The race for Atlanta’s City Council President is becoming more competitive.
Rohit Malhotra, the founder of the Center for Civic Innovation (CCI), is running for the office. He filed his paperwork on May 9, becoming the second candidate in the race.
Atlanta City Council member Marci Overstreet announced she is running for the position in April.
It became an open seat when Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman announced in February he would not be running for re-election because his family was facing “significant medical challenges.”
Malhotra, 38, is no stranger to Atlanta. He founded the Center for Civic Innovation along with a “ragtag” team of “nerds” in 2014 to dig deep into the City of Atlanta’s public policy issues by engaging citizens and seeking to make city government more transparent.
Malhotra is taking a leave of absence as executive director of CCI to run for president of City Council. Tonnisha LaSalle, CCI’s director of operations, will step in as managing director.
“I’m not a career politician,” Malhotra said in an interview. “I’m a policy nerd. My work has always been centered on community and using data and research to drive impact for communities that have been left out of the conversation.”
After the November presidential election, Malhotra became increasingly concerned about the state of politics and democracy in the country. He started casting around to find potential candidates to run for public office. But several people, including his sister, kept telling him he should run. After much thought, he decided it was time.
“We’re in a moment of crisis,” Malhotra said. “We are in a historic moment where people have lost trust in government. We have to restore that trust.”
Malhotra has been a champion of those who have been left behind or underserved. He has been a strong supporter of Black women in Atlanta — the five members of CCI’s board members are all women, four of whom are Black.
When asked how he feels about running against Overstreet, Malhotra pushed back.
“I’m not running against someone,” he said. “I’m running for something.”
More importantly, Malhotra believes the president of Atlanta’s City Council can play an important role in engaging the public on city issues. The City Council president has limited powers, such as making committee assignments, appointing committee chairs, and being the deciding vote to break a tie vote on the Council.
“At its worst, the role of the City Council President is treated as a ceremonial one,” Malhotra said. “I believe this position can be an olive branch to the public. I’m not looking for a stepping-stone to something else. I’m looking for a place where I can serve today and be of value right now.”
Malhotra easily recites the facts. While several hundred thousand Atlanta voters show up to vote for governor or U.S. president, most don’t vote in city elections.
“Voter percentage numbers have plummeted in the past 30 years. The trend has hit historic lows,” Malhotra said. “We can’t break 100,000 in city elections. It’s heart-breaking. Less than 20 percent (of registered voters) vote in city elections. We need to build the infrastructure to reach the other 80 percent.”
Malhotra is relying on grassroots community activists to help bring out those voters.
“My campaign chair is Charles Black. He was one of the leaders of the Atlanta Student Movement in the 1960s,” said Malhotra, who can sometimes ruffle feathers among the powerful. At a recent City Council meeting, he told members: “I will not celebrate your mediocrity.”
Malhotra was born in Chicago on Sept. 3, 1986. His parents immigrated to the United States from India. They had a clothing and home decor import business and would come to Atlanta for trade shows. That led to the family eventually moving to Gwinnett County. Malhotra helped in the family retail business after getting his master’s in public policy from Harvard University.
“I grew up with Indian traditions. It’s a beautiful culture,” Malhotra said of his Hindu upbringing. “To love people is to recognize the nuances that everyone brings to the table – acknowledging and respecting it.”
That said, Malhotra said the city government in Atlanta needs to be “excellent” to address the growing inequalities in the community.
“Atlanta, we must have the hard conversations with each other,” he said. “We struggle to have hard conversations.”
That’s a role CCI has tried to play. It has taken a deep look at the city’s Neighborhood Planning Unit system; it has held numerous candidate forums and launched entrepreneurial civic labs. CCI also has held engaging programs on controversial issues, such as rail along the Eastside Beltline corridor.
Malhotra intends to continue working in the public policy arena whether or not he’s successful in getting elected to public office.
“First and foremost, we have to address Atlanta’s economy — who it’s working for and who it’s not,” Malhotra said of this period in the city’s history. “We have to think strategically about the people who will be hit the hardest and the soonest.”
Who serves the final 6 months of Amir Farokhi’s term (D2)?
Rohit’s entry into this race is great news! His path to this point is remarkable and he truly has the potential to make a difference if elected. I have engaged with him through CCI on several issues facing our city, and find him uniquely qualified for this role.
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This is fantastic news! Rohit Malhotra has a proven track record with CCI, and his focus on inclusive growth is exactly what Atlanta needs right now. Excited to see him bring that innovative spirit to City Council. He’s got my vote! doodle baseball