Local and state candidates engage Atlanta Westview community ahead of primary – Capital B News

With Georgia’s local primary elections four days away, eight candidates vying for positions ranging from Fulton County commissioner to the Georgia General Assembly joined a community-centered candidate forum Thursday evening in Atlanta’s Westview neighborhood .

The forum, which covered a total of five races, was led by Capital B Atlanta in partnership with Ke’Nekt Cooperative and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., and moderated by Atlanta journalist King Williams. The goal was to give Westview residents the opportunity to ask tough questions of their next potential representative.

Candidates for Fulton County Commissioner in Districts 4 and 6, Georgia House of Representatives District 56, Fulton County Tax Commissioner, and Fulton County Clerk of Superior and Trial Courts were on hand to answer questions collected through community engagement led by Capital B Atlanta. .

Audience members could ask a question each to a specific candidate or to the entire group. Here’s what the candidates had to say.

Fulton County Jail Issues

Responding to a question about how county officials could handle overcrowding, dilapidated conditions and a rash of deaths inside the Fulton County Jail, Mo Ivory, candidate for district county commission 4, said the commission must move beyond dysfunction to resolve problems at the Fulton County Jail. prison. Ivory, who is running against incumbent Commissioner Natalie Hall, currently works as a law professor at Georgia State University.

“That’s where the major problems are,” Ivory said. “The commission is very dysfunctional. Currently, $30 million is being spent on renovations just to keep the prison operating until a new prison is built. It continues to be expensive just to keep it running while they figure out what to do next.

She says it’s up to the community to elect people willing to move quickly, not only to save taxpayer dollars, but also to provide a better quality of life for inmates inside the facility.

“We need people elected to the commission to believe that this issue is a top priority,” she said. “All the offices in Fulton County – the prosecutor, all the judges, all the commissioners – everyone needs to come to the table and find a solution together, because no one can solve this overcrowding.”

Affordable housing

Ciara L. Anderson, candidate for Fulton County Commission for District 6, said the lack of affordable housing particularly hurts her community, which has many low-income residents.

“We used to have affordable housing that some people called ‘projects,’ but they were affordable to those who lived in this community,” she said.

This was echoed by Duvwon Robinson, candidate for Fulton County Tax Commissioner, who says the county and local municipalities need to hold big businesses and developers accountable for building affordable housing for Atlanta residents .

“When Google and Microsoft come in and you give them all these multi-year tax breaks to build affordable housing, we need to make sure that that housing is actually affordable based on what people in Atlanta are making,” Robinson said. “Let’s sit down at the table and actually define what affordable housing actually means before we give these tax breaks to businesses that would rather pay the penalty for not being affordable.”

Funding of public schools

When asked if he would support using the state budget surplus to fully fund pre-kindergarten for all Georgia students, Georgia House District 56 candidate Bryce Berry said that he would not only fight to fully fund pre-kindergarten, but also push to use it. surplus to fund school infrastructure and technology to create an environment that encourages student engagement.

If elected, Berry would become the first active teacher to serve in the General Assembly.

“Why would we let this money sit in our bank account and not work for our people? » said Berry. “We need to invest in building and funding school renovation projects and installing technology in our classrooms that makes kids want to be there and learn. »

Her opponent Adalina “Ada” Merello agreed with the fight to fully fund pre-kindergarten as well as fund mental health initiatives.

“I run my platform on mental health and that means funding children’s mental health,” Merello said. “I would not be opposed to all children being able to go to kindergarten.”

Restore community trust

Among all the candidates and all the offices, one theme came up repeatedly: the need to reconnect with disaffected voters. Ché Alexander, Fulton’s practicing clerk of the superior and trial courts, said many of the tasks her office performs, such as handling civil and criminal cases, are relatively mundane. But, she said, she understands how much these tasks can impact the lives of county residents.

Alexander, who faces three challengers including former Atlanta City Council member Keisha Sean Waites, said that without community involvement, she is unable to properly fulfill her role as a servant of the people.

“Participating in events in a community like this is how I put the community first,” Alexander said. “It means not only being present, but also being available to serve my people. »

Ali Carter, a candidate for Fulton County Commission District 6, said his previous role as chief of staff to current Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, when Dickens was a member of the Atlanta City Council, had led him to be forward-facing with community members at all times – even if that meant responding. their calls at any time of the day.

Carter is currently running against Anderson and incumbent Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman.

“I’m used to going to NPUs (neighborhood planning units),” Carter said. “When I was director of constituent services, it was a 24/7 job. I had to be ready to serve at a moment’s notice, whenever someone called me.