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Public safety
- A letter to Atlanta:
- I have long insisted that we cannot have a prosperous Atlanta unless it is a uniformly safe place to live, work and raise a family. My public safety philosophy has been informed by my time as chair of the Public Safety Committee during my first term on the Atlanta City Council, where I passed legislation that helped deliver some of the safest years in recent history, and I plan to continue that trend when I become Mayor.
- My public safety plan is designed to bring Atlanta fully into 21st Century policing by prioritizing diversity, modern comprehensive training, and providing our officers the resources to prioritize community policing.
- The modern police force needs to be able to provide a nuanced response to the community and that requires hiring and training a police force that is prepared to do more than simply arrest and incarcerate our community. While arrests for violent criminals are of course necessary, we simply cannot arrest our way out of a crime wave. We need a comprehensive approach. Diversion and police alternatives are an integral part of managing Atlanta’s criminal justice system. More importantly, those tactics, responsibly deployed, have granted countless Atlantans a second chance at becoming productive members of our society.
- We will ensure that this is a crime spike and not the new normal by reassigning non-sworn personnel to non-emergencies, redeploying the police force for a robust presence at shopping centers, gas stations, clubs and bars, and hiring more officers to fill the gaps we currently have in the department.
- We have persevered through difficult times in Atlanta’s history before, just as we are in the second year of a global pandemic, and together, we will continue to do so.
- Yours in service,
- Andre Dickens
- Candidate for Atlanta Mayor
- My pledge, as mayor:
- As a twice-elected citywide councilmember, I have tackled several complex issues (like affordable housing and transportation) through legislation and collaboration. We have changed the way the city works on these issues, and I am proposing that we do it again, with S.A.F.E. Streets Atlanta, a 4-Point Plan to reduce violent crime.
- As Mayor, I will focus on immediately halting the crime that’s plaguing our communities. I have a plan to stop crime TODAY – by coordinating and investing new federal resources in additional officers, technology and tactics, including partnerships with groups that can help us identify, arrest and detain dangerous criminals.
- I also know that we have to fight the crime of TOMORROW – and I will simultaneously invest resources in job placement programs, anti-recidivism outreach, after school programs and creating good paying jobs for citizens and communities that have been overlooked for too long.
- Safe Streets Atlanta Plan:
- S is to SURGE the police force by 250 officers during my first year in office while training every APD employee in racial sensitivity and de-escalation techniques.
- Atlanta needs to be a beacon of the 21st Century training and reform for community safety and justice.
- We need to have the best training and the best community engagement in order to result in better recruitment, retention, and community engagement all of which contribute to less crime.
- A is to ARREST gang leaders that are preying on our children and resolve pandemic-related court backlogs to get violent criminals off our streets.
- We need to support the District Attorney’s office and provide assistance to help reduce our backlogs.
- We also need better youth engagement as part of our community policing efforts to help reduce youth crime through a Youth Commissioner to work and partner with Atlanta Public Schools.
- F is to create a task FORCE with GBI, FBI, and ATF to address gun trafficking and a task force to hire and deploy specialists to deal with non-violent issues like mental health and homelessness.
- Collaboration is key to addressing the far reaching impacts of crime. That extends to federal and local agencies as well as the District Attorney’s office.
- We need to also collaborate with specialists to better address the non-violent issues that currently have a police response.
- E is to EMPOWER APD to engage in community policing and to support them with new technologies to reduce response times, like smart streetlights, shot-spotters and software connecting APD and Fulton Sheriffs.
- Community policing should be a foundational element of our future policing and that includes supporting officers who wish to live in the community they serve.
- We should provide stipends to officers to help them live in the city much like we have done with our cadet housing initiative.
- Community policing starts with having the best trained officers in the nation and extends to youth engagement, specialists responding to non-violent calls, collaboration with community leaders, and building trust through accountability.
- My Accomplishments
- Joined the APD Chief of Police Advisory Council in November 2020 as the only City Councilmember in order to provide input to the Chief and APD leadership staff on public safety needs and solutions throughout the city.
- Endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Police and the Atlanta Police Foundation in 2013 and 2017 City Council races.
- Chaired the Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee in 2017, during which time homicides went down 33%, and all violent crimes decreased 12%.
- Championed and passed pay increases for Investigators and Senior Patrol Officers effective retroactively to August, 2015.
- Co-sponsored “ban the box” legislation, which no longer requires applicants to reveal prior convictions on employment applications.
- Conducted monthly “Walk-n-Talks” with APD and community members to walk the streets preventing crime.
- Hosted NPU Public Safety leaders at the Video Integration Center to see how APD uses cameras.
- Introduced and passed “8 Can’t Wait” legislation to ban dangerous police tactics and create clearer escalation of force procedures.
- Sponsored legislation increasing annual salaries for Senior Patrol Officers (18-O-1085) and sponsored legislation to purchase additional license plate readers (18-O-1249).
- Served on Pre-Arrest Diversion Initiative Design Team (16-C-5087) and sponsored legislation studying feasibility for Midnight Basketball League (16-R-3272)
Transportation
My vision has been to not just to get people where they are going each day, but get them where they are going in life. The issue of transportation is top of mind for most Atlantans, and I am committed to improving the city’s transportation infrastructure and connectivity.
- My Plan:
- I have the transportation expertise, proven track record and integrity to address Atlanta’s traffic and transportation problems and ensure that the millions of federal transportation dollars coming to the city are allocated efficiently and equitably. As a council member, I created the Department of Transportation to not only bring expertise to transportation planning, but to streamline the procurement process as well. One of the major sources of our traffic and transportation project backlog is the corruption that plagued the procurement process during the prior administration. I will bring an engineer’s systematic and strategic approach to these issues and ensure that the procurement process is open and transparent so that city projects can be implemented with confidence and efficiency.
- Implement Project Delivery Excellence with Honesty, Integrity, and Transparency
- Overcome the corruption in contracting leftover from 2017.
- Deliver on projects – including Complete Streets, Sidewalks/Streetscapes, Resurfacing and Street Capacity Improvements – that were promised in the TSPLOST.
- Create an easy-to-understand dashboard for federally-funded and locally-funded projects.
- Streamline procurement to remove roadblocks so that Atlanta’s crumbling infrastructure can be fixed quickly. Current 15-month long procurement process for purchasing goods and services caused by corruption in the previous administration must be addressed immediately.
- Resolve project backlog:
- All budgeted, resourced projects will be started and completed by strengthening and fully resourcing the ATLDOT that I created – now in its second year of operation.
- Build bike infrastructure from Cycle Atlanta 1.0 (2013) and 2.0 (2017) and re-engage the community on bike infrastructure.
- Focus on and Fast-track Small, Impactful Projects
- Revive the Pothole Posse famously and effectively implemented under Mayor Shirley Franklin.
- Prioritize sidewalks within ½ mile of schools and senior facilities.
- Quickly address safety and traffic calming measures like speed humps and 4-way stops, pedestrian beacons, and ADA ramps.
- Maintain the existing network of Lite Individual Transit (LIT) lanes (a/k/a bike lanes) with regular sweeping and overgrowth trimming.
- BeltLine Rail & Campbellton Road Transit
- Leverage the federal infrastructure package to complete BeltLine rail and Campbellton Road transit by 2030.
- Ensure trail infrastructure does not preclude rail.
- Vision Zero Strategy & Implementation
- Complete the rollout of Vision Zero that I helped to adopt by reducing speed limits and installing traffic calming devices and streetlights across the entire city.
- Adopt a “safe systems” design program where crashes are not deadly because street design prevents cars from speeding as easily.
- Work with GA Dept of Transportation to implement safety projects on state routes and set clear safety priorities for state routes inside city limits.
- Use signal timing to give people walking priority and create safer crossings to schools.
- Free MARTA For All By 2030
- Free MARTA will have the biggest impact on equity in the city and is a tool to combat climate change.
- Implement a phased approach by providing students, seniors, disabled persons and city employees with subsidies first followed by free MARTA access.
- Research best practices of existing free transit cities (Kansas City, Olympia, and Boston that’s soon to come).
- Analyze data from MARTA’s free bus programs during the pandemic.
- Create a parking tax that will be create a new large, recurring revenue stream.
- Replace Atlanta appointees to the MARTA board with transit riders and/or experts.
- Drive the growth of more Equitable Transit-Oriented Development
- Lead transit-oriented development planning and increase density for all rail stations and high-capacity transit.
- Revise zoning or development codes to require an affordable housing component and reduced parking near transit.
- My Accomplishments:
- I have shown through my city council efforts that I am the right leader to address Atlanta’s traffic and transportation issues:
- In 2019, created legislation to formally establish a city-wide Atlanta Department of Transportation (ADOT) to oversee all transportation related activities, planning, and management within the city. This new department has brought increased efficiency and effectiveness to all transportation efforts within the city.
- Chairs the Transportation Committee, focusing on increasing access and equity in transportation.
- Co-authored a resolution authorizing the City to coordinate MARTA tax and TSPLOST transportation project lists and plans.
- Authored a resolution to preserve the connectivity to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive after construction of Mercedes Benz Stadium.
- Passed legislation after the 2014 snowstorms to involve Georgia Tech in efforts to review the City’s preparedness plan for natural disasters.
- Supported the Renew Atlanta Bond that has led to numerous street repaving and signal light improvements
- Organized “One Corridor,” a town hall series led by community leaders, six adjourning neighborhood planning units, and churches along the Donald Lee Hollowell corridor. These town halls brought together the community, MARTA, GDOT, ADOT, Atlanta Police Department, Georgia State Patrol, City Planning, and State Representatives together in one room.
Ethics
Atlanta must have a government as good as its people. The cloud of corruption of past administrations has impacted not only the morale of the city, but the efficiency of our government as well. I am dedicated to transparency, that’s why I posted my tax returns on my website (Returns – Andre Dickens) and challenged the other candidates to do so as well. The Race for City Hall: Will you get to see your next mayor’s tax returns? The voters of Atlanta need and deserve this type of transparency.
While serving on the City Council, I led the charge for the most sweeping ethics, procurement, and transparency reforms in recent Atlanta history. Some of my major initiatives include:
- Creating government purchase card regulations to ensure accountability in how government officials spend discretionary funds.
- Establishing the Independent Procurement Review Office to provide mandatory independent review of all procurements over $1 million, helping to ensure transparency and fairness in government contracting.
- Working closely with the City Ethics Office to review existing practices and create a set of recommendations and policies to ensure that tax dollars are spent with integrity, and oversight.
Jobs
Andre knows what it takes to create better jobs for Atlantans and help local businesses thrive, and will continue to champion Atlanta as a destination for growing businesses. He is focused on ensuring that while the city continues to entice Fortune 100 enterprises, it remains diligent in its support and recognition of the small businesses that employ so many Atlantans.
While on the Atlanta City Council, Andre:
- Co-sponsored and passed legislation requiring city government to pay a minimum hourly wage of $15.
- Sponsored and hosted the “Blacks In Tech” policy conference, focused on advancing efforts to bring more diversity to STEM fields.
- Helped create 21,000 new jobs and $3.3 billion of capital investment in Atlanta as the Invest Atlanta Board Secretary.
Andre has also excelled in creating jobs and economic opportunities through his work in the private sector:
- Created a program at TechBridge that has provided free training IT to nearly 300 low income people to get certified in technology skills, allowing them to get IT jobs averaging $56,000 a year.
- Formed agreements with Microsoft, AirBnB, Georgia Power, Accenture and others to ensure that part of their workforce comes from the TechBridge program Andre created to provide free IT training for low income people.
- Co-founded a retail furniture business with his sister and grew it into a multi-million dollar business with over twenty employees.
Housing
Affordable/Equitable Housing Plan
Housing isn’t just about buildings and profit. It’s about people. And this problem doesn’t just impact people in poverty, it impacts all of us. A successful housing affordability strategy requires a collective approach, where all parties are seated at the table. I am committed to ensuring development without displacement and providing practical, diverse housing options for our diverse community. As Atlanta thrives, I will continue to work hard to secure affordable housing opportunities for all.
- My Plan:
- Diversity of Housing for Our Diverse Community
- Build/Preserve 20,000 Units of Affordable Housing In 8 Years
- Appoint a Chief Housing Officer with experience in building and preservation of housing.
- Lead the partnership with the Atlanta Housing Authority to build affordable housing on Bowen Homes, Hollywood Courts, Bankhead, Englewood, North Avenue, and other sites where hundreds of acres lay barren yet are ripe for the development of mixed-income housing.
- Incentivize amenity driven, transit oriented, and mixed-income development in underdeveloped parts of town.
- Increase housing options around transit stops
- Streamline and consolidate the building codes to avoid unnecessary costs which are passed on to renters
- Development without Displacement
- Provide Provisions, Incentives and Support For Seniors & Long-term Residents
- Freeze property taxes for seniors.
- Ensure that there are fair and equitable tax abatements in Atlanta, Fulton County, and Dekalb County.
- Increase properties that have long-term affordability.
- Expand Community Land Trusts.
- Complete and expand the recommendations of HouseATL, a cross-sector group of civic leaders committed to developing and coordinating a housing affordability action plan in the City of Atlanta.
- Increase acquisition and transactions at the Land Bank Authority.
- Mission work, not just profit work
- Allocate increased funding for affordable housing, including:
- $250 million affordable housing bond
- $10 million in funding from the general fund each year
- $10 million in new annual funding from renewable sources
- Incentivize affordable housing development for deeper AMI
- Expand existing Inclusionary Zoning Policy citywide and lower the percentage of affordability to include 30-50% AMI.
- Include wrap-around services that families need – day care, after school programs, health care, pharmacies, grocery, banking – in new affordable housing developments modeled after mixed-use developments
- Make property tax exemptions for nonprofit developers automatic
- Create a recurring revenue source for affordable development by leveraging Catalytic Capital and Impact Investments
- My Accomplishments:
- My work to provide and protect affordable housing throughout the city demonstrates my deep commitment and leadership to equitable housing for all:
- Successfully wrote and championed groundbreaking Inclusionary Zoning legislation requiring new rental developments in the BeltLine and Westside neighborhoods to provide affordably priced set aside units.
- Authored monumental legislation that requires any development receiving public dollars to produce affordable housing units.
- Pushed legislation that has become the model for affordable housing legislation in Fulton and DeKalb Counties, and for Invest Atlanta, BeltLine, and APS.
- Created the fund and program to rehab senior homes along the BeltLine Westside Trail and co-sponsored legislation creating the $40 million Housing Opportunity Bond.
- Passed legislation that requires Affordable Housing Impact Statements for all land developments.
- As Community Development Chairman and Invest Atlanta Board Secretary, incentivized more than 2,000 affordable units.
Diversity & inclusion
- My Plan:
- Revitalize and prioritize the City’s Human Relations Commission by providing more autonomy, authority and funding to the Commission.
- Promote more efficient and effective use of grant dollars provided to the City by the federal government’s Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOWPA).
- Commission a study to ensure gender pay equity for City employees.
- Elevate workforce development for LGBTQ youth and trans people.
- Promote tourism and Invest Atlanta incentives to attract LGBTQ conferences and jobs.
- Continue to promote Atlanta as the LGBTQ capital of the South and the Black LGBTQ capital of the US.
- Expand the City’s LGBTQ Advisory Board to prioritize the needs of the LGBTQ community.
- My Accomplishments:
- Endorsed by Georgia Equality in 2013 and 2017 City Council races.
- Successfully wrote and championed groundbreaking Inclusionary Zoning legislation requiring new rental developments in the BeltLine and Westside neighborhoods to provide affordably priced set aside units.
- Voted in support of legislation to earmark emergency housing money for LGBTQ youth and young adults (17 – R – 4360).
- Co-sponsored and passed legislation requiring city government to pay a minimum hourly wage of $15.
- Sponsored and hosted the “Blacks In Tech” policy conference, focused on advancing efforts to bring more diversity to STEM fields.
- Created a program at TechBridge that has provided free training IT to nearly 300 low income people to get certified in technology skills, allowing them to get IT jobs averaging $56,000 a year.
- Voted in support of legislation to create an LGBTQ+ Historic Context Statement for the City of Atlanta (21 – R – 3004)
- Co-sponsored legislation urging the Georgia General Assembly to defeat discriminatory legislation, including the “Religious Freedom” bill eventually vetoed by Governor Deal (16 – R – 3250).
- Co-sponsored “ban the box” legislation, which no longer requires applicants to reveal prior convictions on employment applications.
- Voted in support of legislation urging the Georgia General Assembly to enact the CROWN Act to prohibit discrimination in employment against natural or protective hairstyles.
Environmental & Clean Energy
As a chemical engineer, I can say climate change is a decades-long pandemic that we must meet and master today or we will suffer through endless tomorrows. We must expand our environmental policy out of its silo and into every part of our city. The only way to truly combat climate change is for it to reach into all facets of our government.
- My Plan
- 1. Achieve 100% Clean Energy by 2035
- Incentivize sustainable development and redevelopment
- Institute solar bulk purchasing programs
- Develop a clean energy workforce training program
- Provide free public transit by 2030
- Increase supply of diverse housing options
- Reduce the energy burden on 10 percent of most overburdened Atlanta households.
- 2. Protect Atlanta's Tree Canopy
- Support a new Tree Protection Ordinance to help protect our tree canopy and “City in the Forest”
- Work with Department of City Planning to balance out economic development while maintaining tree canopy
- Work with organizations like Trees Atlanta, West Atlanta Watershed Alliance, and Chattahoochee Riverkeepers
- Encourage amenity-driven, transit-oriented, mixed-income projects
- We have space for growth without infringing on the tree canopy
- Add housing and mixed-use/mixed-income development in underserved areas
- Why Clean Energy?
- 1. Clean Energy can advance equity
- We can advance equity through increased deployment of clean energy because it –
- Reduces energy burdens by lowering utility bills and stabilizing energy costs
- Improves financial stability by providing entrepreneurship and thriving wage job opportunities
- Reduces harmful carbon emissions that pollute our air
- Promotes economic development and building community wealth
- 2. Clean Energy means lower bills
- Atlanta experiences energy burdens 25% higher than the national average.
- We know that clean energy investments like weatherization, energy efficiency, rooftop solar and community microgrids work.
- Investments like weatherization can reduce the low-income energy burden by at least 25 percent.
- Energy efficiency and solar energy creates healthier home environments and can stabilize energy costs for working families, senior citizens, and low-wealth communities.
- 3. Clean energy means new, good paying jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities
- My Record
- Affordable housing and transit champion
- Voted for Clean Energy Atlanta
- Created the Beltline Inclusionary Zoning plan
- Created the City’s Department of Transportation
- Led efforts to rehab and weatherize 100 senior homes
- Voted for Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge
- Supported West Atlanta Watershed Alliance and Proctor Creek
- Supported local black farmers
Education & youth
Andre is a proud product of Atlanta Public Schools (APS), a graduate of Georgia Tech and Georgia State, and the father of a daughter who attended Atlanta Public Schools, so he knows the value of our public education institutions. Providing the youth of Atlanta the best education possible is key to helping them achieve their true potential.
His achievements on the Atlanta City Council have prepared him to tackle the issues facing Atlanta’s youth:
- Added two youth-focused positions to the Atlanta Citizen Review Board for police accountability.
- Successfully created the City of Atlanta/Atlanta Board of Education Joint Commission – the first joint commission of its kind.
- Led the charge to return ownership of APS property deeds from the City to the school system.
- Primary Councilmember to help broker the APS/Beltline dispute. Voted against the BeltLine budget that reduced tax revenue for APS.
- Hosted the Scholarship Academy and Fair at City Hall every November for more than 500 high school seniors and juniors.
- Revived the City’s Youth Commission to give youth a voice in government.
- Sponsored the Teen “Midnight” Basketball League which started summer 2017 with more than 120 youth participants.
- Required new school zone light beacons as a part of Renew Atlanta Bond projects.
- Hosted Back 2 School Bash, where more than 1,000 book bags with school supplies have been given to APS students leading into the school year.
- Sponsored APS Get Our Kids Connected campaign supporting thousands of students attending APS who do not have internet connection and/or appropriate equipment for distance learning, by partnering with Comcast to provide free laptops and 12 months of free internet.
Arts & Culture
Arts are an integral part of a thriving, diverse community, and our city needs to develop and support the artists of Atlanta. Atlanta children deserve the benefits that arts bring which are safety, a whole education, appreciation, empathy, and a future full of opportunities. We want to reinvigorate the creative economy after the devastating impacts of COVID on the arts community. Arts are vital to our humanity, culture, health, and community, so as Mayor, I will use the resources of the City to advocate for the arts on behalf of the citizens, visitors, and artists of Atlanta.
- My goals as Mayor include:
- 1 Make the arts accessible to everyone.
- 2 Support individual artists.
- 3 Ensure equity in art funding and support.
- 4 Reinvigorate the creative economy after impacts of COVID.
- 5 Further cultivate the Atlanta arts community for future generations.
- My Plan
- 1. Codify an Atlanta Arts, Culture & Creative Economy Advisory Committee to the Mayor
- Appoint a variety of members from different artistic disciplines and backgrounds within the Atlanta arts community, including college and university members and APS Arts faculty.
- Solicit advice and support from the Advisory Committee to better understand and engage with the Arts community.
- Committee would be tasked with developing a comprehensive Arts and Culture Plan for the City of Atlanta along with the Office of Cultural Affairs, which will lead to greater funding and exposure opportunities.
- 2. Establish an Arts District Exploratory Commission
- Appoint a commission to seek out the best place or places to develop creator districts with spaces available specifically for creators (artist lofts, creator workspaces, studio space, etc.).
- Develop a diverse group of artists and art designed to uplift the underserved and build wealth on a local level.
- Determine/develop strategies to establish more affordable housing and artist studio options through art focused land trusts, live/work studio space, and mixed-income developments.
- Evaluate strategies implemented in other cities to learn best practices for long-term, dedicated revenue streams to support arts development and fund it through various means like private development.
- 3. Provide Greater Support for Artists
- Develop strategies to restore economic vitality to the large number of artists who lost wages during COVID.
- Increase access to local grants and federal funding through the National Endowment for the Arts.
- Ensure equity in art philanthropy and government funding.
- Provide direct financial support for those who lost income during COVID.
- Develop strategies to help with healthcare for artists.
- Provide greater exposure through exhibition spaces in city facilities such as city hall, recreation centers, etc.
- 4. Increase the Annual Grant Making Capacity Within the City’s Budget
- The general fund contribution to arts grant-making moved from $1 million to $2 million under Mayor Bottoms. The goal was to get to $3 million, and I will do that in my budget.
- As Mayor, I will put in the American Rescue Plan up to $12 million in funding for small businesses, nonprofits, and the arts community.
- Additionally, I will put in the American Rescue Plan up to $4 million to support permanent affordable commercial spaces for small businesses and creatives in LMI or gentrifying communities.
- 5. Provide Additional Dedicated Revenue Streams for Arts
- I believe that a percentage of all eligible infrastructure project budgets should be set aside for art.
- I also believe private developers should contribute 1% of each construction project to the arts.
Community
Andre works hard to promote equity, strengthen Atlanta communities and recognize leaders who have done so much for our city.
While on the Atlanta City Council, Andre has:
- Successfully created the John Lewis Memorial Task Force, resulting in the changing of Freedom Parkway to “John Lewis Freedom Parkway” and the permanent installation of the John Lewis “Good Trouble” tribute wall at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport.
- Hosted drive-through lunch giveaways during the COVID pandemic, handing out more than 6,000 meals to families.
- Hosted regular “Movies in the Park” for families to enjoy a night together in an area park.
- Endorsed by Georgia Equality in 2013 and 2017 City Council races.
- Served as Chairman of the Community Development and Human Services Committee for 3 years.
- Developed and funded the Community Leadership Institute of Atlanta for 25 community leaders to receive proper training each year.
- Hosted Neighborhood Jazz Concert in West Manor Park every year for neighbors to enjoy live jazz performances.[7]
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Andre Dickens Incumbent (unopposed)
