Answers to community questions from Mayoral candidate Senator Kasim Reed
(Published on Nov 23, 2009)
[ELNCA] Reed response: Atlanta East Side Community Questions for Mayoral candidates
Fri, November 20, 2009 7:28:40 PM
To: Lake East
Website: http://www.kasimreed.com/
Q1. As a group we want more police in our communities, and we want to see our department keep good officers, rather than training them and having them leave to surrounding counties for better pay and benefits. What will you do specifically to fully staff the police department, (sworn officers and support staff,) how will you retain officers, and how will you pay for it?
A1: I will immediately begin to hire police officers. My goal is to hire an additional 750 officers by 2012 increasing our Police force to 2473 or a total of 250 Officers in years 2010, 2011 and 2012. The present administration, thanks to a federal grant, has already hired an additional 50 officers. I will look at the budget of the IT department which has seen an unprecedented increase; redirect some of those funds (and funds from the recent tax increase) and hire an additional 700 officers. I will retain those officers by making them stakeholders in our community. I will create “A Homes in Atlanta Program”: the City acquiring vacant and abandoned property through the Fulton County Land Bank, providing down payment grants and low interest loans (through partnering lending institutions) and encouraging our officers to purchase these homes and become a part of the community which they police.
Q2. What are your thoughts regarding the addition of a third beat to NPU-O, given the impacts of a high volume commercial district, three high volume through routes (College, Memorial, I-20), and growing juvenile issues? This is a concern given the difficulty in patrol coverage with only two beats and an absurdly long Zone?
A2: I believe that we need to have a citywide assessment in conjunction with the Atlanta Police Department, the new Police Chief and top officials that reassesses deployment based on the need of the NPUs. NPU-O has logistical needs that must be addressed, including the additional traffic due to the commercial developments and the busy routes through these neighborhoods. One of the reasons I am committed to increasing the number of police officers here by 750 by 2012 is because our communities continue to change with new opportunities and challenges. We must be committed to giving our police force the resources necessary to keep our communities patrolled and safe.
Q3. Are you willing to continue and expedite APD's re-evaluation of Zone 6 boundaries with a goal of creating a more compact, central, and easily patrolled Zone 6. If not, why?
A3: Yes, I understand that the boundaries of Zone 6 are presently being re-evaluated and I support those efforts. Zone 6 has a tremendous amount of territory and response times are routinely poor, if at the end of the process a recommendation is made to restructure the Zones boundaries, then I will be supportive of those recommendations.
Q4. 911 response times are unacceptable, and in particular the border areas of unincorporated DeKalb and Atlanta in DeKalb are horrific. How will you fix this department, and improve its performance? How will you pay for it?
A4: According to a recent review of response times of 911 systems of seven similarly sized cities; Atlanta had the slowest response of its 911 system at 11 minutes, 12 seconds. The resulting consequences have been devastating on families and communities. Statistics such as these are unacceptable. Under my administration, we will immediately take action to improve our response times, training of staff and invest in technology which will enable us to accurately track calls, response times and geographic constraints. The cost to improve our 911 system will be generated from my administrations revenue shifting from wasteful departments and programs.
Q5. Code enforcement is an essential part of our efforts to fight crime in our communities, and is a critical element in public safety. How do you propose to address the historical ineffectiveness of Code Enforcement and its inadequate funding, staffing, and equipment (has yet to be computerized to contemporary IT standards). What plan and strategies do you have to improve the performance of this department? How will you pay for this?
A5: I think we need to move code enforcement into the Police Department, which would take care of two objectives; our Police closer to our communities and affect more robust enforcement. The funding would utilize the same methodology as increasing our Police force; scrutinizing the ballooning IT budget and re-directing dollars from the recent tax increase.
Q6. Two out of three community centers in Atlanta are currently closed. These centers are essential to the health of our communities, and the programs offered help keep our kids out of trouble. If we do not provide something for kids to do, drugs, gangs and other trouble will provide options. What will you do to reopen the centers, and to ensure that programs are provided during the danger hours after school, and before parents get home? How will you pay for it? Do you support the privatization of these centers, and how would you see that happening?
A6: I am the only candidate who has proposed opening all of the City's closed recreation centers and turning them into "Centers of Hope" in order to ensure that our kids have a safe, positive, and productive environment to be in when the school day ends. I will also work with organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club of Atlanta, the United Way and other organizations to create public-private partnerships that will provide for the expansion of programs across the City. But merely having these recreation centers open is not enough. As part of my efforts to put kids on the right track, I will engage with community leaders and ex-gang members to enlist them in the fight for our kids’ hearts and minds. I understand that people in the community can be our most powerful tool in getting kids to an after-school program, rather than out on the streets.
Q7. NPU-O pushed through a transparency measure this summer that was sponsored by councilwoman Archibong, unanimously supported by council, and signed into law by Mayor Franklin. This law requires quarterly reporting by all departments on how they spend and change their budget, and for those reports to be posted to the city website for public review. Do you promise to comply with this law, and what specific measures will you implement to further increase transparency in your administration?
A7: I fully support this new measure and will be in full compliance with it if I am fortunate enough to be elected mayor. I am a strong believer in transparency at City Hall and believe that there are additional necessary ethics reforms that must be undertaken by the next Mayor. In order to eliminate wasteful spending, I will create a search engine similar to Google to allow you to track city spending, contracts and loans. Under my watch, all Atlantans will have the opportunity to know exactly how their hard earned tax dollars are being spent. I will also create an online internet database that will contain all city lobbyist & staff disclosures, ethics records and campaign finance reports, in a user-friendly, searchable, and sortable format.
Q8. In general, the city has not had a good track record of listening to neighborhoods, and using the involvement of the NPU’s and APAB to its best capacity. What will you do specifically to improve the responsiveness of the city to its communities, and how will you implement that?
A8: Lots of times politicians spend plenty of time in community meetings while they’re running for office, just to disappear once elected. If you elect me Mayor, I will work hard to be the most accessible Mayor Atlanta has ever had. I will regularly open the Mayor’s Office to any Atlanta resident who wants to come in to describe a problem they’re having, and I will also regularly bring my senior staff into “Mayor’s Nights Out” where we will bring City Hall to you – we will sit and listen, and not leave until everyone has an answer.
Q9. The residents of Atlanta in DeKalb pay the HOST tax, but we are not getting the benefits from it because of past problems with the City of Atlanta not fully disclosing to DeKalb county how it has spent its share of funds. This is money that is supposed to go towards sidewalks and other infrastructure. What will you do to resolve this issue with DeKalb, and how do you propose to resolve the incomplete distribution of HOST funds to Atlanta in DeKalb? How do you propose that past payments owed would be treated in a settlement? By what date can we expect to see our tax dollars for HOST going towards sidewalks in Atlanta?
A9: This issue has been around for more than a decade, and it is tragic that it has not been resolved – Atlanta in DeKalb residents are the victims, as they pay a sales tax but do not receive the improvements it supposedly funds. I will offer to go to binding arbitration with DeKalb County within the first 3 months of 2010, and will unilaterally review our own processes to ensure we are taking the necessary steps to comply. If DeKalb refuses to arbitrate the issue, I will ask the City Attorney to explore litigation. One way or another, this issue needs to be resolved. The final option would be to seek a fresh start from the General Assembly, either exempting Atlanta-in-DeKalb or ensuring fair expenditure of the funds.
Q10. Atlanta in DeKalb residents often feel that we are second class citizens in Atlanta. We have the HOST tax issue, 911 problems along the border areas, we constantly have city staff forward us Fulton county information, and many leaders do not seem to know the difference between East Lake and East Atlanta. How do you propose to ensure that Atlanta in DeKalb has an equal place at the table as the balance of Atlanta?
A10: Regarding the HOST tax, I understand that this issue has been around for more than a decade, and it is tragic that it has not been resolved – Atlanta in DeKalb residents are the victims, as they pay a sales tax but do not receive the improvements it supposedly funds. I will offer to go to binding arbitration with DeKalb County within the first 3 months of 2010, and will unilaterally review our own processes to ensure we are taking the necessary steps to comply. If DeKalb refuses to arbitrate the issue, I will ask the City Attorney to explore litigation. One way or another, this issue needs to be resolved. The final option would be to seek a fresh start from the General Assembly, either exempting Atlanta-in-DeKalb or ensuring fair expenditure of the funds.
In regards to 911 problems and the confusion along the border areas, I believe we should look at what technological solutions can be applied to ensuring that citizens in Atlanta DeKalb are treated with the same level of service as those in Fulton. There have been numerous stories that tell of the 911 problems in the border areas and this is an issue that must be addressed – it has a direct impact on the lives of those living in and visiting these neighborhoods.
I pledge to be a mayor of inclusion. I will not layer citizens and communities’ interaction with me. You will have access and the ability to sit and talk with me in regards to your concerns. My commitment is that your feelings of alienation will come to an end.
Q11. The Beltline Project, and its Tax Allocation District (TAD) benefits to areas surrounding it, do not directly benefit the community of East Lake, and many other Atlanta communities. As such, these communities struggle to attract new investment to our re-developing business districts such as the intersection of Second Ave. and Hosea Williams Drive. What can be done to level the playing field for Atlanta communities that are not in the beltline TAD?
A11: I believe that the TAD redevelopment will spillover into areas adjacent to the TAD, as Atlantic Station has helped boost the general redevelopment of West Midtown. We need to continue to use the other tools in ADA’s toolkit, including tax incentives and microlending, along with coordinating the activities of Planning, DPW, and partnering with other entities to ensure that other business nodes are not being neglected. I will hold ADA and the other relevant City departments accountable for development and redevelopment in accord with local plans throughout the City, not just in the several TAD areas.
Q12. Do you feel that the beltline development is placing a proper priority for light rail in its plans? Do you think that more effort should be put into getting the light rail in sooner than currently scheduled? Please explain why.
A12: I believe, and have repeatedly said publicly, we need to accelerate the transit component of the Beltline, lest we risk it remaining an unfulfilled promise 20 years from now. There is a chicken and egg type problem in that we cannot, for our neighborhoods’ sake, tolerate much more density in already developed areas without new transit, but public funds are short, which hinders the provision of transit without the density to pay for it. We must seek new investment options for the transit component, including from the state and private investors.
Q13. What will you do as Mayor to improve inter-agency cooperation and build support for transit throughout the metropolitan Atlanta area?
A13: I am the only candidate with a proven record of building bridges and consensus across party, racial, and geographic lines – I have had to do it time and again in the General Assembly to consolidate Atlanta’s courts to free up $7 million annually for police, to get state loans and sales tax revenue for our water and sewer work, to double the homestead exemption for all Atlantans, to create a floating homestead exemption to protect our seniors against gentrification, to name a few examples. The support I have received from my colleagues in the Atlanta Fulton & DeKalb delegations amply demonstrates my ability to find common ground and accomplish real change. I have good working relationships with state and regional leaders – I wouldn’t need to introduce myself to them because I’ve been working with them for the past 12 years.
Q14. Top quality organizations in the business world use quantitative performance measures to track progress on issues. If everyone in a department knows what is being tracked, then that is what staff will pay attention to. What measures will you use for charting the city departments of Police, Code Enforcement, and 911? Will you commit to sharing those measures and posting your results for each department on the city website?
A14: No question that Atlanta needs transparent performance measures, and I will demand that my Cabinet heads develop such measures where they do not currently exist. I am committed to regular, rolling independent performance audits of the operating departments, and will make those audit results available – both so we all can understand what is working and isn’t, and to enable the public to hold City Hall accountable for improvement. All of the operating departments, not just police, code enforcement, and 911, will be accountable for basic metrics that will track complaints, resolution rates, timeliness, and otherwise enable evaluation of personnel and tactical needs and choices.