Council approves legislation authorizing premium pay for frontline employees
The Atlanta City Council approved legislation Monday to authorize COVID-19 pandemic premium pay for City of Atlanta frontline and essential workers through June 30, 2022 (Legislative Reference №21-O-0709). The additional payment amounts to approximately $500 per month applied to an eligible worker’s regular wage rate for the hours worked during the qualifying timeframe. Eligible forms of work include those that address an identifiable public health harm or negative economic impact caused by the pandemic and involve regular interactions or handling of items that were also handled by others and are associated with heightened risks because of the nature of the work.
Other items adopted during Monday’s meeting include:
• A resolution to establish the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee for the purpose of continued community engagement and input in the development of the new public safety training facility to be built on Key Road (Legislative Reference №21-R-3869).
• A resolution to appoint members to serve on the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee (21-R-4056).
• An ordinance to formally establish Atlanta’s first fully-staffed Mayor’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (Legislative Reference №21-O-0702). The office’s purview will include such areas as youth and community engagement, LGBTQ+ affairs, public health, sustainability and resilience, and immigrant affairs.
• An ordinance to establish the Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction (Legislative Reference №21-O-0697). The office would develop plans to decrease violence in Atlanta, manage certain grants, and coordinate strategic plans and programs with impacted communities and community-based organizations.
• An ordinance to adopt the 2022–2026 Capital Improvements Element to include capital improvements that the City of Atlanta intends to fund in whole or in part with development impact fees in compliance with the requirements of the Georgia Development Impact Fee Act (Legislative Reference №21-O-0672).
• A resolution authorizing the mayor or her designee to execute a special procurement agreement for an electronic applicant file management system with Guardian Alliance Technologies Inc. on behalf of the Atlanta Police Department for a term of one year with three one-year renewal options in an amount not to exceed $122,400 (Legislative Reference №21-R-3929). The system will allow the department to automate its hiring process.
• A resolution authorizing the mayor or her designee to issue a task order number with JOC Construction LLC for the Atlanta Children’s Eternal Flame Project on behalf of the Department of Enterprise Asset Management for the Office of the Mayor in an amount not to exceed approximately $293,572 (Legislative Reference №21-R-4054).
• A resolution authorizing the establishment of the Atlanta Commission on Fatherhood, Men, and Boys to provide an organized and collaborative structure for the discussion and development of policy recommendations (Legislative Reference №21-R-3934).
• A resolution to amend 19-R-3877 related to establishing a Community Loan Fund to allow applicants to be considered for the Community Loan Fund program prior to completing the required technical assistance requirements. This item was immediately adopted.
Items introduced to be considered in committee next week include:
• An ordinance requiring that all subsidies and economic incentives offered by the City of Atlanta to support residential development be restricted to projects which include the development of housing be 100 percent affordable at the 60 to 100 percent area median income.
• An ordinance to amend the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances to expand the Office of the Public Defender to include an Eviction Defense Unit to allow the office to assist with eviction defense and collateral matters for income-eligible Atlanta residents.
• A resolution urging the Georgia General Assembly to amend state law to give counties and municipal corporations the authority to enact legislation requiring owners to ensure the safe storage of their firearms when outside of their immediate control to enhance public safety and security.
• An ordinance establishing a community park fund with an initial allocation in the amount of $2 million to support greenspace improvements and upgrades in underserved neighborhoods across Atlanta.
• An ordinance to establish the “Building the Beloved Community Affordable Housing Trust Fund” and create an affordable housing account for the purpose of appropriating 2 percent of the City of Atlanta general fund budget to be phased in over a three-year period at the beginning of each fiscal year to ensure adequate annual funding for affordable housing initiatives.
• A resolution requesting that the Commissioner of Human Resources and the chief financial officer conduct a feasibility study regarding increasing the minimum wage of all full-time City employees to a “housing wage” to ensure their right to live in the city they serve.
• A resolution urging the mayor or her designee to conduct a feasibility study and prepare recommendations regarding the establishment of an Office of Nighttime Economy and Safety to address public safety and economy challenges within Atlanta specific to the evening and overnight hours.
