3:11:20] Atlanta can support public safety and innovation

[3:11:22] while maintaining transparency,

[3:11:24] accountability, and meaningful public input.

[3:11:28] The most surveillance

[3:11:29] city in the United States can now lead this country

[3:11:32] with passing the most sweeping legislation, which includes

[3:11:35] community input and transparency for its residents.

[3:11:37] And I pledge to you, the ACLU,

[3:11:39] coalition partners and community members

[3:11:41] will help you within there.

[3:11:43] There are three things that we have, and I'm done.

[3:11:46] One, we we are at a turning point on surveillance.

[3:11:49] We are at a turning point on A, C, D, C, the Atlantic City

[3:11:54] Detention Center. And we are at a turning point for the Atlanta Falcons.

[3:11:56] You can change two of those three.

[3:12:07] Our last speaker for today is Damian Harper.

[3:12:10] You have four minutes.

[3:12:11] Is Jason Woods here also.

[3:12:15] Jason Woods.

[3:12:18] Is Damian Harper still here.

[3:12:23] Play. Did

[3:12:25] he just used his two minutes just without.

[3:12:27] Okay.

[3:12:28] So that is it.

[3:12:32] That is it for our public speaking.

[3:12:41] Madam clerk.

[3:12:46] Now I'm looking for him on this other list and wondering

[3:12:48] why is he on both of them? Yep.

[3:12:56] All right. So in that case, that concludes our public speaking time.

[3:12:59] We will now.

[3:13:03] Have to go into committee of the whole.

[3:13:04] Is the administration here to give us the FIFA update?

[3:13:09] But first I want to thank everyone

[3:13:10] for coming for public speaking.

[3:13:12] Let's let me clear that up.

[3:13:14] I do appreciate your voice.

[3:13:17] I do appreciate your voice.

[3:13:19] And it is always good to hear from the community

[3:13:22] about what we could be doing different or better,

[3:13:25] or what we're doing real good.

[3:13:27] So glad you can let us know.

[3:13:29] I would like to ask that you give all of the entities

[3:13:32] that are associated with public speaking in our general

[3:13:36] jurisdiction, the same energy that you give us.

[3:13:39] Go and speak with APS Fulton County.

[3:13:43] Marta. Ask them why don't they do donate a time

[3:13:45] like we do here at the city of Atlanta?

[3:13:48] Because I believe our voices need

[3:13:49] to be heard on all platforms everywhere.

[3:13:52] So thank you very, very much for always engaging.

[3:13:56] I really do appreciate

[3:13:58] the engagement from from each and every one of you.

[3:14:02] And I see that, that,

[3:14:05] the administration is here to give us our FIFA update.

[3:14:08] I would like to go into committee of the whole.

[3:14:10] But I would need one of so moved by one.

[3:14:13] Is there a second? Second by Norwood?

[3:14:16] This can be done by unanimous consent.

[3:14:18] Madam clerk, please call the account for unanimous

[3:14:22] consent.

[3:14:23] 13 years, 13 years.

[3:14:25] And we are in committee of the whole.

[3:14:28] And our.

[3:14:30] Could you please come forward?

[3:14:32] This is our COO LaShawn Burks with that ministration.

[3:14:35] And anyone that's here to speak with FIFA, just come on down.

[3:14:42] To speak about our FIFA update.

[3:14:45] FIFA World Cup update, because it was a tremendous

[3:14:50] success and I'm happy to hear about this report.

[3:14:58] All right.

[3:15:05] Good afternoon, Madam President and members of the Atlanta City Council.

[3:15:09] Thank you for giving us this opportunity to come.

[3:15:12] Just to give a quick update on FIFA World Cup.

[3:15:16] We had committed to coming back and doing a debrief.

[3:15:19] We have been given a charge to make it as quick as possible

[3:15:23] today, and we are going to do just that.

[3:15:26] But again, my name is LaShawn Burton.

[3:15:28] I have the privilege of serving

[3:15:29] as a chief operating officer for the city of Atlanta

[3:15:32] in just a few months ago.

[3:15:33] We welcome the world to Atlanta.

[3:15:36] And I want to just stop

[3:15:38] while everybody will not be able to present today,

[3:15:41] but to thank each and every one of you and all of our staff

[3:15:45] who help to make this

[3:15:46] an unforgettable chapter in Atlanta's history.

[3:15:50] The world experienced our hospitality, the experienced, our people,

[3:15:54] and the people we have who call Atlanta home.

[3:15:58] So I ask you to join me in thanking yourselves.

[3:16:01] And everybody who's represented may still be here

[3:16:04] and every city department.

[3:16:06] Just a huge thank you for the work

[3:16:08] that you did during FIFA World Cup.

[3:16:10] It was the longest 40 days and 40 nights we have ever seen,

[3:16:14] but we enjoyed every minute of it.

[3:16:17] So you have to give yourselves a hand.

[3:16:19] I have to give you all here.

[3:16:22] So as we mentioned before,

[3:16:24] we had right at 21 departments who had dedicated people

[3:16:28] working on FIFA,

[3:16:30] but on today we were only going to hear from four very quickly.

[3:16:34] We're going to do four of them,

[3:16:36] and then we're going to leave you with a keepsake

[3:16:40] that you can take, that you can review

[3:16:41] if you have additional questions.

[3:16:43] So we'll hear from Atlanta Police Department,

[3:16:46] the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department,

[3:16:48] Parks and Recreation.

[3:16:49] And then our communications team will come and share with you,

[3:16:53] the living legacy of documents that we have

[3:16:55] for you all to review.

[3:16:58] So this time, I'm going to turn it over to Assistant Chief Hampton

[3:17:01] of the Atlanta Police Department to go through APD.

[3:17:06] Final numbers, chief Hampton.

[3:17:12] Good afternoon.

[3:17:13] Thank you, Chief Burks.

[3:17:16] I have the task.

[3:17:18] I was then deputy chief of leading our special events

[3:17:22] division, and I was tasked with overseeing the planning

[3:17:26] and execution of the FIFA World Cup.

[3:17:31] Chief Sherburne gave me four task,

[3:17:34] and that's the actually gave

[3:17:35] the entire department for task fight crime.

[3:17:40] Execute the FIFA plan, respond to all

[3:17:43] 911 calls and keep the peace.

[3:17:47] And I can say that we accomplished the mission.

[3:18:01] So we had eight matches to include the semifinal match.

[3:18:05] That was England versus Argentina,

[3:18:09] and each with the attendance of over 68,000 people

[3:18:14] that were inside Mercedes Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

[3:18:18] We managed 19

[3:18:20] fan festival days that were held at Centennial Olympic Park,

[3:18:25] where we were able to welcome visitors.

[3:18:30] Host citizens and residents

[3:18:33] and really to showcase a lantern

[3:18:36] inside Olympic Park, our south downtown area,

[3:18:40] as well as our downtown area, underground areas.

[3:18:44] I can report that there were zero critical incidents

[3:18:48] that occurred during the FIFA and within that footprint.

[3:18:53] Many of you did not know that.

[3:18:55] We did have to mitigate two elevated

[3:18:58] threat assessments that came down from the FBI,

[3:19:02] and we were able to do that with our all of our partners,

[3:19:06] our federal, our state, as well as our local partners

[3:19:09] and many city departments that assisted us

[3:19:12] to make sure that the games remain safe.

[3:19:16] We operate at two e 911 centers,

[3:19:19] where we handled over 19,911 calls.

[3:19:24] We had the primary location at 180 Peachtree Street,

[3:19:30] and then we also had the backup center at the Atlanta Police Safety

[3:19:33] Training Center.

[3:19:35] Our during all this time, we were able to reduce crime

[3:19:39] 21%. I think it's important to celebrate our wins. So,

[3:19:51] but again we had a lot of partners.

[3:19:54] So we utilize over at our at

[3:19:57] a height over 681

[3:20:00] officers in this FIFA footprint.

[3:20:03] But what was unique in this that we used a scalable

[3:20:06] deployment model, and we use that based on the intelligence

[3:20:10] that we were given.

[3:20:11] So there were some days

[3:20:12] that we were able to drop very low and put those resources

[3:20:16] back into the neighborhoods and then with others.

[3:20:20] We again deployed over 600 officers.

[3:20:25] We couldn't have done this without our partnership.

[3:20:27] So we did utilize over 361 officers

[3:20:32] from outside jurisdictions who came to assist us in this.

[3:20:36] And then as well, we were able to use our technology.

[3:20:40] I know there's a lot of conversation about technology,

[3:20:43] but we were able to use technology.

[3:20:48] To mitigate 83 drone mitigation.

[3:20:50] So there was a temporary flight

[3:20:52] restriction during this time period with the technology

[3:20:57] equipment that we were able to secure through the grant.

[3:21:00] Our officers did a attend training through the FBI.

[3:21:03] So normally with drone mitigation,

[3:21:07] that is left to the federal government.

[3:21:09] But during FIFA, municipalities were able to use the technology

[3:21:14] and we were successfully able to mitigate 83

[3:21:17] drone mitigations.

[3:21:21] Also, just some other highlight numbers.

[3:21:23] We partner with Georgia State University.

[3:21:26] To assist us, we use their cafeteria, their dormitories,

[3:21:30] as well as their shuttle.

[3:21:31] There's shuttles provided us with 640 shuttle

[3:21:36] riders a day from the footprint to the cafeteria and back.

[3:21:40] We serve over 36,000 meals at their cafeteria.

[3:21:46] We issued over 30,000 water bottles.

[3:21:49] Bottles of water, sorry, 35,000 sport drinks

[3:21:53] and 25,000 pounds of ice of many.

[3:21:58] You know, the heat was definitely a factor,

[3:22:00] but we had a hydration plan to make sure

[3:22:02] that not only our members of Atlanta Police Department,

[3:22:06] but our support agencies also were taken care of.

[3:22:11] As stated before, we handle over 19,000 mercy calls as well as

[3:22:15] 20,000 chat by inquiries were also resolved.

[3:22:19] We responded to 340 unattended bats.

[3:22:23] And then we utilize many of our drone pilots

[3:22:27] who are assigned to the drone unit as well as our pilots.

[3:22:31] Where we conducted over 1900

[3:22:34] drone flights to provide this aerial support.

[3:22:37] And that averaged over almost 640

[3:22:40] drone flight hours.

[3:22:45] And so lastly, again, the impact that we had.

[3:22:47] Uninterrupted police service delivery throughout citywide,

[3:22:53] 901 answer cause during that time period was 5.74 seconds.

[3:22:58] Again, as I said before, we were able to reduce crime 21%

[3:23:03] and we had the full mobilization of the department.

[3:23:07] We did suspend nonessential administrative functions.

[3:23:11] And, again, we were happy to report

[3:23:14] that we had a very safe and enjoyable FIFA World Cup.

[3:23:19] I have now turned over the mic over to the fire department

[3:23:22] Chief Smith.

[3:23:28] Good afternoon. Council members, Council president

[3:23:30] Ross Smith, fire chief, for the duration

[3:23:34] of the FIFA events for Atlanta Fire Rescue.

[3:23:37] We worked alongside our partners with APD

[3:23:39] and our local departments within the city of Atlanta

[3:23:43] to ensure that the services to our citizens

[3:23:46] were on uninterrupted or during this time, as well

[3:23:50] as ensuring that we are working to welcome the world to ATL.

[3:23:56] During this time, AFB was tasked with

[3:23:59] providing coverage for the match locations as well

[3:24:03] as EMS coverage during FanFest and community activities.

[3:24:09] We also had our drone unit up and operational

[3:24:12] to ensure that we could meet all the logistical challenges,

[3:24:15] as well as making sure that we were capable of managing

[3:24:19] and detecting any chemical

[3:24:22] outbreaks that we may have had during this period.

[3:24:24] As well as working with the Office of Constituent

[3:24:28] Services to ensure we had hydration stations

[3:24:31] that were set up around the city for the citizens of Atlanta.

[3:24:35] And to that effect, we

[3:24:39] had a dedicated effort where we stood up to on site medical

[3:24:43] treatment facilities over at the FanFest event.

[3:24:47] And here you can see the numbers where we were very busy

[3:24:51] in that space, to the tune of just under 1200 patient contacts

[3:24:56] in that space and the perimeter area,

[3:24:59] with calls ranging from heat exhaustion

[3:25:03] all the way through heat challenges, where we did

[3:25:05] IV therapy directly on site

[3:25:08] to chest pains and difficulty breathing.

[3:25:11] Ultimately, the end result is that we

[3:25:15] limited the number of transports that we had to have to

[3:25:18] the hospitals, therefore limiting the context that we had

[3:25:23] in our emergency room.

[3:25:27] During this effort, when we were working

[3:25:30] to protect through our unified stance and posture.

[3:25:35] We are very proud of the partnerships, the external partnerships with,

[3:25:38] like the likeness of Grady, GW

[3:25:41] Police Department, our state and our regional partners,

[3:25:44] as well as continuing to work with APD and a c, D to ensure

[3:25:48] that the events that we had were memorable and safe.

[3:25:53] In addition to

[3:25:54] that, we ensured that we were

[3:25:58] in a posture

[3:25:59] where our drone coverage would provide the special

[3:26:02] operations capabilities that we needed,

[3:26:05] as well as our fire suppression activities were in place.

[3:26:08] A drone unit.

[3:26:11] Had a roughly 400, excuse me, 341 events

[3:26:15] where they took flight, ensuring that we were covering the city

[3:26:20] as a whole, especially special events area.

[3:26:23] And during the activity periods, we had a minimum

[3:26:26] of 35 to 40 medics that were trained to the EMS

[3:26:31] and paramedic level that were dedicated to this footprint.

[3:26:35] In addition to continuing to make sure that we were

[3:26:38] keeping the rest of the city safe

[3:26:41] and the innovative care that we provided at our on site

[3:26:46] clinics, where we had volunteer doctors, volunteer nurses

[3:26:49] that were working side by side with, afraid

[3:26:53] we could not have made this possible.

[3:26:55] And lastly, you will see, some pictures

[3:26:58] of some of our hard working members of Atlanta Fire Rescue.

[3:27:03] They were out day in, day out.

[3:27:06] For the entire period.

[3:27:07] On bicycles, on foot, on carts,

[3:27:11] interacting in the clinic, making sure that they made

[3:27:15] the city of Atlanta proud of the services that they were providing.

[3:27:19] And with that, I will turn it over to Doug with

[3:27:22] Parks and Rec.

[3:27:30] All right.

[3:27:32] Good afternoon. Doug Vos, Department of Parks and Recreation.

[3:27:33] I'll keep my comments short.

[3:27:35] We actually had a number of items that we offered

[3:27:38] during FIFA. We left it to about six.

[3:27:40] First off, we offered community watch parties.

[3:27:42] We did that at five locations,

[3:27:43] including CT Martin Atlanta memorial.

[3:27:46] We partnered with the YMCA, Carver, YMCA

[3:27:49] Candler, as well as Sarah Gonzalez Park.

[3:27:52] We offered a new sport.

[3:27:53] We offered foot golf.

[3:27:54] It's basically a golf, a sport that's played

[3:27:56] much like golf with your foot,

[3:27:58] with your feet, and that's provided on the bottom.

[3:28:00] And what's interesting about that

[3:28:03] is that we've actually had more people

[3:28:06] sign up for T times and Candler during the hours

[3:28:08] that we offer it than we had come for golf.

[3:28:10] So that's been actually a really nice takeaway,

[3:28:12] allowing the course to be both the golf course

[3:28:14] and it doesn't have any impact with with golfers,

[3:28:17] but it does provide for this new sport.

[3:28:20] Thrown labs. We've talked much about those recently.

[3:28:22] That was always a program that the department

[3:28:24] wanted to offer more restrooms in our city,

[3:28:26] but FIFA trying to make sure they had them in place before

[3:28:29] FIFA was absolutely the goal.

[3:28:31] We added ten new sites,

[3:28:32] and in the first month we had 15,000 visits.

[3:28:35] At those ten.

[3:28:36] We've actually added two more

[3:28:37] since that time, one here at City Hall

[3:28:40] and one at John Calhoun Park.

[3:28:42] And I'll have more to say about that in one minute.

[3:28:44] We've also offered staff watch parties.

[3:28:46] We haven't traditionally done

[3:28:48] that when large events come to the city.

[3:28:50] We wanted to make sure that they felt a part of those events.

[3:28:52] So we did a staff picnic.

[3:28:54] We offered an opportunity to do a potluck

[3:28:56] watch party at our office up the street,

[3:28:58] and those were really well received. Camp best friends.

[3:29:01] Our theme of the entire summer was one world, one Goal.

[3:29:05] We distributed over 3000 soccer balls to all of our children

[3:29:08] that were participating in that, for the summer.

[3:29:12] And then we also offered enhanced maintenance.

[3:29:13] So we did come up with a plan

[3:29:15] to make sure that mainly our downtown parks,

[3:29:17] but not just our downtown,

[3:29:18] our parks, we're serviced on

[3:29:20] a more frequent basis than we normally do.

[3:29:23] And we think we've got pretty good results out of that,

[3:29:26] out of all of these. I think the thing that was most surprising for parks

[3:29:28] is how many of these things actually are sustainable.

[3:29:31] I'll give you three examples.

[3:29:33] Number one is the programing

[3:29:34] we mentioned about the foot golf that continues to this day.

[3:29:37] You can still register for a tee time to play foot

[3:29:39] golf at Candler. Are going to continue to do so.

[3:29:42] And then integrating the

[3:29:43] the event FIFA into our campus friends actually was a

[3:29:46] was a tremendous success.

[3:29:48] The kids loved it, staff bought into it

[3:29:50] and we really enjoyed that.

[3:29:51] A second has to do with the restrooms. As I mentioned.

[3:29:54] As I mentioned, we had 15,000 visits the first month.

[3:29:57] Last month we had over 10,000 visits.

[3:30:00] That's still a very high number and shows a high demand

[3:30:03] for restrooms.

[3:30:04] And what really surprised me

[3:30:05] is two of those restrooms, one at Walton Springs Park,

[3:30:07] which is on international,

[3:30:09] and one at Hardy ID Park, which is on Peachtree.

[3:30:11] We were thinking maybe after FIFA, those will move.

[3:30:14] They are still amongst our highest restrooms

[3:30:17] to get the most visits.

[3:30:18] And so that learning

[3:30:19] curve has been really great and we continue to do that.

[3:30:22] And then the third as I mentioned, was enhanced

[3:30:24] maintenance. That is absolutely replicable.

[3:30:27] When we have another large event,

[3:30:28] we're going to initiate that same program

[3:30:31] to make sure that all of our services

[3:30:32] can be at the highest extent when needed.

[3:30:36] The last item I'll say that's absolutely

[3:30:37] replicable has to do with our staff.

[3:30:39] Our staff absolutely bought in to having FIFA here.

[3:30:43] They enjoyed being a part of the process,

[3:30:45] the planning of it, trying to find out

[3:30:46] what works best with their their sites.

[3:30:49] And these are just some of the pictures.

[3:30:50] It didn't matter if you were in aquatics,

[3:30:52] if you're a park rangers

[3:30:54] working with the camp program across the board, we'd say it was very successful

[3:30:56] and something we look to integrate

[3:30:58] with other future events in Atlanta.

[3:31:00] With that, I will hand it over to chief.

[3:31:08] Good afternoon, Council

[3:31:10] Alison, future chief officer for the City of Atlanta.

[3:31:14] So what good is all of this work and what good is all of this?

[3:31:20] A large scale event

[3:31:21] welcoming the world if we don't communicate properly

[3:31:24] or we don't recap the good work that's done here.

[3:31:28] So with the wrong way.

[3:31:31] So from this, some of our departmental

[3:31:35] highlights include we had a we stood up a virtual GIC.

[3:31:40] So we met every day

[3:31:42] with all of the comms leads across the organization

[3:31:45] so that we can make sure we were

[3:31:47] synchronized in our media and our public safety,

[3:31:50] transportation and our executive communications

[3:31:53] so that we can ensure that

[3:31:54] everyone one band, one sound, everyone saying the same thing.

[3:31:58] So from that call, we produce daily readiness

[3:32:02] content, messaging, media coordination.

[3:32:05] We were able to speak in one voice through all of the

[3:32:09] various departments we created.

[3:32:11] Graphics at all, could share so that we were

[3:32:14] communicating the same message across cohesively.

[3:32:18] We also deployed on the days that got hot.

[3:32:21] It was a several several days that people were standing in

[3:32:25] line and couldn't get into FanFest.

[3:32:28] We deployed mobile digital messaging trucks.

[3:32:30] I don't know if y'all saw

[3:32:32] they were broadcasting the Game and Broadcasting FanFest.

[3:32:35] So as people were waiting in lines for

[3:32:39] FanFest, they could also view the games at the same time.

[3:32:43] From this, we also published 55 FIFA

[3:32:47] related stories on ATL direct, we had close to 2

[3:32:51] billion impressions in media, and we also had over

[3:32:55] 200 million social media impressions online.

[3:32:59] So one another thing that we,

[3:33:03] drew from this is we are one message.

[3:33:05] The communications function

[3:33:07] became the connective tissue between

[3:33:09] what was going on in the field,

[3:33:11] what was going on with executive leadership

[3:33:13] in the media, in the public.

[3:33:15] So since we are one message, we became clearer, faster,

[3:33:19] broader and stronger.

[3:33:23] So key takeaway we stood up a website.

[3:33:25] So if you take your phone out, you can scan the QR code

[3:33:28] and there's a website ATL and beyond

[3:33:32] that lists everything that every department

[3:33:35] contributed to during this activation of FIFA.

[3:33:39] So and we also had a booklet,

[3:33:41] I don't know if everyone has a booklet

[3:33:43] that is a Leave Behind booklet that was given to you.

[3:33:47] We also created that as well.

[3:33:49] Lastly, I want to say we also received

[3:33:53] some very exciting recognition coming out of FIFA.

[3:33:57] Our efforts, FIFA efforts and Lana along with Boston,

[3:34:02] will have been selected to receive the 2026 US Sports

[3:34:07] Diplomacy Award from the Public Diplomacy Council of America.

[3:34:13] That.

[3:34:17] This award recognizes how it welcomed the world

[3:34:20] and the tremendous citywide effort that made FIFA a success.

[3:34:25] With that, I will hand it back over to Chief Burks.

[3:34:32] Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[3:34:34] I hope we met our time limit, Madam President, but each of you will receive a book.

[3:34:38] We did it.

[3:34:40] And while we were not able to highlight

[3:34:42] every department today, this book does that.

[3:34:47] And we still have some other

[3:34:49] commissioners and all who are here.

[3:34:50] So we are open for questions if there are any.

[3:34:53] But it's at your discretion.

[3:34:55] Madam president, I don't mind.

[3:34:57] I don't mind at all because they know

[3:34:59] that they are deciding how long this goes.

[3:35:01] Okay.

[3:35:03] Don't mind one bit.

[3:35:05] Any council members with the question?

[3:35:09] Look at their council member, Alex Wine.

[3:35:13] Thank you, Madam President.

[3:35:13] Thank you, madam, CCOO.

[3:35:15] I did want to echo

[3:35:17] my appreciation and accolades for a job really well done.

[3:35:20] I, I think as you walked around the community, the city,

[3:35:23] the residents, the business owners, everybody,

[3:35:27] just comment about how well executed it was.

[3:35:29] And it was because of everybody on your team

[3:35:33] and the partners we had that that made it successful.

[3:35:36] I also wanted to just extend my thank you, because it went past

[3:35:40] that last match all the way up to the final viewing party

[3:35:43] in Piedmont Park.

[3:35:44] And I think folks

[3:35:45] forgot about that, that your officers

[3:35:47] and all that had to stay on for those extra days.

[3:35:49] And, just wanted to

[3:35:51] thank you all for that as well as the how successful that was,

[3:35:55] I think gave us a lot of best practices

[3:35:57] in terms of how the city does big events really well

[3:36:00] and what we can learn for future special events there.

[3:36:03] As transportation chair,

[3:36:04] I just wanted to put out there and not for today.

[3:36:08] And I've already mentioned this to the commissioner as well as the CFO.

[3:36:11] There's a lot of great work

[3:36:12] done downtown on infrastructure through the Auburn,

[3:36:15] but I understand that there was still resources left in that.

[3:36:18] And I'd like to at some point do a reconciliation of that.

[3:36:22] If there are extra funds.

[3:36:23] Let's talk about how we can continue deploying those

[3:36:27] in a really efficient way that ATL Dot was doing.

[3:36:30] So like look forward to having that conversation.

[3:36:33] Sure. Thank you. We are still reconciling the books on that one.

[3:36:36] I think that was mentioned

[3:36:37] in transportation

[3:36:39] during the quarterly presentation last week,

[3:36:41] but we'll make sure we bring that to council when it's done.

[3:36:47] Council member Lewis.

[3:36:52] And I echo Council Member one and extending my congratulations

[3:36:54] to the mayor's entire team on the efforts done during FIFA.

[3:36:59] Even unlike the Olympics, we felt FIFA

[3:37:02] in as far down as Jonesboro and Southside.

[3:37:05] So when you come down to Parks and Rick

[3:37:08] and the Department of Fire and the Fire and Fire Department

[3:37:12] and the police, the a PD all working together,

[3:37:15] it was an amazing time period for us.

[3:37:18] We truly felt FIFA in my community multiple times.

[3:37:23] I want to also say that I heard Commissioner Voss

[3:37:26] say that they're not going to move the restrooms,

[3:37:29] but part of the plan.

[3:37:31] I think what we talked about

[3:37:33] was that you were going to look at parks, some of the parks

[3:37:35] that in the South Side don't have restrooms

[3:37:38] to look at moving some of those restrooms.

[3:37:40] I know that they've

[3:37:41] they may get a lot of use right now, but

[3:37:44] put them in a park like South Bend in the summertime

[3:37:47] and see the type of usage that it would get as well.

[3:37:50] So I want to still look at moving the restrooms down south

[3:37:53] at other areas.

[3:37:57] Boom. If I may, just on that point, I'm sorry if I wasn't clear.

[3:38:00] We are we're excited to leave the restrooms that they are

[3:38:02] and buy more restrooms for all those sites.

[3:38:04] What I was surprised did.

[3:38:05] I didn't know if all those sites

[3:38:06] would be as popular as they were.

[3:38:08] They have proven they are,

[3:38:09] which just means we need to add

[3:38:10] additional restrooms, not take any way

[3:38:13] that are functioning well, and I know you'll make it happen.

[3:38:15] I just know that when you have

[3:38:16] fee for money, it happens for real.

[3:38:18] And the plan was to move them to other areas.

[3:38:22] So I want to make sure that the areas that don't have the restrooms currently, right,

[3:38:24] they get moved down there.

[3:38:26] Because if you look at today, I'll be introducing legislation

[3:38:29] looking at some of the disparities around.

[3:38:31] But if you can look at moving the restrooms to the places

[3:38:34] that they were.

[3:38:35] Lastly, I love the trash cans.

[3:38:37] I love walking around the FIFA sites, seeing the trash cans.

[3:38:40] I felt like I was in D.C., I was in D.C.

[3:38:43] this weekend. I counted more trash cans

[3:38:45] and I see on Cleveland Avenue on one corner.

[3:38:47] And so if you could look at some of the trash

[3:38:49] cans that we have down in the

[3:38:50] the area that does not have as many people after

[3:38:54] after the World Cup

[3:38:56] leaves, can we look at

[3:38:57] other parts of the city to put more trash cans?

[3:38:59] I've seen my good council member

[3:39:01] Byron Amos actually spend funding,

[3:39:03] spend some of his resources on putting trash cans.

[3:39:06] I did as well, but if you can look at moving the trash cans.

[3:39:09] Last thing the a p d didn't.

[3:39:12] Amazing job. Want to give him a huge, huge huge shout out to my major Major

[3:39:15] Woolfolk out of zone three who was borrowed over

[3:39:19] to help manage and run this faction,

[3:39:23] and glad to have him back on the ground his own.

[3:39:27] Three we do know that it was a well run, so efficient,

[3:39:32] so effective because you all had one of the best majors in the world

[3:39:35] down there getting that stuff done.

[3:39:36] Major Woolford from zone three.

[3:39:38] Morehouse brother Lana bread.

[3:39:40] Thank you again.

[3:39:41] So Council

[3:39:43] member Lewis we definitely want to give kudos to Major Woolfolk.

[3:39:46] But every major I said all the AP first

[3:39:49] every then I know what major for a little while.

[3:39:51] Yes they took my major

[3:39:53] for the entire time period and and we suffered in that area.

[3:39:57] We are already

[3:39:58] being innovative again now that we got them back.

[3:40:01] And so I know he was gone

[3:40:03] that in time period, entire time period,

[3:40:05] because the community knew it too.

[3:40:06] It was like he was gone.

[3:40:07] But now we got him back and we've been able to

[3:40:09] fix some stuff again.

[3:40:10] So huge, huge shout out to APD

[3:40:13] and thank you for sending Major Woodford back to zone three.

[3:40:17] Thank you, Councilmember Lewis.

[3:40:21] Council Member Collins,

[3:40:23] no, thank you so much for this presentation

[3:40:25] and the book as well.

[3:40:27] Also, just wanting to, extend a deep

[3:40:31] thanks for every, you know, for everyone that may be for,

[3:40:36] successful having my having an opportunity

[3:40:39] to take advantage of something that was on my bucket list

[3:40:42] and seeing how

[3:40:43] everyone just enjoyed the city was really something

[3:40:47] truly admirable. So thank you to all the departments, to all

[3:40:50] volunteers, everyone in the city that really made this happen.

[3:40:54] And so I do I do have just a couple of questions,

[3:40:58] in terms of just kind of next steps.

[3:41:00] So I know Commissioner one, I not commissioner

[3:41:02] council member one

[3:41:03] talked about like the funding, the grant funding piece.

[3:41:06] No, no, no immediate response now, but in terms of,

[3:41:10] any the status and updates on those that will go with that

[3:41:14] go through FEC or will they go through CVS?

[3:41:18] Probably FEC.

[3:41:20] Okay. And if we need to do something with CDs,

[3:41:22] we will work with council president

[3:41:23] on which the which committee is the appropriate committee.

[3:41:27] And now that the event is over.

[3:41:28] Do we have any do we

[3:41:30] are there any funding

[3:41:32] restrictions like do we need to spend the money down by a certain period.

[3:41:36] Is there could you know only things that we could use it

[3:41:39] for that was tied to FIFA infrastructure.

[3:41:42] Any limitations.

[3:41:44] So the infrastructure bond not as much as the grant

[3:41:47] funding for public safety. Okay.

[3:41:49] We have a deadline for the grant funding for public safety.

[3:41:51] It only paid for the 40 days.

[3:41:56] Well, it did go back to July 1st the previous year for equipment,

[3:41:59] but from staffing perspective, it only pays for the time

[3:42:04] that our public safety personnel worked within those 39 to

[3:42:08] 40 days. But they are a bond has a little more flexibility.

[3:42:12] Okay. And so part of the grant report

[3:42:13] will have those pieces in there. Yes, ma'am. Okay, great.

[3:42:16] And then my last question, which is probably a bigger

[3:42:19] question, I definitely want to I definitely just want to uplift

[3:42:23] and thank you all and thank the thank the administration

[3:42:27] and the and and the city leadership and departments for

[3:42:33] and I don't think we realize that this is what I learned

[3:42:35] through fulfilling in truly the gaps

[3:42:39] of whether it was showcase ATL the things that Parks and Works

[3:42:43] did, the things that fire and public Safety did, what I

[3:42:47] learned through this process and asking, you know,

[3:42:50] being those, I'll say asking questions was realizing the,

[3:42:57] how a lot of the major things were streamlined through FIFA

[3:43:00] as an organization and through the chamber

[3:43:02] and through the Atlanta Sports Council

[3:43:04] and those things that were not met that we know

[3:43:07] as a city, we needed to have the city administration

[3:43:11] stepped, you know, stepped up to feel

[3:43:13] that the impotence of showcase ATL knows things.

[3:43:16] So I just want to applaud

[3:43:18] you guys and give you guys your shine and glow for that.

[3:43:21] And so my question is moving forward

[3:43:24] as Atlanta has become a the city of,

[3:43:28] you know, like we're on a radar now for a lot of great events.

[3:43:32] Any glow grows or anything that you all are thinking about.

[3:43:37] What what's next

[3:43:39] coming from what we, you know, learn from from FIFA.

[3:43:43] And the second part today is how we as a council in our time

[3:43:46] could be able to support just that.

[3:43:50] Because you all did a lot. I don't think people realize like showcase ATL, the spaces

[3:43:54] and events that, you know,

[3:43:56] we probably got criticized as a city.

[3:43:59] Like those are things

[3:44:00] that the administration, LinkedIn and provided that

[3:44:04] when we compare

[3:44:06] other cities, whether it's the Austin or the New York,

[3:44:09] I pushed back and I said, let's be clear,

[3:44:12] like we the city stepped in and and close the gap will provide

[3:44:16] an opportunity when it wasn't even at the table.

[3:44:20] So I do want to just give you all that shine, but want to just

[3:44:21] kind of your responses on what's next. Sure.

[3:44:24] Thank you for that.

[3:44:25] Councilmember Collins,

[3:44:27] I can tell you

[3:44:28] and each of the department can tell you that

[3:44:31] we put together our successes.

[3:44:33] We also put together we have an operational manual

[3:44:36] where we have what things are lasting impact for the city.

[3:44:40] So we have those listed out by department as well as

[3:44:44] what were some takeaways that we could do better on.

[3:44:47] And as we prepare for now, Super

[3:44:50] Bowl in 2028 and any other large scale event.

[3:44:54] So it is definitely by department.

[3:44:56] The teams have worked really, really hard on that.

[3:44:59] We celebrated, but then we also went back

[3:45:02] in a very short period of time

[3:45:04] and put together, I call them Glows and Grows.

[3:45:07] So what are the grows and what are the lasting impacts

[3:45:10] for each department that we're leaving in this city?

[3:45:13] That will never change as a result of World Cup.

[3:45:16] What last question.

[3:45:17] And Madam Chair,

[3:45:18] I defer in terms of

[3:45:19] just piggyback and often at what would be the

[3:45:22] what what would be the roadmap for us to,

[3:45:25] you know, as council members to,

[3:45:28] you know, to to

[3:45:29] keep consistent knowledge of that information or,

[3:45:33] or track or see so that it's not the ramp up

[3:45:36] like when we get to Super Bowl.

[3:45:37] It's not the ramp up of all the things,

[3:45:39] but it's a continuing conversation.

[3:45:41] Would that be through Office of Entertainment will that will

[3:45:44] showcase ATL continue as a continuing effort?

[3:45:48] Like what does that look like for us to stay informed

[3:45:50] so we can continue to inform the city, our constituency?

[3:45:54] Yes. So Showcase Atlanta is intended to stay around.

[3:45:58] It is in the process of forming

[3:46:01] the final stages of a 501 C3.

[3:46:04] So it will be around for us.

[3:46:06] We hope forever

[3:46:07] is another lasting legacy, and it is the venue

[3:46:10] that we can take in order to showcase Atlanta in ways

[3:46:15] that whoever is hosting an event may not do it, and we know how

[3:46:19] we want it done in Atlanta.

[3:46:20] It does give us that avenue and venue to do it.

[3:46:24] You're welcome.

[3:46:25] Thank you.

[3:46:29] Now we will hear from Kelsey Bond.

[3:46:32] Thank you.

[3:46:34] I just a similar short question.

[3:46:36] Kind of a relaxing with council member Collins, I think,

[3:46:40] during FIFA, there were questions

[3:46:43] about, you know, how much city dollars we were spending.

[3:46:46] I don't know if that's something y'all have put together.

[3:46:48] That's something we're going to hear about in fiqh,

[3:46:51] but have you all put together anything like that?

[3:46:56] Absolutely. That will also be presented in FSE as we do our close out.

[3:46:59] So every department.

[3:47:00] Well, we had a fee for tracking numbers set up by finance

[3:47:05] for every department.

[3:47:06] So you'll probably see public works,

[3:47:09] a couple of other departments.

[3:47:10] But most of the funding actually was on the public safety side.

[3:47:15] And everything we could put with

[3:47:16] the grant is where we're putting that.

[3:47:18] So yes, there will be an overview of that as well.

[3:47:22] Okay. So city dollars plus the grants we received.

[3:47:25] Absolutely. Okay. Thank you.

[3:47:28] That's it. Thank you, Councilmember bond.

[3:47:30] Council member Andrea Boone.

[3:47:32] Thank you, Madam President.

[3:47:34] Just wanting to commend, public Works

[3:47:38] for making sure that we had a clean, sanitary

[3:47:41] and very, very clean community during FIFA.

[3:47:46] Our communities did not suffer.

[3:47:48] Thank you to Commissioner Turner Solomon cavernous

[3:47:52] our a dot commissioner.

[3:47:54] Commissioner de Vos, chief of fire.

[3:47:56] Smith.

[3:47:57] None of our activities suffered.

[3:47:59] Chief bomb

[3:48:01] also to the thousands of employees that helped

[3:48:05] with our FIFA activities.

[3:48:07] With your leadership, madam COO and Mayor Andre Dickens.

[3:48:11] FIFA was a well

[3:48:12] planned, well executed project for the city of Atlanta

[3:48:17] and we so appreciate you all's attention to detail.

[3:48:20] Thank you.

[3:48:24] Thank you.

[3:48:25] And this book will show how many tons of trash we collected during World Cup.

[3:48:30] Special thanks to all those departments.

[3:48:32] And Councilmember Boone, you actually gave us

[3:48:34] a recommendation that helped us with that.

[3:48:36] And one of the recommendations

[3:48:38] you gave us very early on was to look at supplementing

[3:48:42] our public works team with, some companies

[3:48:46] who were supporting people who were unsheltered.

[3:48:50] And we had an opportunity to do that during World Cup,

[3:48:54] which made a world of difference and a good support to

[3:48:57] our public works team, so that they could continue to make sure

[3:49:00] that trash was picked up every day, in our neighborhood.

[3:49:04] So thank you for that suggestion

[3:49:05] and recommendation very early on.

[3:49:14] Council member Wayne Martin, thank you, Madam

[3:49:16] President, to Madam CEO

[3:49:18] and the mayor's entire administration,

[3:49:20] you all put on a first class,

[3:49:23] execution of this kind of world event.

[3:49:26] I had some friends that attended

[3:49:27] events in New York and Philadelphia,

[3:49:29] and they also attended events here.

[3:49:31] They said second to none.

[3:49:34] They just saying you all's praises.

[3:49:36] And I took some of the credit because they gave it to me.

[3:49:39] But I also put it right, right back

[3:49:41] on, on you all where it belonged.

[3:49:43] Because you all did a yeoman's task

[3:49:45] and a phenomenal job from our police department.

[3:49:47] Our fire.

[3:49:49] You know, Commissioner Turner, Commissioner cabinets,

[3:49:52] the folks that I called.

[3:49:53] But I want to give a special shout out to the Parks and Rec

[3:49:55] for what took place at Cty.

[3:49:57] Martin, with our young people and our kids,

[3:49:59] we kind of brought soccer to them

[3:50:01] and brought FIFA to them, which is a new world

[3:50:04] for a lot of kids in Southwest Atlanta.

[3:50:05] But it's really taken off now.

[3:50:06] So y'all able to get ready for us

[3:50:08] to really roll out some real soccer programing.

[3:50:10] Because I think I got a feeling you're going to see a lot of,

[3:50:12] you know, Johnson's and Jackson's

[3:50:14] in soccer jerseys real soon from southwest Atlanta.

[3:50:17] And, and I also wanted to finally shout out

[3:50:19] Showcase Atlanta. We had an amazing Juneteenth

[3:50:22] viewing party in Cascade Heights.

[3:50:24] That was just amazing.

[3:50:26] The mayor came out and gave a ticket

[3:50:29] to a little boy, and that child lit up like it was Christmas.

[3:50:34] Yo, Burks. And so that just shows what's possible in Atlanta

[3:50:36] when we all come together.

[3:50:37] And I'm looking forward to continuing

[3:50:39] to these kind of events into the future.

[3:50:40] So I just want to say thank you

[3:50:41] again on behalf of district 11 and our residents.

[3:50:44] Thank you. Thank y'all.

[3:50:47] Thank you. Council member Martin, council member Michael Julian Bond.

[3:50:50] Thank you, Madam President.

[3:50:52] Madam chair.

[3:50:53] And to all the mayor's staff.

[3:50:55] I want to add my athletes to you for,

[3:50:58] of course, an exceptional Atlanta.

[3:51:01] Job well done.

[3:51:03] But I really want to emphasize

[3:51:06] that away from the stage, away from the lights,

[3:51:11] the services that were still provided to residents

[3:51:14] went off without a hitch.

[3:51:17] And so it is extremely important to always

[3:51:19] take care of our guests and do

[3:51:24] the phenomenal hosting job

[3:51:27] that we can only do here in Atlanta, right?

[3:51:30] Nobody does it like Atlanta, but

[3:51:34] unlike during the Olympics

[3:51:37] or some or some Super Bowls

[3:51:41] where people say, oh, they only care about the people

[3:51:43] who come to town.

[3:51:44] And I didn't get my garbage picked up or something

[3:51:48] didn't happen.

[3:51:49] You know, in the hinterland,

[3:51:51] the everyone in the city was happy and were satisfied

[3:51:56] and pleased with the services that Sydney allowed

[3:52:00] city government provided not only to our

[3:52:04] our honored guests, but for the everyday residents.

[3:52:07] And I think that that really is the highest compliment,

[3:52:11] because with everyone's many departments

[3:52:15] going above and beyond

[3:52:16] to accommodate all of our international

[3:52:19] visitors or, you know, visitors from across the country

[3:52:23] or region,

[3:52:24] the citizens who live here every day

[3:52:26] operate their businesses every day.

[3:52:29] Right, Marta, come to town.

[3:52:32] They receive the same level of superior service.

[3:52:35] And for that, I want to give you

[3:52:37] my highest compliment at this government worked.

[3:52:40] And it not only worked when in front of the lights

[3:52:43] and on the stage, but worked backstage.

[3:52:46] So highest compliments to.

[3:52:49] Thank you, Councilmember.

[3:52:51] Thank you.

[3:52:54] Thank you.

[3:52:55] And just to

[3:52:56] first of all, is that all

[3:52:57] of the council members that like to speak

[3:53:00] and to close it out, I just want to also say

[3:53:03] thank you and congratulations, because it really was an award

[3:53:08] winning 40 days and 40 nights here in our city.

[3:53:12] And I just want to make sure everyone knows

[3:53:14] that Showcase Atlanta is still alive, right?

[3:53:17] Because they are here for

[3:53:19] our other events that we will be hosting.

[3:53:22] And I just, you know, at work

[3:53:26] throughout DPW, not only did the wellness,

[3:53:31] but again, the trash and I even saw them in a security capacity,

[3:53:34] you know, making sure that there will be no,

[3:53:37] bombarding of our streets and our guests.

[3:53:40] So we were just innovative and and very fluid throughout.

[3:53:44] And I just want to thank you all for all of that good work.

[3:53:47] And I know it took a long time and a lot of coordination.

[3:53:50] Let's give them a hand.

[3:54:05] Thank you. Did you want to say anything else before we leave?

[3:54:07] Committee of the whole.

[3:54:09] No, ma'am. Thank you, everyone, for coming.

[3:54:12] Thank you all so much.

[3:54:13] I move to move by one second by

[3:54:18] Michael Julian Bond to exit committee of the whole.

[3:54:21] And we can do that by unanimous consent.

[3:54:24] Madam clerk 1208120 nays.

[3:54:27] We have exited the committee of the whole.

[3:54:29] And that takes us to the report of the Journal.

[3:54:35] Madam Clerk, good afternoon, Madam President, and members of Council.

[3:54:37] I, Linda, municipal clerk of the City of Atlanta,

[3:54:40] do hereby certify that the minutes

[3:54:43] of the regular meeting held on Tuesday, September 8th, 2026, or to and correct.

[3:54:48] Oh thank you. Is there a motion to adopt the report of the Journal?

[3:54:50] So moved by one second by Collins.

[3:54:54] Madam clerk, please prepare the vote.

[3:54:59] We can do this by unanimous.

[3:55:00] Unanimous consent

[3:55:02] is 08120 nays.

[3:55:05] The report of the journal is adopted.

[3:55:10] That takes us to communications.

[3:55:11] Thank you, Madam President.

[3:55:13] I'm number one is 26.

[3:55:15] C 5085 is a communication from council members

[3:55:18] Thomas Worthy, district seven,

[3:55:19] Mary Norwood, district eight, and Matt Westmoreland,

[3:55:22] post two at large, reappointing Mr.

[3:55:24] Earl young to serve as a member of the Water and Sewer

[3:55:26] Appeals Board.

[3:55:28] Disappointments for a term of three years.

[3:55:29] Staff recommendation to refer to City Utilities

[3:55:32] Committee and Committee on Council.

[3:55:33] Let it follow that course.

[3:55:35] Andrea two was 26 C 5886. Mr..

[3:55:38] Communication for Mayor Andre

[3:55:39] Dickens appointing Miss Alicia Smith to serve

[3:55:41] as a member of the Civil Service board.

[3:55:43] This appointment for a term of three years.

[3:55:45] Staff recommendation to refer to finance executive

[3:55:47] Committee and Committee on Council,

[3:55:49] let it follow that course.

[3:55:50] Item number three is 26585.

[3:55:53] This one.

[3:55:54] Mayor Andre Dickens appointed Mr.

[3:55:55] Chuck to serve as a member of the Human Relations Commission.

[3:55:59] This is pointless for term of three years.

[3:56:01] Staff recommendation to refer to Committee on Council.

[3:56:04] Let it follow that course.

[3:56:05] I'm. Number four is 26 C 588.

[3:56:08] This is a communication

[3:56:09] for Mayor André Dickens reappointing

[3:56:11] Doctor Annie Adams and serve as a member of the Midtown

[3:56:14] Community Improvement District board of directors.

[3:56:16] Disappointment is for a term for four years, to begin

[3:56:19] retroactively on June 6th, 2026, and expire on June 5th, 2030.

[3:56:25] Staff recommendation to refer to Community Development, Human Services

[3:56:27] Committee and Committee and Council

[3:56:28] let it follow that course.

[3:56:29] Item number five is 26 C 5089.

[3:56:33] This is a communication from Chief Procurement Officer Chandra Houston,

[3:56:37] submitting the Department of Procurement

[3:56:39] Monthly report August 1st to August 31st, 2026.

[3:56:43] Staff recommendation to accept and file.

[3:56:46] Okay. I'll entertain a motion to accept and file

[3:56:49] move by one second by Hillis.

[3:56:52] Madam clerk, please prepare the vote

[3:56:55] a moment.

[3:56:56] The vote is open.

[3:57:02] Will everyone please vote?

[3:57:10] The was closed.

[3:57:15] 1312 years.

[3:57:18] Nays. Councilman Westmoreland, what is your vote?

[3:57:22] 13 years.

[3:57:23] There are 13 years, zero nays.

[3:57:26] That item is accepted and filed.

[3:57:29] Consideration of vetoed legislation.

[3:57:32] What about unfinished business? No thank you.

[3:57:35] I just remind everyone that October 5th, 2026

[3:57:37] is the last day to register to vote for the November election.

[3:57:42] Thank you for that.

[3:57:43] Now that takes us to consent agenda section one.

[3:57:47] These are the items that receive

[3:57:48] unanimous votes in our committees.

[3:57:53] Are there any items that need

[3:57:55] to be removed from consent agenda section one

[3:57:58] okay. Yes, madam.

[3:57:59] Council Member Martin.

[3:58:01] Yes. I would like to remove on page seven,

[3:58:04] item 13260-1451.

[3:58:12] Okay.

[3:58:17] Give me the item number again please.

[3:58:19] Item number 13 on page seven.

[3:58:22] And the legislation number is 26.

[3:58:25] Dash 01451

[3:58:29] okay okay.

[3:58:32] Council member Kelsey Bond

[3:58:34] I'd like to remove resolution

[3:58:37] number 260 1490.

[3:58:40] That's a number 16.

[3:58:48] I am going to that right now.

[3:58:50] Just a second.

[3:58:55] You say 26 old Dash 1490.

[3:58:58] And for public

[3:59:01] safety.

[3:59:08] Okay okay.

[3:59:11] Council member one thank you, Madam President.

[3:59:15] Might as well finish out that whole section.

[3:59:16] So I'm going to take off on page 7142601488, which is item 14.

[3:59:23] And then I am 15, which is 2601489 on page eight.

[3:59:28] So page 72601488

[3:59:31] on page eight 2600 1489.

[3:59:34] Sorry, Councilmember Boone.

[3:59:35] Okay, so that's three items to be removed

[3:59:39] from public safety for.

[3:59:42] Yes, for items to be removed from PS la.

[3:59:50] Item 13, 14, 15 and 16.

[3:59:55] Moved by one to adopt the consent agenda.

[3:59:58] Section one. Is there a second?

[4:00:01] Second by Council Member Hillis.

[4:00:03] Madam clerk, please prepare the vote.

[4:00:11] The voters open.

[4:00:18] Well. Everyone please vote.

[4:00:33] The most closed 13 years.

[4:00:34] There are 13 gays, zero nays.

[4:00:37] Consent agenda section one with those items removed is adopted.

[4:00:42] Any items for posthaste? Yes.

[4:00:45] Council member Westmoreland.

[4:00:47] Oh, great. Yes, I remember Collins.

[4:00:49] Yes. Page five, item number 26.

[4:00:52] Dash. Oh, and I have a few.

[4:00:54] 26-01496 number three.

[4:01:00] 1496.

[4:01:03] Is that okay?

[4:01:06] Only the parent.

[4:01:07] I'm gonna leave the one to you.

[4:01:11] Let me go ahead.

[4:01:12] Page nine,

[4:01:14] item number 18 at a CD h s

[4:01:18] as electric car drive as electric vehicle user

[4:01:21] 26014931493 okay,

[4:01:29] look at that. Page ten

[4:01:31] resolution 26-R-4015

[4:01:37] Construction of concourse D,

[4:01:42] page 11.

[4:01:43] Item number 26-R, dash 4021.

[4:01:50] Drawing down federal grant funds as we enter

[4:01:52] a new fiscal year start of October 1st.

[4:01:56] Page 12, item number 26R-3994.

[4:02:01] Number 14.

[4:02:06] Victim witness assistance.

[4:02:08] And then last is page 15.

[4:02:12] Resolution 26R-399326.

[4:02:19] Moving forward with acknowledging the Just Us

[4:02:22] neighborhood and colleagues, I just went ahead

[4:02:24] and just did the details so you guys just would know.

[4:02:27] I appreciate that big time.

[4:02:30] Thank you. So thank you. I have those all written down.

[4:02:32] How about you all?

[4:02:33] Is everybody okay?

[4:02:34] Yeah. Yes

[4:02:37] I see I, I have six.

[4:02:40] Is that all of them.

[4:02:41] Does anyone else have any

[4:02:42] that they'd like to move posthaste to the mayor.

[4:02:45] Council member Winston.

[4:02:46] Thank you. Council president I have three items.

[4:02:48] First is on page six.

[4:02:50] Number 112601506.

[4:02:55] And I have two on page 12 versus item

[4:02:58] number 1326R-3989

[4:03:02] and then number 1626R-4 thousand.

[4:03:12] Okay. I already had your three, so thank you for that.

[4:03:16] Anyone else any items to be sent

[4:03:19] posthaste?

[4:03:23] Okay. Moved by one to moved these items posthaste.

[4:03:28] It's 12345678, nine items.

[4:03:32] Is that what you have?

[4:03:34] And second by Bakhtiari.

[4:03:36] Posthaste. To the mayor's office.

[4:03:40] Any discussion?

[4:03:43] This can be done by unanimous consent, madam clerk.

[4:03:46] 14 years there, an age 14 years or nays.

[4:03:49] All of these items are sent to the mayor's office posthaste.

[4:03:52] Council member Westmoreland.

[4:03:54] Thank you, Madam President.

[4:03:55] Just a quick comment, because it's on consent.

[4:03:59] I wanted to acknowledge that we just unanimously updated the city's

[4:04:02] paid parental leave policy for the first time in a decade

[4:04:06] so that starting on July or January 1st.

[4:04:13] January 1st, 20th January first.

[4:04:15] Yeah. All all city of Atlanta employees

[4:04:17] will have the opportunity to take 12 weeks of paid leave,

[4:04:20] at the time that they would like to take that leave

[4:04:22] during their child's first year of life.

[4:04:25] And the city

[4:04:26] took that first step in the region

[4:04:29] a decade ago, and now we're making advancements

[4:04:30] on that benefit to our employees.

[4:04:32] And just wanted to thank everybody

[4:04:33] for their work on that. Thank you.

[4:04:37] Thank you. And with that, that will take us to consent agenda section two.

[4:04:46] I want you to move by Allen to tame a motion to move to approve

[4:04:51] consideration of section two.

[4:04:52] Second by.

[4:04:54] Was that Martin? Yes. Okay.

[4:04:57] Madam. Clerk. Yes. Okay.

[4:05:00] These items are to be referred back to committee.

[4:05:05] Council member Itchy Collins, would you like to speak?

[4:05:08] No, ma'am.

[4:05:11] Okay, so we have a move

[4:05:14] to refer these items back to committee by one second.

[4:05:19] By Hill, by Martin.

[4:05:21] Madam clerk, this can be done by.

[4:05:25] No. Please open the vote.

[4:05:26] The vote is open.

[4:05:27] Yeah.

[4:05:32] Well, everyone please vote.

[4:05:42] 14 years. There are 14 days there on these items are adopted

[4:05:45] to be sent back to committee, to referred to committee.

[4:05:49] And now we move on to our transportation,

[4:05:52] our standing committees. We'll start with our transportation.

[4:05:55] Chair one all right. Thank you, Madam President.

[4:05:57] Colleagues, we are on page 40 of your agenda.

[4:06:00] We have one item and that is 26 R 3999.

[4:06:04] This is a resolution by council members Kelsey Bond, Liliana

[4:06:07] Bakhtiari, Michael Julian Bond, Antonio Lewis, Jason Dozier,

[4:06:10] Wayne Martin, Jason H Winston, Byron D Amos, Matt Westmoreland

[4:06:13] Collins, Thomas Worthy, and Dustin

[4:06:15] Hillis is substituted and amended by Community

[4:06:17] Development Human Services Committee

[4:06:19] and amended by Transportation Committee,

[4:06:21] affirming the City of Atlanta support for light

[4:06:23] rail transit along the full 22 mile Atlanta Beltline corridor.

[4:06:27] Recognizing light rail transit as a central component

[4:06:29] of the adopted Lana Beltline vision,

[4:06:31] affirming the use of existing Beltline transit right of way

[4:06:34] supporting rails on grass design where feasible.

[4:06:37] Requesting coordinated inflammation

[4:06:38] and funding updates from Mayor Dickens's administration.

[4:06:41] Marta Atlanta

[4:06:42] Beltline, Inc., and other

[4:06:43] relevant city departments, and for other purposes.

[4:06:46] This came out of committee

[4:06:47] favorable, as amended by understand

[4:06:49] that there is additional action

[4:06:51] being desired by a council member.

[4:06:53] Okay, so you you want to move to adopt, but there is

[4:07:01] correct. The motion from the committee is to adopt as amended. Okay.

[4:07:02] So motion to adopt by one

[4:07:05] is no second is needed because it's favorable.

[4:07:08] But I would like to hear from Councilmember Amos.

[4:07:11] Yes, I like to make a substitute motion to amend this paper.

[4:07:16] Second substitute motion to a man by Amos.

[4:07:19] Second by one.

[4:07:21] Did you pass the substitute out to everyone? Yes.

[4:07:24] It should have been emailed out to everyone.

[4:07:25] Please read it.

[4:07:29] We need to know what that substitute is.

[4:07:31] Actually, substitute removes, language

[4:07:34] that actually spoke about in the transportation meeting.

[4:07:38] One of the clauses, that I seek to remove is,

[4:07:42] be it further resolved that the Atlantic City Council

[4:07:45] wishes to express his disapproval

[4:07:47] for any potential use of Atlanta Beltline transit right away,

[4:07:50] which would preclude in in pair or materials

[4:07:53] materially increase the cost or difficulty

[4:07:57] of future light rail implementation.

[4:08:01] The other piece of language I like to strike out is in the

[4:08:06] be it further resolve clause, including

[4:08:08] but not limited to the remaining Beltline

[4:08:11] tax allocation district through 2030.

[4:08:14] And then the other piece that will

[4:08:17] the words and we all have a red line

[4:08:20] and does not compete with other transit, parties.

[4:08:24] Those three things would definitely pulled me in line.

[4:08:27] I'm in full support

[4:08:28] of the paper, but with those three changes,

[4:08:30] I think I will be in full support

[4:08:32] and my district will be in support as well.

[4:08:38] So we have a substitute motion on the floor.

[4:08:40] And a second, any other discussion?

[4:08:46] Kelsey Bond?

[4:08:48] Yeah. Thank you.

[4:08:49] Council member Amos, I appreciate the,

[4:08:54] intention to

[4:08:56] improve the paper.

[4:08:58] I will be voting no on the amendment,

[4:09:02] solely because, well, I definitely see where

[4:09:05] the council member is coming from.

[4:09:07] The clause about the right of way directly speaks to how.

[4:09:12] I mean, for example, in my district, there are

[4:09:15] restaurants who have built out their patio

[4:09:18] in the Beltline right of way.

[4:09:19] And, you know, it's these restaurants

[4:09:22] and property owners in particular

[4:09:23] that have organized against transit expansion

[4:09:26] because it impacts their own personal interests,

[4:09:30] and having to remove structures that are built in the right

[4:09:33] of way overall increases the cost for everybody involved.

[4:09:37] In terms of moving forward on transit on the Beltline.

[4:09:40] So I'll be voting against it.

[4:09:43] But your amendments are taken in good faith,

[4:09:45] and I look forward to voting on the full paper.

[4:09:48] Thank you, Councilmember bond.

[4:09:49] Councilmember Collins.

[4:09:52] Yes, thank you. Thank you so much for both. Both of you.

[4:09:54] I know we've been really talking about this, so just

[4:09:58] not thinking about this.

[4:10:01] So right above the strike out language, it says be

[4:10:06] it further resolved, that the Atlanta City Council affirms is strong belief

[4:10:09] that the existing Atlanta Beltline transit right away

[4:10:12] should be preserved for the construction

[4:10:14] of light rail along the full 22 mile loop.

[4:10:17] So Celt member bond does that.

[4:10:22] Does keeping that in actually

[4:10:25] kind of aligns with the strike out language.

[4:10:30] So what you know,

[4:10:31] so that's why I didn't have any issue

[4:10:33] with the strike out language, because we are still affirming

[4:10:36] our belief

[4:10:38] that the right of way should still be preserved for the full construction

[4:10:42] of the Beltline. I think the second one that's that the the strike out language

[4:10:46] is wishes to express is disapproval is very subjective.

[4:10:49] And I can see where Council Member Amos may

[4:10:52] where you may feel that way, but Council member Amos

[4:10:56] may feel differently.

[4:10:57] So that's I, I'm thinking about like the

[4:11:00] is still a chief keeping that the that

[4:11:03] fur that resolution clause and still affirms what we are

[4:11:11] in terms of our belief without taking away with removing

[4:11:15] that resolution cause does not take away

[4:11:18] our full intent for ensuring the belt.

[4:11:21] The transit right away is still preserved.

[4:11:23] So I just wanted to put out put that out there.

[4:11:27] What I do have Council Member Amos in question

[4:11:29] for you is the second strike out that says, pursue

[4:11:33] all legally available

[4:11:34] funding resources necessary to compete, complete

[4:11:37] the full 2122 mile corridor, including but not limited

[4:11:42] limited to the remaining Beltline tax allocation district

[4:11:45] through 2030.

[4:11:47] I see that that phrase has been striked out and was,

[4:11:51] just curious as to why.

[4:11:54] Because the Beltline tax allocation district was created,

[4:11:58] was intentionally created to fund the Beltline.

[4:12:03] So why would we not consider that as a funding resource

[4:12:07] in the planning

[4:12:08] when that is the impetus is what why that tab was created?

[4:12:14] That's more than happy to answer that.

[4:12:17] Since we started conversations, I have been very clear

[4:12:20] that even when we talk about extending tasks

[4:12:22] and not extending tasks for the last 20 to 25 years,

[4:12:26] other areas of the city has enjoyed the financial

[4:12:30] or the business

[4:12:32] improvement that the Beltline tat brings.

[4:12:35] Since we decided not to extend the beltline tag,

[4:12:38] you're telling the west side of the city of Atlanta

[4:12:40] that we only have four years to 2030 to enjoy the things

[4:12:43] that other people have endured over the last 20 to 25 years.

[4:12:48] So when you're talking

[4:12:49] about a major development like the Beltline rail,

[4:12:53] I don't think that you that it equitably speaking,

[4:12:56] that we should allow the few funds that are left

[4:12:59] to be looked at as possibly funding, that project.

[4:13:05] And you're right, it was designed

[4:13:06] to help the Beltline rail.

[4:13:08] I mean, the Beltline trail.

[4:13:09] So this is Beltline rail.

[4:13:11] So being equitable, even when my colleagues spoke

[4:13:15] about the different patios that have been built out

[4:13:19] adjacent to the the wonderful projects around the rest of the city,

[4:13:22] after we have stood together as a neighborhood, as a district

[4:13:27] to fight off the homeless shelter,

[4:13:28] we need the the economics that everyone else have enjoyed

[4:13:32] to actually be able to finance the things

[4:13:34] we want to see down on the West side.

[4:13:35] So that is why I would not like to see the Beltline, that,

[4:13:40] allocation district actually be considered as of a part

[4:13:43] of actually being able to develop the Beltline trail.

[4:13:46] I mean, the Beltline rail, even funding to support planning,

[4:13:50] even funding to support planning, surveying efforts

[4:13:53] and all of like the the the engineering pieces,

[4:13:57] even though we you know, because 2030.

[4:13:59] I mean, you're talking about we really only have three years

[4:14:02] like even any funds to support those efforts.

[4:14:05] As we think about Beltline

[4:14:07] as a comprehensive strategy and real being part of that,

[4:14:10] you want that you want that excluded that totally.

[4:14:13] That tab bucket

[4:14:15] is automatically excluded from it,

[4:14:17] automatically excluded from it.

[4:14:20] Because once again, not only we're looking at the last four years, in actuality,

[4:14:23] we need to be looking at the last 20 to 25,

[4:14:26] in which these things

[4:14:27] would not have to be spoken about for the rest

[4:14:29] when the rest of the city was developing.

[4:14:31] Now we have four years to bring about

[4:14:33] the equity of the Beltline to the west side,

[4:14:36] and we should be able to enjoy all of the economic advantages

[4:14:39] that everyone else have enjoyed over the last 20 or 25 years.

[4:14:43] Oh, okay. And my last question and I defer Mr..

[4:14:45] I do for Mrs. chair.

[4:14:47] Just excuse me, Madam Chair.

[4:14:50] Just okay.

[4:14:52] I get I get what you're saying.

[4:14:54] I once it closed in 2030 any of the

[4:14:58] any of the revenue and any other revenue

[4:15:02] benefits that come from the Beltline

[4:15:03] is going to go to the general funds

[4:15:04] unless we dedicated someplace else anyway.

[4:15:07] So we need we're going to have that.

[4:15:09] We're going to continue to have the equitable conversation

[4:15:12] of what that looks like to ensure equitable development,

[4:15:14] but also equitable transit throughout the city.

[4:15:17] That is the only one that I don't

[4:15:18] necessarily agree with because of the the Beltline

[4:15:22] tagged in, its and what the law allows it to do

[4:15:27] could really help in terms of the funding strategy.

[4:15:30] But the other strikeouts I'm I'm open to it.

[4:15:33] So I don't know how we handle that.

[4:15:35] But thank you, Madam Chair.

[4:15:36] I defer okay.

[4:15:38] Anyone else? Any.

[4:15:39] Oh. Council member Lewis.

[4:15:42] Super supportive of Councilmember Amos's

[4:15:44] legislation. Councilmember bond when?

[4:15:47] Councilmember.

[4:15:48] Councilman, when I first introduced you to the Beltline,

[4:15:49] I would have brought these recommendations to you

[4:15:52] had you kept me in a part of that conversation.

[4:15:55] This would have been in the first piece of legislation.

[4:15:57] My district has not saw the same fruits of the Beltline.

[4:16:01] Pittsburgh Yards Pittsburgh has a business community

[4:16:05] that will flourish once they receive the funds.

[4:16:08] After we built up Pittsburgh

[4:16:10] yards, after we built up the trail.

[4:16:12] When you look at the

[4:16:13] The Perch restaurant

[4:16:14] that we just did on, on on Metropolitan

[4:16:18] Parkway, it will flourish after the after this happens.

[4:16:21] When you look at the hospital we're trying to bring,

[4:16:23] we look at other things in our area.

[4:16:25] We will need these resources.

[4:16:26] As the Beltline is on two of my streets.

[4:16:28] One more thing I would like to add

[4:16:30] is that the map that we put out, it includes the spur

[4:16:33] to Buckhead.

[4:16:34] What I would have made sure,

[4:16:36] like I've been loud with Beltline Rail.

[4:16:38] Now about making sure

[4:16:39] to include the spurs to the south side as well.

[4:16:41] We already have the funding for that already done.

[4:16:44] And so the if you look at ATL dot map on the on their website

[4:16:48] right now, you'll see spurs that are already there

[4:16:51] that we could have included in the map

[4:16:53] that came out, but super supportive of of both pieces.

[4:16:56] But I always would have included everybody a part of this.

[4:17:01] That's why I made sure I came to you because I wanted to work with

[4:17:04] you in particular on this, because when the Beltline

[4:17:07] rail folks came to me, they it was not moving.

[4:17:11] I knew that you would be innovative to help us grow even more.

[4:17:13] But I want to make sure that Councilmember Amos,

[4:17:17] his voice is heard, and I want to make sure

[4:17:19] that the original person that brought everybody

[4:17:20] together, voices, heard it, too. Thank you again.

[4:17:27] Okay. Anyone? Council member Martin.

[4:17:29] Yes. Thank you, Madam President.

[4:17:30] I will be supporting this amendment.

[4:17:34] Councilmember Amos, because this entire conversation has been about equity.

[4:17:37] And I signed the legislation originally Councilmember Bond

[4:17:41] in support of it because I think the spirit of it

[4:17:44] is absolutely correct. We need to be moving forward in thinking about what

[4:17:46] our next phase of belt non development looks like,

[4:17:48] whether it's rail trails, housing or economic development.

[4:17:52] But it is time for the south and west side of the city

[4:17:54] to get the investment

[4:17:56] that largely the belt line was really built upon.

[4:17:58] As we think about the

[4:18:00] the taxpayers of the city of Atlanta

[4:18:02] and those that have allowed the development

[4:18:03] to go forth in their communities.

[4:18:04] As we think about 30 years ago, 25 years ago,

[4:18:07] when I first got to the city as an intern, this was a concept.

[4:18:10] And to Councilmember Point, Councilmember Amos's point,

[4:18:14] we are past time

[4:18:15] having conversations about doing work on the Beltline

[4:18:18] without beginning

[4:18:20] and ending on the south and west sides of the city.

[4:18:23] And so I will be supporting

[4:18:24] the legislation doesn't touch my district at all,

[4:18:26] but it comes very close.

[4:18:27] And so I appreciate you taking some leadership on that.

[4:18:30] Councilmember Amos and I will be voting. Yes.

[4:18:32] Thank you, Madam President.

[4:18:36] Councilmember Lewis

[4:18:38] and I want to be loud on saying I am the loudest belt,

[4:18:41] loudest, loudest voice since the mayor said

[4:18:43] the Beltline will be on Murphy Spur since he said that the spur

[4:18:47] will happen on the south side and southwest side.

[4:18:49] First, I made sure to reach out to Beltline Rail.

[4:18:51] Now, I'm super appreciative

[4:18:52] of all the meetings that we've had and attaining and

[4:18:56] and making sure to assign a staffer to be a part of.

[4:19:00] I've been able to talk to my colleagues.

[4:19:02] We knew that, that some stuff was coming.

[4:19:05] We just wish we were always included and not kicked out the room

[4:19:08] after the introduction that happened.

[4:19:10] Black folks have always dealt

[4:19:12] with this type of thing

[4:19:12] where they bring people to the table

[4:19:14] and they kicked them out the room at another point.

[4:19:16] So I want to say I appreciate this legislation moving

[4:19:19] how it is, but the mayor has said it's going to happen.

[4:19:23] We want to make sure it happens.

[4:19:25] We want to make sure that the South side

[4:19:26] and south West side not left out.

[4:19:28] Councilmember Amos had dealt with the Beltline,

[4:19:31] the councilmember, those have dealt with the Beltline

[4:19:32] in different ways than any other council member,

[4:19:34] because they've had it all

[4:19:35] throughout their district this entire time.

[4:19:37] And so I would like to make sure that we are still loud

[4:19:42] on this. And thank you, Councilmember Amos, again for these amendments.

[4:19:48] Councilmember Collins, did you mean to do that?

[4:19:51] Yes. Okay.

[4:19:54] Colleagues, I think for I think I'm unclear

[4:19:56] on what we are

[4:19:58] this let this resolution, this resolution is making a

[4:20:03] is this resolution focuses

[4:20:06] on the importance of us getting the

[4:20:11] getting the conversation, but also the strategic planning

[4:20:16] and direction of Beltline rail

[4:20:19] throughout the entire city going.

[4:20:22] Am I not right?

[4:20:24] Okay.

[4:20:25] The Beltline in its entirety has been shared

[4:20:28] with us is five years ahead of schedule and development.

[4:20:33] So the Beltline will be fully completed

[4:20:37] by the end of the closure of the Tad.

[4:20:41] Am I correct on that?

[4:20:45] That has been shared multiple times

[4:20:48] through the Beltline as an organization.

[4:20:52] So while I understand

[4:20:54] and so we have multiple plans in place,

[4:20:57] we have trails ATL that overlaps with the Beltline rail

[4:21:03] in terms of the spokes that comes out to the comes out

[4:21:06] from Beltline that we still need to have a conversation on.

[4:21:10] On the funding on that piece.

[4:21:13] We have the transition at Marta

[4:21:16] where that conversation is going to pick up in terms of

[4:21:20] more Marta and what that looks like in planning.

[4:21:24] So I just want to I just don't want us to lose

[4:21:27] what is before us today, which is what is not what

[4:21:32] has happened over the last 25 years with beltline

[4:21:36] rail, not with Beltline real, with beltline as an entity,

[4:21:40] and is not focused on

[4:21:43] grand izing and not grand eyes on

[4:21:46] what has or what not has happened in the community.

[4:21:49] When we know the Beltline as a structure is subject

[4:21:52] to be completed by 2030, what is before us is a resolution.

[4:21:57] In terms of do we firmly believe

[4:22:00] in the vision of building Beltline rail

[4:22:03] as a central transit corridor for the entire city,

[4:22:07] but more importantly,

[4:22:09] moving towards what is the strategic direction?

[4:22:13] Where's the funding?

[4:22:14] We finally have an opportunity

[4:22:16] to at least have the conversation.

[4:22:18] And the planning started to understand in one document,

[4:22:23] in one space, what it looks like to achieve that.

[4:22:30] And so I want us to get centered on what's in front of us

[4:22:33] and not the Beltline

[4:22:36] as in the city, which is why I am continuing

[4:22:39] to advocate for the inclusion of that clause back,

[4:22:43] because that's the additional funding that we would need

[4:22:45] to ensure that we can get the proper surveyors, engineer

[4:22:49] whatever we choose to do.

[4:22:51] So I'm going to call to question

[4:22:53] your motion and Byron Amos for us.

[4:22:56] Go ahead and move to vote on Mr.

[4:22:59] Amos substitute, and I'm going to leave it there.

[4:23:02] Okay. We have a call to question by Collins.

[4:23:04] There's a second by Hillis.

[4:23:08] Madam clerk, please repair the vote.

[4:23:10] If none. Debatable.

[4:23:12] Two thirds required.

[4:23:15] Of all ten votes.

[4:23:18] Oh. I'm live.

[4:23:20] Well, everyone please vote.

[4:23:39] The votes close.

[4:23:39] 12 years, two nays.

[4:23:41] 12 years. Two nays.

[4:23:45] The call.

[4:23:46] The question is adopted.

[4:23:49] So you said no to your call. The question.

[4:23:50] No. I'm sorry, Madam Clerk.

[4:23:53] Let me. I meant yes on the call to question yes.

[4:23:57] My apologies.

[4:23:57] 13 years, one nay, 13 years.

[4:24:00] One nay call.

[4:24:01] The question is

[4:24:04] just one second.

[4:24:06] So Council Member Lewis

[4:24:08] would like to change his vote to no.

[4:24:11] Yeah. Let's move forward.

[4:24:12] 12 years, two nays. 12 years.

[4:24:15] Two nays.

[4:24:16] Called to question is carried.

[4:24:19] That brings us back to our legislation of voting to,

[4:24:25] bringing forth the substitute.

[4:24:27] Yes, that's what

[4:24:29] I thought.

[4:24:30] Is there a motion to bring forth substitute?

[4:24:33] So, so moved by Bakhtiari, second by Lewis.

[4:24:36] Madam president, we have a motion.

[4:24:37] So we're just going to open the vote.

[4:24:39] He started the that the correct.

[4:24:42] Yeah. So it's Amos in one.

[4:24:44] Madam clerk, please open the vote for

[4:24:47] the substitute forward.

[4:24:51] The vote is open.

[4:25:00] Will I boom!

[4:25:01] Please vote.

[4:25:09] The votes close. 12.

[4:25:11] Two nays.

[4:25:13] 12 years, two nays.

[4:25:14] The substitute is before us.

[4:25:17] All right. So with that, the motion is to adopt on substitute

[4:25:19] the motion to adopt on substitute by one.

[4:25:22] Is there a second? Second by.

[4:25:24] Martin, please prepare the vote.

[4:25:28] Is there any more discussion?

[4:25:33] One moment.

[4:25:36] The vote is open.

[4:25:37] Yeah. We can't just. We're having.

[4:25:39] The system is tired now, so we all.

[4:25:42] How is that?

[4:25:45] Aren't we all? Oh.

[4:25:48] Will everyone please vote, madam?

[4:25:51] Madam chair, I have a question.

[4:25:56] The voters open.

[4:26:00] So the vote is open.

[4:26:01] But I didn't ask for discussion.

[4:26:04] So would you like to have I should have.

[4:26:06] Yes. Okay. Council member Collins.

[4:26:12] I mean, that's, you know, I just

[4:26:13] I mean, it's I terms of I, you know, borrowing.

[4:26:18] I didn't support your I didn't support your motion to bring forth a substitute.

[4:26:22] I mean, I don't think that what you're, you know,

[4:26:25] the admissions is causing me heartburn.

[4:26:29] Heartburn to not still support this resolution.

[4:26:32] Just going for the record that these will still be questions

[4:26:36] that I continue to advocate for, particularly on the funding updates.

[4:26:39] And we'll continue to push for the for tax allocation

[4:26:43] dollars, knowing that Beltline is our largest generating

[4:26:47] to be dedicated to the to this effort

[4:26:51] in whatever time frame that we have.

[4:26:53] So I'm going to support the motion in its entirety.

[4:26:57] Even though the even though the changes

[4:27:00] I still have issues with doesn't give me heartburn, though.

[4:27:04] Council member Michael Julian Bond.

[4:27:08] Thank you, Madam President.

[4:27:11] I would just be quick. I just want to remind everyone this is just a resolution.

[4:27:14] It's it's not an ordinance.

[4:27:17] Thank you for saying and and yeah, the quiet part out loud.

[4:27:22] But the the concerns of the gentleman.

[4:27:25] But we have to understand how how we got here as a city.

[4:27:29] This beltline was never intended to be a park.

[4:27:32] Never. Right.

[4:27:35] Never say it again.

[4:27:36] Never was it intended to be used the way that it is being used.

[4:27:42] And the reason why the real part has been delayed

[4:27:45] is because of the politics of how it has been used as a park,

[4:27:50] because people got used to it being used as a park,

[4:27:53] and they don't want it to stop being used as a part.

[4:27:56] But it was always intended to be a transit lane.

[4:28:02] And it is also has the dubious distinction

[4:28:06] of being the only train route on planet Earth

[4:28:11] in the history of planet Earth to be built in reverse,

[4:28:16] meaning that the the the adjacent land

[4:28:21] is built out before any rails are laid.

[4:28:25] That has never been done on planet Earth before.

[4:28:29] And so we're here basically

[4:28:31] with a mop bucket and a mop,

[4:28:34] trying to realign the process

[4:28:37] to build this light rail train.

[4:28:41] And when we get to

[4:28:42] and as some of the speakers pointed out,

[4:28:44] particularly the lady with the shades

[4:28:46] and the fly hat, there portions of this route that are not

[4:28:51] large enough or expansive enough to put a train on.

[4:28:57] So all of this will have to be worked out at some future point.

[4:29:02] So no one should have.

[4:29:05] Just my opinion,

[4:29:07] too much heartburn or consternation about the wording

[4:29:13] or what is in this resolution,

[4:29:15] because it's a it's a general policy statement

[4:29:19] that we're all supportive and we want to see it happen. So

[4:29:23] going forward in the future, they're going to be real

[4:29:27] architectural and engineering

[4:29:29] concerns that have come before us.

[4:29:32] The high probability is there might be sections

[4:29:36] that may have to be either rerouted or maybe

[4:29:40] service interruption, or maybe the train only goes in

[4:29:43] one one way on certain sections.

[4:29:46] Just depends on the actual geography

[4:29:49] of what is actually there.

[4:29:52] But because we've taken so long to do this

[4:29:55] correctly, we find ourselves here today.

[4:29:59] But we do support it.

[4:30:01] I hope everybody will vote unanimously for it.

[4:30:06] As we step into the bright

[4:30:09] future together for the Beltline rail.

[4:30:13] And we should do so holding hands because we're fixing,

[4:30:19] what others

[4:30:22] didn't do as well.

[4:30:24] So let's step into the future together,

[4:30:27] little children.

[4:30:30] Council member Kelsey Bond.

[4:30:33] Thank you everyone.

[4:30:35] I want to second a lot of what

[4:30:36] other council member bond just said.

[4:30:39] You know, there are other cities looking to build right

[4:30:41] light rail right now looking to Atlanta and trying

[4:30:45] to not repeat our our mistakes.

[4:30:49] The Beltline has not turned out as it was originally intended.

[4:30:52] It was meant to be a public asset that we all paid

[4:30:55] into with public housing, public assets.

[4:30:59] And instead we've seen a lot of gentrification.

[4:31:01] We've seen a lot of

[4:31:03] development on the Beltline that is not geared towards

[4:31:06] people who need affordable housing most. Right.

[4:31:08] And these are mistakes and policy decisions

[4:31:12] that were made by previous

[4:31:13] administrations over the course of multiple years, in decades.

[4:31:18] But I truly do believe that, you know, Beltline rail has the

[4:31:21] potential to be a transformative project for the entire city.

[4:31:26] And I am really excited about what comes next

[4:31:30] after this and collaborating with all of you

[4:31:34] to determine what is the path forward.

[4:31:37] But ultimately, you know, Atlanta is far behind

[4:31:41] where we need to be on public transit.

[4:31:44] This is a major investment that has the the potential

[4:31:47] to transform the future of our city,

[4:31:50] our commitment to climate resiliency and sustainability

[4:31:54] and affordability

[4:31:55] in a city that is becoming increasingly expensive.

[4:31:59] So really excited about this kind of renewed commitment to

[4:32:04] build towards a beltline that actually works

[4:32:06] for everyone, that is truly affordable,

[4:32:08] that is truly inviting for everybody,

[4:32:11] and to move forward in that direction,

[4:32:14] regardless of previous policy decisions that have led

[4:32:18] the Beltline to where it is today. So thank you all.

[4:32:22] Council Member Amos.

[4:32:24] And very clear.

[4:32:25] Just just want to stay.

[4:32:26] I'm in support of creating the plan for the Beltline, rail.

[4:32:31] But here's the reality of a district council member.

[4:32:35] We move forward, use beltline

[4:32:38] tag to develop this plan.

[4:32:41] What stops on the south side, west side,

[4:32:44] and part of the northwest side with this rail stop?

[4:32:47] And what part of money would be left to develop the Beltline

[4:32:51] along the west side

[4:32:52] that all the other sides of the city has enjoyed?

[4:32:56] That is where I stand.

[4:32:58] That is where my community looks for me, for leadership,

[4:33:02] to ensure that we're able to enjoy some of the same economic advantages.

[4:33:05] Because there was this thing called the Beltline,

[4:33:07] this dream called the Beltline, that has been proven

[4:33:10] to bring economic vitality to the things that it touch,

[4:33:13] and we simply have not been able to enjoy that.

[4:33:17] So I must begin to protect all the economic advantages

[4:33:22] that it that everyone else have utilized to bring to realize

[4:33:25] that dream. So, thank you for everyone that is supporting this, this

[4:33:28] amendment.

[4:33:32] Council member Martin, I'd like to call the question

[4:33:35] on councilor excuse me.

[4:33:39] By Martin.

[4:33:39] Second by.

[4:33:41] You scared me out before, Councilmember Martin.

[4:33:43] My. I was the next speaker.

[4:33:45] How'd that happen?

[4:33:46] You just clicked. That's why he's come up.

[4:33:48] Okay, then go ahead.

[4:33:50] Council member Martin, you.

[4:33:52] Just two more seconds. All right.

[4:33:54] Council member Lewis and I am super,

[4:33:58] super happy about the Beltline coming to the city of Atlanta.

[4:34:01] The south side did not know anything about this stuff.

[4:34:05] The moment that the mayor got loud about Murphy spear spur,

[4:34:09] my community got loud.

[4:34:11] Last week, I was in church to hear some folks

[4:34:13] walk up on me and talk about getting on the train.

[4:34:15] And doing a circle around the Beltline is an amazing

[4:34:18] thing to me. So the Beltline real is going to happen.

[4:34:21] We've here. It was built for real.

[4:34:23] I am loud on it.

[4:34:24] We need to.

[4:34:26] What we've heard today is we want to make sure that we get it to.

[4:34:29] The mayor said that the goal is to get people to work,

[4:34:32] get people to things right.

[4:34:34] The that's what we that's what I think we voted on today.

[4:34:37] Just getting this across.

[4:34:38] So super happy about this and super happy

[4:34:40] about we're going to do in the future.

[4:34:43] Thank you.

[4:34:44] And looks like.

[4:34:49] Looks like I'm sorry, Councilmember

[4:34:50] Martin, please repeat what you just said.

[4:34:51] Oh sorry.

[4:34:54] You you you still on call the question, but.

[4:34:57] Yes, ma'am. No one else is waiting. So here we go. It's cleared out.

[4:34:59] Then we don't have to do it. Okay, great.

[4:35:01] Okay, so we have a motion and a second on.

[4:35:04] Oh, there's no second yet

[4:35:07] getting employees or something.

[4:35:10] Check out. You know, we don't have

[4:35:11] to call the question because there's no.

[4:35:16] Yeah. So we have a motion on the table to adopt on substitute.

[4:35:23] Yeah. But we we we pause the, the vote because we deliberated.

[4:35:28] So now we need to actually do the vote.

[4:35:32] So, Madam Clerk, please open the vote.

[4:35:34] Got it. Thank you.

[4:35:37] Currently in the charter we can't even though it's

[4:35:40] either an act of God or a glitch on our side.

[4:35:42] Okay. The vote is open.

[4:35:45] Strong regulations on.

[4:35:48] All right.

[4:35:52] Well, me.

[4:35:52] And please vote.

[4:36:05] The most close 14 days there on eight, 140.

[4:36:08] This item is adopted as substitute.

[4:36:11] Madam President, if I may, I did want to.

[4:36:12] I have a message.

[4:36:14] Oh, sorry.

[4:36:17] Makers who signed up to speak.

[4:36:19] I believe I don't see any speakers.

[4:36:22] Oh, I don't see it there. But I do see it here.

[4:36:24] Council member Michael Julian bond.

[4:36:28] Thank you, Madam President.

[4:36:31] Well, I want to explain my vote and make a motion to mayor's office.

[4:36:35] As I explained my vote,

[4:36:38] one of the things I wanted to point out and respond to that

[4:36:41] is this,

[4:36:43] and I,

[4:36:45] I want to just comment.

[4:36:47] Council member Abramson, the rest of the council,

[4:36:49] I mean, this will often sales tax obligation

[4:36:52] or authorization with the state runs out in 32.

[4:36:56] That generates on average, about $100 million a year.

[4:37:00] And it's not just paid by residents, it's paid by everyone

[4:37:04] who purchases an item, buys a Coca cola, groceries

[4:37:08] shops, buys the sporting ticket that comes to Atlanta.

[4:37:12] There's no reason

[4:37:14] we have legislation pending, and finance Committee

[4:37:17] set up a committee to decide how to use a petition.

[4:37:21] The state for the future use of municipal option sales taxes.

[4:37:25] That's one part of money that everyone pays into.

[4:37:30] Doesn't create a burden on a particular part of town or a particular district

[4:37:33] that could be used to build out this and other projects.

[4:37:37] So that's my plug knowing for my legislation,

[4:37:40] but for the future of funding of this and similar projects,

[4:37:44] whether it is building facilities

[4:37:47] and the south side of town or

[4:37:50] whether it's used for parks or what have you.

[4:37:53] The state gave us the authorization to use it

[4:37:56] to satisfy our obligation with the,

[4:38:01] consent decree.

[4:38:03] I'm sure they'll give us the authorization to use it

[4:38:05] for the projects of our choice.

[4:38:07] Susan, if we go back to them, petition them early on

[4:38:11] similar projects like this.

[4:38:13] And that's why I support the legislation.

[4:38:20] Thank you, Councilmember Michael Julian Bond.

[4:38:22] And with that, we want to

[4:38:24] your motion to send this item to the mayor's office post.

[4:38:28] Hayes. Second by Amos.

[4:38:30] Madam clerk, sound of unanimous consent

[4:38:33] on sending this item to the mayor's office.

[4:38:35] Poses.

[4:38:40] With no objections.

[4:38:44] 13 years.

[4:38:45] There are 130 nays.

[4:38:47] This item is sent to the mayor's office posthaste.

[4:38:51] Chair one. Madam President and colleagues, I did want to pass along

[4:38:53] a message from Vice Chair Worthy,

[4:38:55] who wanted to be here and would have made this

[4:38:57] unanimous passage, but he did change his flight time.

[4:39:00] He was going to try and be here and changed it

[4:39:02] late, but did not expect all of the

[4:39:04] public comment speakers on a topic

[4:39:06] that on a resolution that was destined to pass.

[4:39:09] So he tried, but he's here in spirit.

[4:39:11] Thank you. Thank you for that.

[4:39:14] Our next standing committee finance

[4:39:16] exit, the honorable Jason Winston.

[4:39:23] Thank you.

[4:39:23] Madam president.

[4:39:24] Will be way faster than you should.

[4:39:26] Transportation.

[4:39:29] My first is a communication

[4:39:31] 26C-5079 communication

[4:39:35] from Donald T Panov, CPA chair, Audit Committee,

[4:39:38] submitting the Performance Audit.

[4:39:40] 2606.

[4:39:41] Moving Atlanta for 2026 Annual Review.

[4:39:44] The FEC recommendation is to accept and file okay.

[4:39:48] There's a motion by Winston to accept and file

[4:39:51] 26 that see that's 5079.

[4:39:54] It's coming out of committee to file.

[4:39:56] So no second is necessary.

[4:39:57] Madam clerk, please prepare the vote.

[4:40:00] The vote is open.

[4:40:06] Will everyone please vote?

[4:40:10] You're welcome.

[4:40:18] Okay,

[4:40:20] vote is closed.

[4:40:21] 120. Nays.

[4:40:22] 120 nays.

[4:40:23] This item is accepted and filed.

[4:40:26] Thank you. Moving on to resolutions 26.

[4:40:28] Dash R4116A resolution by Finance

[4:40:32] Committee authorizing the mayor or his designee to enter

[4:40:34] into Special Procurement Agreement

[4:40:36] number listed with Frontline Mobile Health for the purchase

[4:40:39] of a qualified medical services provider for the department's

[4:40:43] comprehensive annual medical evaluations

[4:40:45] on behalf of the Atlanta

[4:40:47] Fire Rescue Department for three years,

[4:40:50] with two one year renewal options in the in

[4:40:52] an amount not to exceed $918,871.00.

[4:40:57] All contracted work will be charged to

[4:40:59] and paid from the fund, department, organization

[4:41:01] and account number listed here in and for other purposes.

[4:41:05] This came out of committee

[4:41:06] favorable with four years and one extension.

[4:41:08] The FEC recommendation is to adopt a

[4:41:11] motion to adopt by Winston.

[4:41:14] Doesn't require a second Madam clerk, in any discussion.

[4:41:18] Madam clerk, please repair the vote.

[4:41:21] The vote is open.

[4:41:28] Will everyone please vote?

[4:41:31] They took my folder.

[4:41:34] The votes close.

[4:41:35] 1208120 nays.

[4:41:37] This item is adopted.

[4:41:38] Thank you. That concludes my report.

[4:41:40] Excellent, excellent.

[4:41:41] Our next,

[4:41:45] next standing committee. Committee on council, the honorable Byron Amos.

[4:41:51] Chair. We have four items coming for us today.

[4:41:54] Communications 26-C-5076A communication

[4:41:58] from Council member Dustin Hillis, district

[4:42:00] nine reappointing

[4:42:02] Miss Joanne Powell to serve as a member of

[4:42:04] the Atlanta Commission on Women.

[4:42:05] This appointment is for a term of two years, to begin

[4:42:08] retroactively on February 5th, 2026,

[4:42:11] and to aspire February 4th, 2028.

[4:42:15] Madam Chair, I should have a second,

[4:42:17] which we can take as a block. Yes.

[4:42:18] It's 26-C-5077.

[4:42:22] A communication from Council member Antonio Lewis.

[4:42:24] District 12 reappointing Mr.

[4:42:27] Shields to serve as a member of the Atlanta

[4:42:29] Commission on Women.

[4:42:30] This appointment is for a term

[4:42:32] of two years, to begin retroactively on May 6th, 2026,

[4:42:35] and to aspire May 5th, 2028.

[4:42:39] Both items come favorable

[4:42:40] out of Committee on Council motion to approve.

[4:42:42] Motion to approve by Amos does not require a second.

[4:42:45] Madam clerk, please open the vote.

[4:42:48] The vote is open.

[4:42:53] Will everyone please vote?

[4:43:17] Councilmember bond,

[4:43:18] what is your vote?

[4:43:21] The votes close 12 years ago.

[4:43:23] Nays. 12 nays.

[4:43:24] These items are adopted.

[4:43:26] Next to a resolution is 26.

[4:43:28] Dash r, dash 4026.

[4:43:30] A resolution by Community Development

[4:43:32] Human Resources Committee appointed Mr.

[4:43:34] William Clark to the City of Atlanta

[4:43:36] Special Event Technical Advisory Group as the City Council

[4:43:40] appointee representing Piedmont Park event

[4:43:42] security coordination experience and for other purposes.

[4:43:46] This comes out of the Community

[4:43:48] Development Human Resources Committee.

[4:43:49] Favorable and out of COC favorable.

[4:43:54] Motion to approve.

[4:43:55] Motion to approve by Amos.

[4:43:56] It's not required. Second,

[4:43:59] madam clerk, please prepare the vote.

[4:44:01] The vote is open.

[4:44:18] The first class, 13 year

[4:44:20] council member. Collins, what is your vote?

[4:44:22] Yes, I said yay!

[4:44:23] A 14 year old name 14 years. Zero.

[4:44:27] This item is adopted.

[4:44:30] Thank you. Resolution 26 R 3985 or resolution by Finance

[4:44:33] Executive Committee

[4:44:35] appointed Miss Felicia More to the Ethics Board

[4:44:38] as the representative of the Atlanta Plan

[4:44:40] and Advisory Board for a term of three years,

[4:44:42] say a term to commence upon

[4:44:44] approval of this resolution and for other purposes.

[4:44:47] This item is came out favorable,

[4:44:48] out of Committee on Council and this committee of purview.

[4:44:52] I'd like to make a motion to approve.

[4:44:53] Motion to approve by Amos

[4:44:56] does not require second.

[4:44:59] Madam clerk, please repair the vote.

[4:45:01] The vote is open.

[4:45:08] Please vote.

[4:45:09] The votes close 14 years on 814 years.

[4:45:12] Ronnie's is item is adopted.

[4:45:15] Thank you, Madam President.

[4:45:16] It's my report.

[4:45:17] Thank you. Chair. Amos.

[4:45:20] Chair Mary Norwood for zoning.

[4:45:23] It's our next committee.

[4:45:25] Thank you, Madam President.

[4:45:27] I have one item.

[4:45:28] It's 260-1509.

[4:45:32] This ordinance is to establish a 180 day moratorium

[4:45:35] on the acceptance of any new applications

[4:45:38] to subdivide properties into three or more lots

[4:45:42] in district eight, my own district.

[4:45:45] And my motion is to approve motion to approve

[4:45:49] by Mary Norwood.

[4:45:51] A second is not is not necessary because it's favorable.

[4:45:55] Any discussion?

[4:45:56] Council member one thank you, Madam Chair.

[4:45:58] Thank you. Chair.

[4:45:59] Norwood. My question is actually for law on this one.

[4:46:03] I just want to make sure I understand on the on the moratorium situation

[4:46:07] when this goes into effect after the mayor signs it,

[4:46:10] if you had an application

[4:46:12] for a subdivision already in the process,

[4:46:14] you were grandfathered right there. That's not in jeopardy.

[4:46:18] Good afternoon, Amber

[4:46:19] Robinson, City of Atlanta Department of Law.

[4:46:21] That's correct.

[4:46:23] If there was a application

[4:46:25] already submitted, would not be subject

[4:46:27] to the moratorium, pursuant to this ordinance.

[4:46:32] All right. So it's contingent on the application date,

[4:46:34] not on a permit approval or even a permit rescission date.

[4:46:38] Correct.

[4:46:39] It's contingent on the date of the submission

[4:46:42] of a completed application. Okay.

[4:46:44] And if a permit was rescinded, but then being challenged

[4:46:48] and that falls back in favor of the applicant,

[4:46:51] that would still be grandfathered. Correct.

[4:46:53] If a permit is being if a decision concerning

[4:46:58] a permit is being appealed at the time of the moratorium

[4:47:03] that permit, if if it were resolved in favor of

[4:47:07] the applicant, would also not be subject to the moratorium.

[4:47:11] All right. Thank you for the clarification.

[4:47:15] Thank you. Any other discussion?

[4:47:18] So we have a motion.

[4:47:19] Madam clerk, please prepare the vote.

[4:47:21] The vote is open.

[4:47:24] I'll try and do.

[4:47:29] She. She never.

[4:47:30] She didn't.

[4:47:32] She got.

[4:47:33] Well, everyone, please stop.

[4:47:37] That was closed 13 years.

[4:47:38] One day, 13 years. One nay.

[4:47:41] This item is adopted.

[4:47:43] Thank you. Thank you. Chair. Norwood.

[4:47:45] Moving on to public safety.

[4:47:47] Legal administration.

[4:47:49] We have several items.

[4:47:50] Pull up of consent.

[4:47:53] The honorable chair.

[4:47:56] Boom!

[4:47:57] Presiding.

[4:48:08] Thank you, Madam President.

[4:48:10] We will have five items on our report, beginning

[4:48:13] with our ordinance for second reading.

[4:48:16] Item 12601478.

[4:48:20] An ordinance by Council Member Byron

[4:48:22] D Amos to amend the charter

[4:48:24] of the City of Atlanta, Georgia, 1996.

[4:48:27] Georgia lost four four, six nine.

[4:48:30] Adopted under and by virtue

[4:48:32] of the authority of the Municipal Home

[4:48:33] Rule Act of 1965, OCD, a section 3635,

[4:48:39] as amended by amending part one chapter and related law.

[4:48:43] Sub subpart A charter amended appendix.

[4:48:47] Citizen Review Board, section three appointment of members

[4:48:51] to revise the appointing authority

[4:48:53] for one young adult member of the Atlanta Citizens

[4:48:56] Review Board by replacing Street Smart Youth Project, Inc.

[4:49:00] with the Georgia Association of Latino

[4:49:03] Elected Officials, and for other purposes.

[4:49:06] This charter amendment is before

[4:49:08] the body for its third reading and final adoption.

[4:49:13] Motion to approve. Motion to approve by Boone this coming out of committee.

[4:49:17] Favorable for approval.

[4:49:19] Madam clerk, please prepare the vote.

[4:49:22] The vote is open.

[4:49:35] Please vote.

[4:49:46] 12 years, one day,

[4:49:48] 12 years, 1st May.

[4:49:52] Norwood's.

[4:49:55] This item is adopted.

[4:50:01] Oh, Council member Lewis, would you like to speak?

[4:50:05] And just because of the work I've done with the organization,

[4:50:09] with the Atlanta Citizen Review Board,

[4:50:12] I just didn't understand the reason to choose that one

[4:50:16] particular organization of Latino elected officials

[4:50:20] to be the leaders of that one appointing person.

[4:50:23] So I just didn't understand that.

[4:50:25] I even asked the Atlanta Citizen review board about it.

[4:50:29] So just finish my vote. Thank you.

[4:50:32] Thank you.

[4:50:34] This item is adopted.

[4:50:35] We can go to the next.

[4:50:36] Thank you, Madam President.

[4:50:37] We will now take action on the items we moved off

[4:50:40] of the consent agenda starting with 2601451.

[4:50:45] Item 13, page seven.

[4:50:47] An ordinance by council members Wayne Martin and Andrea

[4:50:50] El Boone, as amended by Public Safety

[4:50:53] and Legal Administration Committee to amend chapter 78,

[4:50:56] article three, section 7857, entitled Fire Prevention

[4:51:01] Code adopted incorporated by Reference Amendments

[4:51:04] for the purpose of increasing and otherwise adjusting existing

[4:51:08] fire inspection fees, fire plan review fees, and fire

[4:51:14] permit fees such that they more closely approximate the cost to the city

[4:51:18] for performing the regulatory services related thereto,

[4:51:22] pursuant to a phased approach and for other purposes.

[4:51:26] This item was pulled off consent agenda by Council

[4:51:29] Member Martin, district 11, and we will make a motion

[4:51:32] to refer this item back to committee.

[4:51:36] Motion to refer by Boone.

[4:51:37] Second by Martin.

[4:51:38] Is there any discussion?

[4:51:41] See you now. Madam clerk, please prepare the vote

[4:51:43] to refer back to committee.

[4:51:44] The vote is open.

[4:51:52] Well, everyone please vote.

[4:52:12] 14 days and 814 nays.

[4:52:15] This item is referred back to committee.

[4:52:17] Thank you, Madam President.

[4:52:19] Next item 2601488.

[4:52:24] Item 14, page seven and Ordinance by Public Safety

[4:52:28] and Legal Administration Committee

[4:52:29] to waive the procurement source selection provisions

[4:52:33] contained in Division four of chapter two

[4:52:36] article of the City

[4:52:37] of Atlanta code and audiences,

[4:52:38] as well as any other conflicting code provisions

[4:52:41] to authorize the mayor or his designee

[4:52:43] to enter into amendment seven for agreement.

[4:52:45] FC Dash 9423 citywide clean enclosed services with Askew

[4:52:51] Construction and Home Inspection, LLC

[4:52:54] on behalf of the Atlanta Police Department,

[4:52:56] to extend the term of their agreement

[4:52:58] on a month to month basis for a term of one year effective from December

[4:53:01] 16th through December 15th, 2027, in an amount

[4:53:05] not to exceed 1,400,000 and $0.00.

[4:53:10] All contract at work to be charged to and paid from account

[4:53:13] numbers listed here and for other purposes.

[4:53:16] This was moved from consent agenda.

[4:53:21] We will make a motion to refer this item back to committee.

[4:53:24] Motion to refer back.

[4:53:26] Are you making the motion? Was that the motion?

[4:53:28] Oh, I'll second that motion to refer back by Councilmember

[4:53:31] Boone. Second by, one.

[4:53:36] Would you like, just for clarification, the reason why it's going back

[4:53:37] is to the account string needs to be corrected

[4:53:40] and then to shorten the extension period of time.

[4:53:43] So thank you. Okay.

[4:53:45] Thank you. Next item will make a motion.

[4:53:48] And second he's seconded.

[4:53:49] Yeah. We have a motion and a second.

[4:53:50] Madam clerk, please prepare the vote

[4:53:52] for refer back to committee.

[4:53:54] The vote is open.

[4:54:03] The was closed 14 years.

[4:54:05] There are 14 years.

[4:54:07] Zero nays is items being referred back to committee.

[4:54:10] Next item.

[4:54:11] Item 2601489.

[4:54:15] Item 15. Page eight.

[4:54:16] An ordinance by Public Safety and Legal Administration

[4:54:19] Committee waving the competitive source selection

[4:54:22] provisions containing section 21187

[4:54:26] of article of the Procurement and Real Estate Code of the City

[4:54:30] of Atlanta. Code and audiences to ratify services rendered in connection

[4:54:33] with S, SPS123005 6 million.

[4:54:38] Technology, Maintenance and services

[4:54:40] with Millner Technologies, Inc.

[4:54:42] and to authorize the mayor or his designee

[4:54:44] to execute the Third Amendment

[4:54:46] to the agreement on behalf of the Atlanta

[4:54:48] Police Department to extend the term

[4:54:50] on a month to month basis

[4:54:51] for a period not to exceed 18 months

[4:54:54] retroactively effective from April 1st, 2026

[4:54:57] through October 1st, 2027, and amount not to exceed

[4:55:01] $345,364.00.

[4:55:05] To remove the Department

[4:55:07] of Finance and Atlanta Information Management aim,

[4:55:10] as usual, agencies leaving the Atlanta

[4:55:12] Police Department as the sole user agency.

[4:55:15] All contracted work will be charged to

[4:55:18] and paid from the fund, department, organization

[4:55:20] and account numbers listed here and and for other purposes.

[4:55:26] What is the motion?

[4:55:28] Council member one

[4:55:30] move to refer this back to the committee again,

[4:55:32] to shorten the extension period of time from 18 months

[4:55:36] down to something more reasonable.

[4:55:37] Moved by one second by Martin.

[4:55:40] Any discussion?

[4:55:42] CNN madam clerk, please

[4:55:43] prepare the vote to refer back to committee.

[4:55:46] The vote is open.

[4:55:49] You're going to have to give her your

[4:55:51] before you vote.

[4:55:53] Okay, 11.

[4:55:56] Please vote.

[4:56:04] 14. Is there on 8140.

[4:56:07] This item has been referred back to committee.

[4:56:09] Next item.

[4:56:10] Item 26 says 01490.

[4:56:14] Item 16. Page eight.

[4:56:17] An ordinance by Public Safety and Legal Administration

[4:56:20] Committee authorizing the mayor on his designee,

[4:56:22] to enter into amendment number six for agreement.

[4:56:25] SPAPD22121230170.

[4:56:31] Body camera police equipment and services with Axon Enterprise, Inc.

[4:56:35] on behalf of the Atlanta Police

[4:56:37] Department, for the purpose of adding funds to increase

[4:56:40] the total number of fleet cameras and body worn cameras.

[4:56:43] Due to the increased number of sworn personnel in an amount

[4:56:47] not to exceed $40,041,840.90

[4:56:53] over the remainder of the base term,

[4:56:55] all contract at work will be charged to and paid

[4:56:58] from the accounts listed below and for other purposes.

[4:57:02] Motion to approve.

[4:57:03] Motion to approve by Boone and well,

[4:57:07] doesn't require second, because it came out of committee

[4:57:11] from consent agenda favorable any discussion.

[4:57:15] Council member Kelsey bond.

[4:57:18] Thank you. I just wanted to explain my vote on this.

[4:57:21] You know, during budget session, y'all heard me talk a lot

[4:57:24] about the size of the APD budget in comparison

[4:57:28] to other city departments.

[4:57:30] And just looking at this contract extension

[4:57:33] for $40 million, that's that's more money

[4:57:35] than some city departments get all year.

[4:57:39] That's about 16 times the amount that we pay

[4:57:42] for pad services annually.

[4:57:45] So just because of the

[4:57:48] the size and scope of this contract, and,

[4:57:50] you know, the current blow of APD is budget, I'll be voting on this.

[4:57:53] Okay. Thank you.

[4:57:54] So motions on the floor,

[4:57:58] madam clerk, it came out of committee favorable for approval.

[4:58:03] Please prepare the vote.

[4:58:05] The voters open.

[4:58:13] Well, everyone please vote.

[4:58:23] The first class.

[4:58:23] 12 years, one day, 12 years.

[4:58:26] One nay.

[4:58:28] Who didn't vote?

[4:58:32] Bakhtiari left.

[4:58:33] Okay, 12 year.

[4:58:34] One a, this item is adopted.

[4:58:38] Colleagues, we will have to enter into

[4:58:40] committee of the whole to take action on our next item.

[4:58:44] Motion to enter. Committee of the whole motion by Boone, second by Martin.

[4:58:49] Colleagues.

[4:58:50] We are that this can be done by unanimous consent.

[4:58:55] Madam clerk, what's the count of unanimous consent

[4:58:56] to enter into committee of the whole 13 years?

[4:58:59] There are 13 gays their own age.

[4:59:01] We are now in the committee of the whole colleagues.

[4:59:04] We are bringing forward item number three on page 57.

[4:59:08] The caption reads 2601401.

[4:59:13] Item three, page 57 and on is by council members

[4:59:16] Jason Dozier, Wayne Martin, Byron De Amos, Michael,

[4:59:19] Julian Bond, Liliana bateria, Kelsey Bond, Jason H.

[4:59:23] Winston, Andre L Boone, Dustin Hillis, and Antonio Lewis

[4:59:27] to provide for a process that ensures transparency

[4:59:31] with respect to surveillance technologies

[4:59:33] used to monitor public right of way and for other purposes.

[4:59:38] Madam president, we do have our Chief of staff, Courtney English,

[4:59:41] who isn't in attendance, to speak to the substitute.

[4:59:46] Absolutely.

[4:59:46] Please come forward, chief. English.

[4:59:52] Good evening, Madam President.

[4:59:54] Madam chair, members of council.

[4:59:58] Council member Dozier, first want to start off by thanking you for your leadership

[5:00:01] and collaboration on working on this paper.

[5:00:04] Obviously, there is a serious need

[5:00:08] in the city to address our use of surveillance technology.

[5:00:13] Over the past few months, we've worked with your office,

[5:00:15] as well as an entire team of folks within City Hall to

[5:00:20] within City Hall and external to City Hall.

[5:00:22] A number of partners, like ACLU and others who have informed

[5:00:26] what we believe is a strong first draft of of this paper.

[5:00:30] Obviously,

[5:00:32] this is an incredibly important topic, and I just

[5:00:34] really wanted to highlight

[5:00:36] a few key areas that are within this paper.

[5:00:41] Number one, we believe in Atlanta that we can create a system

[5:00:45] that allows us to protect our civil rights,

[5:00:47] to protect our civil liberties, to protect our privacy,

[5:00:50] and allow us to ability to use this powerful technology

[5:00:55] to protect our citizens. At the same time, we can walk and chew gum at the same time.

[5:00:58] We believe that this draft does just that.

[5:01:02] The premise of this legislation is pretty straightforward.

[5:01:05] Powerful technology requires powerful oversight,

[5:01:08] transparency, and ultimately, remedy.

[5:01:11] Earlier tonight, you heard from earlier today,

[5:01:13] I should say,

[5:01:14] you heard from Chris Bruce,

[5:01:16] who talked about a number of things

[5:01:17] that have to be present in a good paper.

[5:01:20] And we believe that in working with Council Member

[5:01:22] DOJ's office and a number of you,

[5:01:24] we've arrived at that thing.

[5:01:25] So this paper mandates the

[5:01:27] creation of surveillance impact reports.

[5:01:29] Surveillance use policies and disclosures for

[5:01:32] how long technology is used for for what purpose and by whom.

[5:01:36] The paper establishes a mechanism

[5:01:38] for public input and public and in public transparency

[5:01:41] before technology is deployed or expanded in mandates, regular

[5:01:46] independent audits, and mandatory

[5:01:49] independent investigation into potential wrongdoing.

[5:01:52] It also establishes strong protections

[5:01:54] around the data we collect, including specific

[5:01:56] prohibitions on vendors who use our data.

[5:01:59] Of course, the mayor has called for call for an audit.

[5:02:03] You all have received the initial findings of that audit

[5:02:07] that is going to lead to ongoing further exploration by APD over the next 60 days.

[5:02:11] We're asking for the ability to work with you

[5:02:13] all, as well as the public in both a public,

[5:02:16] both a public hearing as well as a work session

[5:02:19] to perfect this paper.

[5:02:20] So we give folks the opportunity to chime in.

[5:02:24] And so thank you for the opportunity to speak this evening.

[5:02:26] And again, I want to thank you, Councilman Dozier,

[5:02:28] for your collaboration.

[5:02:31] Councilman, I saw your name.

[5:02:33] Thank you, Madam President, to speak.

[5:02:35] Firstly, I just want to echo what you shared, Chief English.

[5:02:39] I want to give kudos to you and to the administration

[5:02:42] and to the ACLU

[5:02:43] for coming at this through a spirit

[5:02:45] of collaboration and partnership.

[5:02:48] I know when we initially did the legislation a couple of months ago,

[5:02:50] we introduced the legislation largely in response

[5:02:53] to just broader discourse around the prevailing

[5:02:57] use of surveillance technologies,

[5:03:00] not just in Atlanta, but in cities across the metro area, cities across the country.

[5:03:03] And I've been very appreciative that the mayor and his team,

[5:03:07] including you, have been very proactive

[5:03:10] in reviewing our existing surveillance standards

[5:03:14] and working to make sure that we can be forward

[5:03:18] leaning on this, on this topic.

[5:03:21] One thing I will add,

[5:03:22] just for what you shared about what the substitute does, this

[5:03:26] does bring existing systems under this new framework.

[5:03:29] I know we just adopted legislation

[5:03:31] related to body worn cameras, and I know we as a body

[5:03:34] have had conversations

[5:03:37] about flock and other surveillance technology

[5:03:38] that we have in use at the airport.

[5:03:40] And so I think this framework will put Atlanta

[5:03:45] on the map in terms of trying to think about how we protect

[5:03:48] citizens rights and privacy and Fourth Amendment protections

[5:03:51] in ways that other municipalities

[5:03:52] are still trying to grapple with.

[5:03:53] So, once again, thank you for the collaboration,

[5:03:56] and I look forward to

[5:03:57] working together with you, with the ACLU

[5:04:00] and other partners to make sure that this could be the best legislation it can be.

[5:04:02] And thank you to my colleagues who have been willing to

[5:04:05] co-sponsor at least the earlier version of this legislation.

[5:04:08] This is something that we get a lot of concerns

[5:04:11] about from our constituents, especially, you know, it's

[5:04:13] not our police officers who've been in the news for illegal,

[5:04:19] use of this technology.

[5:04:20] But we got to make sure we're able to respond to

[5:04:24] the topic of the day in a way that we need to.

[5:04:26] And I think this legislation does that.

[5:04:28] So thank you all. And,

[5:04:32] with that, I will yield the floor.

[5:04:36] Thank you, Councilmember Collins.

[5:04:38] Thank you. So thank you so much.

[5:04:40] I think for me, just kind of getting clarity

[5:04:42] on the process moving forward.

[5:04:44] If we if we move it out of piece.

[5:04:48] But it goes to finance committee.

[5:04:50] What is the window.

[5:04:51] It looks like we would need to have a work session,

[5:04:56] to review.

[5:04:57] You know, like you all stated in the notice, the, the,

[5:05:01] the operational, legal and technical

[5:05:03] and technological provisions, but then also a public hearing

[5:05:07] to receive input.

[5:05:08] So I am so I am thinking,

[5:05:14] is it a is it,

[5:05:15] is it proper for us to move this forward?

[5:05:19] Is it proper for us to move it forward to FEC, knowing that

[5:05:23] the work session and the public hearing in those pieces,

[5:05:26] it should it stay with public safety

[5:05:28] right now until those things have happened

[5:05:30] and then come back before us

[5:05:32] to have it fully move, to fully move to FEC.

[5:05:36] Since from my under just question, tell me the time.

[5:05:40] What is the timeline in between?

[5:05:42] Oh, I can answer that.

[5:05:44] Councilmember Collins, my apologies for not clarifying

[5:05:47] that in my initial remarks, but that's exactly the intent.

[5:05:50] The for this particular portion, we're going to substitute,

[5:05:53] my or my request of you and other colleagues

[5:05:55] is to substitute this legislation.

[5:05:58] And then we will refer back to a for further,

[5:06:01] revisions discussion, especially since many of the

[5:06:05] stakeholders that will be impacted by this,

[5:06:07] especially a PD,

[5:06:08] that's the form that's best available

[5:06:10] for them to provide feedback.

[5:06:12] And then the intent is to have a work session

[5:06:14] and additional discussion from there.

[5:06:15] But this my request of the committee is or

[5:06:18] this body is to both adopt the substitute

[5:06:22] or not adopt a substitute to

[5:06:24] to support the substitute,

[5:06:25] but then refer to this legislation

[5:06:27] back to slay for further discussion.

[5:06:28] Okay. Sorry about that I did I miss I'm sorry.

[5:06:31] No, I was just say I didn't mention in my initial report, Mark.

[5:06:33] So thank you for asking that question cuz I think it helps.

[5:06:35] Okay. Great. Sounds so we would okay. Got you.

[5:06:38] All right I'm following. Thank you.

[5:06:41] Thank you. And that's why we had to go into community. The whole because it's currently held at a.

[5:06:44] But I don't know if you've seen the

[5:06:46] a lot of conversations in the,

[5:06:49] the press release that the mayor's office put out

[5:06:51] last week, but the intent is to move this forward and,

[5:06:56] and to share what, what we kind of came up with together.

[5:06:59] And so,

[5:07:02] from a sort of time last stand point, that's what's going to happen

[5:07:05] in the short term. We'll substitute in this anybody else

[5:07:07] for further conversation as if it were a new ordinance.

[5:07:12] Okay.

[5:07:14] Thank you.

[5:07:15] Okay.

[5:07:17] Council member.

[5:07:19] Council member. Martin.

[5:07:21] Yes. Thank you to Council member.

[5:07:23] Dozier was sticking with this.

[5:07:25] I remember the legislation we had

[5:07:26] that was before us with the airport.

[5:07:28] I kind of prompted all of this.

[5:07:30] We needed to get that contract renewed.

[5:07:32] And you agreed?

[5:07:35] They congenial to hold the legislation

[5:07:37] so that we can have this meaningful conversation.

[5:07:40] So I'm thankful to the mayor's office as well, and the administration.

[5:07:43] And thank you, Chief English, for making the comments about,

[5:07:46] you know, having that intersectionality and balance

[5:07:48] in between privacy guardrails and protecting people

[5:07:51] from abuse

[5:07:53] of these kinds of technologies, but also acknowledging

[5:07:55] the fact that these technologies make our city safer.

[5:07:58] I live in and represent a district, an area where these

[5:08:02] these cameras have saved lives.

[5:08:03] They have helped to solve crimes, violent crimes.

[5:08:07] And I'm grateful that we're having this conversation now

[5:08:10] to put up the guardrails to make sure that the

[5:08:12] the technologies are not abused and to make sure that they are,

[5:08:16] just doing their job, which is making, let's say, safer city.

[5:08:18] And so I'm excited about it coming to committee.

[5:08:21] And it's working out all of the other areas that need to be discussed there.

[5:08:25] But hopefully coming out with a piece of legislation

[5:08:27] that really, really makes us one safe.

[5:08:28] Atlanta while protecting civil liberties

[5:08:31] and also having guardrails for overreach and abuse.

[5:08:33] So thank you. Thank you, madam. Madam president.

[5:08:38] Thank you. Said everyone that would like to speak about the legislation.

[5:08:42] Okay. Madam president, I would like to bring forth the substitute

[5:08:46] move to bring forth substitute by Councilmember Boone.

[5:08:49] Second by Martin.

[5:08:51] Any discussion?

[5:08:52] Madam clerk, please open the vote

[5:08:54] to bring forth the substitute.

[5:08:56] The vote is open.

[5:09:06] Will everyone please vote?

[5:09:12] 13 years, zero eight, 13 years.

[5:09:15] Their own age.

[5:09:15] The substitute is before us.

[5:09:18] 14 years.

[5:09:19] There are 14 years.

[5:09:22] Nays. The substitute is before us.

[5:09:25] Move to refer back to committee by Dozier.

[5:09:28] Second by Bakhtiari.

[5:09:31] Any discussion?

[5:09:33] Madam clerk, please open the vote to refer

[5:09:37] O. First week in order to write.

[5:09:39] Council members Jason Dozier, Wayne Martin, Byron

[5:09:42] D Amos, Michael Julian Bond, Liliana

[5:09:46] Bond, Jason H.

[5:09:47] Winston, Andrea L Boone, Dustin Hillis, and Antonio Lewis

[5:09:51] as substituted by Atlanta City Council

[5:09:53] to promote informed decision making, transparency,

[5:09:57] accountability, public

[5:09:58] safety, and civil rights, and civil liberties

[5:10:01] protections with respect to city

[5:10:04] surveillance technologies and for other purposes.

[5:10:09] The vote is open to refer.

[5:10:13] To refer to public safety

[5:10:15] since the store referred.

[5:10:20] Well. Everyone please vote.

[5:10:41] The was closed 14 gays.

[5:10:43] There are 140 nays.

[5:10:45] This item is referred back to public safety.

[5:10:48] Madam president, motion to executive exit

[5:10:51] Committee of the whole motion to exit.

[5:10:55] Committee of the whole by Boone.

[5:10:56] Second by Martin.

[5:10:59] This can be done by unanimous consent. No.

[5:11:02] Yes, it can be done by unanimous consent, madam clerk.

[5:11:05] 13 years. Zero nays.

[5:11:07] 13 years. Euro.

[5:11:08] Nays. We have exited committee of the whole.

[5:11:11] Thank you to the chief. He's gone.

[5:11:13] Madam president,

[5:11:14] we would like to approve all actions

[5:11:16] taken in the committee of the whole motion to approve

[5:11:19] all actions taken in committee of the whole by Boone.

[5:11:24] Is there a second?

[5:11:25] Second by Hillis.

[5:11:27] Any discussion?

[5:11:29] Council member Martin or you still want to discuss?

[5:11:34] Okay.

[5:11:38] Got it.

[5:11:40] We have a first and a second.

[5:11:41] Madam clerk, please repair the vote to adopt all items

[5:11:45] on gross in from the committee of the whole.

[5:11:50] One moment.

[5:11:54] All actions.

[5:11:57] The voters open.

[5:12:08] Please. Thought. The votes closed.

[5:12:11] 14 years on a 14 years, zero nays.

[5:12:14] The item is adopted.

[5:12:17] Announce for the Safety and Legal Administration Committee

[5:12:22] will hold a work session and public comment on Wednesday,

[5:12:26] September 23rd at 1:00 pm in the Marvin

[5:12:30] Arrington for Council Chambers to discuss the resolution.

[5:12:34] 26-R4001 and the proposed sale

[5:12:38] of the Atlanta City Detention Center to Fulton County.

[5:12:42] The work session will provide an opportunity to discuss

[5:12:46] the proposed purchase and sale and lease agreements,

[5:12:49] including the continued housing of city Detains

[5:12:51] at the facility and the continued operation

[5:12:54] of the center for Diversion and Services.

[5:12:57] Please send all questions.

[5:13:00] Concerns to Mark Overton.

[5:13:03] Madam president, this concludes my report.

[5:13:06] Thank you, Chair Boone.

[5:13:09] Thank you.

[5:13:10] Our next committee is utilities.

[5:13:13] The Honorable Dustin Hillis presiding.

[5:13:19] Thank you, Madam President.

[5:13:21] Would you drop your ID? Okay.

[5:13:24] Hopefully you know who I am.

[5:13:29] First item is a communication

[5:13:31] 26 C 5080 communication from Donald

[5:13:35] Novi CPA chair,

[5:13:36] Audit Committee submitting the performance

[5:13:37] audit of DWM water billing and collections.

[5:13:41] Follow up

[5:13:42] motion of the committee is to accept and file motion

[5:13:46] by Hillis to accept and finally comes out

[5:13:47] of committee favorable to file so no second is needed.

[5:13:51] Madam clerk, please prepare the vote.

[5:13:54] The vote is open.

[5:14:01] 11. Please vote.

[5:14:05] Justify just to file.

[5:14:08] Yeah.

[5:14:10] The first close 14 years there on 814 a zero.

[5:14:14] This item is filed.

[5:14:16] Next item

[5:14:18] 2601464 an ordinance by City Utilities

[5:14:22] Committee to waive the procurement source

[5:14:23] selection provisions contained in the Division

[5:14:25] four of chapter two, article ten of the City of Ordnance,

[5:14:27] as well as any other conflicting code revisions.

[5:14:30] Otherwise, the mayor has designee

[5:14:31] to execute the Fourth Amendment to agreement number listed,

[5:14:36] he had to be hauling and a version program with Tag Grinding Services, Inc.

[5:14:39] on behalf of the Department

[5:14:40] of Public Works and Parks and Recreation

[5:14:42] to extend the term of the agreement

[5:14:43] on a month to month basis retroactively active effective

[5:14:46] August 18th, 2026 through February 14th, 2027,

[5:14:50] to add funding in an amount not to exceed $370,000.00.

[5:14:55] All contracted work to be charged to

[5:14:56] and from account numbers listed here in.

[5:14:59] To ratify payment of outstanding invoices for the services provided

[5:15:02] through the expiration of the agreement

[5:15:04] on August 17th, 2026, and for other purposes.

[5:15:08] The wind condition with five years and one abstention.

[5:15:12] The motion is to adopt.

[5:15:15] The motion to adopt by Hillis doesn't require.

[5:15:19] Second. Madam Clerk, please prepare the vote.

[5:15:22] The vote is open.

[5:15:29] Will everyone please vote?

[5:15:33] So the conditions were met.

[5:15:41] Well, everyone please vote.

[5:15:47] The votes closed 140140.

[5:15:50] Nays is item is adopted.

[5:15:52] Thank you, Madam President.

[5:15:54] And that completes my items. Excellent.

[5:15:56] We are moving on to community development.

[5:16:00] The honorable Matt Westmoreland.

[5:16:03] Thank you, Madam President.

[5:16:04] We have three items on our agenda.

[5:16:07] The first is an ordinance for second reading, 2600 1510

[5:16:11] Ordinance by Councilmember West

[5:16:12] Matt Westmoreland is adopted by CCDs

[5:16:15] to amend the City of Atlanta code.

[5:16:16] Part two, section two, part 20,

[5:16:19] section 21004 to update the City of Atlanta

[5:16:21] short term rental policy and for the purposes is coming

[5:16:24] favorable, as amended, with three days,

[5:16:26] zero nays and three abstentions.

[5:16:28] So I will make a motion to approve on substitute motion

[5:16:30] to approve on substitute by Matt Westmoreland.

[5:16:33] Is there a second second by Martin?

[5:16:35] Is there any discussion? Council member Amos.

[5:16:39] Yes. Just like some

[5:16:41] clarification on the language.

[5:16:44] So removing this language means that anyone,

[5:16:48] no matter how many residents they got,

[5:16:50] they can all be converted into short term rentals.

[5:16:55] Okay. What if, if I may, this language,

[5:16:59] you know, because we were here in March of 2021

[5:17:03] when we passed the initial short term rental legislation

[5:17:06] that was slated to take effect in September of that year

[5:17:08] and then March of 2022, it has never been enforced.

[5:17:11] Which led to to your paper for Home Park last year.

[5:17:15] And so based on the planning department's

[5:17:19] different than is an amendment view

[5:17:21] in terms of what they are and are not willing to enforce,

[5:17:24] this change will make it so that we can enforce

[5:17:28] the entire rest

[5:17:29] of the existing short term rental ordinance,

[5:17:31] because right now we're not enforcing any of it,

[5:17:33] and so none of the protections are eligible.

[5:17:36] And that was my biggest concern.

[5:17:38] Absent of any enforcement at all, we're about to unleash

[5:17:41] the possibility of anyone having a residence or,

[5:17:46] place can do a short term rental.

[5:17:48] And then the other piece is also,

[5:17:51] where is it?

[5:17:53] You also talk about not only the property owner, but any long term rental can now

[5:17:58] create that space to be a short term rental.

[5:18:01] So now we are allowing renters

[5:18:02] to rent out other people property and short term rentals.

[5:18:05] Am I reading that right?

[5:18:08] You are reading that in such a way that it's

[5:18:10] what's always been in the code that's never been enforced,

[5:18:15] so that has been on the books since 2021.

[5:18:18] Okay.

[5:18:19] I just wanted clarity. Thank you.

[5:18:22] Thank you.

[5:18:23] Council member Kelsey Bond.

[5:18:26] I have a an amendment for this.

[5:18:28] I'm not sure if it got emailed out.

[5:18:31] But my proposed amendment was to add

[5:18:35] after the portion that is struck,

[5:18:40] to add for up to two total dwelling units.

[5:18:44] And where that's coming from is there there was a discussion in

[5:18:49] committee about the potential

[5:18:50] for completely striking that line, to open it up

[5:18:55] for unlimited amounts of short

[5:18:58] term rentals per person.

[5:19:02] And opening that up gives me pause.

[5:19:06] I know that there is other potential legislation

[5:19:09] in the works before this would go into effect.

[5:19:12] That would be additional controls to short term rentals.

[5:19:16] But I personally don't feel comfortable

[5:19:18] voting on the full legislation

[5:19:20] without some type of protections.

[5:19:23] So I'm not sure the, the process

[5:19:26] if the amendment got set out,

[5:19:27] but I would like to put forward that amendment,

[5:19:29] and I would like to make sure that they everyone

[5:19:33] has a copy of that amendment.

[5:19:36] Was it emailed?

[5:19:37] It's from Jasmine. Okay.

[5:19:39] I'm seeing a lot of knots.

[5:19:41] And yes. So the amendment is

[5:19:45] circulated and can repeat what it says again.

[5:19:48] Yes, please.

[5:19:49] So after the part that is struck,

[5:19:51] the part that is struck reads for their primary residence

[5:19:54] and up to one additional dwelling unit.

[5:19:58] And my amendment proposes adding for up to two

[5:20:00] total dwelling units.

[5:20:02] And my understanding is that the legal reason

[5:20:05] for striking the primary residence portion is

[5:20:08] that that has potential to be contested.

[5:20:11] And in other states, we have seen a lawsuit lost over that.

[5:20:17] However,

[5:20:19] my proposed amendment does not have to do

[5:20:21] with primary residence.

[5:20:23] So my understanding is that would be less of a concern

[5:20:26] legally.

[5:20:28] Okay. Got it.

[5:20:29] So there is an amendment

[5:20:31] before you, a motion to amend before us.

[5:20:34] Is there a second?

[5:20:38] Okay. You have a question about what

[5:20:39] the legislation or the amendment.

[5:20:46] Okay. Council member Lewis.

[5:20:49] And just around the that one striking out

[5:20:52] line was the part of the reason

[5:20:54] why I supported this legislation from the start.

[5:20:56] I've seen my community have affordable housing,

[5:21:00] three bedroom housing right now for $1,200 in district 12.

[5:21:04] I lived in it when I was a part of.

[5:21:06] I've lived in it throughout.

[5:21:07] I got family members who paid

[5:21:08] 12 to $1600 for three bedroom, two bedroom homes, three

[5:21:13] three bedroom, two restroom bath homes in our district.

[5:21:17] I think that if this legislation passes

[5:21:20] with removing that, I can foresee

[5:21:23] more folks switching their homes to that

[5:21:26] they used to rent out to regular people.

[5:21:28] To Aron be the moment that the lease is up.

[5:21:31] And so I think that we need a little bit more conversation

[5:21:34] around this because of this.

[5:21:36] But thank you again.

[5:21:39] Any other discussion?

[5:21:41] Council member Michael Julian Bond.

[5:21:44] Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot about you a minute.

[5:21:49] Sad Council member I'll go after Councilmember Bond.

[5:21:52] After Councilmember bond. Yes.

[5:21:54] Thank you, Madam President.

[5:21:56] I guess my question.

[5:21:59] Even though I sat through the discussion in committee,

[5:22:02] you know, I've stayed in committee.

[5:22:05] But even with the amendment

[5:22:08] that's proposed that I will support.

[5:22:12] I'm really kind of unsure

[5:22:13] that I would support the paper as a whole.

[5:22:17] You know, we had the young lady who came down here

[5:22:23] from the landmark who's come down on a regular basis and

[5:22:28] their condominium building,

[5:22:30] it really is just become pimped out

[5:22:33] the short term rentals.

[5:22:34] And it's no longer operating as a condominium, but a,

[5:22:40] you know, almost a crack hotel.

[5:22:43] And what would have been, you know, one of the first and most,

[5:22:47] but used to be one of the most prestigious property locations

[5:22:52] in the city of Atlanta, has now been severely perverted,

[5:22:57] by short term rentals

[5:23:01] that they their rules allow internally to that building.

[5:23:06] And my fear is

[5:23:09] even with the amendment was two things.

[5:23:12] Even if you restricted to,

[5:23:16] just two additional properties, you know,

[5:23:19] that might be one property too many.

[5:23:21] You're talking about the entire city.

[5:23:23] And we're trying to create an environment where people

[5:23:27] live, work, play emphasis on live

[5:23:32] in our cities and our neighborhoods.

[5:23:37] I guess I'm wondering,

[5:23:40] Council member, Mr.

[5:23:41] Chair Westmoreland, because I don't really recall

[5:23:45] and I apologize that I did request and the commissioner

[5:23:49] more thoroughly in committee.

[5:23:51] But why this piecemeal approach?

[5:23:54] Why the need to enforce this

[5:23:57] or attempt to put these rules in place?

[5:24:00] And yet we still have to wait on the rest of it.

[5:24:06] What is the rest of it?

[5:24:07] Well, I thought you said that this was a part

[5:24:10] that we're putting this forward and that other legislation

[5:24:14] is still coming, and this is what the department

[5:24:17] is, quote unquote, willing to enforce.

[5:24:21] Yeah. So I have a question for law that might tie

[5:24:25] in to the question that you are asking it.

[5:24:27] It's not that something else is to come

[5:24:29] is that we've had an ordinance on the books

[5:24:31] for the last four years that has never been enforced.

[5:24:35] That's what he's asking. And I personally would like for this city

[5:24:38] to have a short term rental ordinance that we are enforcing

[5:24:42] so that it better protects

[5:24:43] residents than what we have now, which is something

[5:24:46] that is not being enforced at all.

[5:24:49] And Council member Kelsey Bond asked a question to committee that led

[5:24:52] to the conclusion of the conversation that once

[5:24:55] this nine word phrase were removed.

[5:24:58] So, to wood, the legal concerns that the planning department

[5:25:02] has around litigation.

[5:25:04] And so I have a question for law that's related to your

[5:25:07] I haven't really thought about it. At some point.

[5:25:09] I would like to hear from law, if you believe

[5:25:13] this proposed amendment could also invite litigation,

[5:25:16] because if your answer is yes,

[5:25:19] then we're going to be right back to where we were at the beginning, which is an ordinance

[5:25:21] that isn't going to be enforced well in the city.

[5:25:24] Well, I'll do it

[5:25:26] before I yield for you to ask your question of law.

[5:25:29] So I still have the floor.

[5:25:30] So I, I'd still like to have my concern addressed

[5:25:34] because I, like you, want to see the city enforcing something.

[5:25:41] But, you know, is this the something the city should be enforcing?

[5:25:45] You know what I mean?

[5:25:46] I mean, we've gone all this time waiting,

[5:25:50] I guess, presumably on the department, waiting for

[5:25:53] on the law department to give us something to enforce.

[5:25:58] So I guess I'll anticipate part of your question

[5:26:01] and I'll ask a lot of departments something.

[5:26:03] Why is this legislation long department and why now?

[5:26:08] And what actually does this

[5:26:11] entail in the way of enforcement?

[5:26:17] Good afternoon, Amber

[5:26:19] Robinson, City of Atlanta, Department of Law.

[5:26:21] I can not advise concerning the timing

[5:26:24] of the legislation that is before you.

[5:26:27] In so far as the legislation, not the amendment

[5:26:31] that is before you,

[5:26:32] how does that address enforceability?

[5:26:35] It removes the residency requirement

[5:26:38] that is currently in the code, which, as discussed,

[5:26:43] has been the subject of successful challenge

[5:26:47] in other jurisdictions and has been of concern,

[5:26:53] in land, and

[5:26:56] it has been of concern

[5:26:58] by the Department of City Planning

[5:27:02] as inviting, challenge.

[5:27:07] So once that is removed,

[5:27:09] that concern is removed.

[5:27:12] And so follow up on that.

[5:27:13] So other than the removal of that,

[5:27:17] what is currently on the books is would still be on the books

[5:27:22] that's not being enforced.

[5:27:26] That's correct. But the other language is not was not of concern.

[5:27:31] And do you recall

[5:27:34] why they are not enforcing

[5:27:38] what is on the books currently?

[5:27:40] Is it all tied to the residency requirement or.

[5:27:43] There are other issues

[5:27:45] though I'm you're asking me to speak for the Department

[5:27:49] of City Planning. There were concerns about the enforcement

[5:27:50] of the entire ordinance due to the residency requirement.

[5:27:54] And the removal of the residency requirement would

[5:27:59] remove those concerns.

[5:28:02] Okay.

[5:28:04] Well,

[5:28:06] I know you can't speak entirely,

[5:28:10] for them, but does anyone know who can respond to us

[5:28:14] when enforcement is likely to begin?

[5:28:17] Do you know, Mr.

[5:28:19] Chair, have they counseled you on that?

[5:28:24] Based on the comments we heard in C, D, s upon

[5:28:27] this ordinance becoming effective on January 1st, 2027.

[5:28:32] So all legal

[5:28:35] notice and advice or what have you been done by January?

[5:28:39] Okay.

[5:28:41] Well I'm not going to I'm not going to belabor it.

[5:28:43] I support the,

[5:28:45] amendment as proposed and look forward

[5:28:47] to voted to support the amendment.

[5:28:52] And I was drawn.

[5:28:54] So, Council Member Westmoreland, you are next.

[5:28:56] Thank you.

[5:28:58] My question is for the law department.

[5:29:01] The goal,

[5:29:03] at least from the beginning of this conversation, is to have an ordinance

[5:29:06] that would be enforced.

[5:29:07] There have been concerns about the or the code as currently

[5:29:12] written, leading to potential legal challenges in the future.

[5:29:18] Can you please opine on whether this amendment could lead

[5:29:23] to potential legal challenges in the future?

[5:29:29] The the proposed amendment,

[5:29:31] by nature would exclude persons

[5:29:34] who may own property in may

[5:29:38] wish to utilize their property for a short term

[5:29:42] rental from the ability to do so, as it limits

[5:29:46] a license to two dwelling units, and therefore persons

[5:29:51] who find themselves excluded may seek to challenge that.

[5:29:57] Appreciate it.

[5:29:59] That's my question.

[5:30:02] Okay, moving on to Council

[5:30:04] member Wayne Martin.

[5:30:09] Okay.

[5:30:10] That leaves council member Lewis and I feel really good

[5:30:14] about the legislation that we have at first,

[5:30:16] and changing it with what Councilmember Bond

[5:30:18] has suggested.

[5:30:19] Looking across the country, New York City has a two

[5:30:22] limit, has the same residency requirement, right?

[5:30:26] Los Angeles has it. San.

[5:30:27] San Francisco has it.

[5:30:29] San Diego has created a different route, similar

[5:30:32] to what Councilmember Bond has presented in Seattle as well.

[5:30:36] They have the two unit limit, which means

[5:30:38] the primary residence plus one other.

[5:30:41] So I would like to look at this legislation

[5:30:44] a little bit more, only because I know

[5:30:45] who Councilmember was more than it is.

[5:30:47] I know he's super.

[5:30:49] If he's open to it, I know who he is.

[5:30:50] But if he's open to looking at these very,

[5:30:54] the cities that are very progressive on this, and Councilmember Bond

[5:30:57] did present a very good piece of a resolution amendment

[5:31:01] that I think would put us in line

[5:31:03] with the cities that have done it right.

[5:31:06] I'm a I'm nervous that if we do allow this to happen.

[5:31:10] I'm concerned that the short term

[5:31:13] rental owners will rush to remove even more housing from the long

[5:31:16] term market

[5:31:17] the moment this legislation happens,

[5:31:19] and I have specific examples in district 12,

[5:31:21] I can give you the addresses

[5:31:23] where people used to live one year ago

[5:31:25] and after the lease was up, it became a short term rental.

[5:31:29] Thank you.

[5:31:34] Council member Amos.

[5:31:37] Yes, Madam President,

[5:31:39] I think a motion has been made already. Yes,

[5:31:41] I can make a substitute motion to refer back to committee.

[5:31:45] Okay.

[5:31:46] Motion to refer back to committee by Amos.

[5:31:49] In second by Lewis.

[5:31:52] So any discussion on that?

[5:31:57] Madam clerk, please

[5:31:58] prepare the vote.

[5:32:02] So, Madam Chair, I do have one question.

[5:32:05] What's the substitute motion that we are voting on?

[5:32:08] It's amendment. It's an amendment.

[5:32:11] Oh, to affirm now. We're now we're voting on to refer the paperback.

[5:32:15] Period. Yes.

[5:32:16] Not amended yet. Okay. Thank you.

[5:32:19] But the refer takes precedence over the amendment.

[5:32:25] The vote is open.

[5:32:27] I would love for you all to do that work in committee.

[5:32:30] Thank you.

[5:32:34] Love you.

[5:32:34] And please vote.

[5:32:50] No. We want to do it right now.

[5:32:54] Madam clerk,

[5:32:56] please call that four years.

[5:32:59] Nine names for nine nays.

[5:33:02] This item is fail to be referred.

[5:33:07] So we still have before us an amendment that we're voting

[5:33:11] on. Councilmember Collins, thank you.

[5:33:15] So you during the committee, this was a bit part of

[5:33:18] the conversation and questions that I had as well.

[5:33:22] And so just breaking down how it was,

[5:33:25] how with my questions, interpreting,

[5:33:28] removing this strike here

[5:33:31] a lot gives the enforcement for the city

[5:33:36] to push anyone that has a short term rental in this city.

[5:33:41] Right. And, and in terms of make sure they have a license right now,

[5:33:45] the answer to Madam President.

[5:33:48] Mayor, respond to the question. Yes, please.

[5:33:50] The I believe the answer to your question is yes,

[5:33:53] because it would remove the legally the legal

[5:33:57] the primary residence requirements. That's right.

[5:34:00] And thus allow us to enforce.

[5:34:02] So right now what you have is if the if I live in new

[5:34:06] if I live in North Carolina, I have property here,

[5:34:10] I decide to use my property as a short term rental.

[5:34:14] My neighbor may say, hey,

[5:34:16] I have this person does not have a permit

[5:34:19] to operate their short term rental.

[5:34:21] As a property owner where I live in North Carolina,

[5:34:24] I am going to push back and say, well, right now say

[5:34:28] I'm not subjected to this ordinance

[5:34:31] because that's not my primary residence.

[5:34:33] So that's what this does is remove

[5:34:35] the primary residence requirement and allow.

[5:34:40] Now, if I live in North Carolina, I have to get my

[5:34:44] I have to register and get my short

[5:34:46] term rental permitted without any challenge.

[5:34:49] Right now I can challenge it.

[5:34:51] And so, yes, the policy position of this will force

[5:34:56] any short term rental owner and or long term

[5:34:59] tenant of a short term rental.

[5:35:01] They have to get the permits or whatnot.

[5:35:06] And removing this, the enforcement piece is a whole nother conversation.

[5:35:09] And Council member Amos, as I thought about this,

[5:35:12] I always think about your paper in terms of the,

[5:35:16] you know, creating the enforcement piece because it still has

[5:35:19] to be enforced.

[5:35:20] But right now, what I think is what's before us

[5:35:22] is truly removing the barriers that makes this challenge,

[5:35:28] which makes this enforceable to everyone in the city

[5:35:31] that has a short term rental, whether you live in the city or

[5:35:35] city or not.

[5:35:36] So I'm using that example

[5:35:38] because that's the example that was

[5:35:40] that was shared to help me also understand

[5:35:44] the fourth piece is a is another piece

[5:35:46] to the second piece that I want to bring to

[5:35:49] my colleagues at help me work through understanding

[5:35:52] standing this is also regular is also ordinance.

[5:35:55] At the top of this ordinance is the reference of ordinance

[5:36:00] 1656, which was before I was on this Council,

[5:36:03] and that provides the actual guidelines

[5:36:06] and of course, rules for the short term rental piece.

[5:36:09] So this is if you look at this, this is part one.

[5:36:12] There's another part

[5:36:14] and then there's the other pending the other pending part.

[5:36:17] I just want to put that there in terms of understanding

[5:36:21] the implications of removing this

[5:36:24] of removing this language for consideration.

[5:36:27] The third part to this, and I understand

[5:36:29] we've had examples of individuals or homeowners

[5:36:33] that choose to lease out their property

[5:36:35] and then convert it to a short term rental.

[5:36:39] We have to understand that a person's

[5:36:42] one of the highest rates

[5:36:43] a person have is their person and their property.

[5:36:46] So if I choose to lease out my property

[5:36:48] and I'll say, well, I don't want any long

[5:36:50] term tenants, I want to now create a short term

[5:36:53] rental piece as in a neighborhood.

[5:36:57] Now I will be subjected to get a permit.

[5:36:59] I have to and I am.

[5:37:02] I interpreted

[5:37:04] that example correct

[5:37:06] if I choose not to do a

[5:37:08] long term lease, but now I want to convert it

[5:37:10] to a short term rental.

[5:37:11] Removing this, I have to get a I have to get a permit

[5:37:15] to operate it as a short term rental.

[5:37:17] Correct.

[5:37:19] Under the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances, a

[5:37:22] license is necessary in order to operate a short term

[5:37:26] rental within

[5:37:28] a license is necessary

[5:37:30] to operate a short term rental within the city of Atlanta.

[5:37:33] So, Councilman Lewis, using your example of the long term

[5:37:36] tenant now becoming a short term rental, you now have that.

[5:37:40] If this goes through, you now have that cover to enforce

[5:37:44] to say, hey, your shirt term rental,

[5:37:46] you have to have a license to operate.

[5:37:48] You have to have a license to operate it.

[5:37:50] Right now, the reason why that practice

[5:37:52] is allowed to happen in your neighborhood

[5:37:54] is because there is no parameter to actually enforce it.

[5:37:57] So I'm just sharing with you all the information that I

[5:38:00] that helped me work through to get to why I will be

[5:38:04] supporting this, this removal, knowing that this is only a part

[5:38:09] of the continuing conversation, but the true piece of

[5:38:12] what this will push in terms of an enforcement piece.

[5:38:16] So with that, Madam Chair, I defer.

[5:38:19] All right.

[5:38:20] And we will move

[5:38:21] on to Kelsey Bond.

[5:38:24] Do you want to say something?

[5:38:26] Okay.

[5:38:28] Yeah,

[5:38:30] I was I was actually hoping this would get sent back

[5:38:34] to committee. Because it I my personal preference would be for us to,

[5:38:39] you know, the primary issue here is the city

[5:38:43] is not enforcing it right now.

[5:38:45] And removing this original line

[5:38:47] would help to make enforcement easier.

[5:38:50] I would have loved to package

[5:38:52] this original legislation with additional protections,

[5:38:56] in particular to set an upper limit for

[5:38:59] how many Airbnbs short term rentals one person can operate.

[5:39:05] Personally, I would love to ban short term rentals,

[5:39:07] but I figured at least keeping this net neutral

[5:39:11] going from 2 to 2 properties was at least fair,

[5:39:15] at least for last minute consideration of this.

[5:39:18] And I do want to clarify.

[5:39:21] When I sent this to legal, I'm just going to read the,

[5:39:24] the opinion that I got back over email.

[5:39:29] Just to clarify.

[5:39:31] Oh, can I not do that?

[5:39:32] No. Oh. I'm sorry.

[5:39:35] Oh, okay.

[5:39:36] I'm sorry.

[5:39:37] I, I hate to jump in.

[5:39:40] However, we would advise that, privileged communication

[5:39:44] not be read.

[5:39:45] Got it. On on on on. Yes.

[5:39:49] Apologies, apologies.

[5:39:51] I was making sure that the answer was no, but no.

[5:39:54] Okay. Got it. Thank you.

[5:39:56] Did not realize that, can I can I summarize?

[5:40:00] I just, Amber, if you could, we would prefer that

[5:40:03] it's a privileged legal opinion.

[5:40:05] We cannot share it.

[5:40:06] Cannot summarize it. Okay. I'm sorry.

[5:40:08] I did not know that that thoughts are important, though.

[5:40:10] Whatever you think, my thoughts as not a liar.

[5:40:14] Yeah. Are, the understanding is that, like. Yes.

[5:40:19] Maintaining the

[5:40:20] the the maximum of two

[5:40:23] units per person, two short term rentals per person,

[5:40:26] could, you know, prompt somebody to sue the city?

[5:40:31] That's true with a lot of things.

[5:40:34] But my understanding is that in court cases

[5:40:38] where this was challenged in other cities,

[5:40:40] the city was likely to win the lawsuit.

[5:40:44] So I just wanted to to put that out there.

[5:40:47] And yeah, so that was the intention of the paper.

[5:40:51] I, I'm not sure that it's responsible

[5:40:53] to just leave this open ended by striking this language today.

[5:40:57] So if my amendment does not pass,

[5:41:01] I will be voting no on the full legislation.

[5:41:05] Okay.

[5:41:08] Alex. Juan.

[5:41:08] Thank you, Madam President.

[5:41:10] My goal is to get a piece of legislation

[5:41:14] to amend it and create another set of liabilities

[5:41:18] I don't think. Makes sense. I'm going to call the question on on the amendment.

[5:41:20] Call the question by one second by Hillis.

[5:41:23] Madam clerk, please prepare the vote.

[5:41:34] The. Was smaller.

[5:41:39] And what is?

[5:41:48] 12 years?

[5:41:49] One nay 12 years, one nay.

[5:41:52] Call to question is adopted.

[5:41:54] The item is before us.

[5:41:56] The amendment to the item is before us.

[5:42:02] Madam clerk, please prepare the vote.

[5:42:05] The vote is open.

[5:42:16] Will everyone please vote?

[5:42:27] The seven years?

[5:42:30] Six nays.

[5:42:32] Yeah. This motion is not carried.

[5:42:35] Seven years.

[5:42:36] Six nays.

[5:42:37] This item fails.

[5:42:40] You have any more

[5:42:42] items on your agenda, chair?

[5:42:46] Oh, that's the amendment.

[5:42:47] The amendment fail.

[5:42:48] Okay, well, let's vote on the motion.

[5:42:54] Do you have a motion coming out of committee?

[5:42:58] Favorable. Three A's, zero nays, three abstentions.

[5:43:00] So that's the motion, okay.

[5:43:03] Council member Westmoreland moved to

[5:43:07] pass to adopt the motion.

[5:43:09] It actually out of committee.

[5:43:11] It doesn't require second.

[5:43:12] Madam clerk, please prepare the vote.

[5:43:16] And actually, this is a time

[5:43:18] when you could deliberate again if you want, but.

[5:43:24] Oh, now everybody's saying they don't want to deliberate.

[5:43:27] Really?

[5:43:28] You've been deliberating for an hour and a half.

[5:43:31] Okay.

[5:43:44] Madam clerk.

[5:43:54] Yep. The vote is open. Yes.

[5:44:12] I. Nine

[5:44:23] years, 599, five nays.

[5:44:27] This item is adopted, and I recognize

[5:44:31] Councilmember Bakhtiari.

[5:44:32] Thank you.

[5:44:35] I am very sorry. Meeting has run longer than I expected it

[5:44:37] to, and I had to run back from a meeting.

[5:44:42] I want to explain my vote.

[5:44:44] I appreciate Councilmember Amos trying to appreciate

[5:44:47] Councilmember Bonds attempted amendment.

[5:44:48] I appreciate Councilmember for this.

[5:44:50] Back to committee.

[5:44:51] Simply the reason I am a no, as I do believe I do.

[5:44:54] Thank Councilmember Westmoreland for bringing this forward.

[5:44:56] I am a no, because this does not cap,

[5:44:59] and I do believe that that's why the legislation was

[5:45:01] created, was to prevent people from owning

[5:45:02] and having a monopoly on these things.

[5:45:05] So I understand that this will be finally enforced.

[5:45:07] But that is that is why I will not be.

[5:45:10] That's why I'm unsupportive. And I just wanted to clarify.

[5:45:13] Thank you, Councilmember Lewis.

[5:45:18] Once again, I agree with everything Councilmember Bakhtiari said.

[5:45:20] And my hope was that we can have more discussion

[5:45:23] around this because I know that it did move

[5:45:25] pretty fast

[5:45:27] from our first conversation 2 or 3 weeks ago

[5:45:29] with Councilmember Westmoreland.

[5:45:30] And so my vote on this was.

[5:45:32] I'm nervous that more houses, more homes

[5:45:36] that are currently used for affordable housing,

[5:45:39] particularly in the portion I was driving around.

[5:45:41] The most of my colleagues will no longer be

[5:45:44] affordable housing, but will become what they would call

[5:45:48] Airbnbs or short term rentals.

[5:45:50] So that's why I voted no

[5:45:52] to keep more affordable housing in the city of Atlanta.

[5:45:54] Thank you again.

[5:45:55] Thank you, Councilmember Collins.

[5:46:02] Thank you. Just to add to just to add to the conversation,

[5:46:05] we did discuss and I did you know, we did discuss

[5:46:08] in terms of caps and also potential boundaries.

[5:46:12] And what we're finding is that they're still legally

[5:46:16] those challenges our cities are not prevailing in

[5:46:20] because it gets into a conversation

[5:46:23] in terms of exclusivity and what's the best way

[5:46:26] to do those things.

[5:46:27] So what I anticipate by removing this first step

[5:46:30] with the enforcement, we are at least able to gather

[5:46:33] data in terms of the, the, the, the, the, the, the,

[5:46:39] the actual short term rentals that are permitted and with the legal bounds,

[5:46:43] those that are operating illegally that we could

[5:46:46] truly enforce and shut down.

[5:46:48] And then exploring what that looks like to, to

[5:46:51] to create spaces or those limits caps create a conversation

[5:46:57] opens up a conversation of who when in a rush

[5:47:02] to get those that are registered.

[5:47:05] Then you do have geographical boundaries

[5:47:07] where you have a short term overlays.

[5:47:10] You have geographical areas.

[5:47:13] We already have a parameter in place now where if your area, your street

[5:47:18] or your community, you all advocate for that ban, like what we see at Home Park.

[5:47:22] So there are there

[5:47:24] I, I feel that all is not lost in this space,

[5:47:27] but this is the start of a conversation.

[5:47:29] This is the start of other ordinances and actions to at

[5:47:33] least give us the opportunity to capture this right now.

[5:47:37] We right now, based on what Planning Department of Planning

[5:47:41] is telling us, is the fact they're not even able to enforce

[5:47:45] those that are illegally operating

[5:47:48] if they just didn't do it, are they good?

[5:47:49] Will illegally operating short term rentals because they

[5:47:54] they are Italian and say, well, it's not my primary residence.

[5:47:57] And so I just want to keep you guys optimistic and hopeful

[5:48:02] that all is not lost.

[5:48:03] But we do have some work to do to continue to layer this.

[5:48:06] And I really hope

[5:48:07] that we all work together to do just that.

[5:48:10] Thank you.

[5:48:11] Council Collins.

[5:48:12] Councilmember Dozier, thank you, Madam President.

[5:48:15] I just want to

[5:48:16] encourage colleagues to who are seeking additional,

[5:48:22] constraints or restrictions on the Atlanta short

[5:48:25] term rental economy to consider standalone legislation.

[5:48:28] I'll be happy to join you in that fight.

[5:48:31] I know with this particular paper,

[5:48:33] I've been very clear since my days of being a chair

[5:48:39] that I've been very frustrated by inability to enforce anything

[5:48:42] related to our 2021 short term rental legislation.

[5:48:45] This has been the closest

[5:48:47] we have been to

[5:48:48] actually enforcing anything,

[5:48:49] which is why I've been supportive of this effort.

[5:48:51] However, I do recognize their needs

[5:48:53] to be more guardrails and places to support our community,

[5:48:56] to protect affordable housing, to protect our residents,

[5:48:58] to prevent situations like we've been seeing

[5:49:00] in buildings like the landmark.

[5:49:02] I know the Department of City Planning has legislation

[5:49:04] that they presented to this body

[5:49:05] that considered districts requirements, that considered

[5:49:08] caps on the percentage of short

[5:49:10] term rentals in multi-family buildings.

[5:49:13] And I'll be happy to revisit those conversations.

[5:49:15] But for this legislation,

[5:49:18] I was a yes vote, because I want to make sure that we got to a point

[5:49:20] in which we can enforce something so that we know

[5:49:24] or have even better protections than we have

[5:49:26] have had over the last five years.

[5:49:28] All the things, all the worst case scenarios

[5:49:29] that have been described

[5:49:30] in this meeting

[5:49:31] have already been happening because we

[5:49:33] haven't been enforcing anything.

[5:49:34] So I just wanted to put that out there or support any further

[5:49:38] efforts to add restraints into this industry.

[5:49:43] But I want to make sure that we got something

[5:49:46] over the finish line today so that we can actually get to supporting our communities

[5:49:48] in the way we know they need to be supported.

[5:49:50] That's what I wanted to say, and I'll be yield.

[5:49:55] Thank you. Councilmember Dozier

[5:49:56] Bakhtiari, I do think you have at least a minute left.

[5:49:59] Thank you. So I'll be very quick because I ran in

[5:50:02] a little out of breath.

[5:50:03] But I just wanted to say

[5:50:04] because there's been so much conversation

[5:50:05] and I think people are probably lost in the details.

[5:50:07] What I wanted to clarify is I am absolutely for enforcement.

[5:50:11] We have very bad actors.

[5:50:12] We have people that are monopolizing these properties.

[5:50:14] I simply would be like, as I said before,

[5:50:16] I'm simply voting against this

[5:50:17] because I believe that most important

[5:50:18] part of the legislation should be capping.

[5:50:20] That is why I believe this does go somewhere

[5:50:22] not far enough, but to the point of Councilmember Dozier.

[5:50:26] I will be trying to look at other ways,

[5:50:28] and I hope my colleagues will join me, because the

[5:50:31] proliferation of short term rentals is a problem,

[5:50:34] and I do hope that some of our partners, like Airbnb and Vrbo,

[5:50:37] will begin bringing more staff down here

[5:50:39] to actually support these initiatives.

[5:50:41] So that is all. Thank you.

[5:50:43] Thank you, Council Member Winston.

[5:50:46] Thank you. Council President.

[5:50:48] Colleagues, I just want to thank you for supporting this.

[5:50:50] The ones that have helped push this over,

[5:50:53] Councilmember Westmoreland, I now represent the landmark.

[5:50:56] And, you know, we had someone that came in today.

[5:50:59] This is the first step at being to help people at the landmark.

[5:51:02] Right now, there are bad actors who are operating illegal.

[5:51:06] Airbnb units are short term rental units in that building.

[5:51:09] And so this allows us to

[5:51:11] really start being able to enforce this

[5:51:13] and start being able to help people,

[5:51:15] not just there, but around the entire city of Atlanta.

[5:51:17] And so I think this is an important first step.

[5:51:21] I also want my colleagues to know

[5:51:24] in Cedar Chess last week, we talked about making the next step,

[5:51:26] working to put more guardrails in multifamily units.

[5:51:30] I've been working with our chief

[5:51:31] housing officer on legislation, and we hope to be able

[5:51:34] to get something before you in the next couple of weeks

[5:51:37] so that we can continue on this path of increasing enforcement

[5:51:41] of our STR. So thank you.

[5:51:44] Thank you. Council Member Winston.

[5:51:45] That's everyone.

[5:51:47] Madam president,

[5:51:48] I to all the people who are standing up,

[5:51:50] you'll be excited to know you have two more things to vote on.

[5:51:52] On the on the.

[5:51:56] Report.

[5:51:57] He did not save the best for last,

[5:52:01] ordinance to move all the carry forward to post two at large.

[5:52:05] First one is 26 r 3997 resolution by Norwood

[5:52:09] requesting the Chief operating Officer to coordinate

[5:52:12] with the Department of City Planning and Invest Atlanta, the Atlanta Beltline, Inc.,

[5:52:14] Atlanta Housing, and the Metro Atlanta Land Bank to create

[5:52:16] a comprehensive inventory of vacant, under utilized

[5:52:18] privately owned properties within the City of Atlanta,

[5:52:20] which may be developed for housing and other uses,

[5:52:23] which and which shall identify properties

[5:52:25] which are nonresidential.

[5:52:26] Non publicly owned or vacant, abandoned or neglected

[5:52:30] may qualify as nuisance properties and are 30% forested and for other purposes

[5:52:33] it comes favorable for yeas one day one abstention.

[5:52:36] That's a motion to approve.

[5:52:38] Motion to approve by Westmoreland.

[5:52:41] It comes out favorably

[5:52:42] from committee, so it does not require second.

[5:52:44] Madam clerk, please refer to the vote.

[5:52:47] The vote is open.

[5:52:48] Lewis. Yes. Amos. Yes.

[5:52:54] Lebanon.

[5:52:54] Please vote.

[5:53:13] 12. Closed 13 years.

[5:53:15] There are 13 year old.

[5:53:17] Nays is item is adopted.

[5:53:18] Final item 26 R 3998.

[5:53:21] Resolution requesting the mayor is designee.

[5:53:23] To establish a process whereby persons and entities

[5:53:25] who apply for permits related to the installation

[5:53:27] repair of any impervious surfaces

[5:53:28] necessary to traverse lots of size one

[5:53:29] third of an acre or larger

[5:53:30] in the district Council member

[5:53:32] in the location where in the proposed installation

[5:53:33] of repairs to occur,

[5:53:34] may have an opportunity to attend a joint conference

[5:53:36] with the residents from the city departments

[5:53:37] and officers charged with reviewing

[5:53:38] such applications and enforcement

[5:53:40] of Atlanta stormwater ordinances,

[5:53:41] state law, and the state regulatory

[5:53:44] standards applicable to the installation of repair of the impervious surfaces

[5:53:45] necessary to traverse larger lots prior to the

[5:53:47] any final decision

[5:53:48] related to this application,

[5:53:49] and for the purposes of the motion

[5:53:50] coming out of committee, is to file.

[5:53:52] Motion is to file by Westmoreland.

[5:53:55] It's coming out of committee to file favorably.

[5:53:58] So no second is needed.

[5:53:59] Madam clerk, please prepare the vote.

[5:54:01] Lewis. Yes. The vote is open.

[5:54:08] Please vote.

[5:54:18] For $5.

[5:54:22] Councilmember Amos,

[5:54:23] what is your vote? Yes.

[5:54:26] Lewis. Yes.

[5:54:33] The first class, 13 years.

[5:54:35] There are 13 years there on this item is filed.

[5:54:40] That concludes my report.

[5:54:42] Thank you, Chair Westmoreland.

[5:54:46] All right. That brings us to personal papers.

[5:54:49] Personal papers.

[5:54:52] 41250, an ordinance by Councilmember

[5:54:57] Mary Norwood authorizing the chief financial officer to amend the 2027

[5:55:00] Water and Wastewater Renewal and Extension

[5:55:02] Fund budget in the amount

[5:55:04] not to exceed $1,000,000.00 to encumber committed funds.

[5:55:09] In the event that the Atlanta memorial Park Conservancy

[5:55:12] receives the grant of $3 million from the Georgia Outdoor

[5:55:17] Stewardship Program, and for the purposes

[5:55:20] for 1250 to be referred to city utilities.

[5:55:23] Thank you, Elms for 1253.

[5:55:27] An ordinance by Council Member Mary Norwood to amend the City

[5:55:30] of Atlanta Code of Ordinances at chapter 158.

[5:55:34] Vegetation article two tree protection to increase

[5:55:38] the tree preservation standards in a manner

[5:55:41] which will support the city's goal of 50% tree canopy cover

[5:55:46] and for other purposes for 12533 referred to seeds.

[5:55:50] Thank you, thank you, thank you,

[5:55:54] Councilmember Lewis.

[5:55:55] Thank you.

[5:55:57] Elms ID

[5:55:59] 41246 and ordinance by Councilmember Antonio Lewis

[5:56:03] authorizing the mayor or his designee,

[5:56:05] on behalf of the City of Atlanta,

[5:56:07] to abandon a public street known as True Street Southwest,

[5:56:10] being more specifically depicted in the attached is a

[5:56:14] and lying and being in landlocked 119

[5:56:18] of the 14th District of Fulton County,

[5:56:20] Georgia, and for other purposes for one two, four, six

[5:56:22] to be referred to. Transportation.

[5:56:24] Elms 41261 resolution

[5:56:28] by council member Antonio Lewis, council member

[5:56:32] Wayne Martin, council member Andrea Boone, council

[5:56:35] member Liliana

[5:56:36] Bakhtiari, council member Byron Amos, council member.

[5:56:39] Westmoreland Council member Collins council member.

[5:56:41] Hillers Council member.

[5:56:43] Bunn Councilmember one Council member.

[5:56:46] Dozier council member Winston Council member, one council

[5:56:50] member Amos and both bond

[5:56:54] a resolution to create a commission

[5:56:57] to determine an appropriate manner

[5:56:59] in which to honor the late

[5:57:01] Horace Julian Bond and for other purposes

[5:57:04] for one, two, six, one to refer to KDS.

[5:57:07] Elms 4125 for a resolution by Councilmember Antonio Lewis,

[5:57:12] Council member Matt Westmoreland, Council

[5:57:14] member Collins, and Council member Michael Julian Bond.

[5:57:17] A resolution requesting that the commissioners

[5:57:20] of the Department of Transportation,

[5:57:22] Department of Public Works,

[5:57:23] Department of Parks and Recreation conduct

[5:57:25] a comprehensive order and inventory

[5:57:27] of all public trash cans under the respect

[5:57:31] under their respective jurisdictions in district 12,

[5:57:34] requesting that the departments identify the number, location,

[5:57:38] condition, ownership, and service frequency

[5:57:41] of such trash cans.

[5:57:43] Requesting that the departments identify areas

[5:57:46] that are underserved by the public,

[5:57:48] trash cans and district 12, and for other purposes for one,

[5:57:51] two, five, four to be referred to city utilities.

[5:57:55] Oh, Council member Amos.

[5:57:58] Yes, madam president, ams ID 412458

[5:58:02] Ordinance by Councilmember Brian Amos authorizing

[5:58:04] Mary's designee on behalf of the City of Atlanta,

[5:58:06] to abandon the portion of the public street

[5:58:07] known as Shirley Place Northwest specifically depicted

[5:58:10] in the attached as a and line and being in landlocked 179

[5:58:14] of the 14th District of Food and County

[5:58:16] Georgia tax parcel listed and for other purposes

[5:58:19] for 124, five to be referred to transportation

[5:58:24] Council member Hillis,

[5:58:25] one item Elms ID 41212

[5:58:29] run us by Councilmember Dustin Hill

[5:58:30] to waive the procurement source selection

[5:58:32] provisions contained in Division four of chapter two, article

[5:58:35] ten of the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances, section 21292.

[5:58:39] The City of Atlanta code warrants to extend applicable,

[5:58:42] as well as any other conflicting code provisions

[5:58:44] throughout the rest of the mayor,

[5:58:45] his destiny to execute amendment

[5:58:46] number for each of the six agreements under RFP listed

[5:58:50] Architectural Engineering, Design

[5:58:51] and Construction Management Services

[5:58:53] on behalf of Department Watershed Management

[5:58:55] to extend the agreement for an additional 12 months,

[5:58:57] effective October 15th, 2026 through October 14th, 2027,

[5:59:02] and to provide additional funding in an aggregate amount

[5:59:04] not to exceed $20 million in $0.00

[5:59:07] for use under the six agreements.

[5:59:09] All contract would work to be charged to and paid from.

[5:59:12] The account number is listed here and and for other purposes for 121,

[5:59:15] two to be referred to city utilities.

[5:59:17] Please my and make a motion to suspend

[5:59:19] general remarks to the next scheduled.

[5:59:25] Council member one thank you, Madam President.

[5:59:27] Melton's ID 41233

[5:59:29] A resolution by Council Member Alex one authorizing

[5:59:31] the mayor's designee to enter into a cooperative agreement

[5:59:33] pursuant to section 21221602 at the City of Atlanta

[5:59:37] Code of ordinances, with Boucher, I Hope.

[5:59:40] Municipal North America, Inc.,

[5:59:42] utilizing source well contract number listed for the purchase

[5:59:44] of a battery electric, medium and heavy duty vehicles

[5:59:47] in an amount not to exceed $506,099.00.

[5:59:51] All funds to be charged to and paid from the account

[5:59:54] numbers listed here and for other purposes for one, two, three,

[5:59:56] three to be referred to city utilities.

[5:59:58] Elms ID 41234 resolution by Councilmember Alex

[6:00:02] one authorizing the mayor or his designee to enter

[6:00:03] into cooperative agreement pursuant to section 261602 at

[6:00:07] seek of the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances

[6:00:09] with Daimler through their authorized Dealer

[6:00:11] State Truck Centers, LLC,

[6:00:12] utilizing source while contract number listed

[6:00:14] for the purchase of battery electric, medium and heavy duty

[6:00:17] vehicles, and an amount not to exceed $902,042.00.

[6:00:21] All funds to be charged to and paid from the account

[6:00:23] number is listed here and and for other purposes

[6:00:25] for one, two three, four to be referred to city utilities.

[6:00:29] 41251.

[6:00:30] In Orange

[6:00:32] County, member Alex one authorizing a donation in amount

[6:00:33] not to exceed blank dollars and cents

[6:00:35] pursuant to section six

[6:00:37] 306 of the City of Honor charter from the district six

[6:00:39] carry forward to the Morningside Community Foundation,

[6:00:41] specifically allocated to support

[6:00:43] Friends of Sidney Marcus Park

[6:00:44] and its planned improvements to Sydney. Marcus.

[6:00:46] Parking for other purposes 41251

[6:00:51] to refer to FEC Elms 41252 by Councilmember Alex one,

[6:00:55] authorizing the nation in an amount

[6:00:57] not to exceed blank pursuant to section six 306 of the city

[6:01:00] of a charter from the district six Carry

[6:01:01] Ford account to the Virginia Highland Security

[6:01:03] Troll, Inc.,

[6:01:04] specifically allocated to

[6:01:05] support the erection of a statue in John Howell Park

[6:01:08] honoring John Wolfinger and for other purposes for 125,

[6:01:11] two to be referred to FEC.

[6:01:13] Elms 41260.

[6:01:15] An audience by council members

[6:01:16] Alex Wan, Jason Dozier, Dustin Hills

[6:01:18] Collins, Byron Amos, Thomas Worthy, and Jason H.

[6:01:20] Winston, authorizing donation in an amount

[6:01:22] not to exceed $4,000 in $0.00 to the Alma Domestic Violence

[6:01:26] Foundation from various Atlanta City

[6:01:27] Council carry forward accounts to support the 2026

[6:01:30] Land of Purple five K one mile walk pursuant to section six

[6:01:33] 306 of the City of Atlanta Charter

[6:01:35] and for other purposes for 1260 to FEC.

[6:01:40] Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Winston.

[6:01:42] Thank you. Council president.

[6:01:43] First is elms ID 41248.

[6:01:47] The resolution by Councilmember Jason H.

[6:01:48] Winston authorizing the city of Atlanta to donate an amount

[6:01:51] not to exceed $325,000.00 to the Gateway Center 247, Inc.

[6:01:57] pursuant to the section number list

[6:01:58] of the City of Atlanta Charter

[6:01:59] to authorize the mayor or his designee

[6:02:01] to amend the donation agreement signed pursuant to resolution

[6:02:04] 26, R 3303, to

[6:02:07] authorize the Chief Financial Officer

[6:02:08] to make the donation payment from the account

[6:02:10] number listed here in, and for other purposes.

[6:02:13] 41248 to be referred to FEC

[6:02:16] Elms ID 41156, in order by Councilmember Jason

[6:02:20] Winston waving the charter.

[6:02:21] Chapter two, article

[6:02:22] ten, vision eight, section number listed XX.

[6:02:25] Supplies and Disposition of surplus of Supplies

[6:02:29] of Procurement and Real Estate Code of the City of Atlanta.

[6:02:32] Code of ordinances to authorize the mayor or his designee,

[6:02:35] pursuant to the section of Melissa

[6:02:36] of the charter of the City of Atlanta

[6:02:38] to donate used surplus City of Atlanta on computers to

[6:02:42] to inspire you to you, Inc., a nonprofit for distribution

[6:02:46] to the underserved community to help develop digital skills

[6:02:50] and execute any necessary agreements

[6:02:52] for the donation and for other related purposes.

[6:02:54] For 1156 to refer to FEC, EMS, ID

[6:02:58] 41195, a resolution by Councilmember Jason H.

[6:03:01] Winston authorize the Commissioner

[6:03:02] of the Department of Watershed Management

[6:03:06] to adjust water and sewer service charges on certain customer accounts

[6:03:08] in accordance with Atlantic City Code section number

[6:03:11] listed in the amount of dollars and cents given later

[6:03:14] and for other purposes for 1195 to be referred to FEC.

[6:03:19] Thank you.

[6:03:21] What about 401262?

[6:03:23] Where is that?

[6:03:24] Okay.

[6:03:25] All right. Okay.

[6:03:30] Okay. Madam president, first legislation elms ID 41231

[6:03:33] an ordinance by Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari

[6:03:35] to zone various parcels having frontage

[6:03:37] on Glenn Drive southeast of the R-4 zoning district.

[6:03:40] Upon annexation into the corporate limits

[6:03:41] of the city of Atlanta from unincorporated

[6:03:43] to Cap County and for other purposes.

[6:03:46] Meeting

[6:03:48] 41231 to be referred to zoning.

[6:03:50] Elms ID 41235.

[6:03:52] An ordinance by Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari to provide

[6:03:54] for the annexation of properties having frontage

[6:03:56] on southeast and unincorporated to Cap County

[6:03:58] to the corporate boundaries of the city of Atlanta,

[6:04:00] Georgia, pursuant to the 60% method

[6:04:02] to extend the boundaries of the independent school system.

[6:04:04] To notify the Georgia Department of Community

[6:04:05] Affairs of such annexation and for other purposes.

[6:04:09] Which one was that? This was for one, two, three, five should also be zoning

[6:04:13] for one, 2315.

[6:04:17] Oh okay for 12352 FEC.

[6:04:23] I have FSE.

[6:04:23] Oh yeah that's fine okay.

[6:04:25] Yeah that's right. Yes.

[6:04:28] Elms ID number 41236 naught

[6:04:31] by Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari

[6:04:32] to amend the Land Use Planning Section of the 2025 Plan City

[6:04:36] Comprehensive Development Plan so as to designate

[6:04:38] various parcels having frontage on Glenn Drive

[6:04:39] southeast to medium lot single family land

[6:04:41] use development pattern designation upon annexation,

[6:04:44] and to the corporate limits of the City of Atlanta from

[6:04:45] unincorporated to Cap County and for other purposes

[6:04:47] for one, two, three, six to refer to CDA test

[6:04:51] Elms ID 41257, an ordinance by Councilmember Liliana

[6:04:55] Bakhtiari to rename Walker Park to Rose Hill

[6:04:57] Park to waive certain provisions

[6:04:58] of section one, 38, eight and two

[6:05:00] two of the City of Atlanta Code and Ordinances,

[6:05:02] and for other purposes for one two, five, seven two seeds.

[6:05:07] Elms id four.

[6:05:08] Oh, actually, let's do this one first.

[6:05:10] Elms ID 41258 A resolution by Councilmember Liliana

[6:05:15] Bakhtiari, Councilmember Winston Kelsey Bond, Amos Dozier,

[6:05:19] Norwood, Hillis, Boone, Martin, Lewis Westmoreland, and Collins

[6:05:23] supporting worker centered retail

[6:05:26] and service practices to encourage the responsible

[6:05:28] use of automation to promote quality jobs and small business

[6:05:30] vitality and land, and for other purposes

[6:05:32] for one, two five, eight to be referred to F, E, C,

[6:05:35] Elms, ID 41259 and ordinance by Councilmember

[6:05:39] Liliana Bakhtiari, Winston Kelsey bond,

[6:05:42] Amos Dozier, one Norwood, Hillis, Boone, Martin, Lewis,

[6:05:45] Westmoreland, and Collins to amend chapter 154, article two

[6:05:49] so as to add a new definition

[6:05:51] for recorded usage, spikes and recorded usage

[6:05:55] and recorded usage spike errors to revise the Commissioner's

[6:05:59] Authority related to billing adjustments.

[6:06:00] To update the procedures of the Water and Sewer

[6:06:02] Appeals Board and for other purposes for 125,

[6:06:05] nine to be referred to city utilities.

[6:06:08] Is it? Thank you, thank you

[6:06:11] Kelsey.

[6:06:11] But all right.

[6:06:13] Elms ID 41256 A resolution by council member Kelsey Bond.

[6:06:18] We are firming support for closing

[6:06:20] and repurposing the Atlanta City Detention Center,

[6:06:22] affirming support for the community over cages.

[6:06:25] Path to 1000 report recommendations.

[6:06:27] Apologizing to the task force to reimagine AC, DC

[6:06:30] for failing to communicate a departure

[6:06:32] from the task force recommendations.

[6:06:34] Reaffirming Atlanta City Council's belief

[6:06:36] that any proceeds from the lease or sale of AC, DC

[6:06:39] should be used exclusively for the purpose of

[6:06:41] constructing a center for equity

[6:06:43] and transitional housing and for other purposes.

[6:06:45] For 12567 referred to sell a Councilmember.

[6:06:50] Boone.

[6:06:51] Thank you, Madam President.

[6:06:52] First item owner's ID number 41265.

[6:06:56] A resolution by Council Member

[6:06:58] Andrea Boone requesting that

[6:06:59] the City of Atlanta Department of Public Works

[6:07:02] assist with the trash and litter collection

[6:07:05] at Marta rail, bus stops and bus shelters.

[6:07:08] Due to ongoing safety

[6:07:10] and public health hazards, and for other purposes.

[6:07:14] I'm sorry, I don't have that one on my list. What?

[6:07:16] What was that again?

[6:07:18] A resolution by Councilmember.

[6:07:19] Oh. What number?

[6:07:20] (412)654-1265.

[6:07:23] I don't have that, but it sounds like it goes to.

[6:07:26] Is that transportation?

[6:07:28] Utility city.

[6:07:29] Utility utilities.

[6:07:30] City utilities, city utilities.

[6:07:34] We just did it.

[6:07:35] Public works. City.

[6:07:36] Utility. City.

[6:07:37] Utility.

[6:07:42] 41265 to city utilities.

[6:07:48] ID number 41238 a resolution by Councilmember Andrea

[6:07:53] El Boone authorizing the mayor, his designee, to enter

[6:07:54] into a cooperative agreement pursuant to section 21602

[6:07:59] of the City of Atlanta Code and Ordinances

[6:08:01] with Georgia Kenworth, LLC, dba MHC Kenworth Atlanta,

[6:08:06] utilizing Source World contract number 0328424K2C

[6:08:12] for the purchase of battery electric, medium and heavy duty

[6:08:16] vehicles and electric vehicle supply equipment, and amount

[6:08:20] not to exceed $1,190,699.84.

[6:08:26] All funds to charge to and paid from the count numbers

[6:08:30] listed here and and for other purposes

[6:08:32] for one, two, three, eight to city utilities.

[6:08:36] Next item a resolution by Councilmember Andre Boone

[6:08:39] authorizing the mirror,

[6:08:40] his designee, to ensure

[6:08:41] to a cooperative agreement pursuant to section

[6:08:44] 21602 of the City of Atlanta Code ordinances

[6:08:49] with Highland Electric Fleets, Inc., dba H.F.

[6:08:53] operations, LLC, utilizing Source Well contract

[6:08:56] number 021825 for the purpose

[6:09:00] of purchasing electric vehicle supply equipment,

[6:09:04] an amount not succeed $734,867.00.

[6:09:10] All funds to be charged to and paid from the account

[6:09:13] numbers listed here and for other purposes

[6:09:16] for 1239 to City utilities.

[6:09:20] Elmes ID number 41240.

[6:09:24] An ordinance by Councilmember Andrea Boone authorizing

[6:09:27] the mayor, his designee, or the Chief Procurement Officer

[6:09:31] designee on behalf of the City

[6:09:33] of Atlanta, to purchase approximately 12.60 acres

[6:09:37] of real property

[6:09:38] located on the west side of Hamilton Holmes Drive,

[6:09:41] Atlanta, Georgia Fulton County, Texas.

[6:09:44] Parcel ID numbers 0207707057140270013, 0353, 14,

[6:09:56] zero two, 070007, 0294,

[6:10:02] 14, zero two, 077007, 0286,

[6:10:08] 14, zero two, 070007, 026, zero,

[6:10:14] 14, zero two, 070007, 0278,

[6:10:20] 14, zero two, 0700081002

[6:10:26] for development as a park in City Council District,

[6:10:30] authorizing the mayor, his designee,

[6:10:32] or the Chief Procurement Officer or designee

[6:10:34] on behalf of the city to execute all documents

[6:10:37] necessary to acquire the properties

[6:10:39] authorizing acquisition, due diligence, closing costs,

[6:10:43] signage, demolition, site stabilization, and other site

[6:10:47] development costs to be paid from the park.

[6:10:49] Impact the West Account and Park Improvement Fund in the amount

[6:10:53] not to exceed $2,340,658.39,

[6:11:00] as indicated in the account listed below, amending the 2027

[6:11:05] General Government Capital Outlay

[6:11:08] Fund budgets in the Department of Parks and Recreation

[6:11:11] and Finance Parks West Service District by transferring to

[6:11:15] and from various accounts.

[6:11:16] Waiving section 21541

[6:11:20] of the Procurement and Real Estate Code of the City

[6:11:23] Code and Ordinances article, and for other purposes

[6:11:27] for 12402 CDs.

[6:11:31] Elmo's ID number 41263 on ordinance by Councilmember

[6:11:35] Andre El Boone to amend chapter 162 vehicles for hire.

[6:11:39] Article five

[6:11:41] Vehicle and Mobilization Services of the City of Atlanta.

[6:11:44] Current ordinances to update vehicle booting fees

[6:11:47] and for other purposes for one two, six, three.

[6:11:51] To refer to PS

[6:11:53] papers read on behalf of the Honorable Wayne Martin.

[6:11:57] A resolution by Council Member Andre

[6:12:00] El Boone and Wayne Martin requesting the Atlanta Police Department

[6:12:02] and the Department of City Planning

[6:12:04] to prepare the necessary drug related crime report and maps

[6:12:07] for the potential designation of a drug free commercial zone

[6:12:11] generally encompassing the Myrtle Drive, Southwest

[6:12:15] Allison Court and the Low Drive, and the area along

[6:12:17] Campbellton Road from Pinehurst Drive

[6:12:20] to Willis Mill Road southwest, and for the area generally

[6:12:23] bounded by Bakers Ferry Road, Martin Luther King Junior Drive,

[6:12:26] Lyndhurst Drive, Cascade Road, and Rogers Avenue Southwest,

[6:12:30] and for other purposes for one, two, five, five to sell a.

[6:12:36] Elmes ID number 41247,

[6:12:40] and on its by Councilmember

[6:12:41] Andrea Boone and Wayne Martin,

[6:12:43] authorizing a donation and amount.

[6:12:45] Not to exceed $2,500.00 from the district.

[6:12:49] 11 care for two count to City employees.

[6:12:52] Friendship Club, Inc., pursuant to section 6-306 of the City

[6:12:57] of Atlanta's charter to assist City of Atlanta employees

[6:13:00] who may face financial hardship and for other purposes for 124,

[6:13:04] seven to FSG Elmes, ID number 41201

[6:13:10] and audience by council member Wayne Martin and Andrea Boone.

[6:13:13] A resolution by Councilmember Martin to amend resolution

[6:13:17] 2603664, which designated the portions

[6:13:22] of the Utah Creek watershed

[6:13:23] within the city of Atlanta as the Utah Creek Urban Forest.

[6:13:27] To clarify language in a B, it further resolved clause

[6:13:32] all other parts of the legislation to remain unchanged

[6:13:36] and for other purposes for 1201 to be referred to see DHS.

[6:13:41] Thank you, Madam President. Thank you.

[6:13:44] Chair.

[6:13:46] Boone. Council member Dozier thank you, Madam President.

[6:13:48] I only have one item number 41202,

[6:13:52] in order by Councilmember Jason Dozier to waive

[6:13:54] certain provisions in section 1618 and section 1628.

[6:13:59] Other. See if Atlanta Code of Ordinances to permit

[6:14:01] and animated flashing and changing sign

[6:14:03] not to exceed 60ft to record at 540 Atlanta Student Boulevard

[6:14:07] southwest and for the purposes for 12022 zoning.

[6:14:12] That's all I have. Thank you, thank you.

[6:14:13] Last but certainly not

[6:14:14] least, Council member Michael Julian Bond.

[6:14:22] Thank you, Madam President.

[6:14:24] I have ID number (412)934-1249

[6:14:30] and ordinance by Councilmember Michaels Julian Bond,

[6:14:33] authorizing a donation in amount not to exceed

[6:14:37] $600.00 pursuant to section

[6:14:44] 6306 of the City of Atlanta charter

[6:14:48] from post one at large carry forward account to the Metro

[6:14:52] Atlanta Youth Football League, LLC in support

[6:14:57] of the Atlanta Vikings 2020 sixth season,

[6:15:00] and for the purposes for 1249 to be referred to FEC.

[6:15:05] That concludes my paper. Okay.

[6:15:08] That brings us to the end of our personal papers

[6:15:11] and brings us to the beginning of general remarks.

[6:15:14] I'm going first.

[6:15:17] I would like to

[6:15:19] give a warm happy birthday to Council

[6:15:22] Member Andrea Boone, whether she wants it or not.

[6:15:26] We love you.

[6:15:31] Thank you so much.

[6:15:32] President and members

[6:15:33] of the Atlanta City Council, thank you so much.

[6:15:35] Thank you for allowing us to just eat cupcakes today.

[6:15:40] I think they're almost gone. There's four left.

[6:15:43] There's four left.

[6:15:44] So if anyone would like a cupcake, love.

[6:15:47] But happy, happy, happy birthday.

[6:15:49] May you have plenty more days

[6:15:53] to love on our city the way that you do.

[6:15:55] Thank you for everything

[6:15:56] and a happy birthday to Frank Haywood as well.

[6:16:00] That's tomorrow. Yes.

[6:16:01] Happy birthday to Frank Haywood.

[6:16:03] That's my chief of staff.

[6:16:05] His birthday is tomorrow,

[6:16:07] so that's all I wanted was birthday wishes.

[6:16:10] Council member. Bartley.

[6:16:13] Council member.

[6:16:13] Boone.

[6:16:14] Council president stole my thunder.

[6:16:16] But I also wanted to wish you a happy birthday

[6:16:18] and take a page out of your book and say they were cupcakes.

[6:16:20] But happy birthday, and I hope that you had a wonderful day.

[6:16:22] Thank you for always celebrating all of us.

[6:16:24] Yes. Happy to celebrate you.

[6:16:27] Council member Antonio Lewis

[6:16:30] and I would like to wish a happy birthday to all the Virgos,

[6:16:34] but particularly my Virgo at home.

[6:16:36] My wife, Ashley Fogle Lewis, who celebrated her

[6:16:39] birthday last week at our home and we showed off our garden.

[6:16:42] So happy birthday to my wife and a large super happy birthday

[6:16:49] to super running back key one Brown junior of key one.

[6:16:53] Brown of Louisville plays for the Louisville Cardinals,

[6:16:57] who went to Southland High School today.

[6:16:59] He was announced as the ACC running back of the year.

[6:17:03] Okay, I'm running back of the week, running back of the week.

[6:17:06] We hope he gets the year in which he had over 160

[6:17:10] yards and two touchdowns, two carries over 50 yards.

[6:17:14] Some people don't get one of 50

[6:17:16] yard carry over the entire season.

[6:17:17] So super proud of you key one Bama Brown.

[6:17:21] And to see you do it with long live tick man shows

[6:17:25] how much you love our community.

[6:17:26] So congratulations.

[6:17:28] Happy birthday to the young man.

[6:17:29] Key one Brown from from South Atlantic High School

[6:17:33] who attends Louisville right now.

[6:17:35] Thank you, thank you.

[6:17:37] And with that, that brings us to our adjourning roll call.

[6:17:40] Madam clerk, thank you, Madam President.

[6:17:42] We have council president Marci Color Overstreet present.

[6:17:45] Council member Michael Julian Bond, post one at large

[6:17:50] council member Matt Westmoreland, post two at large

[6:17:53] council member Collins post three at large

[6:17:57] council member Jason H.

[6:17:58] Winston, district one council member Kelsey

[6:18:01] Bond, district two Council member Byron D Amos.

[6:18:05] District three.

[6:18:09] Council member Jason Dosa, district four,

[6:18:12] council member Liliana Bakhtiari, district five,

[6:18:15] council member Alex Wan, district six,

[6:18:19] council member Thomas Worthy, district seven, council member

[6:18:22] Mary Norwood, district eight,

[6:18:24] council member Dustin Hills, district nine, council

[6:18:27] member Andrea Boone, district ten,

[6:18:30] council member Wayne Martin, district 11,

[6:18:32] council member Antonio Lewis, district 12.

[6:18:35] Let's go. Let's get it.

[6:18:36] With that, we are adjourned.

[6:18:39] Thanks, everyone.

[6:18:44] Thank you, Madam President.

[6:18:45] No thank you.

Atlanta City Council Meeting

Transcript