Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

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Alright. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the second regular meeting of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. Today is 04/15/2026. This is 10:00AM. Madam clerk, please call the roll for purposes of quorum.

Chairman Rob Pitts. Present. Commissioner Bridget Thorne. Present. Commissioner Bob Ellis.

Present.

Commissioner Dana Barrett. Present. Commissioner Marvin Arrington Junior. Vice chair Khadija Abdul Rahman. Present.

Alright, please rise for the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Alright, continue madam clerk.

On page two, consent agenda twenty six zero one nine five, adoption of the consent agenda. All matters listed on the consent agenda are considered routine by the county commission and will be enacted by one motion. No separate discussion will take place on these items. If discussion of any consent agenda item is desired, the item will be moved to the second regular meeting agenda for separate consideration.

Alright. Any corrections, additions? Alright. Commissioners. I have a motion to adopt by commissioner Thorne, seconded by commissioner Barrett. Please vote.

And the vote is open. And the motion passes. Five yeas, zero nays. On page five, second regular meeting agenda, twenty six zero two zero eight, adoption of the second regular meeting agenda. Mister chairman and members of the board, we have two amendments to today's agenda.

First on page six, bottom of page six, we're removing item twenty six zero two one five, registration election. Request approval of a statewide contract for master solution purchase and services agreement. The department has requested to remove that item. Item to be revised on page eight, twenty two zero two two two, request approval resolution to support affordable housing in the English Avenue neighborhood. This item was revised to include vice chair Abdul Rahman as a co sponsor. And that's all I have.

Any other items? Commissioners, any items? Anything? Vice chair, I'll do Rock Bond.

Yeah, chairman. Under commissioner items, item 20 six-two twenty and twenty six-two 21, If we can combine those because they are budget impacting, if we combine those as one item, that's what I'm asking for my colleagues to do.

Alright. Krista Thorne.

Yes, and I wanna remove my item two six dash zero one two zero.

Which one?

26 dash zero one two zero at the top of page eight.

Okay. Commissioner Arrington? I would just ask that o two two o and o two two one not be combined. I mean, they're separate items. They and the 500,000 accounting manager's office was supposed to be coming back and letting us know whether we could use the settlement funds to fund that so that wouldn't come out of the budget, that would come out of the settlement funds that we've received like the item from last week's last meeting's agenda.

Okay. Disagreement on combining what? One two

o two two o and o two two one.

O two two o. Alright.

They are right next to each other. And so, I think in all fairness to Commissioner Arrington, if we combine both and have the conversation at one time, instead of being redundant and coming right back, I think it would serve not only him but the entire board since they're right next to each other to combine them, have the conversation, whatever conversation we need to have and have the county manager weigh in. This is not to take it away from Commissioner Aaron, this is not to take take it away from you. It's just to combine them.

No, I understand, but I I wanna see the votes. I wanna see everybody's votes on each one of

Well, you will. It'll just be combined. We'll vote at one time as opposed to voting right after each other. But, I mean, that's just my that's my plea in the interest of being efficient with our time here in dealing with issues. So, it's the will of the board. If you all want to combine, fine. If you don't, combine. It's not a hill I'm going to down. I just ask for it, for expediency and being able to serve the tax paying citizens of Fulton County most efficiently this morning.

Okay. I don't have anything else to say. She said what she said and I said what I said, and so Alright. There's no consensus.

Alright. Let's move forward then. That's it. I'll entertain a motion to adopt as amended. Motion to do so by commissioner Barrett, seconded by vice chair Abdul Rahman.

And the vote is open. And the motion passes. Six yays, zero nays.

Next item.

Twenty six zero two zero nine ratification of minutes. Second regular meeting minutes March 18 special call meeting postagenda minutes March 27. First regular meeting postagenda minutes 04/01/2026.

Alright Favorable motion by commissioner Thorne, seconded by vice chair Abdul Rahman. Please vote.

And the vote is open. And the motion passes. Six yeas, zero nays. Twenty six zero two one zero presentation of proclamations and certificates. The first proclamation is recognizing National Library Week and Fulton County Library Appreciation Week sponsored by Chairman Pitts for full board support.

Do we have all our library staff down here? Our libraries are one of our greatest assets here in Fulton County that span the entire county and bring people together of all ages. And it is just a fabulous place that you just kind of lose yourself in. So it gives me great honor to read this proclamation. Whereas Fulton County libraries and library staff speak creativity, fuel imagination, and inspire lifelong learning, offering a space where individuals of all ages can find joy through exploration and discovery, and whereas libraries serve as vibrant community hubs connecting people with knowledge, technology, and resources while fostering civic engagement, critical thinking, and cultural enrichment.

And whereas libraries provide free and equitable access to books, digital tools, and innovative programming, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of background, have the support that they need to learn, connect, and thrive. And whereas libraries partner with schools, businesses, and organizations resources, increase efficiency, and expand access to essential services, strengthening the entire community. And whereas libraries empower job seekers, entrepreneurs, and lifelong learners by providing access to resources, training, opportunities that support career growth and economic success. And whereas libraries nurture young minds through story times, STEAM programs, and literacy initiatives, fostering curiosity and a love of learning that lasts a lifetime. And whereas dedicated librarians and library workers provide welcoming spaces that inspire discovery, collaboration, and creativity for all and are joining together to celebrate Fulco Library employees and National Library Week.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Commissioners of Fulton County recognizes the twenty twenty six National Library Week celebration and the theme, find your joy, and celebrate the work of library employees across Fulton County, and does hereby proclaim April 2026, as National Library Week and Fulton County Library Appreciation Week in Fulton County, Georgia. Let's give them a hand. Thank you. And, here's our esteemed director.

Thank you so much. Good morning, everyone. Good morning. We are so glad to be here and we're so honored for this proclamation. It takes a lot of people, a lot of work, and a lot of time to make this happen. But, it also takes a committed group of commissioners who have supported this library system all the way, all the time. We're so grateful for their support, we're so grateful for all of those patrons that we have that come into our libraries every day, continue to do so, continue to talk it up, tell people about it. We are excited about the library still. It still matters. It's not just all about computers, it still matters.

And, it takes a wonderful group of staff members to do the things that we do. And, we're reaching beyond all the time. So, please know that the tax dollars that are paid by our constituents here in this county really make a difference when it comes to our libraries. Thank you so much, I can't thank you enough for this. We're kinda quiet, we don't seek the limelight, but we do like it.

The last proclamation is recognizing National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week sponsored by Commissioner Barrett with full board support.

Let's get all of our awesome nine eleven folks to come down and join us that are here and not manning the phones obviously. I will say these guys that do this work, this is these are heroes. They really make a difference in people's lives and they deserve all of the attention and accolades because they're often behind the scenes and people don't see them. So thank you guys so much for all the work that you do. Very proud to have you all here and proud to deliver this proclamation today.

Hey good morning. Good

morning. Good morning. Good morning.

Morning. Morning. Morning.

Morning. Morning. Good Good

morning. Good morning. Alright. I'm going to go ahead and oh, wow. We'll give everybody another minute. They're still coming.

Okay, I

love it. This is a great team. Thank you guys again so much for all the work that you do and very proud to bring this proclamation today and it reads, whereas National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week held every April celebrates the nine eleven dispatchers and telecommunicators who provide essential lifesaving support during emergencies and whereas public safety telecommunicators from Fulton County's Department Of Emergency Services are the very first responders to residents in distress, connecting them to paramedics, police, and fire department. And whereas Fulton County's public safety telecommunicators provide essential information to police and firefighters so they respond safely and appropriately, and whereas Fulton County's nine one one emergency communications center covers five cities throughout the county and fields more than 500,000 calls each year, and whereas Fulton County's public safety telecommunicators remain calm during high stress situations and demonstrate compassion, understanding, and professionalism in the performance of their jobs every day. Now therefore be it resolved that the Fulton County Board of Commissioners commends Fulton County's public safety telecommunicators for their diligence and dedication in keeping our communities safe and does hereby proclaim the week of April 2026 as National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week in Fulton County, Georgia.

Good

morning. First off, I wanna thank the commissioners and the executive leadership team that supports us. Without that support, we don't really have a backbone and that that is really important to us that we have the support of the leadership. This is a week where we support all the telecommunicators and it's nationwide. It's a nationwide support system. So basically what we do is we take the calls for service and we make sure that the emergency services are delivered quickly and efficiently. And without our folks that doesn't happen. So what we always like to say is we are the first first responders. We answer the call first and we get the emergencies out that need to get out quickly and adequately. So again, thank you very much.

We appreciate everybody's support especially with my team and you've got a heck of a team here at Fulton. I'll tell you that right now. You have a great, great staff that's in that nine one one center and I'm very, very proud of everybody that comes to work every day. So again, thank you very much. And just like the libraries, we don't seek the limelight either, but we are a very important, department here in the county. And, again, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Alright. Continue madam clerk.

Continuing on page five, public hearings. Twenty six zero two one one, public comment. Citizens wishing to participate in public comment will be allowed to appear in person or may choose to participate virtually via Zoom video conferencing by registering on the county website www.fultoncountyga.gov. Priority for public comment will be given to Fulton County citizens and those individuals representing businesses or organizations located within Fulton County. Speakers will be granted up to two minutes each.

The public will not be allowed to yield or donate donate time to other speakers. The public comment portion of the meeting will not exceed sixty minutes. In the event the sixty minute time limit is reached prior to public comments being completed, public comment will be suspended and the business portion of the BLC meeting will commence. Public comment will resume at the end of the meeting. Mister chairman and members of the board, we will start with the speakers here at Assembly Hall.

We have received 13 speaker cards. Will the first six speakers please come forward? Councilwoman Helen Willis, Christy Linds, Regina Brewer, Mike Russell, LA Pink, and Margie McCloud.

Alright. First speaker. Speakers, when you have fifteen seconds remaining, I'll say fifteen seconds that we include to begin to terminate your remarks.

Good morning. Good morning, Chairman Pitts, entire commission board. Thank you for all that you do. I'm going to be very brief. I typically don't come down here for a lot, but this topic is near and dear to my heart.

Over the course of a month, you've seen several teens get in trouble due to violent crimes. Over the past eight years, I've partnered with Fulton County and Commissioner Marvin Arrington on the UTeen Job Fair. We usually host a teen job fair before kids get out of school to help them get jobs, to keep them out of trouble over the summer. This previous weekend, we had 900 teens to register. They showed up dressed to impress with resumes in hand.

They want to work. What was sad about it is that we only had about 15 employers. And so I'm here to speak in support of the measure that Commissioner Arrington has for you all to fund $500,000 for youth teen job employment. It hasn't been funded since 2024, and the biggest way to divert crime, violent crime, among teens is to invest in our future. I can assure you these kids want to work.

They want to make an honest way of living. And we all when I say we all, it takes a village. The entire county, we're going to have to find a way to fill in the gaps. These teens are between 16 and 18. They don't want to be a part of summer camps, you know.

Fifteen seconds.

So I ask that you find a way to fund the budget with the $500,000 to help employers implore our teams. Thank you. And thank you for all the work that you do.

Hello.

I'm way shorter than this.

I'm here today because I heard a rumor. I heard that County Manager Dick Anderson, CFO Sharon Wymore, and the County Director of Justice Systems Programs has been meeting with private prisons, CoreCivic, LaSalle, and Geo Group in an effort to strike a deal to alleviate the overcrowding in Fulton County prisons that is worth multimillion dollars. I'm appalled. Fulton County residents and inmates deserve better. I believe the closest private prison being considered is over three hours away in Irwin, Georgia.

This is also the facility where senator John Ossoff found over 1,000 credible reports of abuse of pregnant women and children in immigration detention and shocking reports of medical neglect and denial of adequate food and water for ICE detainees. Our inmates and their families deserve better. The other facility is owned by CoreCivic, infamous for abuse of immigrants at Dilly Detention Center. The other is owned by wait, there are multiple reports of overcrowding, inedible and rotten food and lack of medical care and bathroom access. In a lawsuit filed against the GEO Group, one former inmate, Javon Gordon alleges, he was slammed face first into concrete, knead while handcuffed and placed in solitary confinement after protesting guards for trashing his belongings including a bible.

The lawsuit claims video of the beating was later shown to new staff as an example of how detainees could quote be taught a lesson.

Fifteen seconds.

We are all too familiar with the horrors coming out of private prisons and ice facilities around the country. Fulton County inmates already face horrible conditions. Sending there somewhere worse is not the answer to Fulton County's overcrowding. Thank you.

My name is Regina Brewer and I've been a Fulton County resident for thirty years. My interest, and I'm building on Ms. Lenz's words, my interest in the prisons is long term. I'm familiar and friends with many of the people who served on the Blue Ribbon Task Force many years ago, which came up with a great plan on how to reuse the prison in a way that was effective, efficient, cost effective, and would meaningfully change how prisoners are processed. And, I introduced those people to then mayoral candidate Andre Dickens to see if we could get anywhere and also to Amir Farrochi and of course we got nowhere because people keep kicking this can and I know you guys talk about it all the time.

The can being kicked to private prisons is outrageous. They are they are compared rightfully so to gulags. There have been many reports, Frontline, CNN, sixty Minutes on how terrible these prisons are. President Obama wanted to ban them from getting contracts. That's how bad they are.

So what did they do in exchange? One of the companies that you are interviewing, Geo Group, contributed $1,000,000,000 to President Trump's campaign because he didn't want to see anything be banned. Well of course, he's got the most amount of federal contracts through DHS. Now that's a play for pay astonishing detail. The reasons why these private prisons are doing well now is because of the efforts to get rid of immigrants, to process them quickly, and to jam them into these facilities.

One of the companies has an 18% profit as of November 25. Aren't we all happy about that? There are so many other solutions, and there needs to be transparency in this process. We need to bring back committee meetings and task so force that this can be discussed transparently and with the best minds out there. And a lot of those best minds are people you know and deal with every day and they're very anxious to help solve this problem. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Mike Russell and I'm in District 6. And I'm here this morning to admit to everyone gathered in the county and watching that I have made a very big mistake. A very big mistake. And that mistake was voting for Mo Ivy. Not only did I vote for Mo Ivy, I campaigned for Mo Ivy. I took seniors to the polls to vote for Mo Ivy. I stood out in the weather with signs to get her elected. She came by my house and dropped off yard signs for me to put around the city. And after that election was over, crickets.

She didn't return my phone calls, she didn't return my messages, and the first time she has spoken to me since the election was this morning because she had to walk past me going up the steps. She has been in North Fulton talking about how she was helping the homeless, only thing she did was pass out flyers, give a speech and leave, and then post on social media what a great job she did. And thank goodness, other citizens are realizing that mistake. This past week or so at the four zero four Fest, she was down there with the mayor and Marvin Arrington and others trying to turn it into a political campaign, and the people of Atlanta have called them out as being as phony as a $3 bill. And the whole emphasis behind them doing this and the fact that they've recruited Natalie Hall to come back and sit in that chair is so they can get their hands on $10,000,000,000 of TAD money.

Right now, this morning, they are having a meeting, you've got Courtney English and the Chief of Staff out talking about the tale of two cities and the North Star. We've heard that song and dance routine before. Their whole emphasis is to get rid of Chairman Pitts so that they can get their hands on that money.

Fifteen seconds.

I urge you, I don't agree with everything he says and does, but he has never voted to raise the taxes on our seniors on their homes, and he's and protected our people and our tax dollars. Join me in supporting and voting for chairman Pitts.

And as we continue to see corruption continues to build, big shots out to the FBI and whatever judge that agreed to get the twenty twenty ballots back in their hands. As we can continue to see that there's corruption, corruption, corruption, it has not eased up. That shows through Tiffany. I know that that has been just the whole grandstand, that's been the spotlight, but trust me, them twenty twenty ballots is about to bring down some houses, okay, that's going on up off in here. We had the credible Hulk dressed in the yellow green or whatever she wanna be wearing because coming down here talking about the children when she done took $5,000 out of the inmate welfare fund and her husband took a thousand to pay for his college, that could have paid for children.

Why are we talking about kids? Why we were so worried about come down here grandstanding trying to get a position? She trying to run for Marvin Arrington's seat. How dare she come down here acting like she's concerned about Fulton County all of a sudden? All the money they done swindled and and and bald and took from the people. Are you serious? See, this is a game. There was an officer that said on a panel yesterday or on a podcast and talked about the chess playing games that they playing down here to try to get seats, to try to get votes, to try to make sure that the sheriff get money, the DA get money. See, this is a click, but we're to bring down the house, baby. I keep telling y'all, we coming, and we we coming for them jobs.

We ain't coming for you, we coming for them jobs you got because that belongs to the citizen. So while we continue to play games, just continue to watch our smoke. Dana, you out of here too, baby. I know you've been up in they ass, but baby, trust me, we coming for yours.

Fifteen seconds. Good

afternoon. This is my grandmother Pockebuch and Rob

Picks,

Honorable Rob Picks, the chair. I'm back here again. Here we go again. We want to transfer transfer the inmate. We did it last trying to send them out in Tennessee I mean, Mississippi. I'm against the private jails. And we're not gonna sell our children, inmates, for $500,000,000. You know nobody don't keep nothing secret here in Atlanta. You are talking about it. You're thinking about it to transfer these inmates to private jails.

Y'all know what the private jails does. I'm against it, and people are against it. So why are you thinking about this? You better change your mind. Because this is what I'm looking at. This is my grandmother Proctor book. The access is not pleased with you, Rob Picks. You know you've been here ever since 1977. You know about politics. So don't think that you don't know what you are not doing.

Money is not everything because I will. If you do this, I guess what she's saying about the private jails and Trump is tied with why you wanna deal with Trump in the first place when he didn't want you to go up in Washington DC? He shut you out. Money is not everything. You are not gonna sell our children. Grandmoms, they have to visit. When you do do this, we got solution here, but you don't wanna choose that. $500,000,000, that what you're gonna make? You selling our children? No.

Not to no private jail because we got a solution here. But what I'm gonna do, I will make sure if you do this, are thinking about doing this, I will have every grandmother outside going against you. You've been here since '19

Thank you, ma'am. Next speaker.

You'll see me because I don't give up. Round mama, better smell

the car.

Last speakers in the assembly hall please come forward. Scythe Hanson, Maggie Goldman, John Abram, Rashad Snellings, Devin Franklin, Jason Towig, and Mo Ivory.

Good morning. My name is Saif Hassan, and I'm an 18 year old student at Georgia State. The Atlanta City Detention Center is just a fifteen minute walk from my freshman dorm. Since its founding in 1995, its impact is most felt by those who are already vulnerable, poor Atlantans, and immigrant communities. As a community I think we can all agree that we deserve systems that reflect our values, equity, safety and dignity.

In the time that Fulton County's leased beds at the ACDC, the reported treatment conditions at this facility have raised real questions about whether we're putting those values in practice. No one deserves to face violence or pest infestations like what's happening at the ACDC. As a student living in Atlanta, I'm deeply concerned about how these patterns, especially overcrowding, may only get worse with the increased presence and violence of ICE. For me and my friends, we feel like ICE is out of control. These last few weeks, they've been in our airport doing nothing but stirring fear that we or our families will be the next headline.

Just last week, ICE shot another American in a gross overuse of force that the DHS called well within their trading protocols. In a moment where ICE is willing to throw away the constitution and use lethal force to impunity, Fulton County residents like me are relying on your leadership to protect our most fundamental rights. These are people who, like many before them, may have been wrongfully arrested and detained. And no matter what, they are people who have every right to receive an option that is dignified with adequate health care and a place to breathe that isn't overcrowded. With Fulton County's lease of ACDC beds ending and given the conditions that Rice Street were determined to be unconstitutionally inhumane, violent and hazardous, I know there are important decisions ahead about how we manage people detained in these facilities.

I'm worried about the possibility of contracting with private prison companies, the same ones that contract with ICE to detain Georgians in Irwin County where women were forcibly sterilized. I urge you to think about the message this sends to everyone in Fulton County. We have the opportunity to right by people who need it the most, who are reliant on the choices this body makes to protect its well-being. Young Georgians want to trust this commission, and right now we can't. I hope this changes. Thank you.

Maggie Goldman, District One. So I checked last night just to make sure on the website for the jobs. I have the detention officer job description right here. And it is still listed at $54,000 annually. And the retention plan from the sheriff has recommended at least 60 so that you can actually staff the jail that needs about twice as many people, probably another two or 300 people than it has now.

Here is the deputy sheriff job description listed at $60,000 annually and the sheriff's retention plan has recommended at least $66,000. I have been told that you guys have had resolutions specifically addressing correcting these job description, salaries that you have not passed. And so the lack of following the guidance of what is actually going to hire people to staff the jail means that you are morally personally responsible for the civil rights being taken away from the people at our jail. This

is

not something that happened overnight. This is at least, I don't even know. You probably These job descriptions have never probably been this high. This is at least ten or twenty years in the making that you guys have not properly tried to hide. This isn't like you're missing two or three people. We're talking about two or 300 people. Here's the consent decree. Many of these things sound like things that the sheriff should be responsible for doing but he can't do them without staff. And you can't hire staff without salaries that are going to attract the right people. Conduct regular timely and adequate security checks by having staff enter every zone, ensure every person's safety and detect safety and security threats.

Ensure security checks are accurately recorded. How is the sheriff supposed to adhere to this if you don't put in place the things that are going to hire the staff that he needs in order to do it?

Mr. Chairman and Commissioners, thank you. I'm John Ammon, I'm President and CEO of the Westside Future Fund. I live in Vine City in the neighborhoods where the Westside Future Fund done its work. I'm here in support of item 20 six-zero-two 22. North And Oliver is a 120 unit affordable housing development in English Avenue, 100% affordable guaranteed for thirty years. 96% of the units, 60% of area median income, 25 carry rad vouchers, residents pay no more than 30% of their income. This project displaces no one. It replaces blight with opportunity. WFF acquired this blighted property where family were living in unacceptable conditions.

We relocated residents into safe housing, completed demolition and remediation, and earned the unanimous support of NPUL. Four years from that blight, we're at a breakthrough today. With the Fulton County's commission $1,000,000 support of the Westside TAD investment, released $47,000,000 a 47 to one return. It's necessary for this project to qualify for nearly $28,000,000 in state and federal tax credits. A yes vote unlocks all of that.

Construction will begin later this year. This is consistent with how WFF works. 6,200,000 TAD funds has helped generate over 100,000,000 in total investment in English Avenue and Vine City. Every dollar of public investment in neighborhoods we match many times over in philanthropy and our impact fund and in protecting legacy homeowners from displacement through property values through our Antelope Placement Tax Fund. Chairman Pitts, you and I chaired these neighborhoods with pastor Reverend Alexander. We actually stopped at this particular site and actually talked about it. So thank you. I spoke with the pastor last night. He couldn't be here this morning but he wanted me to convey his support for this resolution. Thank you.

Good morning commissioners. My name is Devin Franklin. I'm senior movement policy council at the Southern Center for Human Rights. I did not really intend on speaking to this this morning, but I would like to add not only my voice, but the voice of the Communities Over Cages Coalition to the chorus of advocates who have spoken against the pursuit of this private prison situation that is going on in Irwin County. We have seen the harm that can be caused by the privatization of carceral structures here in Fulton County.

I need only remind you all of what I believe to still be the pending litigation between the sheriff and Talatrix who was allowed inside the jail for reasons that are still yet to be known. However, getting to the reasons for why I originally came here to speak today. You all this morning should have received an email from me notifying you of the Fulton County Sheriff being in violation of the Georgia Open Records Act by refusing to timely respond to our very straightforward and simple request for a copy of the standard operating procedures governing the payment of bond. Their open records request was submitted based on very credible information that we received that despite an injunction on the cap imposed by SB 63, that the sheriff is unlawfully imposing a cap of three persons to be bonded out by anyone that attends the jail and attempts to do so. We spoke to this a few weeks ago as well.

I'm also here today to note that note our opposition to resolution 26 dash zero two one four, which as I understand it is a non binding resolution authorizing an inter government agreement for financing of a $1,300,000,000 jail. While the argument is that that proposed 1,300 bed facility has been touted as a mental health jail, we vehemently deny, we reject the notion that a mental health jail is a real thing in any form or fashion.

Fifteen seconds. Much in

the same way, I must remind you that the sheriff has refused to comply with the Open Records Act of the state of Georgia. Once that facility is built, you all have no authority or ability to ensure that he uses it as a mental health facility. And so again, I caution you against such a

Alright, my name is Rashard Snellings. On page two, six and eight of the agenda, it says open and responsible government. That is clever and all, but it makes me think about how I recently heard a sitting commissioner campaign on the Georgia Open Records Act. I found this interesting because I submitted an open records request on 03/17/2026. The county had three days to provide an initial response.

I received no response until I followed up on 03/27/2026, ten days later. That response said I would get the records on 04/13/2026. Well, guess what? I received no records, but yesterday I received another email telling me I had to wait an additional ten days until April 28, which will be over a month since I submitted the initial request. The Open Records Act has no provision to allow for delays due to the volume of requests.

The time frame allowed is for records retrieval, not to figure out ways to delay the records until after early voting has already began so that the sheriff can protect his commission candidate for what I asked for. LA Pink comes down here all the time and talks about corruption. This is a prime example of what she's talking about. My request was quite simple. Please provide the approval documentation for the $5,000 that was paid to the city of South Fulton in response to the district three thanksgiving giveaway that occurred on 12/03/2021.

These funds that came out these were funds that came out of the present inmate fund. If I gotta if I gotta be the open records police, so be it. But, once the request is submitted, Fulton County has a legal obligation to comply with the open records act. Fulton County just lost a lawsuit over this. Now, classy beats, if you are listening, this is definitely a story that needs to be discussed. As I close, I just want to be very clear. If you think I will not enforce this law, I suggest you speak to the city of South Fulton. Open and responsible government right.

Oh, okay. Good afternoon or good morning commissioners. My name is Jason Toeh and I'm one of the candidates running for district seven for congress that just starts in right of North Fulton. I wanna start today thanking everyone here that came for National Public Safety Telecommunications Week. Our nine eleven operators are some of the backbones of our public safety systems and I appreciate the work and services that they have been doing to keep us safe and supporting them through as we honor them this week.

I also want to draw some attention to work on basically the state plan on aging. I participated in a conversation, the state owned this and about how seniors overall, how we can prep to their health and really work to benefit them in the future and I recommend anyone to continue that conversation, especially as they go across the state. Now it draws me to what I want, what I really want to bring up. Across Metro Atlanta, including here in Fulham County, we've seen growing concerns of AI powered surveillance systems including flock cameras. Students, staff and community members last week protested at Emory University against the surveillance on their campus.

And I've seen the same concern also in Cobb County and in and here in Sandy Springs, where we saw an officer misuse the data for personal gains. This weekend in Atlanta, there's the Take Back Tech Conference that's really pushing against that. These types of systems have real impacts on, not only on vulnerable communities, including seniors, immigrant groups, people of colors, and those already overly surveyed. And they need to support our and they

Fifteen seconds.

Need to have accountability and not compromise civil liberties. I just wanted to invite those that I'm hosting a town hall tonight in Sandy Springs, you can see that on my website, towehforcongress.com/events. Thank you all.

Good morning Chairman Pits and

members of the board. My name is Mo Ivory. I'm the former District four Commissioner. It's appalling to hear that you've been meeting with companies like LaSalle, JecorCivic and Geo, Trump backed private prisons that have ICE detention facilities and your idea of transferring Fulton County inmates to those facilities is abhorrent. I want to start with the item on today's agenda approving special elections for the city of Fairburn and the city of South Fulton.

I appreciate seeing how quickly the county moved to ensure people have access to the ballot and representation. I simply wish we will move that with that same level of urgency for District 4 also in Fulton County. The residents there deserve that same quick action and attention when it comes to representation and access to the ballot. On the jail item that has been discussed, let's stop dressing this up with soft language. You can call it a special purpose facility.

You can call it a mental health facility. But at the end of the day, this is a jail. And we are talking about spending over $1,000,000,000 on it. That is about choice and about your priorities. If we are truly serious about mental health, then we should be investing in community based services before people ever enter the system, as well as funding our court system to address the backlog that is a large cause of our jail population. You are spending over $1,000,000,000 on our jail and calling it something else after the fact to cause confusion with constituents. It is a jail. It is a new jail. It is not a special purpose facility. So let's be truthful, honest, and educate constituents on what the county commission is actually doing.

Transparency is what is called for right now whether it is that you are talking to private prison ICE detention centers or talking about the jail at Rice Street. Let's tell our constituents exactly what so we are they will know how to respond to public information. Thank you and I look forward to earning everybody's vote for chair of the Fulton County Commission.

Mister chairman and members of the board, have three speakers on Zoom.

Good morning, commissioners. The first person to speak is Robbie Caban.

Morning. I'm here regarding good morning. I'm here regarding the uncorrected animal control contract and the broader issue of private contracts in this county. We heard just heard discussion about private and private contracts as well as housing, NGOs, Westside Future Fund. Let's be clear. Beds equal money. Inmates equal money. Apartments equal money. Animals equal money. When these systems are handed to private entities, even nonprofits, accountability becomes harder to see and easier to avoid.

These are revenue models. These are not accountability models. These are taxpayer funded systems, yet they're managed through private contracts where transparency is limited, oversight is diluted, and liability falls back on the county and the taxpayers like me. For over ten years under your oversight, Fulton County funded a private contractor, NGO, Lifeline Animal Project, to manage animal control, shelter, and enforcement. Now we have public admission from the Fulton County Police since deleted that animal cruelty enforcement was not properly handled.

So I ask, where is the forensic audit? Where is the independent investigation? Cannot move forward without addressing what already happened because liability does not disappear. It stays with taxpayers. Animals are more than photo opportunities. So I have to ask, where is this board holding contractual events, why, with a private contractor Lifeline Animal Project while allowing access to taxpayer funded data and resources yet failing to conduct a forensic audit of over a decade of taxpayer funded services un rendered because what has already been revealed is serious. Lack of oversight, dereliction of duty, failure to enforce, and that responsibility falls back on

this board. Seconds.

Oath to protect the interests of Fulton County residents. This is not oversight. It's avoidance. I'll leave you with this. What kind of board fails to protect homeless animals when taxpayers are funding the system meant to protect them? And the NGO Westside Future Fund, who owns the land?

The next person to speak is Cassandra Littlejohn. Cassandra Littlejohn.

My apologies. I'm here as an observer.

The next person to speak is Gladys Adinai Jones. Gladys Adenae Jones. Next person to speak is Jen Simmons. Jen Simmons. Next person to speak is Randy Hubbell.

Randy Hubbell. With that said, that concludes the Zoom public comments.

Thank you. Continue, madam clerk.

On page six, twenty six zero two one two police, alcoholic beverage license, request a request public hearing and approval for a license application for Sitco Happy Store for the retail sale of wine and malt liquor malt beverages at 4060 Martin Luther King Drive Boulevard Atlanta 30336.

Alright. It's public hearing. Madam clerk? Yes. Public hearing? Alright. Anyone from the public here to speak on this matter? Anyone from the public here to speak on this matter? Alright. We'll close the public hearing.

There is one on Zoom.

There's one on Zoom.

What? One on Zoom. One on Zoom. Alright.

The the person to speak is Robbie Caban.

What is the time limit allowed for public comment on this matter per individual? I I don't know if I

or not.

Well, I live in this area. I don't know if I have two minutes or not. If someone could advise, that would be helpful. And, frankly, there are liquor stores everywhere, and I've lived here for over a decade and watched the horrific gentrification happen with all these fake NGOs, Westside Future Fund. You're pouring our tax money into these apartments that will yield no wealth creation. Another liquor store, another malt beverage, another wine, and really? At a what? You wanna give money to businesses for people who have been divested in for generations? Please, another liquor store? Stop it. Stop it. Just stop it.

And this concludes our Zoom public comment.

Alright. Any other comments on this matter on the liquor store? The license rather. Alright. Is there a motion? Entertain a motion to approve by commissioner Barrett, seconded by vice chair, Abduragwan. Please vote.

And the vote is open. And the motion passes. Four yeas, zero nays.

Continue madam clerk.

Presentations to the board 260213, housing authority of Fulton County update.

Good morning, Board of Commissioners and Chairman Pitts. My name is Felicia Moore. I'm honored to chair the Housing Authority of Fulton County Board. And I am joined today with Vice Chair Lauren Wais and our Commissioner Ryan Glover. And on behalf of our other Commissioners, Stephen Davis, Holly York, Sue Lake Harpeter, I think I got everybody, didn't I?

We all, of course, thank you all for putting your trust in us to try to bring the housing authority of Fulton County back. We have been there about a year and a half. I was just saying it seems like much longer because it's been a lot of work. We still have one issue. I'm gonna be brief, but we still have one issue that we've gotta resolve together and that is getting the resident members on the board.

The HUD requires it. We try to go through the legislative process at the state, it did not work. But now is a good time for us to strategize and work together to make sure that we get this done next year. I think it's very important to have resident representation on the board. The board has been moving forward.

You have attentive and very engaged, involved members. We have established committees. We've received training, held work sessions. In the future, we're going to work on developing or updating developing in some instances and updating others some of the policies and procedures like our personnel handbook, employee manual, our bylaws, other we've done some bylaw changes, but some other operational changes that are needed to move us forward. We will continue our progress that we've made, and you'll hear that from the executive director.

Of course, we still have mountains to climb. And our main goal is to provide, to stabilize. And I would say that we're stabilizing. Hopefully, we don't find other bones that come up out of the closet. We have stabilized the organization.

But our main goal is to get that foundation very stable so that we can continue to provide housing for those who need it in Fulton County. I do wanna put out that we are trying to schedule a grand opening for Anthem III. The executive director will talk about that. We want to make sure that you all get invitations once that date is set. We are continuing not only to do what we do every day, but finding opportunities where we can continue to expand the number of housing units for those who need affordable housing.

So with that, I would, with great pride, turn over this to our executive director, Ms. Veridia Hinton, who has done an excellent job of working to get us stabilized. And the final thing I will say, just as a note, that one good thing has come out is that we have definitely established and even, I think, turned around our relationship with our HUD officials. They are working with us. They are helping us.

And so I think you should that's good movement, even though we know we have deficiencies, as long as you have that conversation. And they are also helping in many, many ways. I think we're on the right track. So with that, I'll give it to Ms. Hinton.

Thank you so much, Chair Moore. Good morning, Chair Pitts and Commissioners of the Board. Thank you for the opportunity to be here. Again today at our last presentation, we addressed the challenges facing the housing authority. We highlighted areas needing improvement, where resources were stretched, and where change was necessary.

Today, I'm pleased to come back, not just with updates, but with real meaningful progress. Over the past several months, our team has been focused, energized, and committed to moving the needle. We've taken those concerns seriously and turned them into action, whether that's improving how we respond to residents, strengthening our internal processes, or moving key priorities priorities forward that had previously slowed. I want to be clear, there's still work ahead, as Chair Moore stated, but the momentum we're seeing is strong and the foundation we're building is solid. We're not standing still.

We're moving forward with purpose and with a clearer sense of direction. I also want to take a moment to recognize and thank our Board of Commissioners. Your guidance, your willingness to ask tough questions, and your continued support have been critical to this progress. It has helped us stay focused, accountable, and aligned as we make these improvements. Thank you so much for everything that you do, and your time, and your partnership. So we can get started with the presentation. That would be great. This is the housing authority of Fulton County. We're going over our agency's progress and strategic wins. Presentation to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners in April 2026.

Next slide, please. It is the 2020 I'm

sorry.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

I'm sorry. It is the 2024 through 2025 presentation recap. The new board of commissioners were appointed 07/31/2024. The new executive director, legal counsel, and fee accountant were installed. Staff has been trained to ensure consistency and uniformity across operations. We transitioned, initiated to a new software system. An independent auditing firm was procured. Club reporting has been brought current. Annual inspections have been reinstated. Timely payments established for landlords and vendors, Anthem three development closed and started construction, and we begin collecting our outstanding portability payments.

Next slide, please. Moving forward, the agency turnaround and stabilization. Our agency has faced challenges, but we are making measurable progress. We are committed to transparency, compliance, and service excellence. Today's focus are wins and forward momentum. Next slide, please. The good news, we've improved HUD compliance and reporting. We've improved our housing choice voucher CMAP score from troubled range to standard range. We've improved operations and services. We are servicing people faster.

Service times are down 3085% of requests are completed on time. Audits actively progressing. One of the four audits is almost complete. We hope to have 75% of the audits completed before the end of the year. Expansion of affordable housing. By adding two sixty eight new affordable housing units, this will increase our overall portfolio by 25. Significant progress made toward financial recovery supported by new funding. We have over $5,000,000 in new funding secured, reducing our agency's overall deficit. Next slide, please. The financial recovery and stability.

The breakdown of that 5,000,000 includes: we've secured 1,900,000.0 plus in HUD set aside funds addressing our twenty twenty five ACV funding shortfalls. We recovered over 700,000 plus in outstanding portability funds. We've closed on two development projects bringing in additional unrestricted funds to the PHA, strengthening our financial position and sustainability of the agency. Next slide, please. Our governance and leadership.

Our Board of Commissioners completed the comprehensive governance training as stated by Chair Moore. Our Board of Commissioners are actively engaged in strategic planning and the direction of the agency, monitoring our audit progress and financial recovery, ensuring accountability at all levels of the organization, long term sustainability of the agency, policy alignment with HUD expectations, and supporting leadership in executing the agency improvements. Next slide, please. Strengthening our HUD partnership. Our relationship with HUD has significantly improved.

There's active collaboration to resolve prior and current issues, no recent grievances correspondence from HUD, continue alignment with federal expectations, maintains compliance with HUD reporting requirements including voucher management system, VMS, which is our HCV financial reporting, Section eight Management Assessment Program, CMAP, and our annual plan and our five year action plan. Next slide, please. Our customer service and engagement. We've improved staff collaboration and morale. We've reduced wait times for participants.

We've increased participant and landlord satisfaction and engagement. Families now visit the office for recertifications, attend briefings and education sessions. Our focus increased on program rules and policies and access to community resources. Next slide, please. Our operational improvements successfully converted to the Yardi system, that is the system that we use for HUD's reporting processing.

The benefits we have faster processing times for our recertifications and our inspections. It has streamlined our workflows. We've improved our data management, which has improved data accuracy and enhanced our reporting and transparency. We've increased our operational efficiencies, which allows us to automate most of our notifications, and families have access now to a portal as well as the landlords to get information easily. Next slide, please.

Our audit progress is underway. The audit is now in progress for 2022 through 2025. We're focused on bringing all audits current and restoring full compliance. The agency is currently considered a troubled performer. The agency may remain designated as a troubled performer until all outstanding audits are complete as this affects our reporting, compliance, our financial management of the agency. Next slide, please. Homeownership success. Our homeownership program has been reinstated. Two families successfully closed on homes in 2026. The last homeownership purchase was in 2012.

So, this is supporting long term stability, family self sufficiency, and generational wealth for our families. Next slide, please. Expanding affordable housing. We've partnered with developers to expand affordable and workforce housing, creating 124 units under and up to 80% AMI in the North Fulton area. AMI means the area median income, and we'll create 84 units under and up to 80% AMI in South Fulton area.

We completed the Anthem III development, creating 60 new affordable housing units, 27 are HAFC's project based units, and the grand opening will be in May 2026. Next slide, please. We're committed to progress. We recognize past challenges. We are delivering measurable improvements. We are proud of the progress made. We are committed to maintaining momentum and continuing to raise the standard for how we serve our residents and our community. Next slide, please. And we would like to thank you for your time and opportunity to give you this presentation on today. Does anyone have any questions?

Alright. Commissioner Arrington followed by Commissioner Thorne. Commissioner Arrington, you have the floor.

Thank you to, the housing authority, to you and the board for all the hard work that you guys are putting in. I know it is a thankless job. So we are certainly appreciative and glad that we are working to get in full compliance. My question is about the Homeownership Success Program and how much money is available in that program and how does the process work?

So, our homeownership program is tied to our housing choice voucher program. It's for families that are already on the housing choice voucher program and they have an opportunity to work with the housing authority to convert to homeownership.

They can't hear

you.

Oh, I'm sorry. Can you hear me now?

Yes.

Oh.

So our homeownership program is tied to our Housing Choice Voucher Program. So families that we have that are currently on the Housing Choice Voucher Program, they can apply for the homeownership program. If they work with a PHA, we can send them through different financial classes, financial literacy to learn about homeownership. There are different steps that they have to go through to be homeowner ready and then they're allowed to participate on the homeownership program. What happens while you're on a homeownership program with housing authority, we continue to pay a portion of your mortgage based on your income as we would when you rent from the private sector.

So, it's a great program. It's normally fifteen years and I think if you're considered disabled, you're on it for the duration of the mortgage. So it's a great program.

Thank you.

Commissioner Thorne?

I had a similar question with a thank you for that explanation. That sounds like a great program and congratulations on getting two families through to home ownership.

Yes, thank you.

That's a big win and I just want to congratulate you all on the work that you've done. You guys are amazing and I hope next time you come back, you'll be out of that troubled performer, no longer a troubled performer and just want to thank you for everything.

Thank you.

Alright. Vice Chair Abdur Rahman.

Thank you, Chairman. First and foremost, I want to thank not only Chairwoman Moore, but the entire board and the director and the reason why, you all inherited a mess. And, it was a mess strided with crazy political interference, foolishness and people that didn't understand and realize it is Fulton County's housing authority, not any particular person, not chair more, not the executive. And what I just want to say openly, Chairman, if you will allow me, thank you all for coming in in a Herculean way. I know, Chair Moore, you said there's so much more that has to be done, but I look at you all as in dog years.

One year is seven years. And that's the kind of work that you all have done. You have done seven years of work in one year because you inherited something that people did not do for whatever reason. And I'm not gonna point the blame, but I am gonna speak up because I kept ringing the alarm. And thank God my colleagues under understood when we were faced with HUD getting involved, that we can, one, can't ever do that again, and I don't think we'll ever be in that situation again.

But this speaks to foundation. You have to have the correct foundation. So chair Moore, if you leave or any other commissioners leave or the director, we don't want you all to leave. I know I don't. I wish you could serve forever.

But the foundation that you all are putting in place is a great foundation and it will speak to your leadership long before long after you have decided not to serve anymore. And so even though there are things that we need to work on and we know it, you all have become, in my eyesight, superheroes. Because you flew in over a disaster. And you put in the people, the time, the energy, and the common sense for it to get ran right, you're making sure it has a tight foundation because ultimately, the citizens are going to be the ones that suffer when politics gets involved in something that it shouldn't be. And so thank you for holding tight to the vision of understanding the purpose for the Fulton County Housing Authority is to make sure we have housing.

Housing. Not friends with benefits. Housing for those that some will perceive to be less of these, but in my eyesight, I believe they are hardworking people, just need a little help. So thank you for the foundational work that you all have done. I sing your praises. I pray that you never leave, but the reality is just like anything, you got a tour duty. So thank you for that great foundational work you've done and Godspeed. Any other questions?

Alright. Thank you very much and we'll see you next quarter. Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Continue madam clerk.

Continuing on page six, county manager's items on the open and responsible government. Twenty six zero two one four finance. Presentation and approval of a resolution authorizing the financing of the Fulton County Jail improvement project in the maximum aggregate principal amount not to exceed 1,363,000,000.

Alright. Mister Mann, did you have any opening comments?

Yes, sir. Just briefly, we're proud to be back at this point presenting after many many months of work and vetting of options, taking the board's direction on terms of the principle design that will be presented. We've looked at and I think done a great job working with the sheriff's office on programming. You'll hear that because that's an important piece of particularly that what has been known heretofore as a special purpose building that will occupy 1,800 new beds. Financing will be an enormous part of this which we have also spent time working through those issues both with the cell phone jail authority and with our own financial planning.

So today's purpose is to update you on all of that and then ask for your approval to move forward with the financing which will then allow us to move into active, procurement.

Great. Thank you, county manager. Good morning, mister chairman and commissioners. Steve Naraki, strategy office. I'm joined this morning by our Jail Program Management team, ACR partners.

With me this morning is Megan Kotchakowski, Jackie Hodebus and Roger Lichtman. As the County Manager said, today's agenda item is largely in two parts. First, we'll provide a presentation including a recap of the action that was taken back in August for the jail capital improvement program and then walk through an overview of the progress of that program over the past eight months. And then the second part of this agenda item will be a request of an authorization of an inducement resolution to find the jail capital improvement project in an amount not to exceed $1,300,000,000. We can go to the next slide.

Great. So I'll just do a quick run through of today's agenda. Again, we'll do a recap and an overall progress update and dive into the specific details of the program that we've been working on for the past couple months in partnership with the sheriff's office. Next we'll move to our plan to finance the program, looking at the anticipated debt service over the next ten years. And then finally we'll wrap with the requested action and our planned next steps.

You can go to the next slide. Go to the next please. So first we have a recap of the BOC meeting back on August 20. Looking at that from a scope, schedule and budget perspective, you will recall for the scope, we are taking a phased approach with this program. First starting with the special purpose facility where we are targeting about 1,800 beds in the facility with a key focus on the vulnerable populations within our jail system.

This is most notably medical, mental health care, behavioral care needs, and then looking at our women's population, the elderly and youth populations. So that's phase one. Phase two then would be the renovation focused on the housing units of the main jail at Rice Street. Looking next at the schedule, we are happy to say we are still largely on schedule from what we were estimating back in August. Again, starting with the special purpose facility, if we are granted authorization to begin financing today, we'll quickly move into procurement of our design team and then into construction.

And so we're looking at about a five year runway from 2026 to 2031 to occupy the special purpose facility. Then moving to phase two with the renovation, these activities will start concurrently with the special purpose facility in 2029 where we'll start the design work on the renovation with a target to complete design work in 2031 so that it aligns with the special purpose facility coming online allowing for a significant number of inmates to be removed or moved over from the special purpose facility or excuse me, moved to the special purpose facility from the main jail allowing for maximum flexibility as we do the renovation. And then finally with the budget, you'll recall we are estimating about $530,000,000 for the special purpose facility, about $550,000,000 for the Rice Street renovation. And all that would total about $1,100,000,000 for the overall program. And I will note what you're gonna hear today as we walk through this presentation is a recommendation to shift a lot of the core functional spaces from Rice Street over to the special purpose facility.

And when I say core functional spaces, that's gonna be things like intake, booking, administration, dining, laundry. All that we're planning on putting into the special purpose facility which you will see an increase in square footage and cost but then also an offset because we will not be renovating those spaces within the renovation. Go to the next slide. And here I'm gonna hand it off to Megan who'll walk through the program development.

Good morning Chairman, Commissioners. Megan Kaczakowski with ACR Partners. As Mr. Norocchi mentioned, we work with the sheriff's office to define the spatial needs, functions, and associated square footages required for an 1,800 bed special purpose facility, really focused on supporting the vulnerable populations, including behavioral health, those with medical needs, as well as all female detainees within the jail system. The most significant takeaway from this effort is a shift in the type of beds required.

Of the 1,800 total beds, approximately 1,200 or two thirds need to be dedicated to specialized populations. That's double our original operating assumption of 600 specialty beds. You can see the full breakdown on the chart in this slide broken down by gender and then by classification and population type. These findings have important design applications. The housing types require more single occupancy cells, smaller housing units, and more single floor layouts.

While these are better suited to the population, they do result in a higher square footage per bed. The other key takeaway is that as Mr. Naraki mentioned, following completion, this facility will house the majority of the jail population, about 1,800 of your currently roughly 2,800 daily population you're sitting at today. Because of that, we identified an opportunity to improve operational efficiency by co locating key jail support services within the walls of the special purpose facility. Those are spaces dedicated to supporting the housing such as intake and transfer, kitchen, laundry and security administration.

This shift also brings additional operational benefits through better alignment with current practices and modern jail design standards. Next slide. So what does all of this mean for project delivery? So building on those programming findings, the key takeaway here is the impact on cost. The shift towards a higher proportion of specialty housing means more square footage and higher cost space types due to the types of spaces that are required.

In addition, incorporating jail support services into the special purpose facility increases the upfront project cost, but that is largely offset by a reduction of the associated renovation scope. From a financing standpoint, the jail support investments in the special purpose facility are spread over a longer period and that will help to moderate the annual debt service. In addition to these program developments, we do continue to test the market and we do continue to see broader pressures particularly strong demand in the judicial construction sector as well as ongoing inflation. And now I'm going to turn it over to Jackie Hadebast to cover our site planning efforts that we've conducted to date. Jackie?

Good morning Chairman and Commissioners. Next slide please. Next slide. Joining me. Next slide, please. Thank you. Good morning, chairman and commissioners. My name is Jackie Hadebas. I'm with ACR Partners. As Meg had mentioned, yes, we've also been working on, a number of, site planning efforts.

Some key considerations that are going into that effort, is, first and foremost, how are we gonna maintain operations of the main jail while the special purpose facility is being constructed. We've also identified unused buildings on the Fulton County Jail site, that can be demolished as they've been unused for some time. Those are Bellwood, Jefferson Place, and the Warden's House. Right now, the accountability court is still occupied, but they will be moving, shortly to a new premises. We've also been working on a number of layouts for the new special purpose facility, always keeping in mind that, these layouts should be optimized for future expansion as well as security requirements such as building setbacks and limiting views to the new facility from the street.

Next slide, please. Okay. So an update on the program development. Next slide, please. Okay.

So the ACR team with the county team is working closely with the sheriff's office, and we've identified all of the program spaces needed for this new special purpose facility. With all those spaces identified, we've then allocated a square footage to each space based on industry standards and the needs of the sheriff's office, operationally. So what you're seeing here on the screen is one such layout of that program space on the site. As you'll see, it's overlaid on top of the, demolition, the buildings that it will be demolished very soon. So Bellwood, Jefferson Place, Warden's House, and the Accountability Court.

Down on the bottom left hand side bottom right, sorry, is the housing Building. So that will accommodate all 1,800 new beds. Above that is the Support Building. So the Support Building, as Steve mentioned, that will house all of the, specialist medical services as well as all of the support spaces. So that's kitchen, laundry, booking, administration.

And then finally, the last building that you're seeing there on the screen is the new central plant. And so we will be sizing that central plant building to accommodate both the mechanical and electrical, plant for the new special purpose, but also allocating space for, in for phase two, and so we can also, accommodate the, accommodate plant sorry, the electrical plant for the existing jail. Next slide, please. So here we are at phase two, and in phase two, will be the renovation of the housing unit towers. That's a phased renovation, plus it will include the addition of, the plant equipment into the new central plant allocated, in the middle of the screen there.

Next slide, please. So this is a section through the existing jail, and the new special purpose. So you can see that the existing jail stands at about 14, levels high with, mezzanines. The new special purpose with all housing units stacked in one tower, totals a, a total number of nine levels. What you're seeing on the screen is actually seven levels with two mezzanine levels lower down.

If you move across to the right, you'll see there there's a secure vehicle sally port and then the building support space, which can be distributed over two levels and also includes a double height, public entrance and lobby. And I'll hand it back to Megan to do a cost update. Thank you.

Next slide please. Alright. So before I jump into cost, I do want to clarify that the infirmary and the medical beds that you see at the top left, those 110 beds, are not counted as rated beds. Those faces function as clinical or treatment environments, and they're typically used on a temporary rotating basis depending on the medical need. So if you have a detainee in an infirmary bed, it's likely they have a bed already allocated to them within a housing unit.

So when we pardon me. When we refer to the 1,800 beds, that reflects the rated housing capacity. And the infirmary and the health services spaces are planned in addition to that in order to properly support the population. Now turning to the updated cost estimate for the program. As we've discussed, the initial estimates were developed prior to the programming phase.

With the benefit of the programming and the more detailed analysis we've now conducted, we have a clearer understanding about the quantity and the types of spaces that are required. The increased need for specialty housing, particularly the behavioral health and the medical spaces results in an approximately $100,000,000 increase to the special purpose facility. In addition, incorporating jail support services in order to serve the full jail population adds another $98,000,000 to the special purpose facility. However, that is partially offset by an estimated $63,000,000 reduction to the Rice Street scope renovation. In total, this results in a net program increase of $135,000,000 compared to the original $1,100,000,000 estimate.

Overall, these updates and developments reflect a refined alignment between the facility design, the population's needs, and the operational model as a result of the programming process. Next slide please. Okay, onto schedule. So this slide covers the next two years of the program really focused on delivery of the special purpose facility. In the near term, we're advancing design and construction management at risk procurement followed by design and preconstruction services.

Construction of the special purpose facility is planned to start in early twenty twenty eight as shown on the chart. In terms of key milestones for the county, the special purpose facility would be targeted for occupancy in 2031. Once that facility is online, it enables the county to utilize that capacity and begin the phased renovation of the existing main jail housing towers tower by tower with full completion anticipated in 2035. So overall, this reflects a sequence in a phased approach and alignment with our plan in August as mister Naraki mentioned, delivering the new facility first and then renovating the existing jail once that capacity is in place. Next slide. Okay so at this time I'll turn it over to the CFO Ms. Sharon Whitmore to talk about the financing. Thank you.

Thank you, Megan. Good morning, Commissioners. If we could go to the next slide, please. Thank you very much. The item that's before you today is the resolution that will authorize us to move forward with the plan of finance for this particular facility.

The resolution that has been provided establishes the not to exceed cost at the $1,363,000,000 level, the maximum interest rate that the bonds could be issued at, the maximum annual debt service amount. It also establishes the relationship with the South Fulton Municipal Regional Jail Authority as the conduit issuer for these bonds. They will issue the bonds. The bonds will then be supported by an intergovernmental agreement between the county and the authority. The resolution also provides for and allows our team to start working with the authority's team to finalize the transaction.

The slide that's up here is a depiction of what the estimated annual debt service may look like if we include the cost of this special purpose facility, $734,000,000, the Rice Street renovation at $489,000,000 and then a set aside for an accelerated housing program of $140,000,000 if necessary. These would not be issued in one pass. It would be a couple of different issuances to get to the total maximum allowed. We would expect to begin with about a 61,000,000 issue later this year to provide for the design and site work that's needed for the special purpose facility and expect that the new facility would be financed over a maximum of forty years while renovations would be financed over a maximum of twenty years. Next slide, please.

Next slide. So with regard to the requested action today and next step for today, what we're asking is for approval of the resolution, the inducement resolution, in an amount not to exceed the $1,363,000,000 for the JL capital improvement program. We'd also note that it does include all of the parameters that I stated previously, the maximum interest rate, the max annual debt service, and it contemplates the underlying intergovernmental agreement between the county and the authority. Once the board approves the resolution, then the next steps from the financing perspective would be that the South Fulton Regional Jail Authority would meet and also approve the inducement resolution. And then the two teams would begin to work on all of the underlying agreements that would support the transaction, including the things that are legally necessary in the State of Georgia such as a bond validation.

And then ultimately it would conclude with both the county and the authority approving the final form of the IGA. And with that, I will let Steve fill us in on what the next steps would be from a construction perspective.

Great, thank you Sharon. So just to close us out with our next steps for the program, if we do get favorable approval today from the board, we will continue with the site planning and the demolition of those facilities that we discussed earlier in the presentation on the southern side of the Rice Street campus. We'll also continue to assess outsourcing options or an accelerated build if needed if we are required to exit the Atlanta City Detention Center at the end of this year. And then once the county does enter into the IGA with the South Fulton Jail Authority, we will begin advertisement for the key project vendors like the design and construction team as well as all other project members to begin moving the program forward. And with that, we'll take any questions.

Thank you for the presentation.

The lineup is as follows. Commissioner Arrington, Vice Chair Abdur Rahman, Commissioner Ellis, Commissioner Barrett. Commissioner Arrington, you have the floor.

Thank you. We've gotta do something with our jail, and I think this special use facility is is a step in the right direction. I disagree vehemently with renovating the Wright Street Jail. We've seen what has happened to the areas that we have recently renovated. As soon as we renovated, they burned it and then they flooded it.

That facility doesn't have a direct supervision model. Will the new special use facility have a direct supervision model?

Yes, sir. That's the plan.

All right and what is the benefit of a direct supervision model for the benefit of the public?

May let Roger address that?

Thanks Steve, Roger Lichtman, ACR Partners. So direct supervision came into county jails probably in the late 70s, early 80s and what it is for those who don't know is opposed to having a control station that is overlooking the detainees in the facility, the officer is directly in the day room with the detainees so that it gives them the opportunity to understand what's going on. The detainees can talk to him. He can talk to them. So it gives a much better feel in terms of being proactive as opposed to being reactive to any situation that might arise.

And this entire facility, this special purpose facility is being designed around that operational model. Over the years it's been proven to be much more effective because you don't have to spend the money on security, you don't have to spend the money on extraneous maintenance free products such as stainless steel toilets and that sort of thing because of the nature of the proactiveness and understanding what's going on in active classification system.

Thank you. Madam CFO, I'd like a little further explanation because on one of the slides earlier, we saw 500 and I can get back to it. We saw, alright, on page four it says that the rough order of magnitude for the special purpose facility is $536,000,000 Yet, when we get to your financing slide, see $734,000,000 Is that the cost of financing it, $200,000,000 to finance it, the $500,000,000 No,

sir. I think Megan could probably explain this better but it's the effect of the ads that were made as they went through the programming effort with the sheriff's office. The cost of those ads that were included plus then the movement of the plant support and other jail services, the build out to support those in the special purpose facility were not included originally in our now. I think it's on the jail capital improvement program cost update slide which is I think three maybe four slides back from here. But I think Megan could explain that pretty clearly.

Ms. Whitmore is exactly right. So the difference between the $536,000,000 and the $734,000,000 specific to the special purpose facility is really in two parts. Roughly half of that is due to now having gone through a detailed analysis and programming with the sheriff's office to understand their operational model and the needs of the jail population and make sure that that program is built around those individuals. The other half as Ms.

Whitmore pointed out is due to the addition of the jail support spaces within the special purpose facility rather than renovating those same spaces within the existing jail. In that case that additional 100,000,000 though is offset partially by a reduction of those renovation spaces within Wright Street. So that's why the total net increase to the program is only $135,000,000 I

guess I'm trying to understand why the two different numbers, why the $1,880,000,000 on Slide four and then the $1,363,000,000 on the financing slide? Why not just put the $735,000,000 in there instead of leaving the $5.36 in there?

It's a

great question. We just wanted to recap where we were in August last time we presented so that we could show the developments that have been done to date. So that slide four is a recap of the assumptions that were made with a rough order of magnitude estimate at that time prior to having gone through the programming.

Would it be helpful to go to page 12?

Sure, please.

Madam Clerk if you could because that's where the puts and takes are, Commissioner Haditha.

Could you go back to slide 12 please? Thank you.

Maybe walk back through that again. Sure. Megan please. So

the special purpose facility is estimated based on the programming at $734,000,000. That's up from the $536,000,000 that we were estimating as a rough order of magnitude in August. So now having gone through the programming, our findings were that the need for additional specialty beds to meet the needs of the Fulton County Jail population and our coordination with the sheriff's office on determining those needs is a net increase of $100,000,000 And then adding in the jail support programming spaces again that's intake, booking transfer, kitchen, laundry, security administration, really those spaces that are going to support the housing. That's a net increase to that special purpose facility of 98,000,000. So those additions total $734,000,000 And then again you see there the net decrease to the Rice Street renovation of $63,000,000 bringing us to that net increase for the program of 135,000,000

All right, but that number doesn't include the temporary housing or the outsourcing and that amount is estimated at what?

That amount is estimated at 140,000,000 if that ends up being a needed option for the county to pursue. So

the 1.363 includes that amount?

Yes sir.

Yes sir.

For the temporary housing?

Yes sir.

And then this is just for the special purpose facility and the renovations?

That's correct. The program as it's contemplated today.

All right, well there's a lot of time between now and 2028. Composition of this board is gonna change and perhaps the will of the board may change. We've got four No, actually five. Five seats up for election this year. Right? And frankly, think a lot of us agree that we need a new jail. The question was how do we finance it? Right? We went to the state looking to finance it. So I think everyone or a majority of us agree that a new facility is needed.

But there'll be a lot of change between now and 2028. There'll be a lot of change between now and 2027, let alone 2028 when there'll be another round of three elections. And so the composition of this board changes or is subject to change every two years. Right? But I'm I'm I'm happy to support it because we need to do something to make sure that we are housing people safely and humanely.

And I think the special use facility makes sense, especially with seventy percent of the jail population having some sort of mental health issue. But again, I am adamantly against, and I just wanna say this for the record, I'm adamantly against doing anything to the current Wright Street facility, renovating it. Anything other than demolishing it is I'm adamantly opposed to. But this is a step in the right direction. I will support it now because I believe there'll be other opportunities for the new board to address it either at the end of this year or in 2028 or beyond.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Vice Chair Abdul Rahman.

Thank you Chairman. I just want to address some of the things that were said at public comment. First, the idea of privatization, is someone having a conversation about privatization with the parameters of what you all are doing? Because this is my first time hearing about that. And so, just wanna make sure for the listening public that we clear up any misrepresentations and or maybe lies.

So, I want to speak to it. We're going to have to have the difficult conversations because we live in a day and time where people tell lies. And so, a lie finds its way down here because a lie, don't care who tells it. So, let's deal with, is there something or a facet of this that we're trying to privatize or move in a privatized juncture or venture? If someone can speak to that, I don't wanna put this team on I

can, Vice Chair.

You, Yes, County thank

you. What we're doing is looking at all available options with the clearest and best option being staying at the Atlanta Detention Center through whatever period of time this construction occurs on the special purpose building. As you know and the board knows, that, agreement ends at the end of this year. We don't have any indication from Atlanta of an openness to, at least with specificity, to stay in that building. In fact, we're getting notices now for a plan to draw down the 400 to four fifty folks who have been housed at the Atlanta Detention Center.

So, that's the number one preference is to stay there. A second preference that we're exploring is to go to another county that's local. I'm hopeful and have gotten positive signals that that could be achieved. Getting to the details is the next step in that process. The third alternative was looking to build our own and we talked to two companies, meaning build something that would only house four hundred five hundred folks and what was proposed at least initially was one that would have a lifespan of thirty years and another would have a lifespan more of like five to seven years.

They have different characteristics in terms of durability and the like, neither of which though meet any kind of timeframe that would be satisfied by the end of the year. They're probably a year and a half to as long as two years to construct despite being marketed as rapid build, that was kind of a term of art as opposed to reality. And then the final was we were approached by a company that is a private operator for another county. They also do it in multiple counties in Louisiana for Texas, but there's no active plan per se because nothing's even formed up enough for us to present the options to you. So, what we have done and that's why we talked about what's included in this capital cost, We've included a number in there.

If we have to build, then if you approve today's presentation, we have at least the authority to issue bonds if that's the option. Again, the preferable option is Atlanta, another local county. I don't think the build option really fits the need and I understand the concerns with a private operator.

So, county manager, me make this clear to the listening public. Something of this magnitude, you would need to be on this board more than a year to even grasp it first of all, or fourteen months. However, you must have a point a, b, c, d. Because, the clients that I like to call them, to have somewhere to go. You can't find that place on the day that you find that you have nowhere for them to go.

I appreciate you county manager explaining that, but I want to explain to the listening public, when you have one, something this magnitude, when you have limited options and one of the options that we have may or may not be a reality, the prudent use of taxpayers funds and the prudent use of representing all of Fulton County, like we do, is to make sure that we do not have a glitch in the system. Which means you can do all the best preparing, but if you have not prepared for A, B, C or D, maybe a failure, maybe a change, maybe a different direction, maybe you want to go two eighty five instead of 20. Failing to plan is planning to fail. And that's not a hard concept for people that want to serve in this capacity down here, because we have to have options all the time. And so, what I want the sitting and listening public to hear today is that we're moving in a direction of solution based directions.

But, there are solution based directions that we might have to at some point navigate or adjust in making sure we get to the goal. And that is to make sure that we have adequate housing. So, to that point, I wanted to make sure because I heard about this private thing before I even came today. I heard about it in the streets. And so, I kind of had an idea of what it may have been, but I want it to be addressed this morning, so I'm glad you addressed it.

Secondly, I also want to make sure that we understand from an advocacy point of view terminology. A mental health jail is an oxymoron. And so, we don't want to say mental health jail. We want to say services for those, whether they are mental, behavior or whatever, that may have to be housed differently from everybody else, that we're prepared and we understand that that is part of our problem. And this is solution based.

So, in a solution based society, which is what I always try to conform to, we know what the problem is, we have to work on the solution. So, mental health services, behavioral services, any services that for whatever reason, and I don't want to get into finger pointing or none of that, but I want to educate the public. We must move in the mindset of addressing that via housing, via treatment and via funding. And this is how we do it. And so, I just wanted to say that for the record, I know I got long winded, but we're in a campaign season, we're in a season of craziness with crazy folks running for office.

And I don't want this to be hijacked. I want people to have the facts so they can make their own determination of what's best and they can advocate on that. Thank you.

Alright Commissioner Ellis.

Thanks Mr. Chair. I just wanted to thank all of our staff in particular for the amount of time and work that has taken place with us. I mean we started this conversation, I mean yes elected officials will come and go and so forth and that sort of thing, but we started this conversation to address what we've known all is a real need. When do we start this, Mr. Manager?

I want to say this is 'twenty six, it was 'twenty four.

'twenty four is when we did the pivot, right?

At least it's been two

And we had things that we were discussing even during the COVID period about specialized facilities and that sort of stuff that we didn't act on. And this is definitely a complex issue to say understatement. And to be able to come up with something that is a workable solution has required a lot of effort on your partner. I think we've gotten a lot of expertise that we've brought into bear on this subject. Today the centerpiece of this, yes this is, we're gonna ask a few questions, but the centerpiece of this is this Fulton County specialized care and detention facility.

That's the centerpiece of this. That is the thing which alters dramatically our current approach to what we have been doing and sets the stage for how we will handle detention going forward. So that's the focus today is this Fulton County specialized care and detention facility. We're gonna have some transitional stuff that we are gonna have to work through as the Vice Chair indicated and all of those options are going to have to be explored And hopefully the existing option that we have will continue to be an option. But some of those things are beyond our control and we gotta be able to scenario plan all of those things out.

But that's the temporary thing. It's real, but it's a temporary thing. This is the thing that's trending towards a greater degree of permanency.

So

just to note, this is a maximum financing of $1,363,000,000 right?

Yes sir, it's the not to exceed.

And so in this, on slide 16 in the estimated annual debt service chart, that's reflected that $140,000,000 is reflected within that, is that correct?

That's correct.

And that's a little bit more I'm guessing that's a little more front end loaded in terms of how it impacts the financing, correct?

It would be with the 140 added in, yes sir.

So those numbers in the earlier years and stretched out, if we didn't need to do the accelerated housing could come down in terms of the annualized debt serviced around that.

That's correct.

Okay. So let's all hope that that is definitely the case. I think that there have been a lot of commentary that's been provided to us by different constituents. And I think what I wanted to say to many of the folks who've come down brought commentary that we've heard all of that. And I think our management team has heard all of that.

And everybody comes at this a of times from different points of view. But this I think really encapsulates a lot of that feedback and trying to come up with a solution that's both compassionate and fiscally responsible. And I think we've hit the mark with that today. It would be awesome if we got to the point, and we're talking about being able to deliver this in 2031, correct? Correct.

There was a time when we were talking about alternative facilities that would be ten to twelve years out to be able to do, right? With a much greater magnitude of transitional impact It's to do very significant transitional impact to be able to do them. So as you listen to all that, as you listen to everything you just have to understand kind of all the different things that and puts and takes and stuff that have been weighed out by the management team and our consultants that we've engaged to reach this point in time. And today's decision is definitely about meeting a serious public need with compassion, with dignity and fiscal discipline so that Fulton County could do what is right for its people and responsible for taxpayers at the same time. And I'm gonna probably lend my support to this measure in looking forward with us getting on with a solution.

And not talking about task force and blue ribbon committees and all that sort of stuff which have their place. But today's about action, making a decision, and moving forward. And whether any of us up here in 2031 when this thing opens, it's about the material impact that that's gonna have for this county going forward. Thank you.

Alright, Commissioner Barrett.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. I have a couple questions. First of all, on the demolition that is planned, is that, can the bond fund financing be used for that or is that something that has to be paid for with a different source? And what is the cost of the demolition?

I don't think we're anticipating that right now to be in that overall cost. Dream is largely leading that effort right now. I know we're in the design phase of that demolition. And it's something Mr. Davis maybe can speak to that since Dream is managing it.

At this point we have funded the design work that will be needed in order to facilitate the demolitions in advance of whatever design build direction we go with the future construction on the jail site, we know that we will have to clear the site. So at this point, we've only funded the actual development of construction drawings for the demolition at which point when we have a clear path forward in terms of what we will or will not build then that decision will be made to decide to either demolish as designed or go in a separate direction. But at this point, it's simply preparing for a potential outcome.

Okay, so that didn't answer my question, but thank you. I asked where the funding is coming from and approximately how much it's going to cost. So I mean we've got to have some idea, we've labeled the four buildings that we're planning to demolish so we must have some idea of the cost and where it's coming from and when it's going to, what year it'll hit the budget and all of those things.

I will defer to Joe but I think I have heard $2,000,000 is the demolition, the expected demolition cost for the areas that would need to be demolished and to answer your question about could it be included in the bond, the bonding? Yes, it could be included in the bonding. We have not included it in the cost that are presented here. So depending on whether we move forward with the accelerated housing, we could peel off that 2,000,000 from that balance to use for that purpose. If not, then I believe that we have the funds that have come in from returned TAD increment that have been placed and held for facilities that we would tap into to be able to cover the demolition cost.

It does seem to me that I hear that there's definitely, I mean look I think we all acknowledge that what we're approving today is a pretty broad based step in getting the bond financing with a not to exceed number. And that some of the things that are being contemplated may change and may get less expensive depending on what we decide or more. Hopefully not more because then we would be in the exceed position. But it does seem to me that if we're, if we could, if this is an expense that can be paid for by the capital funds that it should be contemplated in the total just because the TAD funds that you're talking about, the return in TAD funds could be used for anything. That's general fund money that can go towards anything.

So it just seems that it would be prudent to incorporate that into the bond financing. That's just a statement. I know we have a lot more to discuss but I hope that what we've contemplated in this not to exceed number will make that an available option so that whatever general fund money we have is available for a broader base of options throughout for county needs writ large. Okay, next question is on the, you talked about the programming process and how that sort of informed the eighteen thirty four beds versus the 1,800 beds and the kind of beds and the square footage required and all of that. Could you speak a little bit more to the actual process?

What kind of data did you look at to determine the need of eighteen thirty four and the types of beds and all of that?

Sure, once again Roger Lichtman, ACR. What we did was we worked with the sheriff's office and determined their current population, what they need now, what they have. But more importantly, what we did was rather than just do a cloud based, shall we say, programming effort, what we did was because we come from an architectural background, developed a typical housing unit size so that we could utilize an economy of scale in terms of construction. So we came up with either a 56 bed housing unit or a 28 bed housing unit. And because it's a special population as an example with a lot of the mental health patients, with a lot of the geriatric patients and other recovering patients, we didn't want to do a floor in a mezzanine such as the current Rice Street facility right now.

So they are one story facility. So that's where we come up with the 28. And when Jackie presented before that some of them had mezzanine

Sorry, I'm sorry, can I just stop you for a second? What are you talking about with the 28 and the What's

28 detainees per housing unit?

Is on slide five because that has the breakdown?

So what we actually did was we developed where each specific classification could be located within the facility. So as not to build a half a housing unit or a third of a housing unit, that's how we came up with the ultimate number of 18 was it eighteen seventy six, think eighteen thirty eighteen thirty four, yeah.

Okay, but I guess what I'm asking is you seem to have some data that is helping you determine what kinds of like you've got a breakdown between male and female who have these conditions. And you seem to have some concept of the kinds of conditions and the types of beds that those conditions require. Correct? Correct. So I'm asking where that is coming from. And what I heard you say just now, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that came from looking at the current population in the jail system today.

Pretty much, yes. And Megan had showed a slide originally that showed the breakdown as to the geriatrics and the mental health, severe mental health, and all of those units. And that was I think Was it slide three or slide five has that breakdown.

Yeah, Okay. I do have some concern about the population number that we're contemplating providing housing for. Because when we did the original jail feasibility study which was commissioned before I got here and presented about two months after Commissioner Thorne and I arrived, It seems like a long, long time ago now doesn't it? There was a lot of data analysis on the population needs over time. And this was I know we changed changed those numbers in our discussions, but based on the original feasibility study that was provided to us in March 2023, it was contemplated that even with optimal improvement to our justice system, changes to the laws perhaps, throughput in our courts, more diversion, whatever it might be, the optimal improvement that's how it was termed at the time, that we would have an average daily population of 3,686.

Now I'm not talking special purpose, I'm talking overall. 3,686 bed need average daily population and with a consideration, this was by 2037 by the way, and if you added in a peaking factor and classification factor in 2037 that drove that total number up to 4,403 beds. And so I know this plan is sort of in a way a phased approach of what we had here. And in theory decisions can be made along the way before we renovate something else or build something else about how many additional beds are needed. But it doesn't seem like we're even taking that into consideration in this plan.

And I think my concern goes to again the not to exceed dollars because we are contemplating right now a not to exceed dollar amount that is based on a plan, that is based on population in the facility that is in today's numbers only. And this is a facility, at least the new bill part of it, is supposed to last us for forty years. So I have some real concerns here about us building something that is almost instantaneously too small when it comes online or within five years it's too small. And while I am certainly, you know, I'm not of the belief that if you build more beds then more beds get filled. That's not a belief that I agree with.

But I do think if we don't make a serious commitment to either building enough housing for the population that we are likely to have based on data or and maybe this is an and or, making a serious investment in our justice system to start to get to the optimal situation and that to me would include all of the things we're starting to invest in now but perhaps need a broader investment and I'm talking about the accountability courts, the diversion programs, even the summer youth program, programs in the community that reduce crime along with more money for the public defender's office and the solicitors and the DA and the courts so that the throughput in our system is faster so that people are spending less days in the jail. So right now as this plan stands, I think it's a little bit of a house of cards. And as much as I am very much in support of us getting started on a building that is humane and safe in particular for this specialized population and I will say I agree with some of the public comments around like it is a jail, we have to call it that and calling it something else is not entirely fair.

However, it is a jail, it is a portion of a jail that is designed to hold our most vulnerable population. So I agree with my colleague, Vice Chair when she says it's not a mental health jail because that's not accurate either. It is a jail that will house our most vulnerable populations which includes people with behavioral health challenges who need services and the elderly and the young and and. And so I do think the term special purpose as long as we're clear about what that means is Okay with me. Okay, so the population to me is a concern.

I don't know what the plan is to address that. Maybe someone can speak to when will we be analyzing the future population needs and how will that come into play?

Yes, thanks Commissioner. So speaking to the 1,800 and why there was not another population forecast done when developing that is because that was the parameter that the board approved back in August. And so the mandate that you gave management and then we gave to our consultants was to build a program out that fit the 1,800 beds. What that'll help us accomplish though in terms of any population growth, once we complete the renovations at Rice Street, we would ideally be able to single bunk. And so if we're single bunking, that's about 1,300 beds.

So the 13 plus the 1,800, that's 3,100 give or take. If we need a pressure release valve because the population is exceeding 3,100, it's going closer to 4,000, the next step is then to start double bunking. Which is not ideal but it is a method and it's currently what's being done right now. And that can get us well north of 4,000. Okay, well

I certainly appreciate that but I will also just state for people who may not be following all of this jail conversation all the time like some of us are. That's exactly what happened at Rice Street. It was built for single bunking. It was immediately too small and then it was double bunked, which was below industry standard and contributes to the unsafe and inhumane conditions of having people crowded in to a space. So I'm not a fan of that option.

All right. I want to move on to the discussion and I will echo Commissioner Arrington's comment that I am not in support of renovating Rice Street, the towers, the housing towers for a variety of reasons, but chief among them is the cost per bed and overall cost versus building a newer building to house the same number of people. And so I asked for the numbers per bed to we have the we have essentially the numbers per bed on the renovation.

For the renovation, yes ma'am.

Which is about how much?

I forget.

$4.04 44.

Did you hear that?

Is it? So the direct renovation cost is $444,000,000 and then the expansion of the plant would be 45,000,000 on top of that. So $4.89 total.

No but per bed. I'm asking. Per Per bed.

I don't remember. Do you remember what it is?

I mean I think we did some back of the napkin math and so I'll just shortcut this and say from what I

It's cost per bed. I'd have to run the

numbers. Sorry. That's okay. I did ask and I was told that these numbers are too complicated to deliver to me. So apparently they were too complicated. But I did some of my own back of the napkin math and it does appear to me and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but just ballpark, it is going to cost us close to 100,000 more per bed to renovate than to build new, give or take, based on the four what was the number you just gave me? $4.98? So And I think you have to do the central plan. So the total number is not $4.44, it's the $4.98.

Yes, $4.98 and then the cost per bed for the renovation, what was that 335,000.

That's not, I don't believe, based on what, based on 1,300 beds?

Yes, based on

13 We don't have to sit here and do a big math problem. The bottom line is it is significantly more expensive to renovate than to build these beds in a new facility. And even if it was only a few thousand dollars more, we are talking about a twenty year lifespan of a building versus a forty year lifespan of a building. So we build new, it lasts forty years, we renovate, we get twenty years. That's not mathematically sound.

It's not fiscally smart. And so again, I know we have lots of, we the board, whatever board is here at the time will have opportunities to make different decisions, But I think the public needs to understand that the plan as written here today is not fiscally sound. And I understand that the board directed you all to do certain things. The board also directed you all to find a solution for 300,000,000 and we're now at 1.2 plus billion. So all of this to say I believe what we're approving today is a step that we have to do to begin to fund the 1,800 unit special purpose unit and that's fine, I'm supportive, but I do do think the public needs to understand that this plan is not sufficient.

We need either either and a real investment in keeping people out of jail and we need to house the people we have humanely for a long period of time. So I think there's still a lot of work to be done.

Thank you. Commissioner Thorne.

Thank you Vice Chair. I wanted to go back to the direct supervision model. I don't know if Roger, if you could speak to that. There are cons that go around with direct supervision, correct?

I'm I'm sorry?

There are cons to direct supervision over indirect. You said that being proactive versus reactive, much more effective. Security, no stainless steel toilets but there are drawbacks to having direct supervision, correct?

Not necessarily, I don't think at this point. Now one of the keys to success in direct supervision is that there has to be an effective classification system Because if we just classify by height or something ridiculous like that and we throw everybody in, then yes, we're going to have a problem with direct supervision. But if we have a realistic classification tool for the most part at this point now, I mean direct supervision has been around fifty years and it's been longer than that in the federal system and it has been proven to work quite well.

Yes, with the And I'm happy that our sheriff has got a digital classification system now, not doing it on paper. So hopefully, errors won't be met and it'll be more efficient that way. But I used to be on the NACO Public Safety Council and when I went to Orlando they were also told that they needed to build a huge jail and they predicted these large incarceration rates. It was gonna go from 2,000 to 4,000 people. And instead, they did the same thing, they built a mental health intake center and they therefore reduced their recidivism rate by 50% and reduced their incarceration rate by 50%.

They have not hit that huge 4,000 number that was predicted when they were told they needed to build that jail. And when I visited the property and I went there, there's some incorrect information, I went there on vacation which I do not choose Orlando as my vacation destination. I went there with the large urban connie caucus by invitation by Mayor Demings to go and look at that facility. And they had facilities much older than ours that were in great shape. They weren't vandalized, They were in good repair.

They were maintained very good. And they're quite a bit older than ours. But they did have indirect supervision. And the chief jailer at that jail explained that for really, really dangerous criminals, you do not want to have direct supervision, that it's too much stress, mental health stress on the jailer that has to be on the floor. And there's big stress and mental health challenges with those jailers that have to be on those floor with those pods, 56 to 28 people.

He also said that those when you have direct supervision, they need a higher level of training as well to be able to be placed on the floor if if that's correct. So the expense might we might incur an expense there. So I know I know there are advocates on this board and there's, former on the board that just wanted to build a 2,000,000,000 jail and incarcerate 5,000 people so that we can just accommodate everybody and everything. But I just look at this as truly a solution, a solution that I'm hoping that we will model after Orlando and we will reduce our incarceration rate. I don't wanna build something big and then let the justice system fill it.

I wanna have some kind of constraint that we have that we are helping people before and helping people even that have to go through our system that they come out better on the other side because they're actually getting the help that they need. So that's why I advocated for this solution and I thank you for all the time and effort that you guys have put into this study and having to do a pivot. This started, as Commissioner Barrett mentioned, before we were commissioners in 2022. You approved the jail feasibility study I believe and then in 2023 it came forward, is that correct?

Yes Commissioner Thorne, I think in December '23 is when the plan was presented to the board, the feasibility plan.

So I thank you for having to pivot and all the work that you've put down. Everybody, finance, everybody on this. And I agree with Commissioner Ellis that we we can't kick the can down the road. We've got to get started now. We've got to come up with a solution. And I know this is probably not the only tweak you're going to have to do in the process, but I thank you that you're doing what you're doing and thank you for the work that you've done.

Thank you Commissioner. Commissioner Barrett.

Thank you Mr. Chairman. I just want to respond to Commissioner Thorne's comment that having a smaller building somehow constrains the judges or the justice system from putting people in jail. And I think we know that that is not true because that is we have those constraints today. And we have people sleeping on boats on the floor in the jail.

And we have people outsourced to other jails around the area and so we have less beds right now and we have people we are looking for other solutions to put the people that don't fit in the current constraints. So you know and I also want to just reiterate when I was talking about some of the larger numbers, they are not current, they are future. And also the larger numbers are based on the ability to retain the classification, the separation by the classification of the prisoners or the inmates rather and that that is something that is mandated that we do under the consent decree. So I just want to point out that we're not talking about having whatever number I said 4,000 some odd people in jail. We're talking about having enough beds to be able to have the people that are housed there classified appropriately.

Alright Commissioner Arrington, Commissioner Thorne, Vice Chair of Abdul Rahman and I'd like to vote after that. Commissioner Arrington

you have the floor.

Thank you. Yeah. I just want to state for the record, as the only attorney on this commission, as the only practicing attorney that practices criminal defense law, I do not support mass incarceration. It conflates the issue when you try to say you wanna build a bigger jail to arrest more people. I certainly do not believe in arresting more people.

But the issue of having a safe and humane jail is separate than the issue of mass incarceration. Our population continues to grow and I guess I'd like to hear from the consultants to hear more about population growth and is there any population growth included in the numbers that you have or what we're proposing. But I wanna be real crystal clear that proposing a larger facility does not have anything to do with the Roswell Police arresting more people or the College Park Police arresting more people. Those policing units of the 15 cities are arresting the people that violate the laws. And as our population increases, there is likely to be an increase in the number of arrests.

Fulton County is just housing. Fulton County is charged and Fulton County and our sheriff are charged with housing the people that are arrested mostly by the cities. The number of people that are in the Fulton County Jail that are arrested by the Fulton County police or the Fulton County Sheriff is probably less than 10 or 5%. The overwhelming majority of the inmates at the Fulton County jail are arrested by the cities. And so, I don't want It's not fair to conflate those two issues of the size of the facility or the capacity, not necessarily the size, the capacity of the facility and to make sure that we have something that is going to allow for capacity over the next ten, twenty years and allow for the increase in capacity.

Certainly we need to be doing all that we can to reduce incarcerations, reduce arrest, provide more resources so that people have jobs. But I'd love to hear from our consultants about current capacity and expanded capacity over the next ten to twenty years. I mean, it doesn't make any sense to build a building and to spend 1,300,000,000.0. The new jail let's be real clear. The the the new jail was gonna cost 1,600,000,000.0.

And now we're talking about 1,300,000,000.0 for a new facility and renovating the jail. But I wanna hear about capacity, current capacity, expanded capacity over the next ten to twenty years and how and or if that was included in your numbers?

I'll jump in before the consultants do, Commissioner. We did not have them conduct a population forecast. Again, because the board approved at the 1,800 level for the special purpose facility, that's the direction we gave to our consultants. So they did not do a forecast. In terms of future capacity, like I mentioned to Commissioner Barrett, the plan is to use Rice Street once the renovation has completed. So best case scenario for single bunking, it's roughly 1,300 beds. The 13 plus the 1,800 gets us to 3,100. If we exceed that capacity, then we'll have to go to double bunking. But that is the plan that we're moving forward with right now.

Okay, thank you.

Yes sir.

Mean Roger can offer anything on trends perhaps. But again, this is the plan that we're moving forward without a forecast attached to it, if that's what you're looking for, Commissioner.

Let me just share quickly that in the planning that you saw, we don't want our grandkids here sitting in the same situation that we're in now today. So obviously when the site is planned, it's planned for future expansion to expand onto that. Now to your point, any criminal justice system is a series of moving parts. And it's how many officers you have on the street, how many people they're arresting directly correlates to how many people are coming in and how fast can you process them out. Because if they're getting bogged down in the courts, your population is going up.

And if your average length of stay is going up, then your population in the jail is going up. If you can have maybe certain counties might have more judges or whatever it is to process faster, their evidence processing for the police departments are better so that they can get it through faster, then your population can go down. But it's a moving, it's all moving parts. We were doing work in Texas at one point that what was happening was that somebody would come in to the judge for their hearing and they were gonna be released but the police couldn't produce the evidence. It was another six weeks that they had to spend in jail and that was common.

So it's a series of moving parts. The building is merely a tool that can either enhance or impede the criminal justice system. And clearly, what we're here today is to enhance criminal justice system

in Fulton. Mister Milwaukee, the the double bunking that you're referencing, is that in the special use facility or in the existing Rice Street or in both?

It would be in the renovated Rice Street, sir. I think we do have a detailed plan of and if we can go back one slide in the breakdown of the beds or the housing areas, think some of them are single and some of them are double bunked for specific reasons. But what I was referring to Commissioner was just once Rice Street is renovated, our final pressure release valve would be going to double bunking there. But you can see here some are double and some are single and some are four bed cells depending on the proper configuration.

That's in the new special use facility or that's in the Wright Street facility?

You're looking at here Commissioner is in the special purpose facility, the 1,800 beds you can see at the bottom there. But that is the special purpose facility.

And why would we consider double bunking in only the Wright Street facility and not in the special use facility?

I think Roger again could answer that.

Double bunking is potentially a misnomer. The cells in Rice Street were designed to house one person. When you double bunk, you're putting a second person in a cell that was originally designed to house one person. If you look up here, what we're doing is that either they're designed for double occupancy, which means that there are two beds, might not even be bunk beds in that one particular unit housing cell. And then we have actually for minimum and medium you see that there's a bunch that we have eight bed cells which is a multiple occupancy unit.

And there's eight separate beds in that unit, in that cell. So it would be very difficult to go back and put 16 people in there. And I think that that defeats the purpose of a special purpose unit as well because what we want to do is not overcrowd this unit so that we can concentrate on the programs and the medical attention and the psychological attention that these people need. That if we just go ahead and double bunk that, I think that that would forward our mission.

Well, think the same thing about the Wright Street Jail and based on what you just said, it's designed for one bed, it's designed for single occupancy. And so I don't know why we would even be entertaining double booking at that facility.

But here's the difference is that if we pull out because this accommodates all of your special populations for the foreseeable future, In addition, there's some general population that will be here too which means that those who will remain in Rice Street or those who will be put into the renovated Rice Street or whatever, what will happen is that that will be a classification specific that they could accommodate double bunking as opposed to these people who might not be able to?

Well, either You just said it was designed for single occupancy. Agreed. Alright, that's all I need to hear. I mean So, alright I'll leave it there. Thank you.

Alright, Vice Chair Abdu Rakban.

Commissioner Thorne, Commissioner Thorne, Commissioner

Mister Norwalky.

Yes ma'am.

I wanted to address that there's people sleeping on the floor in boats in our jail right now. Do you recall your last presentation you gave us, your last update? How many beds do we have available?

I'm I'm trying to think, Commissioner, Rice Street specifically or did you In go across the entire

I believe it was 600 and some. Is that correct?

I'm giving Joe a look over here too.

Commissioner Thorne, is your question how many beds we currently have available that are open and available for use?

Yes.

That number is roughly three sixty four if I'm not mistaken.

Okay. And we had how many people in votes? About

Maybe in the 50 at And the I'm just speaking purely from memory but I think it was it's been in the area of 50 the past couple months we've given the update.

Okay. So we have available beds but the reason we have available beds and we have people sleeping on the floor, could you is it

I think it's classification. It's it's facility dependent. It's also supervision. So like at ACDC where we're providing that, we are providing both supervision there and they only take a certain classification. Classification. So there are beds that are going to show as available just from a raw number but would not be eligible to be put there. And so things like that are contributing to why you see this available number. But still we have individuals on temporary beds.

Oh yes. Okay. So I have it here. Inmates in temporary beds are 50.

Okay,

good. So county manager pulled it up for me really quick. Okay. I just wanted to get some clarification on that that we do have some bed availability. We just can't at this point staff whatever classification staffing are issues right now.

Yes ma'am.

Thank you.

Alright. Vice Chair Abdul Rahman.

Thank you, Chairman. Clearly, we're going to have advocacy on both ends to the end of time on this. But, as a board, we must move ahead with solutions that result the will of the taxpayers, that make sure that we're getting to the core problems. So, with that comment, I'm going to move I'm going make a motion that we approve the resolution authorizing the financing of the Fulton County Jail Improvement Plan.

Alright, I'll second. Alright, the motion has been made to approve and seconded. Any further discussion at this time? I'm sorry.

Commissioner Yes, sir. Mister chair. I'm I'm gonna support it. I'm just I I object to renovating the Wright Street Jail. I just wanna state that for the record but I am supportive of getting this special use facility, getting that underway immediately. Thank you.

Alright, let's vote please.

And the vote is open. And the motion passes six yeas zero nays.

Next item.

On page seven, twenty six zero two one six real estate and asset management. Request approval to increase spending authority for maintenance repair and operation supplies in the amount of $30,000.

Alright. Motion to approve by commissioner Ellis, seconded by commissioner Thorne. Please vote.

And the vote is open. And the motion passes. Six yeas, zero nays. Twenty six zero two one seven public works. Request approval to renew an existing contract in amount not to exceed $323,584 to provide annual air traffic control night coverage services.

Alright. I have a favorable motion by commissioner Ellis, seconded by commissioner Thorne.

And the vote is open. Other motion passes. Six yays, zero nays. Twenty six zero two one eight, request approval to utilize corporative purchasing for the purchase of a conventional chassis five yard dump truck in amount not to exceed $131,927.

Motion to approve by commissioner Ellis, seconded by vice chair Kameesha Kadija Abdulrahman.

And the vote is open. And the motion passes. Six yeas, zero nays. Twenty six zero two one nine request approval to utilize corporate cooperative purchasing for the purchase of a chassis 10 yard dump truck in the amount not to exceed 174,750.

Alright. Motion to approve by commissioner Ellis, seconded by commissioner Thorne.

And the vote is open. And the motion passes. Six yays, zero nays. On page eight, commissioner's action items twenty six zero two two zero, request approval of resolution to establish a minimum annual funding level of $250,000 for Quality Living Services Inc and Sadie G. Mays Health and Rehabilitation Center and for other purposes sponsored by commissioner Arrington.

You need to sound the other one as well.

Those two are to be sounded together. No. No, they're not.

They were combined.

No. I'm sorry. Point point of order. There was a suggestion, there was a recommendation to combine them. I objected to that. The items stayed the same. There there was there was there was no consensus on combining those items. Those are my items. I placed them on the agenda and I asked for them to remain separate.

Commissioner Arrington, unfortunately you're incorrect but that's not a hill that I'm gonna die on. If you want to them sound separately, voted on separately, so be it because I'm not gonna waste taxpayers money or time for camera time.

Alright, we'll take them separately. Commissioner Sound, the person again. Go ahead.

Twenty six zero two two zero requests approval resolution to establish a minimum annual funding level of $250,000 for Quality Living Services Inc. And Sadie G. May's Health and Rehabilitation Center and for other purposes.

So, colleagues, the reason I put this on the agenda is because we have legacy legacy items that we approved, legacy organizations that we approved at the last meeting for minimum $250,000, but we forgot our other legacy organizations. QLS is one of those legacy organizations and so is, Sadie G. Mays Rehab Center. And so to some extent we need to establish what a legacy organization is rather than only declaring these arts organizations as legacy organizations. QLS resides in a Fulton County building.

They service more than four to five times the number of people that our neighborhood senior centers service. And so, my recommendation and my proposal is that these two organizations, these two health care related organizations that are below I 20 and in the health care desert, that these organizations be funded at the same minimal levels that we fund our other legacy organizations. And perhaps we need to define what is in fact a legacy organization so that it doesn't just apply to the arts organizations. I'm happy that those arts organizations got that money. But the patients, the staff at QLS, the patients and staff at Sadie G.

Mayes also deserve the same legacy designation that these arts organizations get. Right? We own the Hammond's house. The Hammond's house operates out of a building that is owned by Fulton County just like QLS. We started and we helped found the Sadie G Mays Rehab Center.

So we should have some rhyme or reason as to why they are not also legacy organizations. And I don't think that we have that and this is an opportunity to level the playing field and to designate these entities that are serving healthcare needs in the healthcare desert below I-twenty as legacy organizations just as we did the arts organizations. And frankly, don't think it's a lot of money. I think think Sadie G. Mayes is already getting 135,000 a year.

And QLS from the operating budget and QLS is getting I think a similar amount in addition. They also receive CDBG dollars. But I don't know how we can fund legacy arts organizations to the tune of 250,000 for an organization and not fund legacy health organizations that are serving our seniors and our most vulnerable population.

Vice Chair Abdul Rahman.

Okay. And, I'm gonna make comment on this and it is what it is. Sadie G. Mayes sits in my district. I've been working with them, I've been speaking with the county manager, I've been speaking with commissioners, I've been trying to identify several needs that they need outside of legacy designation and they do need some more money.

The problem I have There's two problems I have with this. One, let's let's let's call a spade a spade. We got to have some protocol and some respect for districts. If I am talking to the staff, if I'm talking to the the directors, if I am in meetings with potential philanthropists and all other things, and then they all of a sudden see something pop up on the agenda that they know nothing about because nobody has talked to them about that. And, when they come to the commissioner that they've been talking to, sitting down and meeting with, you either doing one or two things, you're giving misinformation or you're trying to gaslight.

And so, with all due due respect, I can be in agreement of what you may or may not be doing, but I have to advocate for those that I am meeting with, whether it is the CFO, whether it is the county manager, whether it is the executive director for something in my district that I represent, and it would have been nice for a conversation to be have had about this, but believe it or not, I'm in agreement. However, there's protocol and a way to do everything. County county manager, has any funding been identified? I know we usually do stuff like this at mid year. So, have any funding been identified at this point or before this was put on the actual agenda?

No ma'am. I think mid year would be a proper time to look at this.

Okay. So, what I'm gonna do on that note, I'm gonna make a motion to hold this and holding it, county manager and CFO, if we do have funding, because I don't want to operate in your lane. And I know that we have DOJ concerns, we've got things on that long list of things that's coming up that have to be paid for. And so, your job, a lot of times, is a balancing act to make sure that we need to do what we need

to

do accordingly. And so, my charge to you today and to the CFO, if we have funding, to identify it. If we don't have funding, please let me know. But I'm going to put in a motion for the hold.

Alright. There's a substitute motion to hold. Is there a second? Second. Alright. Motion on the floor is to hold. Motion to hold by Vice Chair of Durock Munn, seconded by Commissioner Ellis. Commissioner Barrett, do you want to be heard on the subsequent motion to hold?

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just had a question, Commissioner Arrington. Is your intention that this be funded like if if we were going to pass it today which unclear with the hold would would it be your intention that this be the additional between the 130 for example to the $2.50 would be funded this year or is this setting this up so that when we do the 2027 budget and beyond they're considered legacy?

My goal is the funding for this year and you know as we've done in the past we could instruct the county manager to find the funding source and to bring proposed funding sources back to us. But I'm fine with holding Commissioner Abdul Rahman. I have no objection to that and I'm happy to work with you on that. QLS, I think, is 150 a year and Sadie G. Mayes gives 135 a year.

And so, you know, we need increased communication, I think, amongst commissioners because people operate in silos. And I'm not taking shots at anyone, right? We operate in silos. So, I had no idea that you were speaking with anyone about doing anything there. All I know is I was over there for their eightieth anniversary and they asked me for some more money, right? And, it was on the heels of us designating these other legacy organizations.

I understand Commissioner

So, that's my only purpose. So, you know, and hopefully we can find it. And, know, Sharon knows where all the bodies are. She knows where all the money We have $75,000,000 left over every year. We have $75,000,000 left over every year for the last twelve years. Last year, we had $89,000,000 left over. So, there's no way that we can't find another $150,000 for QLS and another $115,000 for Sadie G. Mayes.

Mr. Barry, you still have

a floor. Yeah. Thank you. I just wanted to finish by saying I'm fine with holding as well. I do think our budget is a statement about our priorities. And while I too am appreciative that we're able to support arts and culture organizations as legacy partners, the idea that these organizations that are genuinely helping people's health and livelihood are funded less than some of our other legacy partners is probably not the way we want to move forward.

Alright, the motion on the floor is to hold. Let's vote please.

And the vote is open on the motion to hold. And the motion passes five yeas, zero nays. It's twenty six zero two two one. Request approval resolution directing the county manager to identify funding in the amount of $500,000 for the continuation of Fulton County's summer youth internship program and for other purposes sponsored by commissioner Arrington.

Commissioner Arrington, do want to be heard?

Yes, absolutely. Thank you. Yes. I started this program in 2015. We had it for ten years consecutive until last year when it was cut from the budget, and it was cut from the budget again this year. And mister chair, you indicated at budget time that you had some ideas from where the funding for this could come. We are now in April, and those ideas have not been presented. And our kids are about to be out for the summer. We just saw a lot of activity last week. We lost a lot of young lives.

Our children and our youth need to be engaged. They're looking for jobs. We had over 900 students register, nine hundred 16 to 18 year olds register to find a summer job just this past weekend at Welcome All Park. We need this money. We need to invest in our youth.

We need to make sure See, if we invest in them on the front end, we don't have to spend as much money on the back end in the courts and the jails. So, colleagues, I urge reinstate this $500,000 for the summer youth job program so that the county manager and his team can get this up and running in time for our students and youth to have this money and to have these opportunities available for the summer. It's a small, minor investment, small, minor investment for our future and for our youth's future. They get the opportunity to learn life skills that they can use to provide for themselves and provide for their families going forward. 2015 to 2025, ten years in a row, this money is in the budget.

And all of a sudden, last year, it gets cut. And then it gets cut again this year. Our youth, our students need these jobs. What we've seen with the violence going on in and around the city of Atlanta and Fulton County over the past couple of weekends, this is the perfect opportunity for us to reinstate these funds, reinstate these opportunities and invest in our youth and invest in our future.

Vice chair, I'm Durock Wine.

Thank you, chairman. I was very adamant, commissioner Arrington at the last meeting that I'm willing to work with you because I see the need. Anybody can look at what's going on and see that there's a need in all areas when it comes to youth. But here again, I have to ask the very uncomfortable question, county manager, do we have this money today?

Yes ma'am, I'm gonna ask Doctor. Rochelle to describe a possible alternative.

Thank you, county manager. So one of the alternatives for funding this program would be the opioid settlement funds. However, we would be required to include several components if we if the board moves in that direction. So the opioid settlement funds cannot fund a standalone internship programs program. It would be required to include a couple of things.

One, it would be required for us to target youth with an elevated risk of substance use disorder and exposed to trauma, substance use disorder, all pointing to an elevated risk of opioid opioid use. We would also be required to include an evidence based prevention education program with all of the providers and we would also be required to include behavioral health screenings and referrals.

So,

I'm going to make a motion to put this on hold and I'm also going to give a directive to the county manager staff and I hope my colleagues will And here again, Commissioner Arrington, I was very adamant at the last meeting of trying to find some kind of way because this is It's a good idea, but we've got to target and find the funding first. So, I'm gonna make a motion to put this on hold. I know that the first Wednesday in June is three days. I think it's June 3 or something like that. Should we have to wait that long?

What I want to ask, not only the county manager staff, I want to ask all my colleagues here, including you chairman, maybe county manager, if we can't find 500,000, maybe we can at least find 200, two fifty to get it started And then, chairman, maybe we can find some sponsors that will help do the rest. So, know, Commissioner Thorne, you and I talked about trying to find some people to come in and stand in the gap. So, I'm gonna put it on hold but I'm gonna put it on hold I'm a motion to put it on hold with a directive that if we don't have the $500,000 today and clearly it's going to be a challenge to use the opium money, opioid money, that we lower the amount to get it started and we see if we can find some of our community partners that may be able to stand in the gap. So, county attorney, that's my question to you.

And I may have one other thought. Now this is thinking on the fly, I'm somewhat playing off of what commissioner Arrington said. What we do have that we haven't fully expended, now there are other needs coming against this, are everything that we're doing in the jail, around the jail for compliance. One of the things, and this would be nominal compared to those dollars because we started the year with close to 50,000,000, so you're talking about 1% of 50,000,000, is reduce that slightly, put that against this program as a classic way of attempting to prevent incarceration. So if the board gave us direction to head in that, down that path, we could look at everything that we've already funded, everything is still yet to be funded and some things that we know are being will be brought forward quite frankly at mid year and look to that source as a potential funding source.

Commissioner Arrington, are you open to the hold and us working together to try to see if we can find this funding?

The short answer is yes. The longer answer is if you're saying hold until June, then absolutely The whole summer will be over by then.

No, no, no, no. Let clarify what I want the county manager team to do. I want it put on hold to see if they can find the 500,000 which I'm a realist, I don't think you're going to be able to. But if you do, God bless you. If you can find $250,000 in two weeks by the next meeting and at least get that passed, get that started and we revisit it in June, at least we got a starting block for those students. Are you comfortable with that? As a possible option, that's all I'm asking.

I could uncomfortably support it. Okay. I'm not comfortable with that because guess what, we got 5,000,000 in a diversion center

in Atlanta.

Hear you, Commissioner Arrington. Hear

Commissioners, please please.

I hear you loud and clear, but just just just hear me on this. And, I'm not just talking to you, I'm talking to my colleagues. With all due respect, commissioner Arrington, and I wanna be commissioners that's in the room, find the money or let's get into the habit of finding and identifying the money first, so we won't delay stuff like this. Because, and not to throw you under the bus commissioner Arrington, because I know it's your baby and I've said that, I don't have a problem. It's a good idea.

It's something that unfortunately we had to cut last year, but maybe, just maybe, county manager, maybe if this conversation had been had two weeks ago, maybe we would have a solution today. So, promise I make today to you in front of everybody here, motion to put it on hold, see if we can find the 500,000 in two weeks. Can't find the 500,000, see if we can find $250,000 in two weeks. And then by June, at the latest, at the very meeting Well, let's say I haven't put a caveat to that. The last meeting in May, by the last meeting in May, try to identify and pass the additional funding.

All I'm asking is to work with them and to work with us up here so it can pass. Are you okay with that? Uncomfortably.

Uncomfortably, yes because the May is too late. Students will be out. They need jobs right now. We need to pass this today. I know where $75,000,000 is. It's left over every year.

Well, if you don't have a problem with it being put on hold for two weeks, I make the motion to hold this, give you an opportunity to because I see your eyes moving, so you got something brainstorming over there. And so, and we revisited in two weeks.

Alright, that's a substitute motion to hold with the caveats that you made. And let me just I'll second that motion because the opioid money is not a use for this. And I've studied it and I know for a fact that that's not. So we can take that off the table. What you're suggesting does make some sense. So I'll second the motion to hold. She likes to heard, Commissioner Barron.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I agree with you. I don't really love the idea of the opioid money for this. It sounds like there's a lot of additional work that would have to be done and it would leave a lot of kids out. That said, I think what I'm hearing the county manager say is that there is 500,000 that could be worked out of the 50,000,000 that we set aside for some of the consent decree items because we haven't spent it necessarily in the way that we thought we might at the beginning of the year. So given that, it sounds to me like what you're and correct me if I'm wrong, it sounded like, okay, there's a lot going on right now. Okay, in any case. It was already seconded. Fine.

So it sounds like you're saying Mr. Manager, if we give you direction now to move that money, the 500,000, you could do that now comfortably given what you know is coming. Is that correct?

Let me just clarify it this way. We could clearly do it now inside the envelope of the 50,000,000 and I think in the spirit of what commissioner Arrington said, it seems prudent to What is still to come goes beyond the 50,000,000. That, you know, our plan is to address with a mid year review and see what the will of the board is to allocate from that what what he's referring to in terms of projected under runs against additional consent order items that haven't even yet been presented to the board, if that is clear.

As mud. I got you. But let me ask another question then about the timing because I'm just a little bit concerned because summer is coming. There's I know this is my understanding is that the program is similar to some of our other programs where we give a certain amount of money to a variety of participating organizations. Is that correct?