Council approves housing subsidy for public safety personnel
The Atlanta City Council approved legislation Monday to authorize the City of Atlanta to donate $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the Atlanta Police Foundation to support the Community Safety Housing program for police, fire, and corrections personnel (23-R-3098). The police foundation is a nonprofit that seeks to enhance the City’s public safety efforts. As part of the legislation, the City would provide a housing subsidy administered by the foundation to encourage and allow for officers to live in apartment homes in their assigned police zones or in proximity to the fire stations or corrections facilities where they work.
Other items on the agenda include:
• An ordinance to authorize a master lease agreement with J.P. Morgan Chase Bank for the acquisition of 100 Dodge Chargers and 100 Dodge Durangos with police packages for the Atlanta Police Department (APD) and three Chevy Tahoes and one GMC Yukon XL with police packages for mayoral protection detail and to execute special procurement agreements in an amount not to exceed approximately $12.1 million (23-O-1080).
• A resolution authorizing acceptance of a donation of four 2022 Dodge Chargers and three 2022 Ford Explorers from the Atlanta Police Foundation on behalf of APD (23-R-3223). The donation is valued at approximately $281,000 and the vehicles will be used as additional patrol vehicles.
• An ordinance to create the Chattahoochee Brick Company Memorial, Greenspace, and Park Board to advise the City on how best to reuse the former site of the Chattahoochee Brick Company as a memorial, greenspace, and park (23-O-1096).
• A resolution expressing support for the Chattahoochee River Greenway Study to promote ecological efforts and conservation and create a safe public space along the river (23-R-3199).
• A resolution to authorize the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority on behalf of the Stadium Neighborhoods Community Trust Fund Committee to award grants in a total amount not to exceed $200,000 to fund various community service projects to benefit the Atlanta neighborhoods of Mechanicsville, Peoplestown, Pittsburgh, Summerhill, and a portion of Grant Park (23-R-3143). The trust fund committee voted in November 2022 to approve grant funding for two community projects. Following the committee’s creation in 2017, 75 grants have been made for a total of approximately $4.4 million.
• An ordinance authorizing the acceptance of a Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Dislocated Worker Grant for rapid response activities from the Technical College System of Georgia’s Office of Workforce Development in the amount of $100,000 (23-O-1079).
• A resolution requesting that the City of Atlanta Defined Benefit Pension Plan Investment Board divest City employee pension funds from private prisons by 2030 and requesting that no further investments be made into such companies starting in Fiscal Year 2024 (23-R-3160).
• A resolution authorizing a $75,000 donation from the City of Atlanta to HouseProud to support emergency home repairs for legacy residents to help prevent displacement (23-R-3145).
• A resolution to authorize a $75,000 donation from the City of Atlanta to Neighbor in Need, a nonprofit that provides emergency home repairs to low-income senior residents in the East Lake, Kirkwood, and Edgewood communities (23-R-3159).
• A resolution supporting legislation in the Georgia General Assembly to establish a public safety stadium surcharge for events with at least 9,500 tickets to provide additional revenue for local public safety efforts (23-R-3224).
• A resolution to encourage Atlanta Public Schools to develop a new state-approved course, entitled “Atlanta History,” which will satisfy a unit of social science education (23-R-3146).
• A resolution to denounce the government of Iran for its continued violence against the Iranian people, denounce any and all entities that have not taken action against or support the oppressive regime, and to call for instating a democratically elected government for the Iranian people (23-R-3158).
• An ordinance authorizing the chief financial officer to amend the City’s chart of accounts by creating a new special revenue fund for recording ARPA relief funds received from the federal government to rescue the economy and all ARPA budgets, posted revenue, and posted expenses for Fiscal Year 2023 to be moved into a newly created fund (23-O-1090).
• A resolution authorizing the mayor or his designee to apply for a Fiscal Year 2023 U.S. Department of Transportation Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary planning grant in an amount not to exceed $16.8 million for preliminary engineering for “The Stitch” using Eastside Tax Allocation District funds. This item was an immediate consideration.
• A resolution to honor the life and legacy of former President Jimmy Carter. A Georgia native who served as president from 1977 to 1981, Carter has decided to forego further medical treatment and has entered home hospice care. This item was an immediate consideration.
Items were also introduced to be considered in committee, including:
• A resolution urging the 2023–2024 regular session of the Georgia General Assembly to support Georgia House Bill 404, better known as the “Safe at Home Act.”
• An ordinance to amend the Bill of Rights of the City Charter for the purposes of prohibiting discrimination based on criminal history. The Charter currently prohibits discriminating among persons because of race, color, creed, religion, sex, domestic relationship status, parental status, familial status, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, gender identity or racial profiling.
• An ordinance to waive Chapter 2, Article X, Section 2–1332(A) of the Procurement and Real estate Code to authorize the police department to donate 140 Motorola radios to the Atlanta Police Foundation.
• An ordinance authorizing the City of Atlanta to donate funds to the Atlanta Fire Rescue Foundation to support improvements and upgrades in fire stations across Atlanta.
