Some of metro Atlanta’s top lawmakers gathered with constituents this week to discuss the arrival of Georgia’s long-awaited redistricting season. The pandemic and delays in census data already has this redistricting season running months behind schedule. Tech-savvy map-drawers and lawmakers will set about reshaping Georgia’s political landscape next month. It promises to be a session […]
Category: Atlanta Civic Circle
Posted inHousing Affordability
Should public defenders help shield metro Atlantans from eviction?
If folks facing criminal charges are afforded legal representation by the government, shouldn’t people at risk of eviction be extended the same privilege? Some public officials and legal professionals in metro Atlanta think so. Earlier this month, Atlanta City Councilmember Michael Julian Bond introduced legislation that seeks to provide public defenders to tenants facing dispossessory claims in […]
Posted inDemocracy
What I’ve Learned: King Walker, Booker T. Washington High School senior
Growing up, King Walker, a high school senior from Bankhead, knew about presidential elections, but he knew little, if anything, about local elections. “Nobody taught me really about voting and democracy,” the Booker T. Washington High School student told Atlanta Civic Circle. “I just knew that the presidential election was big, but the rest of the […]
Posted inHousing Affordability
Legislation will promise Gulch money for affordable housing initiatives
Forthcoming Atlanta City Council legislation will guarantee that the controversial Gulch redevelopment will propel affordable housing initiatives across town, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said during a Thursday press conference. Propped up by nearly $2 billion in public financing and tax incentives, the potentially $5 billion plan to revitalize downtown’s 50-acre concrete wasteland calls for the […]
Posted inDemocracy
Gaming industry getting gamers to the polls
In July 2020, at the height of the pandemic, gamers gathered for an epic online competition of the popular video game Fortnight. Not only was the virtual event a chance to watch the best gamers in the country battle for a $10,000 prize, it was also a chance to urge gamers to become more civic-minded. In […]
Posted inDemocracy
Judge dismisses lawsuit seeking more ballot inspections after no fraud found
A judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking further inspection of alleged fraudulent absentee ballots cast in Fulton County during last year’s presidential election. Henry County Superior Court Chief Judge Brian Amero’s decision came after Georgia election investigators found no evidence to support claims that fake ballots were found during a recount. Amero’s ruling ends the […]
Posted inHousing Affordability
Despite lagging distribution, state officials say they won’t forfeit federal rental assistance funds
Although Georgia has been slower to distribute federal rental assistance funds than most of the country, officials with the state’s Department of Community Affairs (DCA) say they won’t forfeit any of the money back to the U.S. Treasury Department. Treasury officials are at liberty to reclaim and reallocate Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) Program cash from governments that […]
Posted inDemocracy
Redistricting: A tale of two voters
Dunwoody voter Vasu Abhiraman has cast most of his ballots in the 6th Congressional District, a collection of north Atlanta suburbs. Yet, under a new congressional district map proposed last week by Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and Ga. Sen. John F. Kennedy, Abhiraman would now be in the 4th District, which would include most of DeKalb […]
Posted inHousing Affordability
City legislation seeks to encourage creation of truly affordable housing in booming communities
Atlanta City Councilman Andre Dickens recently proposed legislation that aims to encourage developers to include what experts have called “deep affordability” at residential projects in some of the city’s rapidly gentrifying communities. The proposed ordinance would add another option to the city’s inclusionary zoning (IZ) policies, which today require developers to earmark a portion of residential units […]
Posted inDemocracy
See signs of voter suppression? Here’s what you can do
Voter suppression comes in many forms. It can be as subtle as preventing a blind man from being able to verify his vote. Or, as some critics contend, as flagrant as passing laws that affect millions of voters. To date, lawmakers in 19 states — including Georgia — have passed 33 laws that make it more […]
Posted inHousing Affordability
At mayoral candidate forum, knives out for Atlanta’s housing authority. Does AH deserve it?
The top contenders in Atlanta’s mayoral race knocked the city’s housing authority during a candidate forum Wednesday, lamenting that Atlanta Housing (AH) isn’t doing enough to shelter the city’s most marginalized people. AH leaders, however, say the candidates don’t know what they’re talking about. Could both sides be right? On Wednesday, the Atlanta Regional Housing Forum assembled […]
Posted inHousing Affordability
Atlanta officials consider devoting 2 percent of municipal budget to affordable housing trust fund
Legislation proposed during Monday’s Atlanta City Council meeting endeavors to launch a trust fund dedicated to building and preserving affordable housing. Authored by Councilman Matt Westmoreland and backed by eight other city leaders — including mayoral candidates Antonio Brown and Andre Dickens — the ordinance aims to establish the “Building the Beloved Community Affordable Housing […]
Posted inDemocracy
The Kids Are Alright: Younger generation talks all things voting with ACC
When you turn 18, you’re legally considered an adult. This comes with a multitude of new responsibilities in this country – not the least of which is access to the ballot box. With Atlanta’s 2021 municipal elections on the horizon, ACC spoke to potential new voters from this cohort to hear their thoughts on local politics and […]
Posted inDemocracy
How secure are U.S. elections?
U.S elections are secure, but recent partisan-fueled efforts to overhaul the process are undermining years of voting and civil rights progress. That’s the consensus of national experts who gathered Thursday to talk about election security. The virtual roundtable was the fourth installment in “Reimagining Democracy,” hosted by journalist and former CNN correspondent Jeanne Meserve. The […]
Posted inHousing Affordability
How law students are helping fight Georgia’s eviction crisis
Amid a mounting eviction crisis throttling Georgia’s legal system, some organizations have enlisted law students to help people access rental assistance and avoid displacement. The Georgia Legal Services Program (GLSP), a nonprofit that provides free legal help to the 154 counties outside of metro Atlanta, is among the organizations that’s seen this “all-hands-on-deck moment” as […]
Posted inHousing Affordability
Report: Atlanta rent prices jumped nearly 3 percent in just a month
Rent prices in Atlanta climbed 2.9 percent over the past month, according to a brow-raising new report by online rental marketplace Apartment List. Intown rents are also up nearly 19 percent since this time last year, after ten straight months of increases followed a brief decline last November, the report said. These price hikes put the median […]
Posted inHousing Affordability
“Pathetic and despicable”: Conditions at southside apartment complex underscore need for renovation
Tenants at a public housing community on Atlanta’s southside are begging for the property owner to fix up the virtually uninhabitable complex. Millennia Housing Management (MHM), which owns the Forest Cove apartments, told Atlanta Civic Circle this week that help is on the way, but residents say it’s not coming fast enough. After years of teasing a […]
Posted inDemocracy
Redistricting activists, politicians blindsided by proposed Congressional map
A proposed draft of a new congressional map introduced this week by two top Georgia Republican lawmakers blindsided redistricting activists and politicians, many of whom only learned about the proposal on social media. Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and State Sen. John F. Kennedy quietly released the map late Monday night, calling it in a joint prepared statement, […]
Posted inDemocracy
In his own words: A new, intimate look at President Jimmy Carter
Georgia’s two public broadcasting stations will air a new documentary tonight on the nation’s 39th president Jimmy Carter. The ”In Their Own Words” series, airing at 8 p.m., is said to be one of the more candid looks at the country’s oldest living president, James Earl Carter Jr., who turns 97 on Friday. Carter and those […]
Posted inAtlanta Civic Circle
Redistricting begins in Georgia Nov. 3 with special legislative session
The redistricting season officially opens in Georgia in November, the day after Georgians go to the polls to cast ballots in some 1,600 municipal elections. Gov. Brian Kemp signed a proclamation late Thursday to convene a special session on Nov. 3 on redistricting. The session also will deal with other policy and procedural issues. The process is […]
