City Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome to June 1st full council meeting. I am your president, Marcy Collier, Overstreet. And with that, we can start our roll call. Madam Clerk.

Good afternoon, Madam President and members of council. We have Council President Marcy Collier, Overstreet. Present. Council Member Michael Julian Bond, Post 1 at Large. Council Member Matt Westmoreland, Post 2 at Large.

Here.

Council Member Ishe Collins, Post 3 at Large. Here. Council Member Jason H. Winston, District 1.

Here.

Council Member Kelsey Bond, District 2. Council Member Byron D. Amos, District 3.

Present.

Council Member Jason Dozer, District 4.

Present.

Council Member Liliana Bakhtiari, District 5. Here. Council Member Alex Wan, District 6. Council Member Thomas Worthy, District 7. Present. Council Member Mary Norwood, District 8. Present. Council Member Dustin Hillis, District 9.

Present.

Council Member Andrea Obun, District 10. Present. Council Member Wayne Martin, District 11.

Present.

Council Member Antonio Lewis, District 12.

Let's go, let's get it.

Thank you. 12 members present. Madam Clerk, that constitutes a quorum, so we can do our work today. I'll entertain a motion to adopt agenda. So moved by Bakhtiar, second by Hillis. This can be done by unanimous consent. Madam Clerk, please sound the count. 13 yays, zero nays. 13 yays, zero nays. The agenda has been adopted. With that, I also want you all to know that we did change the agenda today. Public safety legal administration will be moved first. That was done in Committee on Council. Thank you, Chair Amos, for that. And with that, that brings us to our invocation. Today, our invocation will be delivered by Reverend Clark of St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church. Thank you for joining us today.

Amen. Shall we bow our heads for a brief word of prayer? gracious and loving God. We come together with humble hearts united in gratitude for the city of Atlanta and for all who call this city home. Across diverse faith traditions and backgrounds, we seek wisdom, peace, and the common good for our city. We lift before you the Atlanta City Council President, the members of the City Council, the Mayor of the great city of Atlanta. We ask that you grant wisdom in their deliberations, integrity in their service, and courage in their leadership. May they govern with fairness, compassion, equity, and equality. We pray for the flourishing philanthropic efforts in this city, for guidance and strength in interfaith collaboration. for a decrease in crime and violence throughout the city and neighborhoods. We pray for the youth. We pray for opportunities for their growth and for them to strive and to thrive. We pray for impoverished families, the elderly, and for all who are in need. May Atlanta be the city marked by justice, opportunity, unity, and hope. Help us to work together collaboratively and in unity for the greater good. These things we ask in the matchless name of my Lord and Savior, we pray. Amen.

Amen. Reverend Tonja Clark, thank you so much for being here.

A blessing to be here.

Absolutely. And with that, will everyone please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Everyone, that takes us to... our proclamations, commendations, and other special awards. Will those here for the proclamation to recognize Dr. Lawrence Carter please come forward and join us on the dais. This will be presented by the Honorable Matt Westmoreland, and Michael Julian Bond, and Jason Winston, and Wayne Martin, all council members. and Council Member Dozier. Everyone please join us, it's so worthy. Yeah, you can come around this way as well. And just for a little housekeeping, everyone, according to our code, each proclamation can only be 15 minutes. The celebration happens out in our reception areas and atrium, so this portion will be 15 minutes.

Good afternoon. My name is Matt Westmoreland, and it is an honor this afternoon with my colleagues, Wayne Martin, Michael Julian Bond, and Jason Dozier, to recognize 47 years of distinguished service by the Reverend Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. on his retirement as the founding chaplain at the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College. And to begin our comments this afternoon, I would like to introduce the 61st mayor of Atlanta, Mayor Andre Dickens.

Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Westmoreland, and of course, to our Council President. I know she had to depart. To all the members of the City Council, what an awesome day to be here to honor the legendary one and only Dean Carter. You can't think about Morehouse College in this modern era over the last, say, 40 plus years and not think about the impact that Dean Carter has had on that institution, for all of the young men at that institution, but also for the entire AUC campus and really the entire city of Atlanta. We benefit greatly from your council, benefit greatly from who you are and what you have provided and instilled in those students at Morehouse and the faculty and everyone else that's associated with Morehouse. You are a living legend. You have contributed greatly to our culture, our education, and just the spirit of Atlanta. So I had to come out of my office to come over here today when I saw on the proclamation list, and Matt Westmoreland texted me and was like, hey, you know our list of proclamations. I looked at it, Dean Carter. I had to come by here. We already... Did a video and other things to honor him at his official retirement. But in the infinite wisdom of this great city council, you all wanted to do it right here as well at the People's House, the city of Atlanta, in this chamber so that on TV and for everybody to know how much we love you, how much we thankfully have had you in our lives to be able to train us and educate us. And I say us loosely. I did not go to Morehouse, but I snuck in to a few times. Yeah. That you might have said some things that I needed to get at chapel or some other things. And so whenever I'm in your presence, I know that I'm around somebody of great faithfulness and great community awareness and just an all-around good man. So God bless you, Dean Carter, in your retirement. I know that you've worked so hard and you've given so much, and I just know that even in your retirement, you're still gonna be of service to this city and to Morehouse College. God bless you and thank you.

Next up, please welcome Dr. F. DuBois Bowman, the 18th president of Morehouse College.

Good afternoon. Good afternoon. I'd like to thank Council President Marcy Collier-Overstreet, Michael Julian Bond, Matt Westmoreland, Wayne Martin, and Jason Dozier, and the entire Atlanta City Council just for this opportunity and invitation to join in celebrating just a remarkable figure in the history of Morehouse College, Dean Carter. Reverend Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Senior has spanned nearly five decades of service at the college. He has left an indelible impact on the college and all who have come through it. So I stand here today as president, but I'm also here to pay respects. As a student, he was my dean. As an alum, he's been the dean. For everyone who has come through Since the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel was founded, Dean Carter has touched them in a way that will go on to shape them for years to come. As the founding dean, Dean Carter has transformed the King Chapel into one of the most influential pulpits in America. He has shaped the character, conscience, and spiritual life of Morehouse College. Through his vision and leadership, world leaders, Nobel laureates, civil rights icons, faith leaders, and scholars have come to Morehouse to engage in conversations about justice, peace, ethics, and human dignity. As I think about Dean Carter, the words that come to my mind, he is a scholar. He is a teacher. He is a mentor. and a profound intellectual thinker. You see this play out in everything that Dean Carter does. I'll have to make a confession. When Dean Carter steps to a podium or pulpit to pray, I might lose track of what he's talking about for the next three minutes afterward because I'm trying to process what I've heard from Dean Carter. So it's been such a delight. I have cherished every moment of my first year as president, going through a cycle, being able to have Dean Carter. and his leadership present at the college and with each one i think about the the years to come and what we're going to do without dean carter we've just named a phenomenal phenomenal phenomenal new dean of the chapel i'm so excited about the future but let's get it let's make it clear there's no replacing a legend like dean lawrence edward carter so from the bottom of my heart On behalf of the students, the staff, the faculty, the alumni, and all the lives that you have touched, I just want to say thank you.

As the President just pointed out, no one knows the impact of Dean Carter more than students, those current and past. And we're gonna hear from three right now. One is Michonne Poe, who is a religion major from the class of 2027, followed by members of this body, Council Members Wayne Martin and Council Member Michael Julian Bond.

To the honorable Mayor Andre Dickens, distinguished members of the Atlanta City Council, esteemed colleagues, members of the beloved community, and to the man whose very presence reminds us that a life fully surrendered to purpose is the greatest sermon ever preached, the Reverend Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter, Sr. I stand before you today as a student And if you have ever sat in the classroom of Dean Carter, you understand that is not merely an academic credential. It is a calling, a consecration, and at times a holy confrontation with everything you thought you knew about yourself. Every great city has two things, a skyline and a landfill. The skyline is what we show the world. The landfill is where we put what we've decided no longer has value. Atlanta has one of the most magnificent skylines short of Chicago, but what makes this city truly great is that for 47 years, we have had a man who made it his divine assignment to stand as the last line of defense between civilization's neglect and humanity's highest potential. Dean Lawrence Edward Carter was born in Dawson, Georgia, a small southwest Georgia town that the world may have overlooked, but God did not. He came up close to the universe, close to family, rooted in the kind of black southern faith that turns hardships into hymns. He was raised in his tender years by his grandmother, a woman who poured into him the kind of love that forms the moral architecture of a man's soul. But life, as it often does, intervened. His grandmother passed away too soon and he was uprooted. His mother, like so many black mothers of that generation, had already made the great migration north to Columbus, Ohio, chasing better wages, better schools, better chances for her offspring. His mother immediately saw that there was a tailor-made plan for her son's life. This day is only made possible because of the sacrifices of women like Mrs. Bernice King, Coretta Scott King, Fannie Lou Hamer, Mary McLeod Bethune, Dorothy Height, Juanita Abernathy, Barbara Jordan, Kathy Hughes, Rosalind Brewer, Shirley Chisholm, Shirley Franklin, Keisha Lance Bottoms, Katonji Brown Jackson, Andrea Boone, Marcia Overstreet, and a brilliant woman from the South Side of Chicago, Mrs. Michelle Obama.

I believe.

While we're at it, I think we should pause right here and thank God for the mothers and the grandmothers and the aunties that paved the way for us, who strained so that we wouldn't have to, who sacrificed so that we could stand, who gave everything so that we can become something, who prayed so we could live the abundant life. Where would any of us be without the women in our lives? I thank God for black women. But the true turning point... The moment that would bend the arc of his entire life came when a 10th grader from Columbus, Ohio came face to face with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King looked at that young prince at the time and said, in essence, Morehouse needs you. The world needs you. Women and men unborn need you. Now, as for me, when the most prophetic voice of the 20th century personally invites you to his alma mater, most of us would have packed our bags before he finished the sentence. But unfortunately, that did not actualize, but Dean Carter did not waste a single moment. He received that word. He planted it in the soil of his life. He did what any brilliant, determined, spiritually called young man would do. He went to the next best thing. He went to Boston University. The very institution where Dr. King earned his doctorate. And from that day forward, Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. lived a life synonymous with the Kingian ethic, rooted in love, armored with courage, aimed at justice, and never, ever willing to negotiate away his moral values. Consequently, in 1979, Dean Carter arrived at Morehouse College. There was no blueprint for what he was called to build. He stood before that search committee and preached his candidating sermon called A Treasure in Your Trash. And what followed was the most extraordinary act of holy salvage this city has ever witnessed. He looked at a chapel that the world might have considered ordinary as he saw a world stage. He looked at young men who had been discarded by systems of poverty. racism and neglect and he saw future ambassadors of peace. He looked at ancient stones being removed from a King monument at Boston University. Stones the world was ready to discard and he said bring them to Morehouse because nothing connected to King's legacy belongs in the trash. Dean has built what has become the world's largest religious memorial to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He founded the Chapel Assistance Pre-Seminarians Program, one of the premier feeder programs for divinity schools in this nation. He launched the Gandhi King Arcade Awards, drawing the threads of nonviolent traditions across three continents into a single more tapestry. He opened that chapel door to 18 Christian denominations, to Jewish scholars, to Islamic thinkers, to Hindu and Buddhist communities, because he understood that the beloved community has no borders and no guest lists. As Dean would say, your address is too small. Please expand your awareness. But I must pause here and speak personally. Because this speech is not just about a great man's resume. It is about what it means to sit at the feet of someone who has changed the trajectory of my life. When I arrived on the campus of Morehouse, I was eager. I was persistent, and if I'm honest, I was a bit stubborn. I knew I had made the right decision coming to Atlanta, but I was struggling. I could not find my footing. For a season, I felt as though I had come to this great city alone, invisible, and unsure of my place. Somehow, someway, I found my way down to the chapel, and Dean Carter and I hit it off from day one. He looked me dead in my eyes as only he can, and said, everything you shall be is already on the inside of you. I see it, everyone else sees it, we are just waiting for you to grab it. Welcome home. Dean Carter. I want you to understand what those words did to a young man who had come to Atlanta feeling alone. You did not just give me wisdom. You gave me my singularity back. You tore down the walls of my imagination. This man did not just teach easy classes. He did not offer comfortable theology. He has a way of looking at you directly at you and asking a question that will follow you home, keep you up at night, and show up uninvited at your graduation. Dean, you have reminded me over and over again. Legacy is not built by chasing it. You build it by being faithful. And for 47 years, you've been faithful to that charge. I recall sitting in the office in the fall of 2024 during one of the most turbulent seasons this nation has seen politically. And I watched Dean Carter, this man who has counseled kings and presidents, who has preached peace on six continents, look at what was unfolding on that screen with absolute disgust. the weight of it all sitting on his face, the grief of a man who has given his entire life to building the beloved community, watching forces work to tear it apart. But I likewise also remember the joy, the unrestrained joy, righteous joy on his face when Senator Raphael Warnock won in Georgia, because Dean Carter knows that the arc bends only when people refuse to let go. He taught us something and I want this city hall to hear today. We are often told as citizens of conscience to speak truth to power. But Dean Carter taught us something more precise and I beg even more powerful, to speak to power the truth. The difference is everything. One is a posture of opposition, the other is a posture of moral authority. Dean Carter never came to the table as a protest, he came as a prophet. And there is a difference. I once asked Dean a question that had been sitting in my spirit for some time, and he leaned up as only Dean can, intrigued, and I asked him simply, why? Why do you give so much? Why do you care so deeply for people who are not biologically related to you, nor share your genetic lineage? Why do you pour yourself out year after year for young men and women who will move on and sometimes forget to say thank you? Dean leaned up in his chair and said, hear me. Unconditional love is not a feeling. It is a practice. That everyone, regardless of the mistakes they have made, possesses some measure of humanity and deserves to be met there. That he could not let other people's conduct cause him to abandon his own moral values. That is not a philosophy, that is a way of being. That is what scholars call a Kingian ethic lived out in flesh and time. Dean has made time, opportunity, and wells of wisdom for everyone who cares to sit down and listen. And he never misses a moment to tell you the truth, even if you leave offended. If you have sat at Dean's table for any amount of time, perhaps he has looked at you metaphorically, drowning in fried chicken, collard greens, mac and cheese, pound cake dressing, fast food, and every manner of self-destruction and said plainly, you are digging your grave with your teeth. And only Dean Carter could say such a thing. But there is something you must know. In his 19th year at Morehouse, Dean was ready to leave. He looked around and thought the chapel, the dream, the hope, the future had failed. He was near despair, yet he persisted. Dean Carter, thank you for not giving up in your 19th year because over 30 years later, God knew that my generation would need you. God knew that a young man from Chicago feeling lost in Atlanta would need someone to look him in the eye and speak destiny over his life and put courage back in his spine. You could not have known in year 19 that I was coming, but God did. And I'm so glad you stayed. And when I look at this man, I don't just see Lawrence Edward Carter. I see the tenacity of Martin Luther King. I see the moral clarity of Howard Thurman. I see the pedagogical fire of Benjamin Elijah Mays. I see the interfaith audacity of Ikeda. I see the prophetic courage of Bayard Rustin. And like all of them, Dean never brought a flute when a trumpet was necessary. You told us our address was too small. You told us to expand our awareness and you told us to be peace. Dean, I appreciate you and I love you.

All right. What amazing words. by our young Morehouse brother. If I was not a member of this council body, I would never speak after a Morehouse man that's been trained in the prophetic preaching in the legacy and lineage of Dean Carter, but I would be remiss as a member of this council and a 2006 alumnus of Morehouse College not to share words. I first met Dean Carter in 2001, and Dean, from that moment, I quickly became aware that as a Southern Pentecostal, I needed to expand My address. I needed to understand that Kingian nonviolent traditions were centered in tolerance. They were centered in acceptance. They were centered in having an open mind. And I appreciate that. One of my favorite quotes by you, and I'm almost done, I can assure you, is if we're going to give peace a chance with our neighborhoods, our cities, our states, the nation, of the world. We need an inner revolution of the values. This is the real movement required for peace, a movement of the mind, heart, and most importantly, of the foot. Dean, I just wanted to say thank you. for all that you've done for your mentorship, your pastoral care, and your academic scholarship. Our world is better because of you. And so I want you to be better and well in your retirement. And it is my sincere prayer that your next days be your best days. I love you, Dean.

I'd like to say good afternoon to everyone. It is a pleasure and an honor to be here to honor you, Dean Carter. Thank you, Matt, for including us in this effort. We had the opportunity to participate in your retirement ceremony back in April, and it was not enough. There is still more that you are deserving of. There are still more flowers and showers that we should do to provide to you. It was mentioned earlier today by an outstanding speaker that women play a pivotal role in our lives. Let's recognize Mrs. Carter, who stood by her husband. Wayne, I first met Dean Carter way back in 1983. I walked over from the apartment building that's right there by the gate, which my grandfather built with my dad, because he said, the chapel's just open. Let's go over and see the dean. Well, I was a junior in high school. I had no interest in going to see the dean. But we walked over and through the back, through the grass and to the office. And I tell you, it changed my perspective on Morehouse College. Having grown up in a facility, you know, you could be too close to something without appreciating it. We used to run through the campus, play football on the campus, hide and seek and whatnot on the campus. Before the chapel was there, it was a bunch of trees. That was our woods that we used to play in. And so sitting in his office, and if you've ever seen his office, it's like a museum. All of the great photographs, the great leaders, the great theologians, the great movers and shakers are reflected there in his shrine, in his office. And so I was wowed. And about a year or so later, I was a freshman at Morehouse College, going to chapel right before lunch, which was important if you were on the campus. You had to go by there. But... As was mentioned earlier, Dean Carter brought the world to that chapel. Ambassador Tunde, I met Dr. Diop at that chapel. We met world leaders at that chapel under the leadership and guidance of Dean Carter. And President Bowman, if Morehouse is a candle in the dark, then Dean Carter is a great Prometheus that has brought that light to man. That's right. that has brought it to not only the men of Morehouse, but all of those across the religious spectrum that share in the ethereal life of the Creator. He has made it a place, a shrine, an ark for mankind there. And it is my pleasure, this man has been my mentor, whether he knows it or not. He saved my life six months ago by taking a super-sized cherry Coke out of my hand and throwing it in the trash. I mean, he did. I've lost 50 pounds since then. And so, Gene Carter... not only saved me through the spiritual, I mean the physical walk, but for all these years through that spiritual guidance. He is to what Benjamin Mays, Dr. Bowman, is to Morehouse, the people on the outside. He is that equivalent of what Mays is to Morehouse on the outside. He is that equivalent to Morehouse on the inside. almost 50 years, almost half a century of leadership, almost half a century of being there as a spiritual touchstone for all of us. It is our pleasure, sir, to be here to give you just this little bit, just this little bit, not enough, but just this little bit of thanks to you, sir, to give you something back for all that you have shared with us. And so I am humbled to be here with everyone else to say thank you. And this is not the end. You're retiring, but your light still shines. You are still that candle in the dark. I am still trying to touch. the hem of your garment, so just a little bit of that shine can be on me. You have blessed us, you have kept us, and you have challenged us to live, not just to make footsteps where yours end, but to create new ones where yours begin. God bless you, sir, and don't you ever, ever, ever stop being who you are. Don't you ever, ever, ever stop that unconditional love. It's changed us all. Look at these faces. Look at these people. Look everywhere. You did this. And I close by simply saying, you, sir, are the living practitioner of the embodiment of the spirit of Martin Luther King, which you have brought to that chapel and have breathed life into that chapel and that semblance. If Martin Luther King had a dream, it lives because you demonstrate it every day. God, thank you. Thank you, sir. God bless you for what you've done. I love you, Dean. Agape love. Respect and admiration. I can't say enough. Thank you for everything you've done.

As we welcome the man of the hour and the dean for the last half century, we will do it with this proclamation signed by all members of the Atlanta City Council proclaiming that we, on behalf of the residents of Atlanta, do hereby honor Reverend Dr. Lawrence Edward Carter Sr. for his unparalleled contributions to Morehouse College, the city of Atlanta, and the global community. and extend our deepest gratitude for his enduring legacy of faith, scholarship, and service, and wish him continued success and fulfillment in his next chapter. Thank you so much, Dean.

It will certainly not surprise you that I am full of emotion today. And I have a tremendous desire to express this powerful, inclusive love for all of you who have come today. It's very difficult to express in a few words everything that is going through me. I have depended on so many people to get me to this place. I could start calling names. President Bowman, F. Du Bois Bowman, class of 92, an Omega man, is the seventh Morehouse president that I have served under. Seven in scripture is a very divine number. And on commencement morning, he conferred on me my seventh honorary degree. I think there's some kind of wonderful affirmation from the infinite on reaching seven honorary degrees. And the councilmen here today, Bon, Martin, Dozier, and Westmoreland. I'm eternally grateful that you have brought me to this platform. I can't say enough about the mayor. The video that he did in my honor shown at Atlantic Station at the Soka Gakkai International Buddhist Center literally blew me away. You know, you never really know the effects you're having. You're just doing what you enjoy doing. That's what Dr. Mays said when they asked him, did he know the effect that he was having on Martin King? And he said, no. You're so immersed in the work, believing in a positive outcome that you sort of lose yourself and you're not looking at yourself. You're just lifting as many people as you can and seeing them move toward their greatest spiritual magnificence. I'm feeling warmed up now. And I'd better watch myself because my Chicago mentee here, I think, has said enough. Mr. Mayor, I want you to know what I've observed. You have lifted the whole city. Atlanta is a little more united, a little cleaner, a little better organized. And I think you are the mayor of the entire city and everybody in it. Oh, there's so much more I want to say, but you'll understand if I just put a semicolon here or an ellipsis. May God bless you, and may all of your tomorrows be better than your yesterdays. Thank you.

Here o'er our house Here o'er our house We have raised our lives to thee And will ever, yea, forever Give ourselves in glory True forever, true forever, true old Warhouse may we be. So to bind each, some the other, into ties more brotherly. Holy Spirit, make a step that's honest, true, to a more house and our ideals, and in all things that we do. Amen.

Thank you. Thank you.

We can't run it.

As they're taking more pictures and exiting, let's move on to the next. Well, all those here for Wellspring, the 25th anniversary, recognizing the Wellspring 25th anniversary by Thomas Worthy. He is going to... be presiding over their proclamation. If you guys can come on up, come forward. As soon as this aisle is clear, you can come through this way. Head forward to the dais.

Council Member Worthy?

Oh, she's going to run it.

Oh, she's going to run it.

Oh, she's going to run it.

Thank you.

That's a hot mic. That's a hot mic, Christian.

Hopefully not. No young man giving us a speech first.

That young man wasn't right.

Yeah.

I'm going to stay with you. How are you? I'm Thomas. Good to see you.

How are you? Good to see you. Hello. How are you? Good. I've known you before. I've known you. Have a marathon.

How are you doing? I'm so good. Look at that face. How are you doing? Good to see you. Have a marathon again. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And you got it.

Good afternoon to all of my friends and colleagues at Watershed and Wellspring. That is very, very hard to follow. But I do not want it to diminish the important work that Wellspring has been doing in our city for 25 years. As all of you in this room knows, the scourge of human exploitation and human trafficking is something that mayor dickens in his administration this council and even our partners across the street are working tirelessly to address uh... wellspring living has been at the front lines of that uh... for twenty five years uh... proudly uh... based in district seven of atlanta and we are very very pleased to recognize this them on this their twenty fifth anniversary and we will do it with this proclamation Whereas in 2001, Wellspring Living was founded with a mission of joining with survivors to disrupt sexual exploitation and trafficking through the pillars of housing, healing, and education, and for 25 years has stood as a beacon of hope for survivors and vulnerable youth throughout the city of Atlanta and beyond. and whereas what began as a single residential program for adult women survivors has evolved into a nationally respected, trauma-informed continuum of care, providing residential treatment, community-based services, education, career readiness, mental health support, and transitional housing opportunities that empower survivors to reclaim their futures with dignity and confidence. And whereas over the course of its distinguished history, Wellspring Living has transformed the lives of nearly 3,000 survivors and at-risk individuals, while in 2025 alone, serving 212 unduplicated women and youth through comprehensive, restorative services designed to promote lifelong stability, healing, and independence. And whereas Wellspring Living has continually expanded its impact through innovative initiatives, including the Receiving Hope Center, the Women's Academy, the Bridge Community, and the Wellspring Living Institute, which since 2012 has mentored and trained more than 100 organizations across 38 states and 13 countries. And whereas in October 2025, Wellspring Living achieved a historic milestone by establishing Georgia's first long-term residential program for male youth survivors of exploitation, addressing a critical gap in statewide services and ensuring that boys, girls, and young people of all backgrounds have access to safe, trauma-informed care and opportunities for healing. And whereas Wellspring Living has earned a national recognition for its leadership and excellence, including the nonprofit leadership in the field of trafficking award, recognition at the White House Human Trafficking Summit, and distinction as one of those first organizations in the nation to receive gold certification from Safehouse Certification Review Board. And whereas by centering survivor leadership Intentionally elevating living experiences, experts, and remaining steadfast in its commitment to restorative care, advocacy, and systemic change, Wellspring Living continues to demonstrate the transformative power of compassion, resilience, and community partnership. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that we, the members of the Atlanta City Council and Mayor Dickens, on behalf of the residents of Atlanta, do hereby recognize and celebrate the 25th anniversary of Wellspring Living and extend sincere gratitude for its extraordinary service, visionary leadership, and enduring commitment to ensuring that every survivor has the opportunity to heal, thrive, and begin again in the city of Atlanta. Congratulations.

Council Member Worthy and members of the Atlanta City Council, Mayor Andre Dickens, thank you for this honor. This proclamation sends a powerful message to the survivors we serve, that the city of Atlanta sees them, values them, and stands with them. This year, Wellspring Living celebrates 25 years of walking alongside women and children as they rebuild their lives after sexual exploitation and trafficking. Today, Georgia remains one of the states most impacted by human trafficking, and Atlanta continues to be identified as a major hub. The average age a child is first trafficked in our state is between 12 and 14 years old. These realities remind us that trafficking is not a distant issue, it's happening in our own communities. Through housing, healing, and education, Wellspring Living continues to provide a continuum of care that helps women and youth move forward towards a healthy, thriving future of their own choosing. We are grateful to the City of Atlanta for its long-standing partnership, advocacy, and the investment in survivors. We also want to thank the Department of Watershed Management for its partnership with Wellspring Living, for our Women's Academy team, our participants, survivors who are apprentice here at City of Watershed, and also now full-time employees. Together, this partnership and these opportunities are helping survivors and women earn a living wage, build a sustainable career, and achieve lasting independence. This proclamation truly belongs to you, to the women and the youth we serve, for your resilience, courage, and determination. Because when a woman or a child finds safety, healing, and hope, an entire future is changed. Thank you, city of Atlanta, for being a part of the Wellspring Living community.

I wanted to just say a few words about Wellspring Living. Particularly, I came into contact with Wellspring Living about 11 or 12 years ago as my time with Tech Bridge, as we were helping you all with some technology advancements and then learning what your organization actually does. It warmed my heart that you were in that much of service to those that have been victims of human trafficking. And not only are you helping those that are victims with a great deal of support, including working with the world's greatest watershed management department to provide jobs. In addition to your working with our department to make sure that there's opportunities, education, but also jobs, you also work with us to prevent the category that we don't even want to create, which is a victim. So we have helped victims after the unfortunate incident, but we want to prevent this from ever happening in the first place. And so you've been side by side with us at the world's busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in helping to train individuals and helping to be advocates for if you see something, say something, training our concessionaires to identify signs of sexual trafficking or human trafficking. And so it's been important for us to lock arms with you, to work with Wellspring Living. And congratulations on 25 years of doing this most important work to save lives and to give people a brighter future. And we stand together with you in partnership. God bless you. And thank you, Council Member Worthy, for honoring them on this 25th anniversary. Thank you. But I meant to say that as FIFA World Cup comes here in a few and less than two weeks, the work that we're doing on anti-human trafficking, anti-sex trafficking, this group, this organization has been instrumental in that. And it will be very impactful as we go forward. I see team members here from the mayor's office of violence reduction just waving their hands. You're supposed to be up here, by the way. way. You should come up here and take this photo with this team that you've been working with. So thank you and thank y'all because it's going to matter when the world comes to these cities. People like you are going to help prevent bad things from happening.

So thank you.

I'm taller than every last one of you.

Can you see him? Can you see him? Come right here. Come over, son. You stay.

All of those that are here to celebrate with Eastside Golf and their amazing founder, Elijah Wanadoniku, please come to the dais.

and make your way this way. Any more housemen that are still left in the room, you can also join us. He is a member of the class of 2012. Lodge 1 is not a preacher, Madam President, so we're going to be very, very judicious with time.

Thank you for following code, Councilmember Martin.

Right. Yes. Come on in, everybody.

Don't be afraid to come close. Come on, come on.

As we all come and gather to celebrate. This amazing professional golfer and a man of influence, a man of a Morehouse man and a fashion mogul. I am really, really honored to celebrate my brother and the founder of Eastside Golf. Can we all give a round of applause for Lajuan Adoniku? I feel like Southwest Atlanta, District 11 particularly, is the home of golf in Atlanta. We hold the distinction of having some of the greatest golf courses in the city of Atlanta, right there in District 11, in public golf courses, of course, including the Tup Holmes Golf Course and the John A. White Golf Course, where this young man learned to play golf. And he is now a professional. He was on tour last week, right? We were blowing you up trying to get things planned. He was like, hey, man, I'm trying to tee off. But we're really, really excited for you. Not only is this the seventh anniversary of Eastside Golf, which has become a global brand, it is also Elijah Wong's birthday. And so we're absolutely thrilled, delighted to celebrate you. I am going to... Take care of the proclamation, and we'll hear a few remarks from our president once again, our mayor, as well as Councilmember Andrea Boone and other councilmembers, and then we'll hear from our honoree. So this proclamation is in recognition of Elijah Wanajanaku and Eastside Golf, whereas Elijah Wanajanaku is a professional golfer, entrepreneur, and founder of Eastside Golf, a globally recognized lifestyle and golf apparel brand that has helped redefine the culture and image of the game, and whereas a native of East Atlanta, Mr. Adjaniku discovered golf through a summer program at John A. White Golf Course and later earned a golf scholarship to the Morehouse College, where he helped lead the golf team to its first ever national championship in 2010. And we're at... And whereas, after earning a degree in accounting and pursuing a professional golf career that included too many tour victories, Mr. Ojanaku remained committed to creating greater access and representation within the sport of golf. And whereas, in 2019, Mr. Ojanaku founded Eastside Golf. with a vision of honoring the traditions of golf while making the game more inclusive, authentic, and culturally connected, transforming the company into one of the most influential brands in modern golf. And whereas under his leadership, Eastside Golf has partnered with internationally recognized brands, including Nike, Jordan brand, Mercedes-Benz, and the PGA of America, while expanding into retailers and markets across the United States and internationally. And whereas... Beyond business success, Mr. Adjaniku has remained deeply committed to mentorship and community impact, helping raise and donate more than $600,000 to support the Morehouse College golf team and introducing more than 1,100 new golfers to the game through Eastside Golf Community Days. And whereas, beyond business success, Mr. Adjaniku has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to mentorship, philanthropy, and community engagement through scholarship support, fundraising efforts, benefiting the Morehouse College golf team and the Eastside golf community. Mr. Adoniku's achievements and leadership have earned national recognition through major publications, corporate campaigns, and speaking engagements, including participation at the White House Celebration of Black Men, where he highlighted golf as a pathway to opportunity, business, and community connection. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed. that we the members of the Atlanta City Council on behalf of the residents of Atlanta do hereby honor and recognize Elijah Juan Ujanaku for his outstanding achievements and declare this occasion as a celebration of the seventh anniversary of Eastside Golf and commend him for inspiring a new generation of golfers while elevating the city of Atlanta through leadership, innovation, and service. Let's hear it for Eastside Golf. I want to bring our mayor back to the podium. At this time, to bring a few remarks, after which we will hear from Madam President and or Council Member Boone, then we'll move to our honoree.

Mr. Mayor. Good. Thank you, Council Member Martin, for this outstanding proclamation of one of Atlanta's finest stories. Elijah Juan and I got to know each other because of his creation of Eastside Golf. And he was out here displaying it and really being an entrepreneur, but an entrepreneur with a community heart. He wanted to help students. He wanted to help young people learn the game of golf. He wanted our community to be able to see golf as a pathway and an opportunity to go on to greatness and to enjoy that beautiful game. And I enjoyed my only time ever going to Augusta National, to the Masters. I knew what I was wearing. It was like the first day of school. I laid it out on, and I knew what I was wearing when I was going to be at the Masters. And, you know, everybody had on their standard, you know, their Nike this or whatever. You know what I had on? I had on Eastside Golf from head to toe. Literally from head to toe. Everything. from a hat down to the shoes that you did with the brand Jordan of Nike, your relationship that you've built with Mercedes and on and on and on, all the things that you've done. These large brands are seeing you as a conduit to these communities that they don't often be able to know the lingo, understand the culture. And so they come to you because you are of the culture and you are someone who they can trust because you don't just do it for money. You do it for the community impact. You're a good brother. You're a good community leader, and we appreciate you so much. And you're a Morehouse man. President Bowman, he was down there. He's looking up to Dean Carter. He understands all that, that that means from chapel and then of the singing of the song. And so, brother, thank you for what you brought to the game of golf. And to this city, you elevate our culture by being on, you know, you had the PGA Golf Center. I mean, when I went there to the new superstore in Buckhead, your section is prominent there. And I know people are buying it because I bought some more while I was there. So keep on keeping on. Continue to. showcase that Atlanta has beautiful golf courses. And like you said, you got two of them in District 11. And we intend to continue to support our parks as you continue to support the community and partnership for the First Tee programs and all those things that make these young kids aspire to be great like you. Keep winning on the field, on the course, but keep winning that life for being just an awesome person. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And now we'll hear from Councilmember Andrea Boone, followed by our, I'm sorry, our Morehouse President, Dr. Bowman.

Thank you, Mr. President, for being here and also to the Honorable 61st Mayor for being here with us today. This is about Atlanta. This is about the story of Atlanta. Alfred Tup Holmes Golf Course. I think about that when I'm up here thinking about golf and how we need to train more of our young people in our rec centers and our aps schools about the game of golf so we are so very very proud of you today and i know that your family is proud as well we'd like to also thank the honorable way martin for honoring you today and also recognize Our chief of staff, Courtney English, who's a Morehouse man. Theo Pace, our deputy chief operating officer. Our 2025 CFO of the year, Muhammad Bala. And also Marcy's husband, Dr. Overstreet. So we're just filled with Morehouse men. And also Dr. Henry Goodgain, a great District 10 resident. Thank you for being here and congratulations.

Thank you, Councilman Boone. Thank you, Councilman Boone.

This is such a wonderful day. I'm glad that I get an opportunity to share just a glimpse of what it is like to serve as the president of Morehouse College and all of the excellence that we celebrate at the college. My journey with Olajuwon actually goes back a little bit further. So first, I just want to say in my capacity as president in Morehouse College, how proud we are of you at the college. And As part of my administration, I have charged our students, our staff, our faculty on a mission that we are building principled leaders, steadfast, honest, true. Morehouse is a place that provides a world-class education to its students, but it does more. It instills values that shape a sense of responsibility. It changes how our students think about themselves, but also what they owe to the world. Olajuwon models that, he exemplifies that, as he is on his own journey, continuing to evolve and grow in his own pursuits. the innovation, the creativity, but also care and impact on the community. And that is something that I'm so proud to be able to have him serve as a model for our current day students and even other alumni out there. But I made quick reference of the journey goes back a little bit further. I met Olajuwon as a seventh grader. And he was just a joy to see as a kid, wonderful young man, always full of positive energy, as smart as he could be. He was a student at Imhotep Academy, and I had the opportunity to serve as his coach. No, I can't take credit for the swing. But before the beautiful swing was a beautiful jump shot as a seventh grader, I had a chance to be his basketball coach. So Olajuwon, I just want to tell you how proud I am personally of you and watching your journey unfold. I know you are still building. So we are here. Every room, every space that you walk into, know that you walk in with us, the college behind you. We're here to support you. Let us know anything we could do. But brother, really, really, really proud of you.

Thank you, Mr. President. Before our honoree comes, we're going to hear from his lovely mother, Mrs. Moore.

Okay. First, give an honor to God. I just want to say thank you for allowing me to be here, because without my being here, he wouldn't be here. That's right. So today is one of those rare moments that a parent carries in their heart forever. As you receive this proclamation, I'm filled with pride, gratitude, and love. While this honor recognizes your accomplishments and contributions, what means the most to me is the man you have become. This recognition is not This recognition did not happen by accident. It's the result of years of hard work and perseverance, genuine desire to make a difference. It's just amazing and I'm so proud of you. The city is honoring your achievements today, but those of us who know you and love you have been proud of you for a very, very long time. I hope you take time to appreciate what this honor represents. It is a reflection of the lives you have touched, the example you have set, and the impact you have made. Your efforts have mattered and they have not gone unnoticed. You have given your family countless reasons to celebrate. And beyond all of your accomplishments, I am also grateful for your heart. Your kindness, your strength, and determination have inspired those around you, including me. Being your mother has been one of the greatest gifts of my life, and I thank you for making me proud, not only because of what you have achieved, but because of who you are. Congratulations on this well-deserved honor. May you continue to walk confidently in your purpose, knowing how deeply you are loved and how proud we all are of you.

Nothing like a mother's love. And without further ado, I give you our honoree, Mr. Olajuwon Ojanaku.

Oh, man. That got me being emotional. Come on. No, I just wanted to honestly get up. And today, I mean, today's my birthday. You know, finally. Finally turning 37. And, you know, it's been it's been a long road. I mean, me being from Atlanta. I mean, I'll start, you know, just my name. You know, my name is Lajuan Ajanaku, founder of Eastside Golf. I was born. Named after Hakeem Olajuwon. Was born in Texas. Moved to East Atlanta when I was two years old. Started playing golf when I was six years old. And been playing basketball, golf. I mean, all these different sports. Soccer. Grew up playing at Johnny White Golf Course, Sugar Creek Golf Course off Boulder Crest, Adams Park. I used to play basketball and golf over there. Charlie Yates, growing up there, it was crazy because Charlie Yates Foundation, they actually... got me sponsored by Nike to go up to Chicago and get a 30-minute lesson from Tiger Woods and Earl Woods. So just being from Atlanta has given me so many different opportunities. I definitely want to go down a list of, I would say, people and organizations that I would like to thank. Well, first, Georgia Power, Chris Womack and Kim Green. Pretty sure they could not make it today, but I know they wanted to be here. M. Hotep Center of Education, Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg, Miss Jackson, Mr. Harris, Travel and Leisure Family, Wyndham. Hotels and resorts, they've definitely helped out so much with Eastside Golf. City of Atlanta, Mayor Dickens, Councilman Wayne Martin, Krista Freeman, and Demetrius, my guy, appreciate you. Gathering spot, Mark Wilson, Ryan Wilson, and TK. Definitely the founders, they've helped with so much with what I do. Morehouse College, President Bowman, Professor Davis, Ilya Davis, Dr. Onofade, Coach Edgar, the president golf head coach for Morehouse College. I mean, I'm learning from him as I still do what I do. And the entire golf team, alumni, everybody that's been on the golf team and everybody that's currently on the golf team, Phil, I see. Appreciate you, man. Cedar Grove High School. I mean, all of my all of my classmates from East Atlanta. I mean, Cedar Grove, man, Cedar Grove Middle, Cedar Grove High School. It was it was a long it was great. And it shaped me from being from Zone 6 and knowing, you know, who I am at the end of the day. You know, everybody that I see that's here from Zone 6 or Cedar Grove High School, I mean, it's a reflection of me and just where we came from. So I'm thankful for all of you. All of my investors and partners, Centric Brands, Nike, Paradis, Airport Concessions, appreciate you guys. Definitely need that store here at Hartsville if you're listening. Also, the restaurant portions, Juve, Caribbean Kitchen, State Market 44, and also Black Restaurant Week. Everybody, please do look up those restaurants. Great restaurants, great owners, great people that wanted to come out and help me, Eastside Golf, and truly show that we had culture that's inside of City Hall and inside of Eastside Golf. And lastly, well, not just lastly, but also in the golf realm, Bill Lewis. Sam Perrier, Nyree Williams, Jeff Donovan, Eastlake Foundation, the Elijah Walker Golf Foundation, Johnny White, and Atlanta Golf. All of these things shaped me to become who I am today. A lot of people might see the logo and they're just like, man, he's just trying to be cool. He's just trying to be like, you know, some edgy for the game of golf. And when you see the Eastside Golf logo, this is what I saw. Growing up, this is how golf look. This is normal to me. You know, so if making golf look normal like this, like the city of Atlanta, all across the world, all across the U.S. is what we need to do. And Atlanta being a beacon of actual golf and what it looks like to have culture in the game of golf, then that's what it needs to be. You know, let us be that beacon of golf and what I'd say true golf with everybody involved looks like. Jasmine. I appreciate you. I appreciate you for everything that you've done. Everything. Earl, my guy, I appreciate you. You know, my business partner, Earl, I came to him with the idea, and he was just like, run with it. And he's been with me ever since. We won a national championship at Morales College together, so even on the same golf team. And my mom and my family. I appreciate everybody and everything that you guys do for me. I mean, it's... I can't even state how many times you've just been there for me. That third job, I mean, that... You know, oh man, going to Martyr Bus and the golf clubs and the, you know, Johnny White, Sugar Creek, the money that you used to give me your last for food just so I could eat while I'm out at the golf course. Like, it's been a grind. And I'm here to keep going. I'm here to make you happy. I'm here to for the rest of my family show what it looks like to just keep pushing. So now, you know, thank you to everybody. You know, thank you to thank you, God, for the opportunity. And I mean, this is what it's about. Let's let's pick up some golf clubs. Let's play some golf in the city of Atlanta. And let's just keep striving for our dreams. So thank you.

Now we're going to all come down front and do what my colleague, Councilman Bond, says best, take a photo. Please join us in the front. Let's get a photo.

Thank you.

Wednesdays and Thursdays.

What day do you do your lessons over there? On Tuesdays.

Okay.

One, two, three.

It's not a problem. It's not. Oh, I promise. No, it can't get messed up. Okay, so our last proclamation is going to be done by the Honorable Michael Julian Bond, and it is in recognition of Safety Awareness Month 2026. Everyone that's here for that, please come forward to the desk right now. so we can close out proclamations for today.

Thank you.

Council Member Michael Julian Bond. Michael Julian Bond. Okay. I don't see council member bond, so we'll go ahead on to get started as soon as everyone comes up. Because the importance of Safety Awareness Month cannot be understated.

I will start by reading the proclamation.

In recognition of Safety Awareness Month, the Atlanta City Council is pleased to join Andre Dickens, Mayor Andre Dickens, in recognizing June 2026 as Safety Awareness Month in the city of Atlanta, and whereas each year the city recommits itself to promoting practices that ensure the safety of its residents, employees, and visitors at home, work, and on the road. And whereas the Department of Finance Office of Enterprise Risk Management provides leadership in reducing losses and exposures by promoting safe behaviors and minimizing the impact of accidental personal injury, property damage, and workplace incidents. And whereas the Office of Enterprise Risk Management works collaboratively with commissioners, department heads, bureau directors, managers, supervisors, and risk management executive committee to ensure that safety policies, procedures, and training are in place to support a safe and healthy work environment. And whereas June 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of National Safety Council National Safety Month, a nationwide observance dedicated to promoting safety awareness and injury prevention in workplaces, homes, and communities across the nation. and whereas Atlanta City Council applauds the Department of Finance, Office of Enterprise Risk Management for its steadfast and proactive commitment to fostering a safety mindset throughout all city operations and for encouraging residents and employees alike to make safety a shared responsibility. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that we, the members of the Atlanta City Council, on behalf of the residents of the city of Atlanta, do hereby commend the Department of Finance Office of Enterprise Risk Management for a steadfast, proactive commitment to ensuring a safe environment and a safety mindset in all city operations. We further declare June 2026 to be Safety Awareness Month in Atlanta, Georgia. So thank you very, very much. This is a very important proclamation because safety is everything. If we're not safe, does it matter? No, it doesn't. So thank you for that. Now we're going to hear from Mr. DeLoach.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Jerry L. DeLoach. I'm the Chief Risk Officer for the City of Atlanta, and I want to say thank you kindly to the President of the City Council, and also on behalf of the Office of Enterprise Risk Management, the Risk Management Executive Committee, and employees of the City of Atlanta, and the Mayor, I say thank you to all of you for presenting this proclamation in honor of National Safety Awareness Month at the City of Atlanta. Briefly, the city started recognizing Safety Awareness Month in June 2006, and this marks the 20th anniversary. I want to say thank you to Kathy Lord for this initiative and for being around to share 20 years of this annual event. The Office of... The Office of Enterprise Risk Management at the time consisted of four people. 20 years later, we have 11 employees in the Office of Enterprise Risk Management and a collaborative working relationship with safety personnel in all departments. We have a number of responsibilities in the Office of Enterprise Risk Management, but today I want to focus on safety. Our safety program consists of two major components. That's the Workers' Compensation Program and Workplace Safety. It is the goal of the city to provide a safe work environment, but in the event of a work-related injury, we have a robust workers' compensation program that is governed by state law. The safety program consists of the driver's risk management program, the risk management executive committee, and collaboration with the safety personnel throughout the different departments. Throughout the month of June, several departments will have departmental activities. And on June 5th, the Department of Watershed Management will host its annual safety awareness activity. And the highlight of safety awareness month for the city of Atlanta will be the annual safety awareness luncheon that will be held June 25th, 2025. This year, for the first time, we will present 10 awards for various categories. To get to this point has been a work in progress for the past three years. For the first time, we will present the Department of the Year for Safety, the Safety Professional of the Year, and the Safety Employee of the Year. Thank you to members of the Risk Management Executive Committee and to the staff of the Office of Enterprise Risk Management. And I want to say thank you to CFO Bala for the support that he continues to provide with the flexibility to manage the Office of Enterprise Risk Management as it provides value and direction to the city of Atlanta. Once again, thank you all.

Thank you.

Any council members have any remarks? Okay, seeing none, we're going to go forward and take a picture. Oh, okay.

Thank you. Congratulations.

Here it is.

I need most of that.

I do.

Okay, we're going to get started on this. Yeah, we're going to. We're going to do the same.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Everything good. Okay, everyone, so that brings us to statements by elected officials. Do we have any in chamber today? Okay, we don't, so we're gonna get started with our public comment, and public comment It's a time for our public to speak on whatever's on your heart, whatever you would like for us to know. Each speaker will have two minutes or up to 10 minutes with donated time. So pursuant to our city's code, speakers will receive donated time that receive the donated time will be placed at the end after all of the two minute speakers are done. Completed. And so with that, we're going to start with our first three speakers. That's Maggie McCollum, Mario Vasquez, and Valerie Anderson. You each have two minutes. You can come forward. Marjorie McCollum, I see you brought all your beautiful medals. You have two minutes. Oh, sorry. You can start over. There you go.

Good afternoon, my name is Maggie McCullum and today I want to speak to you about TAD. TAD is a tax allocation district for those of us that are underserved. I'm in an underserved district in South Atlanta and I would like to see this program pass so that I may be able to receive some of the funding. One of the funding that I want is a recreation center in my community for the youth. I have 30 youth on my street, have nothing to do for the summer, no jobs for them to go to. I would like for that to change and this to be done in behalf of South Atlanta. The next thing I would like to see done is ATO, ATO is just putting rats in my community. We know that there are cars that they tow in and they just sit there. This needs to stop for the city in my community. We need to find a way to take cars out of the city and put them where nobody really lives. So I would like to see that done. And on behalf of myself as a city Olympian for the city, Atlanta, I have nine medals in DeKalb County. Five gold and six silver. I have a gold medal from Mississippi, Biloxi, doing beach volleyball. So I want you to know that I'm staying busy. This why, that is why, I need a recreation center in my community.

Thank you, Ms. McCullough. Mario Vasquez, you have two minutes.

All right, good afternoon, council members. My name is Mario. I come from Texas. I'm a veteran. I drove all the way here from Texas to speak to you guys about a business that's operating here. I've been doing this for a while. I talk to a lot of people who've been scammed by some company, but let me get real quick because I only have two minutes. So I served 20 years of my life serving the military. I survived a lot of stuff in my life through gang members and stuff like that, but the hardest blow I would receive was coming from Atlanta, Georgia from a business operating here in Georgia. I became a victim of AppSketeer, an app development company whose taxes just took away all my savings. Within days, I received a return with a product that experts later confirmed it was not deployable, not functional, not created by qualified developers. After a deep investigation, I found out that there's more people being absorbed by this company We have lawyers, we actually here, I put documentations through district number two, never got a response. And now I'm going here to district number six, because it falls under Mr. District Six, where I found out. So we're trying to hope we can get a little bit of recognition for this company that's doing this. Now I'm not here for myself today, I'm here for every person that has been affected. I got a little YouTube channel where people call me from all over. A lot of people got their money back because of me. I ended up telling them what to do because I became an expert at companies that are developing these kind of apps that should not exist. We have the proof here. And I'm hoping you can give me a little bit of your time. I travel all year from Texas, so you can see this. I'm trying to get people to understand and not become victims. Now, I believe Georgia has, is the cornerstone of this nation and everything I see here. I see the city's known for their leadership, their integrity. They have a lot of courage. And it should not be a haven for predatory businesses that can hide under the shadows. We allow these companies to take advantage of veterans, seniors, and small business owners. What are we telling the public? So please follow me. And if you want more information, I got it for you here. And what a beautiful city you guys have, man. Great, beautiful place. Thank you, guys.

Thank you, Mr. Vazquez. Valerie Anderson, you have two minutes.

Good afternoon. I just wanted to say Friday would make 20 months. I lost my son, Devon Anderson, Jr., and pretty much still feel the same way. Nothing has been done. I feel honestly coming down here right about now has proven nothing. Nothing at all. And I still don't know why this is the reason why this is happening. I honestly don't know why that nothing you all could do or say To me, nothing. And I still don't have any answers. But what I do notice is, you give a person power and it shows who they truly are. That's what I've seen. But the privilege is yours, the privilege is not mine. And when I mean that I say the privilege is yours, this judicial system could look the other way, and you all have been looking the other way. The sheriff, the chief of police, everybody has been looking the other way. Why? Because you all know each other. So you all could turn a blind eye to everything. Okay, so everything. We have the sheriff, we have the judges who's in a situation and who actually lied. So if a judge could lie, who else would lie in these big positions that you all have? When we're the one that put you all in these positions So how come we don't have any privilege when we're the one putting you all in these positions, these high positions? That's over us. So you're supposed to be policing us. Who is policing you all? That you all can do whatever the hell you all want and be covered by your friends. Thank you, Ms. Anderson.

Thank you so much for coming. Our next three speakers, Henri Jordan, Reverend Phan and Michael Collins, you each have two minutes. You can come forward.

In the name of the Holy Spirit of God, everyone that's here. And likewise, also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burning their lusts one toward another, men with men, working that which is unseemly, and receiving themselves that recompense of their error, which was meat. Romans 1, chapter 27, verse. God gave them up to all forms of sexual depravity. its consequent actions and its subsequent actions. Now concerning the things whereof you wrote unto me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. 1 Corinthians 7, chapter 1, verse 1. Paul wrote this to help fight against fleshly lusts. James Swift don't believe the word like I do. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband. 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse. Jesus desires for a man to have sex with his wife and the woman to have sex with her husband. Let every rebellion in my heart and yours heart die in the name of Jesus. Rebellion against Jesus Christ, his word. Righteousness exhausts the nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14, chapter 34, verse 1. National righteousness and national sin have opposite effects. Exhortation versus reproach. We need to obey Jesus because we are self-destructive to one another. God made us to serve him. I also have no other gods before me. Before yourselves. We need God more than he need us. We living on his side.

Thank you, Ms. Jordan. Reverend Fan, you have two minutes. Welcome to the Concerned Black Clergy.

The preachers are here today. My name is... Greg Phan, and I'm here today with Shannon Jones, the president of CBC. I'm here with President Kevin White of the South Metro Clergy, along with Vice President J.D. Sparks, and Pastor Anthony Motley of Lansing Street Baptist Church and the People's Agenda. We come here today to be in support of the TED and the NRI. I am a resident born here in Atlanta, Georgia, at Grady Hospital, attended public schools here in Atlanta, Georgia. We see all the development and the things going on the north side and little or nothing on our side. We had a hospital in Allensville. It was called Holy Family Hospital. Then it was Southwest Community Hospital. We don't have a hospital anymore. We need a hospital. We need all the things that people enjoy on the north side. We need it on our side. I want to share this with you guys because I think because many of you are not Atlanta natives, so you don't know the city. But we are a city too busy to hate. And there's a whole lot of hating going on. A whole lot of name calling of individuals that's of my hue, my skin color. We don't want the hate. We want the love. Many of you call yourself Christians. Many of you say you believe in Jesus. But if you do, Jesus teaches us, as she just got through preaching, Jesus teaches us to love one another just as he has loved us. do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And then the other thing he tells us that some may have forgotten, he said, if you do not look out for the least, the less the lost and the left out. Inhale, I'm gonna say it, inhale. It's you, God bless your family, God bless Atlanta, and God bless America. Do the right thing.

Thank you, Reverend Phan. Michael Collins, you have two minutes.

Hey everybody, Michael Collins with Playfair ATL. We are just a couple of weeks away from Atlanta's first game from the World Cup. It's on June 15th and a lot of people are talking about whether or not we are World Cup ready. I sincerely hope that we are ready, but in the last couple of weeks we've seen some worrying signals from the city. We had flooding. in one of the major interstates, causing it to shut down. We had a boil water advisory a couple of weeks ago, and we also had the botched rollout of MARTA upgrades that resulted in a lot of elderly people waiting in extreme heat for renewed Marta passes. We also released at Playfair ATL our human rights report tracker. Last week it was covered by WABE. This is what the city, the mayor's office has said they would do on human rights in advance of the World Cup. These are not our promises, these are the mayor's promises and they are falling woefully short. We gave them a degrade on living up to their own promises. This was after what was another botched project, which was the Human Rights Action Plan, where the mayor's office had promised to involve groups and get their feedback and then basically ignored a lot of the feedback and released a report. The other thing that's very troubling from our coalition just now as we go into the World Cup is what is going on between the Mayor's office and PAD. We really need City Council to step in here because it certainly seems like the Mayor is pushing PAD out of the Centre for Diversion Services, playing around with their contract, not renewing their contract. And this is coming as we're about to have 300,000 visitors in the city. I know that the council has stepped up in many ways around the World Cup, and I certainly appreciate it. We need them to step up again as it relates to PAD. And also, I'll say finally, hopefully we will pass the Housing Help Centre audit today. Appreciate your support. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr Collins. Our next three speakers, Tanisha Dorr, Chet Tisdale, Sandra Whitehead. You each have two minutes. You can come forward, please.

I'm taking a risk being here today, so please, please hear me. My name is Tanisha Dorr. I come before you as a community advocate, but also as a daughter of this land. And when I say this land, I don't just mean property lines, development zones, or city districts. I mean the ground our people have labored on, prayed over, been pushed from, and still try to call home. From generations, our people have watched decisions be made over our lives, our neighborhoods, and our futures. And then we are expected to survive them consequences quietly. We have seen what displacement does, what poverty does, what untreated trauma does. We have seen what happens when people are moved out, locked up, written off, or treated like problems instead of human beings carrying generations of pressure. So when we talk about PAD, I don't want you to only hear program or contract. I want us to hear the larger question. What kind of city are we building on top of all this history? Are we building one that keeps pushing people out when they fall, or are we building one that reaches for them before the ground gives way? Atlanta's challenges are not separate. Homelessness, behavioral health, public safety, jail conditions, neighborhood instability, and displacement are all connected. And when those pressures rise together, the same communities are usually left standing in the flood. That is why PADD matters. Every time prevention has to beg for support, it tells our people that punishment is still easier to fund than healing. And after all our people have carried on this land, we cannot keep passing down systems that have that know how to remove us better than they know how to restore us. We keep saying, God willing, and the creek don't rise like trouble is still somewhere down the road. But look around. The land remembers, the people remembers, and the creek is still rising. So today I'm asking council for three things. Keep PADD active as a direct response option during the World Cup, especially when 311 is unavailable. Make sure 911 has a clear way to route the right calls to PADD and have a plan to hold them accountable when they don't. and require public data that shows the full truth, not just who's diverted, but who could be. Pat is ready, the community is asking, and now we need the council to act. Thank you. Thank you. Chet Tisdale, you have two minutes.

Thank you. Trees are Atlanta's most precious natural resource, but we're losing them in record numbers to developers who clear cut. How did that happen? We worked for four years with Matt Westmoreland's direction, the planning department, developers, nonprofits to come up with a very good tree protection ordinance. It was ready to be voted in last April. Then a few developers went to Habitat for Humanity and lied. They told them that if that tree ordinance passed, Habitat for Humanity would never build another house in Atlanta. That was a lie. But they got Habitat to write a letter to the city council, and then those developers went with Habitat to the mayor and repeated that lie to the mayor. And the mayor directed his people to take the tree ordinance that was very good, very balanced, would end clear-cutting on most residential properties, take that ordinance and strip it of any... provision that protected trees. So what passed on June 15 last year was an ordinance that doesn't protect trees, none. We have to do something about that because if not, we'll look back and say we gave away our most precious natural resource, our trees. We injured our children's health because we have an air pollution crisis because we wouldn't protect trees. You have the ordinance, it's been negotiated, been approved by the city law department. It is time for Atlanta to say, we are the city in the forest, we will protect our trees, we'll protect our children, and we will tell developers who clear cut, go somewhere else. Thank you.

Thank you. Sandra Whitehead, you have two minutes. Sandra. Whitehead. Okay. Our next three speakers, Karen Carter, Sharon Harris, Denise McReynolds. You each have two minutes. Can you please come forward? Karen Carter. Is Sharon Harris here? I'm sorry, you're Sharon Harris. Okay, so Karen Carter is not here.

Good afternoon, everybody. Good afternoon.

You have two minutes.

Thank you. Okay, I'm speaking on behalf of McCann and Veer. I feel like that we need grocery stores out there. We need... But they moved out of buses, so all the other people, they can't get to the bus stop no more. So I have to walk a long way in the morning to get to work. And I'm speaking on behalf of, I'm nervous, y'all. I don't like to talk in front of people, but anyway. But I'm here. And I feel like we need grocery stores. out there in the community. And I'm gonna speak on behalf of the school. I wish they wouldn't take the school away from the kids, but they really need it. And what else? We just need a lot in the community. Okay, thank y'all. Thank you.

Denise McReynolds. Denise McReynolds. Okay, Teresa Dunn. Teresa Dunn. Okay, you have two minutes. Following Ms. Dunn, we have John Bergstein and Michael Haleke. You will each have two minutes. You should come forward.

Okay, as a resident who wants to see the NPU succeed, I am deeply concerned that limited and highly controlled information sharing from leadership is eroding trust, and I am asking for timely, accessible communication about agendas, projects, and procedural changes. I believe any changes to bylaws or voting rules should be clearly documented, announced in advance, and adopted through transparent, inclusive processes, rather than introduced spontaneously during the meeting. When community members, including myself, disagree about projects, we should be met with respect, respectful dialogue, not personal attacks, character critiques, or insinuations of corruption. I would welcome training, facilitation support, or agreed upon meeting norms to ensure that the process feels less intimidating and more welcoming, especially to longtime residents and people of color. My hope is that by adopting open communication, consistent rules, and anti-intimidation practices, NPUV can become a place where all eligible members feel safe to speak, question, and vote without fear or retaliation. Thank you.

I took the other two names out of turn, so we are going to get to John Birdsong and Michael Halicki in a little bit, but not quite yet. We're going to have Lonnie Walker, Johnny Floyd, and Abiodun Henderson now. You each have two minutes. Lonnie Walker. Is Johnny Floyd here? Okay, thank you.

How you doing this evening? Hi. My name is Lionel Walker. I want to talk about the housing rental system. We need that in Countyville. And they're closing the schools down in Countyville. We need our schools. We do. They got good teachers there. The student was set back. Y'all talking about closing these schools down. This thing, you know, y'all be talking about it's overcrowded. We need the schools. Another thing, these children need, each child needs counseling in the school. They need counseling. Because a child get depressed like we get depressed. We don't know what's on their mind. They shooting up the schools and all that. They need somebody to talk to each child. I wish all these children would have some kind of counseling. We don't know what's going on in their mind. They have problems at home and all that, and they have problems at school. It's a lot of different things a child has problems. They're just like adults. We get depressed about stuff, too, and have problems. We do. And like the young lady said, we need stoves in Canterville. We need recreation ceilings in Canterville. And we need something going for the elders, too. We do. Okay. Get something going. Please don't close Canterville school down. Please don't. We need that school. We need that school. Please don't close it down. They got good teachers. Them children will sit back if they lose that school. They love their school. Thank you.

Thank you. Just FYI, the city of Atlanta would never close schools. That can only be done by Atlanta public school system. We don't even vote on those. So I agree with you.

Thank you. First of all, I'd like to just let you guys know to Michael, Michael Bond, I wish the best for you. We've been praying for you continuously. I wish you help. I pray to God to continue to shower his blessing upon you. But I am... It's truly trouble with the city council because I sent a letter back on May the 11th, and I know I think about one or two council people even responded back to me. I think Councilman Westmoreland sent a brief message, but it didn't... and I'll get back to that in a second. I did get an opportunity to talk to Councilman Lewis and also Councilman Ishea Collins, and I thank Council Jason, Winston, you guys was out of town on the 11th, said you're going to come back on the 15th. Jason Dozier said the same thing, but I haven't heard anything back from you guys. And Madam Chair, I haven't heard anything back from you either. So I would like for when your constituents send a letter to you guys, some way respond. Respond is the way to let us know that you have it, OK? I'm a longtime resident of the Pittsburgh neighborhood. I've been chairperson over there probably about 25 or 30 years. It's one of the oldest black neighborhoods in the city of Atlanta. Antonio Lewis is our representative from the council. And also, we get a great pleasure in having our E.J. Collins here. I got eight minutes or six minutes?

Two. You have two.

Oh, they changed it?

No, no, the rules have not been changed.

Okay, let me just finish what I'm doing.

Yeah, we have two minutes.

We have a serious problem. Sooner or later, there's going to be a war. Sooner or later, there's going to be a civil war.

I'm sorry, Mr. Floyd, we've paused your time because although here it says no yielded time on mine, on his copy, it says four minutes. Can you all please verify who has yielded time to you?

On my copy, it says six.

Say it again. Destiny Williams. So I'm not to the yielded time yet, but that's why I'm just verifying with him. He is Johnny Floyd.

I think we're going to have a serious situation between the Pittsburgh neighborhood and also the The Adel Park, Adel Park has a tendency to throw out some serious accusations.

I'm sorry, so you will have six minutes. This is, for some reason, they didn't give me the paperwork.

Don't worry about it, just keep going, okay? Just go right ahead. My position is that, Madam Chair, we're going to have a serious situation. if we don't get this resolved from the Adel Park situation. They calling us poverty pimps. I've been in the position of Pittsburgh neighborhood helping my people for the last 40 years. I'm not a pimp. All black people's not broke and all white people don't have money. Okay? You need to know that. And when I've spent my money on somebody buying lunch, just like if you're running for the mayor and I see that you want to, no, I know you're not. But if you was, if I've seen that I want to put my money towards your campaign, then that's my money. I can do what I want to do. Okay, so now the Adel Park has a situation over here where they're calling us poverty pimp, told Mr. Columbus Warden, poverty pimp. They told me that in my neighborhood that my position is fake. They called me Dr. David Holder. They calling us out. So my position and where I come from, from the Pittsburgh neighborhood, 70 years back in the day, we were resolved in a different way. They going back to their old tactics, and I'm going to go back to mine. So I need for you guys to resolve some issues. And so when you see my letter come across your desk, I want you to take heed of it. Dr. Westmoreland, I appreciate you calling, but at the same time, I see and I'm hearing, McKenzie, I mean not McKenzie, Ada Park don't know they have a mold in the group. And I'm hearing that you are directing them in some of the things they need to say to us as a people. People of Pittsburgh are hard working people. We've been now since 1873, not 1883, 1873. Now all of a sudden we 70% black and 30% white. Now things must start changing. That's not gonna happen, we finna have a situation. And I need for you guys to understand exactly what I'm saying. We're gonna have a situation. Now, the other thing to my brother and sister, the blacks who don't, you know, who think they done arrived, you black. Not that you got to vote the way I vote, but remember, your mama black, your sister black, your dad black, you gonna be black till the day you live, and quote in the mail just yesterday, You know, you said something, madam? Okay.

I'm with you.

You're just waving your hand. Okay, thank you. Another thing is that I'm just so mad about this guy, Matt Gerbeck, and Brandon calling us low-income people. Interesting. You see what I'm saying? We come in there just because of the fact that we came in there and 30, 40 deep on a bus that I paid for. I paid for it. Don't put it on nobody else. I bought meals. Just so happened this drunkard, Mac Abraham, he's a drunkard. He ate up all the food. He ate up all the pizza. And he gonna be the one to write these doggone letters out. Y'all need to do something with him. because there's a movement going on, and the city don't want this. They don't want it, and I'm just being frank with you, and for them to, I know I'm going all over the place, because I'm upset with the council. Mr. Warren, look at me, check this out. When you wanted to run for a seat, you came to the Pittsburgh neighborhood. Is that right? You and I spoke. I haven't seen you since, okay? Some of you guys is wishing to be the next mayor. You're still going, believe it or not, you're going to have to come through these neighborhoods, MPUV. You're going to have to come through these neighborhoods. So I'm just upset now, Madam Chair. We're not low income over there. We're not poverty pimps. So just recognize.

Thank you. Thank you. Isaiah, no, we're on Abeeldun Henderson. I know. Can you help me out with your name?

Abeeldun, Abeeldun, Abby. It's all good.

You say Abby? Abby. My African mother called me Abby. Two minutes.

Abeeldun Henderson, resident of Atlanta for over 20 years. Church member at the Shrine of the Black Madonna, where my children also go to school. Yes, I love Atlanta. And I'll prove it now. I just really want us also, we're co-worker, owner, have an office at Pittsburgh Yards. So shout out to Pittsburgh community, Housing Justice League. All the homies are here. Hello, family, once again. Yeah, sometimes it's hard for me not to break down in tears because sometimes I feel like we're moving really slow to meet the needs of the people. And that's going to be a cause for disaster in the next upcoming years. I also feel like us as organizers, We're gonna have to find a way to feed ourselves, house ourselves, and be more communal with our resources so that we can heavily canvas the streets for this upcoming next budget season and for next year. So next year, it will be standing room only in here. We're gonna have to teach our neighbors what committee meetings to go to school board all the things because times of the essence and i'm here to talk about pad um we need you already know we need alternatives that reduce arrest and unnecessary jail involvement pad needs to continue to be a part of that response infrastructure uh the ask is please dispatch 911 calls for low-level issues to pad instead of police especially during World Cup when 311 is not available, release the data on APD citation and arrest outcomes for city ordinance violations and misdemeanors related to substance abuse, trespass, disorderly conduct, open container, shoplifting, and public indecency. Thank you. Thank you.

Isaiah Gaffer, Allison Johnson, Matthew Nersi, please come forward. You each have two minutes. Isaiah Gafour, you are first. Is Mr. Isaiah here? Yes, no, okay. Allison Johnson, you have two minutes. And then Matthew Nercy, two minutes.

Good afternoon, hello. Good afternoon. I'm here today to talk not just about the NRI, but about the TADS. We have a lot at stake. And when I say that, I know that and I mean that. I, too, am a native of Atlanta. I am a Grady baby. and I have experienced what happens when infrastructure development projects are done without the input of community first. I've also witnessed what happens when that civic engagement is not a part of a plan. I wanna say to you today, we've been through redlining and now we're going through belt lining. I want to share with you that our communities were hit and decimated the worst. I am from people's town and our community is gone. The people that I grew up with, the people that nursed me, fed me, and helped to educate me are gone. And that could be a strong, strong replication if we don't make sure that we have guard rails around this TAD and NRI project. Now, I understand and I applaud this administration for understanding and seeing the divestments in what's happened over these last decades. But what has to happen, this plan has to be transformational and not transitional. Too many of us have seen what has happened when the investments are all congregated in one area. So I implore you, I implore you all to make sure that this doesn't happen, and particularly on the south side where there's still a multitude of divestments. And I'm looking at everybody because we all have a hand in this, and we all have an opportunity to make it right. Thank you, Ms. Johnson. And to make it good. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Matthew Nercy. You have two minutes.

All right, thank you, Council. I am Matthew Nursey. I am also an organizer with the Housing Justice League along with Alison. I want to dispel the narrative that's going around that if you're against the TAD extensions or you want to delay them so that we can take a look at TADs altogether and do them more properly, then somehow you're against neighborhood development and that you're against investment or even worse, the mayor's trying to go there. But I know what it's like in Campbellton Road Corridor, Sylvan Road. I know what it's like at Woodland Heights. I know what it's like over a GE Tower or on Elm Street in Vine City or Forest Cove, as the mayor likes to tout as some sort of victory. I assure you it is not. Ask the residents who have been displaced. living often in conditions that are just as bad. We are for development, right? But this has to be done in a more transparent, in a more thought out and committed way. The affordability, the anti-displacement package, We commend the mayor's office. We commend his housing staff on this package. But none of the things in there are binding. There are no clear goals on how many units at or below 30% of the AMI are gonna be committed to. And a lot of these pilot programs that get started up don't get funding. they end up being a revolving door or a black hole. And so we just wanna make sure that we do everything in our power to make sure, like Allison said, that we don't repeat the tats of the past. So please take your time. Thank you.

Our next three speakers, Barry Kamak, April Wilkins, Kerry Kennedy. You each have two minutes. Please come forward. Barry, come back.

Would it be reasonable if one of the other ladies spoke before me?

We're going in the order that we signed up. It is your time to speak. So would you not like to take your two minutes, sir? I would like for you to take your two minutes now. We've had several men to speak before you. It's not female, male. It is whoever signed up first.

The reason being, I'm sorry, we're all speaking on the same topic, and I'm the lead sort of in what we're communicating.

But you each want to take your two minutes, correct?

But I would like to start, if that's okay, because I'm sharing some information.

And tell me your name.

My name is April. I'm, I think, slated to speak second or third, but it would be lovely if I could speak first, if you wouldn't mind.

Okay, I can swap you two.

Okay, wonderful.

Two minutes each.

Thank you. We are here because of 657 Antone Street in Berkeley Park. The property was sold in 2017, and the new property owner entered into a tenant agreement with a restaurant, bar, and lounge, which by all accounts is operating a nightclub. Since 2019, there have been six LLCs and four business names for 657 Antone. All have the same registered agent and organizers, meaning the same business owners continue to run a club with only a name change. The club currently is known as Mila Lounge. 657 Anton was granted a liquor license after the MPU recommended it be denied. Milos hours are 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. They frequently exceed hundreds of patrons on site. Per the fire marshal, Capacity is 80 people. They have 17 parking spots. Starting with the new owner on the nightclub tenants, there has been a dramatic increase in police reports for APD records. Prior to current ownership, 1997 to 2017, there were only two reported or two filed police reports at this address. From 2017 to present, there's been 35, including aggravated assault, narcotics, and crimes involving guns. April 12th, 2021, a neighbor and their nine-year-old child were driving via Antone with overcrowding of the street due to club patrons. The car couldn't pass. A club patron pulled a gun on them. September 28th, 2021, person shot within feet of the club. December 26th, 2021, person shot one block from the club. May 5th, 2026, two bystanders shot within two feet from the club. May 2026, police officer reported the club is being shut down and approximately 1,000 people will be flooding the streets. These are just a few of the examples that are a consistent problem with this address. This is years of disruptive and dangerous behavior. Thank you. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Barry Kamak.

I'm Carrie Kennedy, I'm the third in line, and I do not envy any of you and your city council roles. You have a great responsibility, and just sitting in my first council meeting, I don't envy your position. But I'm speaking today on behalf of myself and the Berkeley Park residents. We are here because the conditions surrounding 657 Antone Street Northwest have moved far beyond inconvenience. There is no longer just a nightlife issue, this is a public safety issue. It is a quality of life issue. Cars and emergency vehicles cannot get through when the events happen. Trash is littered throughout the neighborhood, specifically on Antone, Tallulah, and Berkeley, with no ownership by 657 Antone Street. Drag racing continues on Antone and other parts of Berkeley Park. Parked cars are getting clipped with no plan of recourse. Noise ordinances that are out of alignment of the city ordinances. On April 12th, 2021, I drove through on my way home from dinner at 9.40 p.m. Antone heading westbound is a parking lot and people look at you like you're crazy. When events happen at 657 Antone Street, it's no longer a street. No one from 657 Antone is present to help crowd control or parking issues. The pattern has been documented. The danger is obvious. When people ask where I'm from, I say ATL. When they say where in Atlanta, I say I'm in the city. I pay those taxes. I love living in the city. I love our airport, and I love volunteering with Meals on Wheels Atlanta and Atlanta Mission. I believe our homes should be safe havens to host, gather, rest, raise families, while being able to serve the city and live in its diversity. Being told to keep calling 911 while nothing happens feels pointless. Thank you for serving our city. You have a call that comes with responsibility. Please consider our concerns and look at the evidence in the recorded statements. Thank you. Next speaker, two minutes, Mr. Berry.

Before I'd like to talk to you about Berkeley Park, I would like to bring to your attention the fact that if this Ebola infection in Africa is to spread, You have a council member who's somewhat expert in this area and Councilman Dustin Hillis has experience of looking after Ebola patients. and I for one would like to consult him if this thing unfortunately was to get out of control, but I essentially thank him for that service that is quite precarious in a lot of different ways. Berkeley Park is an urban in-town neighborhood that is quite a little jewel in a lot of ways, but its essence is being eroded. by a couple of bad apples in the barrel. And one in particular on Anton Street masquerades under the title of Miele Lounge, and it has changed its name pretty regularly now for a number of years. And this is a a nuisance, and as you people are aware, you have an ordinance about a business that is a repeated nuisance, and this particular business fits into this category very well. As you're aware, I'm sure the state of Georgia has just recently passed a Bill 295 that- Thank you, Mr. Berry.

That's your two minutes. Our next three speakers, Stephen Dingell, Mira Kaufman, and Eric Strickland. You each have two minutes. You can come forward. You have two minutes. Hi, Mr. Denver.

Hey, good afternoon, Madam President and Council. You know, when the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published an article about paying for a municipal clerk as a consultant to capture the names for the Cop City protest, he was paid $35,000 a month, which roughly ended up being a million dollars. And you all addressed that when the article was published. I have talked to the Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee and the Community Development and Human Services Committee This is the first full body committee I'm speaking on, so everybody is aware that we still haven't heard a peep from the city about whether an internal or external investigation will happen. We just want answers to how that happened. That's all from the drafting of the contract to the minute the new madam attorney cut the contract off. We just want to know what happened. The public deserves how a million dollars went out of our taxpayer money for a man to not do a job. We just want explanations. Not calling for anybody's job, just accountability. The second thing I want to address is PAN, the Police Alternative and Diversion Initiative. Atlanta has that department for a reason. That's because this city believes in other forms of public safety besides police. Allow those folks to do their job. I'm tired of watching every meeting of them folks beg to serve. Please allow them to do their job and give them the resources that they need so we can have alternative and be the shining city of the South in our nation that we know we can be. And the last thing I want to address is the NRI and TADS. If anybody knows me, you kind of know I've stayed in the middle. I still haven't decided how I'm feeling, but I do know that it's each of you all's responsibility as the leader of your constituencies to let your communities know exactly what they need and they tell you what they need and let them know if the NRI supports your initiatives or if you can get this done without the NRI of the extension of TADS. They are owed that so they can make a decision whether they support it or not. So I appreciate you all's time, always appreciate you all's service, and on to the school board meeting. Thank you all.

Thank you. Next speaker, Mayor Kaufman. You have two minutes.

Okay, hello, my name is Mira Kaufman and I'm a development project manager at Gorman & Company with our office located at 460 Edgewood Avenue. At Gorman & Company, we're focused on building and revitalizing communities using housing and affordable housing as our primary redevelopment tool. I'm here today representing Gorman & Company to request your continued support for the tax allocation districts, or TADs, in the city of Atlanta. I'd like to share Gorman & Company's experience utilizing TADs for housing development and historic preservation. TADs are one of the most powerful tools that the city has at its disposal to promote the development of quality, attainable, and affordable housing in Atlanta, in our experience. TAD funding was the decisive factor that enabled Gorman & Company to deliver more than 650 affordable residences for Atlanta workers, earning between 30% and 80% of Area Median Income, or AMI. These residents are the individuals who operate our stores, teach our children, and work in our hospitals. Without housing supported by TAD funding, many of these Atlantans would not be able to live in the communities that they serve. In addition to expanding housing opportunities, TAD funding has played a critical role in preserving some of Atlanta's most important historic assets. For example, at our Sweet Auburn Grand Development, we used TAD funds to preserve the 229 Auburn Building, which was formerly a branch office of the Historic Atlanta Life Insurance Company created by Alonzo Hermden. In addition, we're currently using TAD funding at our Folio House Developments, which will restore the Historic Atlanta Constitution Building across from Five Points Marietta Station with affordable housing. To date, our projects have benefited from a total of 17.5 million in TAD funds across six different projects, creating over 650 safe and affordable housing units at an average of 60% AMI within the city. Of those 650 units, 408 units are set aside for residents earning 50% AMI or 30% AMI. Furthermore, the TAD investment has strengthened our competitiveness and enabled us to leverage more than 225 million in tax credit equity across these six projects. Gorman & Company asked the Council to recognize the critical importance of TADS in developing essential affordable housing in the city. Thank you. Thank you.

Next speaker, Eric Strickland. You have two minutes.

Good afternoon, Council. I come with great news today. Great news. We actually do not need to extend any of the city's tax allocation districts. I have found a solution that will allow the mayor to accomplish everything in his initiative without taking a dime from the city, the county, or the schools. Y'all ready for it? The solution is to make the Fulton County Board of Assessors do their job. Our city's large commercial properties are systematically under appraised. To give you one example, Ponce City Market, widely considered to be a billion dollar property, perhaps even 1.5 billion dollars. Yet the county, the Board of Assessors says it's worth 330 million. This property alone costs the city, the county, and the schools at least 12 million dollars per year, just this one property. The true tale of two cities is that we're giving handouts to billionaires and corporations, while regular homeowners struggle to pay their property taxes. The mayor is aware of this problem, he's a very smart man, and yet he chooses to use his bully pulpit not to pressure the board of assessors to do their job, but instead he pressures the city, the county, and the schools. He says to the city, give me some of your money. He says to the county, give me some of your money. He says to the schools, give me some of your money. So to paraphrase Dr. King, in this city, we have socialism for the rich and rugged individualism for the poor. We can change that. Instead of the mayor trying to rush this NRI legislation through without even giving the NPUs a vote, he's saying our neighborhoods need these projects now. What we need to do now is make the Board of Assessors do their job, and that will allow us to not have to extend any of the tax allocation districts. City, the county, and the schools can keep all of their money. We can do all of these great projects, I will admit, that the mayor wants to do. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next three speakers, David Guy, Costco Jones, and Kimberly Brooks, you each have two minutes. Mr. Guy, you have two minutes.

Good afternoon, members of the City Council. My name is David Guy, and I am a resident of Sylvan Hills in District 12. We live in the Perkinson Elementary Zone, and my son is a rising second grader there. My comments today are regarding the decision to extend TADS. Two years ago, the Perkinson PTO was founded after many years without an official parent organization. We have created fun, meaningful opportunities for all families to be involved with a school like a movie night and organizing its clothing closet. After attending multiple rounds of school closure meetings last fall, we were told that the district was facing severe financial shortfall that would force the closure of many schools, including Perkerson. We were devastated to learn that Perkerson remained on the final list of schools to be closed by the board decision in December. One of the schools also was Mechanicsville's Dunbar. To even consider extending any of the eight tax allocation districts in the midst of a budget shortfall for the schools is a slap in the face to students and families. In a recent accelerated APS survey, it said that the district was facing $100 million deficit over the next five years. Now more than ever, APS should reap the benefits of the increased property taxes the city of Atlanta has endured. The TADs were designed with an expiration so that they function like a future investment. Let the TADs expire and let this investment return to the communities, county, and schools. A vote in favor extending the TADs is a vote against students, families, and staff of APS. You, the council, have a chance to change the norm. You can push back. Demand that there be a new agreement. If you aren't ready to abandon TADs, create a new baseline. Redraw the TAD lines to a more appropriate location. Demand to see the data from Invest Atlanta about who directly is benefiting from the TAD. Revenue can come from many avenues. Stop tax abatement agreements, tax relief for the wealthy developers, and hold the Fulton County Board of Assessors accountable to their undervaluing of commercial properties across their jurisdiction. Make the right choice so we can have a thriving city for the people who live here now. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Guy. Costco Jones, you have two minutes.

Good afternoon, Council. Good afternoon, Madam President. Congratulations. This is my first time coming back here this year, so congratulations to all the new people here. It's good to see y'all. I hope everybody's here in good health. Obviously, I'm here to talk about the TAS, more specifically owner-occupied rehabs. And I just want to say a lot of people have been talking about, you know, the moral compass as far as dealing with this issue. And I'm asking for something very simple, just for you to pay your tithes to the people. So we're looking at $5.5 billion earmarked in projects. Do a half a million dollars for owner-occupier rehabs, earmarked for owner-occupier rehabs as well as business owners. And this is for all legacy residents as well as business. employees of APS, things of that nature. These are some things that I would like to see in there just to make that fair. I would like to see intergenerational committee put over that, so legacy residents as well as young people to help do the reporting and the administrating of the program just to make it fully transparent. and to help people be able to age in place. A lot of people have been displaced. Like I said in my previous last week, since COVID, we've been number one in inflation. So just giving people really a break as far as being a part of the legacy that this city's been building, trailblazing the people that's been holding on, making sure that they can stay in place and age in place. And that's aligned with the mayor making Atlanta one of the safest places places to raise children, and I will be emailing y'all a speech that I prepared, but I just spoke as temporaneously. Y'all have a great day.

Thank you. Kimberly Brooks, you have two minutes.

Kimberly Brooks here, also a graded baby, Frederick Douglass, graduate with Georgia State University, graduate and former student of Clarkland University, and also a mom of three and a grandmother. I'm here to discuss my research that I've counted for the city of Atlanta and address the civil rights implications of Atlanta's redevelopment strategy imposed by TAD extensions on the 5.5 billion neighborhood reinvestment, ENRI. Under Title V of Civil Rights Act 1964, the city cannot administer programs, TADs, or the NRI that create racial discrimination or disparate impacts. From 2016 to 2026, APS leaders from black districts, Ishe Collins, Byron Amos, and Courtney English, moved into the city roads and forced a redevelopment in the same neighborhoods they once represented. Ms. Walling resigned with Charter C. sector reforms, move to a city-wide city, advancing redevelopment agendas. This creates a generation governance pipeline consistently disadvantageous to the black community. For more than a decade, the West Side has faced intentional policy-driven disinvestment, including withholding infrastructure upgrades, closing schools, and destabilizing enrollment, allowing blight to spread while enforcing codes selectively, underfunding essential services. These conditions are not accidental. They will create distress, needed to justify TAD expansion, land bank and redevelopment incentives, private acquisitions of undervalued property. The same neighborhoods starved of investments are now being targeted for high-value redevelopment, providing that this investment is strategic and not circumstantial. In closure, the NRI has been used as the justification. It's ending tasks requiring $5.5 billion, but the NRI does not repair past harm. It extends the same development system of displaced families in Forest Coles and Fairbairn and Gordon. The NRI funds public money into the same pipeline with weak oversight, no independent OIG with a lack of transparency. and closure because the fewer democratic checks that exist, it is easier to use direct money for the public. So no TAD extension, no NRI extension. Give that money back to the community. Cease the STAD because it's a disadvantage to the African American community strategically. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next three speakers, Jay Wozniak, Maura Mykonos, and now John Birdsong. You three may come forward. Mr. Wozniak, you have two minutes.

Good afternoon. My name is Jay Wozniak and I'm speaking on behalf of the Trust for Public Land. Trust for Public Land encourages city council to take, excuse me, the necessary time and effort to assess the mayor's proposal for the extension of TADS throughout Atlanta. and its potential for positively impacting our communities. TPL is a national organization whose mission is to connect everyone to the outdoors. Our 50 years of experience across the country and over 30 years of Atlanta have shown firsthand how well-designed and well-maintained parks and trails are more than places to play. They are places that change people's lives as places of respite, health, learning, and to build community. Parks improve quality of life. Parks can be designed to greatly reduce the cost of traditional utility construction and ongoing maintenance of a city's sewer and stormwater infrastructure like we have seen at Cook Park in the historic Vine City neighborhood, while greatly reducing urban flooding that has plagued this community's residents for years. Earlier this year, TPL and our partners celebrated the restoration of the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge on Auburn Avenue, home to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Word Radio. This project alone is an example of how the preservation of a historic building will provide public access to tell the complete story of life in America and Atlanta's unique role in it. Both Cook Park and Prince Hall Masonic Lodge are projects that unlikely would have happened without TAD funding. They are examples of TAD investments being catalytic and leveraging additional funding. They are examples of how responsibly crafted TADs can be an effective tool for improving quality of life and providing opportunity for many. Thank you, members of city council, for listening to your constituents and taking the time and effort to assess the mayor's proposal for the extension of TADS in our great city.

Thank you. Next speaker, Mara Mikunas. You have two minutes.

Hello. My name is Mara Mikunas. It's Lithuanian. That's why it's spelled like that. I am a master social worker and I'm a Georgia State University alum. I'm here because last month in the area in which I live, which is between Little Five Points and Virginia Highlands, there were, this is zone six by the way, there were 73 calls made to 311 for community response services and there were 405 calls to 911 for similar concerns. And anyone with internet access can find these numbers if they'd like to. If they go to the dashboard, it's a new dashboard on the Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative website. So we can assume that the police were sent out for those 405 calls. So that means that for every 311 call for PAD, there were six calls to 911. And those could have been routed to the community response team. As a constituent, I'm concerned that police are getting sent to quality of life concerns when we have wonderful community responders trained and working at PAT. My questions that I want you to work together to answer are as follows. Why hasn't the APD released arrest data for low-level offenses? And these are required in the legislation that you've supported. I ask for transparency about the data because we deserve that. And why are we continuing to burden the police with these calls? How are you going to make it so that our emergency system is not overwhelmed when we have literally thousands of people here for FIFA? PADS should be integrated into the whole system. And this is because our communities deserve the best care when experiencing extreme poverty and mental health concerns. Thank you so much for your time, and I hope you have a lovely day. Thank you.

Next speaker, John Birdsong. You have two minutes.

Council. Good afternoon. My name is John Birdsong. I am Councilman Juan. I live in Councilman Juan's district. I work in Councilman Dozier's district and have met almost all of you all through this process over the past two and a half years. I'm with South Downtown. We are redeveloping 10 city blocks, 16 acres and 50 plus historic buildings just south of Five Points Marta Station. And I am here today to talk about the benefits that the TADs have provided us. Next time that you walk down Broad Street, you'll see big, beautiful, wide sidewalks. And those were all as a result to the TAD and Invest Atlanta dollars. And then when you walk to El Tesoro, Glide Pizza, Broad Street, Barbecue, Umberto, all local businesses. You go to The Junction, Jaffe and his mom, Jasmine, who've been there for 30 years, and several more have all taken the $50,000 grant to not only... build their restaurant, but those dollars are extremely meaningful to all of those restaurateurs and business owners. And so, I'm here today. We're 10 days out from the World Cup, where Casa España will be located and headquartered right at 185, or 191 Mitchell, but the world awaits in 10 days, and it's great, all the work that's happening for the World Cup, but we're building South Downtown for locals, by locals, unique boutique and local, and the TAD dollars that have been allocated to South Downtown have dramatically moved the needle. Thank you.

Thank you. The next three, Michael Haleke, Sujan Das, David Mitchell. You have two minutes each. Please come forward.

Excellent. City Council President, members of City Council, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. First, I want to recognize that the city's FY2027 budget process is not over. Initially, this budget was scheduled for a vote today, but Council has extended the process by two weeks and added an additional hearing in July on June 8th. We appreciate the opportunity for continued public input and dialogue. We will continue to engage and to encourage park advocates to show up. I also wanted to be clear that Park Pride, first and foremost, is a partner to the city of Atlanta. We recognize and appreciate the significant progress this administration and this council have made in prioritizing parks and parks funding. The results are undeniable. Since 2021, Atlanta has risen from 49th to 18th nationally in TPL's park score rankings. During the same period, total city investment in parks, including both the general fund support and the park improvement fund, has increased from just over $60 million to more than $126 million. That's a 108% increase, and that's remarkable. This administration and council have also done more than pass administrations to elevate park maintenance. The decision to double the park improvement fund in 2023 with 80% of that increase dedicated to maintenance has raised the bar and demonstrated real leadership. The point Park Pride has been making is not that the city lacks commitment, it's that we are not done yet. Decades of underinvestment in park maintenance cannot be fully addressed in a few short years. We have more to do, and Atlanta is not alone. The Trust for Public Lands 2005 report, The State of Park System Operations and Maintenance, recommends two recommendations for U.S. cities grappling with maintenance issues. First, successful cities work in partnership with park advocates to grow public and political support for park maintenance. Second, successful cities provide publicly accessible information about maintenance and the ongoing state of park systems. We've made progress, but there's more to do in both areas.

Thank you, Mr. Haleke. Next speaker is John Das. You have two minutes. D-A-S-S. Okay. David Mitchell, you have two minutes.

Good afternoon to the council. I had prepared a speech, but I decided not to read it. I was born in this city, in southwest Atlanta. I was raised in the communities that the Tats are going to impact. This is the boldest set of leadership that I've seen around addressing these issues in my entire lifetime. I am 56 years old and spent majority of my life inside the rounds of the city of Atlanta. I've been involved in many of you all's pursuits to serve and get elected and be part of the public discourse. But what we have now is a moment. And I think the moment is being led by the mayor's goals for NRI and TADS. The communities that are going to be served in many cases have been underserved my entire life. And I think we have an opportunity to support this mayor, support this program and give the type of investments to communities that have been underserved for half a century. I think you all have a moment here. And I think that moment needs to be met by leadership, I think it needs to be met by data, and I think it needs to be met by your heart and soul. We're at a moment where you have got to understand that without this investment, I don't know, I think you'll hear a lot of folks that'll get their calculators out and try to calculate different ways to do it, but we have a moment right now with a tool that works to really make a difference in the communities that have been underserved. So I ask this body to look at the data, to convene together and make the opportunities happen in the communities that deserve it. It is up to you, nobody else. We'll have some other conversations with some other jurisdictions, but I'm starting with this council of many of y'all I've known for 20, 30 years. It's a time, guys, to put the investment in the communities that need it most. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mitchell. Our next three speakers, Stephanie Michigan-Wright, Olene Walton and Gloria Webb, you each have two minutes. Please come forward. Miss Michigan Wright, you have two minutes.

Hello. My name is Stephanie. I don't know if you remember my email, but I emailed you all a petition called CAUSE, Keep Atlanta Women Safe, and it's to combat the male crime epidemic that is happening in Atlanta. I know we've all been here for a few hours, but I'd love your attention. Thank you so much. So first, I don't know if you know, but there has been three deaths in two weeks in Atlanta. Three random men killed three random women in Atlanta. I don't know if you've ever run for your life, but I have, twice. One of the times was in Piedmont Park. I never went back to Piedmont Park because I remember having to hide while a man pulled down his pants. Nothing is being done. I remember being in Midtown while I watched a man expose himself. I called the police four times. The dispatcher said men were committing, no, this is not what they said. They said there were more important crimes. The police will get to you when they can. They never showed up. It took me going after the man, and witnesses calling the police on the situation for a cop to show up, and the cop that showed up refused to arrest him, even though I had him exposing himself on camera. When you call the police, they don't help. This is a case number from yesterday. I went to the Dollar Tree yesterday in Smyrna. A man was exposing himself in the toy aisle to children. I have it all filmed. I put it on TikTok. It already has a thousand likes. It's been like five hours. When I tell you there are comments saying when we call the police on perverts in our city, the police refuse, refuse to arrest them. What is being done? Please check your emails, I have sent you my petition. Thank you.

Our next speaker, Olene Walton, you have two minutes.

Good afternoon. Are there examples where employees serving in critical leadership or operational roles remain in temporary or extra help status because of delays in the VRB review or approval process? I am a lifelong resident of the city of Atlanta. I am deeply ashamed of what is going on at the airport, how we are treating each other, and abusing power. Where is the unity and the love?

Thank you. Next speaker, Gloria Webb, you have two minutes.

Good afternoon, Madam President. I know a few of you, Wayne Martin, Michael Bond, y'all been around for a while, and the council. I too, I have been watching the council meetings and I think it's very unfair how the women are being treated at the airport. So I have questions about the Vacancy Review Board. One, are there examples where employees serving in critical leadership or operational roles remain in temporary or extra help status because of delays in the, excuse me, vacancy review board's review or approval process? Number two, how do prolonged delays in converting positions to permanent full-time employment affect recruitment, retention, morale, and operational efficiency within the airport? And number three, most important that I wish you would consider is would you support a review of the current vacancy review board's process to determine whether enterprise departments like the Department of Aviation require a more operational, responsive personnel approval framework? Thank you. Thank you.

Our next three, Chasity Dallas, Malachi Henderson, and Margie McLeod. You each have two minutes, please come forward. Chasity Dallas. You have two minutes.

Hello, I'm Chasity. I'm an organizer with Gangsters the Growers program that help teach self-sustainability to our underserved youth in advocating for PAD. Expanding PAD can help reduce unnecessary police involvement, free officers to focus on serious public safety concerns, decrease strain on emergency services, and provide more effective outcomes for residents in a crisis. I encourage city leaders to increase awareness of PAD, expand its capacity, and ensure that 911 dispatchers have clear protocols to route eligible low-level calls to PAD instead of law enforcement whenever appropriate. Also, I just, I feel like a lot of money is getting spent on the police. The police has a lot of money, and I feel like if it was divided in a fair way to the programs that help underserved youth to, sorry, I'm a little nervous, I think, but to, lower the crime levels with these programs that we have, distribute the money to help that and as well as all the killings that's happening in our city, that could help as well. So I feel like if the money was distributed a little more evenly, then most of it going to the police, it could help them as well. It just makes sense to me. So yeah, have a good day.

Thank you. Thank you. Malachi Henderson, you have two minutes.

Sorry, I have a phone trouble.

Oh, you're having real trouble, huh? You want to pull the microphone down to you? Maybe you can remember what you put on your phone.

Hello, my name is Malachi Henderson, and I'm here to tell you about why 911 should divert calls to Pat, especially since FIFA is coming to town. So, when I was younger, I used to be scared of the news due to me hearing about all of the repeat offenders who... like murderers and all that who are out there and then when they are let out of jail, they just redo what they've already done because they haven't been exposed to proper healing or been given the resources they need to heal. So, If 911 does defer this cost to PAD, PAD will be able to give the people who are doing the wrong thing, who may feel like they are not getting enough care and all those giving them the resources they need to help them feel that way, which would stop their behavior. Yes. But yeah, that's pretty much it. Thank you, Mr. Henderson. One more thing. I just remembered something. In the last part, the reason why I think the pad should do it over the police is because the police fight fire with fire. Like Martin Luther King used to say, you can't be hate with hate, you can only be hate with love. So... Yeah, giving the resources to the people which is love would fight against their hate, more effective than the police's guns and handcuffs and arresting would do. But yeah, that's all I have. Thank you.

Margie, Margie McLeod, you have two minutes. I don't see Ms. McLeod. Has anyone else seen her? Okay, that takes us to our yielded time portion. Our first yielded time is Kendall Long. You have four minutes and your time was yielded by, I know you now. Thank you. You have four minutes.

Thank you. Good afternoon, members of council. My name is Kendall Long. I'm First Amendment Policy Counsel at the Southern Center for Human Rights. And I'm here today to announce the People's Voice Partners. These are a group of organizations that are committed to protecting open and accessible dialogue. As you all know, the People's Voice Act is a response to measures that have made public comment more difficult for regular Atlantans to engage in. The People's Voice Act is supported by Barrett Business, Black Futurist Group, Central Outreach and Advocacy Center, Legal Action Center, New Life, Second Chances Outreach, Southern Center for Human Rights, as well as Playfair ATL, seven organizations in total. We're all Atlanta-serving organizations that work in community with people that know the wolves of participating in public comment and are unable to participate at all. We're also all organizations that are affected and concerned about the policy decisions of the city council across a wide spectrum of issues regarding public safety, budgets, development, and the criminalization of unhoused residents. We've also been in consult with the National Freedom of Speech Organization and they remain partners with us through this campaign. And I'm here today because we want each of your support for the People's Voice Act. There is no better time than now when democracy is being eroded by federal and state decision makers to make it clear that Atlanta supports the bare-rock principles of democracy, that people have the free and accessible speech to engage with their elected officials. The People's Voice Act is needed for three simple reasons. First, it codifies permissive and more accessible public comment rules. As we've noted numerous times, the change in public comment rules at this council term have made the process of participating in public comment more difficult. Beyond that, the articulations of the rules and requests for clarification for the basis and the intention of public comment rules have only created more confusion and unpredictability as evidenced by some of how public comment has run today. The People's Voice Act would clarify how public comment should run. It would make clear what leeway the clerk and presiding council officer would have in administering public comment and will codify rules that makes a more accessible public comment the baseline. Number two, seated time is not the enemy of city council or public comment, and seated time should be encouraged, not discouraged. During the last council meeting and recently on Instagram, President Collier-Overstreet has said that people don't have to see time, they can just speak with a regular two minutes. I think this greatly underappreciates how the council benefits from having expanded and nuanced conversations on the complex topics before you. People speaking with seated time reflects the respect of their community members and neighbors that see them as a voice on a topic of mutual concern. Each person speaking on seated time reflects multiple people who care about an issue and wants the council to hear fuller discussion. And even more, for people who are unable to stay for sometimes hours on end, as it's now almost four o'clock, to give public comment, donating their time to a speaker is the way that they want their voice to be heard. And number three, the People's Voice Act would correct legal infirmities and potential legal challenges based on the public comment rules as written and as applied. Currently, the rules as written and applied likely violate the First Amendment jurisprudence in two ways. First, the rules as they're applied to seated time speakers discriminate against the type and manner of speech. The rules affecting seated time have a chilling effect that discourage individuals from utilizing seated time as articulated by the council president. First Amendment jurisprudence clearly forbids this. Secondly, the portion of the ordinance that pertains to speech and conduct that would allow the presiding officer to disallow speakers from public comment is riddled with vague language that would be improper content-based discrimination if utilized. Speech and conduct that is truly disruptive can be restricted. However, sanctioning speech based on benchmarks is indecorous, unseemly, or subjective and risks being utilized selectively. We urge you to support the People's Voice Act and welcome opportunities to collaborate.

Thank you, Mr. Long. And again, everyone is allowed to use their two minutes at all times. Everyone. Our next yielded time speaker is Rodney Mullins. Rodney Mullins, you have 10 minutes. Your time has been yielded by, what, is he back? Okay, yeah, your time, Fern Scott, are you here? Fern Scott. Jenny Albert.

Jenny, Jenny, you can't go up there.

And Sean, MC. Okay, so you have 10 minutes.

Mr. Mullins. Thank you. Oh, wait a minute. Yes.

Stephen Muhammad. Are you here? Stephen Muhammad here? That's who yielded your time.

I can't see him, Councilwoman.

Okay, then, so you're gonna have eight minutes.

That's fine, Councilwoman.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Eight minutes.

Okay. Thank you, Council, for this time. I would like to take this time to discuss a couple of concerns about the NRI legislation and to unpack that NRI legislation and explain to you and policy language and deep detail why if you pass this NR legislation without alterations, without amendments, you'll be making a mistake. I implore you, I respectfully request that you slow down and perform your due diligence the same way you would perform your due diligence if you were buying a house. Most of you have purchased property, and when you purchase that property, you take a deep look at that property, and you see the specifics, you see the outcomes. You just don't say, hey, I like this house, and it looks good in the photos, but you dive deeper into it. Today, I want to dive deeper into NRI legislation, look at the tats, and look at why, in its current condition, the NRI and the TADS are dysfunctional, which is why you have poor communities on the west side and you have wealthy communities on the north side, and both of them have TADS. If you repeat this mistake, then two years later, your successors will be dealing with the same issue again of why we have poverty on the west side. So I want to take a few seconds and a few minutes and dig deeper into this. And when you look at the NRI, the mistakes that were made with the NRI, first of all, I took the advice of Councilwoman Ishe Collins. I appreciate her. She mentioned attending those meetings, the NRI meetings and discussions. And I took you up on that, Councilwoman. And what we found, Councilwoman Overstreet, is that in those NRI discussions, the community was not giving information. In other words, we asked about information on the TAD balances, Councilwoman Boone. We said, what are the transactions that have occurred in the TAD? So how could the community make decisions if they weren't well-informed? If this council believes in transparency, then why didn't you give the community access to the complete audit? Now let's dive into the audit. There was supposed to be a detailed audit of the TADS. So how could the NRI commission make recommendations if they had not seen the audit? Then we are told in a meeting last week on the 26th that the audit will not be complete until June 4th. So why are we even planning to vote until we have proper time to perform our due diligence and look at that house we're getting ready to buy and say, is it really valid? Is it good? Is it solid? Because all the tads are different. The tads in the west side are not performing. So if you don't fix the tads on the southwest side, then you'll be dealing with this same problem six months from now, two years from now, because you have not fixed the TAS in Adamsville or Vine City, some of the other areas the TAS are underperforming. So we're saying that you need to perform your due diligence and fix the broken TAS before we pass legislation, and you have the people believing that they have a functional vehicle, when really we don't. Some of the balances in the TADs are less than $2 million. You can't transform a community with $2 million. So it's deceptive, it's fraudulent, it's not proper. Then what the people want is an independent audit of the TAD. We were told on 26, last week, we were told on May 26, when a representative from the city told us, they said, hey, We were in the community development committee and they said, hey, don't expect anything spooky in the audit. I kind of looked away with that. How would you know what's even in the audit? Because typically audits are done by independent party. According to GAAP rules, generally accepted accounting principles, the audit is supposed to be formed by a third party. From what I understand, we have an internal audit that's being done. So how do you think that audit is going to turn out? I say it'll turn out A plus because that's why you have an independent party. So first of all, we need an independent audit of the tags so we can really see what's going on with the tags. Then we want to see how we can take those results and then deliberate on each tag one by one. you will be doing a disservice to the children. I heard people talk about the children all the time in these meetings. Well, the children in each one of those tags deserve a robust, a strong tag. Some of those tags are broken because they've had no investment. Because our Invest Atlanta focuses on the north side, but they don't focus on the southwest side of Atlanta. The reason we're being stringent on this because the people want the same deal like you give CMI Group and CoStar and BlackRock. You give them great deals that have specificity. They don't say general things like, you're gonna get housing. you're gonna have educational opportunity. Know the CMI group, they hold you to tight details, 1.9 billion worth of taxes. That's what we want for the people, details. This bill, the NRI legislation is immature, it's unformed, it's shapeless, and it's a disservice to the community. And I believe all of you are honorable. And I'm just asking you to do the honorable thing. Hold up on this legislation until you get it right. Because that's what Ambassador Young was trying to tell me when I told you in the last meeting. He always told me, we dropped the ball on the west side. And it's because we didn't take our time and do smart legislation instead of fast legislation. And sometimes with poor community, legacy communities, we rush things. We just say, throw them something. I don't want to do that this time. Let's give our best to these children. Because I heard someone talk about parks earlier, and I love parks. I founded the Friends of Mattis Park. But here's the problem with our parks. You're getting ready to pass legislation that's not specifically targeted at the real problems. In our parks, what happens on the west side, we don't even have bathrooms. So we have young girls running to the bushes, young boys running to the bushes. Because in the legislation it doesn't specify funding of bathrooms. So what happened is people forget in legislation. So if you're not specific and say we're gonna fund lighting, we're gonna fund safety, we're gonna fund youth development, we don't have youth development programs on the west side. So you need greater specificity. If you pass this NRI legislation without taking the time, then you would be doing to the community what you don't do to yourself. Because when you make a purchase, you vet it. You review it. Give the community that same thing. Hold up on this TAD legislation until we have a chance to see it and you have an independent audit, which is honest, because all of you are honest people. Let's have an independent audit. Let's look at it TAD by TAD and take our time and get it right. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Kevin Peterson. You have six minutes. Is Herman Burkle here?

How many minutes?

Six.

The lady told me ten outside.

We have...

While you're checking that for me, I want to apologize.

I'm sorry, just a second. We have two people, three people yielding time to you.

No, I had, if you can pull the young lady who registered. Quandra Zellner. Okay. Michael Vinson. They're older and they are left. They're seniors.

Okay. And Herman Burkle?

They're seniors. Okay. But the young lady informed me I had 10.

So this is what we were speaking about earlier. They can have those two minutes. They didn't have to leave. I don't mind them speaking for two minutes, but they can't leave and give you their time.

So they have to be present. Yes.

Correct, correct. So now we are at four minutes for you.

Before we start the clock, madam, last time I was here, my neighbor tricked me. He made me make a promise. And when you're my age, at a Morehouse, man, you know when you make a promise, you got to keep it. And so I promised him before I found out what it was. He had been a good neighbor. He lent his lawnmower, let the people next door use his water, his electricity as they renovated his house.

Sir. Huh? We have to do our public comment.

You have four minutes. Well, I was apologizing because I used the N-word the last time I was here, but he told me that's the way they made him feel. And so I was apologizing to you all. Thank you. I appreciate that. And he told me to tell Marcy, I didn't know who he was talking about until I got here, he voted for you. And he expects great things to continue from you. Now, I'm here for NPUV and our meeting. We have a chairman, Caitlin Barrington, I believe her name is. Meeting got totally out of control. We were discussing a very passionate issue. I don't know if I can mention the- No. Okay. You got me before I could do it. But anyway, the bottom line is the meeting got totally out of control. I was recognized, but she stepped away by one of the board members. She came back and as I was speaking, she shut me down and said she didn't recognize me. Also, Ms. Zellner, Ms. Zellner, stand up here. Ms. Zellner runs a pantry out of the Dunbar Center. feeds hundreds of people every Saturday. So she was gonna make us, she was a presentation and she said, stop, I didn't recognize you. So Ms. Ellen stood there and waited. So as we opened it up, she went to someone in the back, totally disrespecting our sister here. But the worst part is the lack of control and the outright, I thought it used to be covert, but now it's just in your face racism. And a lot of times, maybe our white brothers and sisters don't know our struggle and don't know when they're being disrespectful and outright racist. But like I told Mary Norwood some time ago, Atlanta too great to hate, but not too great to discriminate. And it still happens to this day, even in our neighborhood association, as far as the members having private meetings, and I jumped the gun. I want to take you back 20 years. I was in Adair Park. Now, to our brown and black brothers and sisters, we all know each other when we see each other. A young white girl invited me to a meeting. I went to the meeting. I was the only black person there. Jeannie Mills, our historical person, shows up, pulls the young lady to the side and says, I could hear her say,

I didn't know he was black.

But they were discussing how to get my neighbor's house. She had a son who was on drugs, let's buy his portion and we'll deal with the other daughters later. And this has been going on for quite some time. That was 20 some odd years ago. When I tell you that Adair Park has a serious problem as far as representation and racial composition, we're still 70 to 75% black. Our neighborhood association, I'm the only black, excuse me, there are three blacks. Me, I had the senior committee. V. Bryce is our vice president, who's never there. God bless us. But the bottom line, and we have a finance person. Other than that, there are no other blacks that serve in Adair Park today, our neighborhood association. The problem that we're having is, I asked the president, we have a, I don't want to call him a gentleman, and I don't want to call him trash, but I can't think of any other word to describe him but garbage, maybe. His name is Matt Garvette, and he makes comments. He attacked my brother, Columbus Ward. Where are you? called him a poverty pimp. And then he says to us, well, I don't know how to apologize. Now, I'm going to tell you something. I don't use that N word, but the reality is he didn't know how to apologize to a nigga is what it was. And that's unfortunate. I don't like it, but that's the reality. And on that note, I want to say one more thing, brother. And to all of you. My mother asked me, how's Mike doing? And I said, Mike, well, you know old people, they call. And I said, Mike, she says, fine. And I said, this is- Thank you for your time. My mom transitioned last night at 9.55 in Embry.

I'm sorry to hear that.

She died of pancreatic cancer. My dad died in 83 of cancer. But I want you to remember who you are, brother. And for those of you who don't know, that's Michael Julian Bond. His family has served our people longer than most of you have been alive. They are the most dignified. They are the most loving.

Thank you, sir. I'm so sorry for your loss.

They are good and honorable, honorable people. And he's a bond. And he will continue the service of his family in public service. And we're going to send a prayer for him and his family. Everyone let you know we love you, brother. We love you, brother.

Our next speaker.

And she loves you too, brother. Oh, and my senior is Kelly Benton. Kelly Benton?

Okay, you have six minutes.

And people always say to the military, thank you for your service. Thank all of you all for your service, and particularly you and your family.

Is Greta Lewis here? Thank you. What about Marshall Motley? Is Marshall Motley here? You're Mr. Motley? Okay, just want to make sure you're here. You have six minutes. Ms. Benton, thank you.

Hello, I'm Kelly Benton. Just so happen I left my glasses today. I had written a whole bunch out, but apparently this is supposed to be led by the spirit instead of what I wrote down. Last time I started out by saying some of you know me and some of you don't. Those of you that know me know that I talk a lot. Kindergarten teacher said she talked too much and too loud. And it still holds true. They don't say I lie though. They don't say I lie. Michael Bond, I wanna say to you that I have a blind loyalty to you. Good, bad, or indifferent, I do. Last time I said that you all were not going to do anything, and I want to apologize for that, because I have no idea what you will or won't do, and it depends on the day and time, I understand that as well. Some of you begged, pleaded, and prayed to be here. Others stole and cheated to be here. and I hope it was for a purpose. Whatever that is depends on you. I started community work with Ralph David Abernathy III, and the first event I went to was the street renaming of Boone. And I feel like Councilwoman Boone does a great job at being a councilwoman. Community engagement, response when you call. If you can't do it, you can't do it. But what I genuinely feel is that if you are not doing anything that someone should rename a street after you, you're not doing anything. My grandmother used to say, shit or get off the pot. And that's what I want y'all all to think about. If you're not doing anything worth somebody naming the street after you, shit, or get off the pot. I mean that. When I worked with Greg Clay, he said, Kelly, you gotta just kill them with kindness. But most of the time, I just tell the truth, and people don't like that, and it seems unkind. But if what you've done that I said you did, if it was the truth, and it was unkind, that's on you. Liliana, that officer was fired, why? Because you put your hands on him. Because you were in the park when you should not have been. And you said you were afraid. Afraid people might hit people back, but afraid people don't hit people first. Afraid people certainly don't hit people twice. I'm just saying. I don't mean to be unkind, I'm just telling the truth. I brought my liquor here today because it's at work. It's cool when it's back there behind the doors of City Hall, but it's not okay for people to be drinking and then trying to conduct the business of the city. That's not cool. We can't say nigga out here, but we in nigga-ville. People can say ho at work. I complained about drinking at work. I complained about referencing women as hoes at work. The city of Atlanta does not have anywhere for a woman to go and say I'm complaining about the stuff going on here. And I just want a transfer. I don't want anybody punished. I don't want to verify what they did or did not do. I just wanted to transfer. But if there's no place to go to talk to somebody about that stuff, then what happens? You're terminated. And then you have to come down here and lay on this here piece of wood because there's still no place to go to complain because when you send emails, people are allowed to not to respond to your emails while you're at work. You're at work. So if you don't respond, to the quiet complaint, then people have to come down here and make noise. And then people have to come down here and make loud noise because people are not paying attention while you're talking down here. It's two ladies that come pray for the city every time. All they do is come and lay a prayer down because that's where we at. It's when I said no news, it's no news that $1,300 is not affordable rent. That's not news. Courtney English has not responded to my email because he on a black people are poor tour. We already know poor black people are poor. People should have to respond. Nobody cares about what's happening to the women at the city or the employees. So we have to come down here and complain. Thank you.

Thank you. I have an emergency, so I'm just trying to brief President Pro Tem Boone. Give us just a second. Our next speaker is gonna be Columbus Ward. You have four minutes, but give me just a moment to speak with President Pro Tem.

What if we manage that $35,000? What if we manage that $35,000?

A month? If we manage that while we manage these two minutes?

Mr. Warrer, you have four minutes.

Right before you start my time, I do have some documents. I want to encourage somebody to make sure each council person receive one. This should be enough for everybody. I was going to speak on the ticket that I did. Some of you, be personal.

Your four minutes have started. You have four minutes.

Okay. Some of them are speaking to your person because I know you that way, and I feel a little bit disappointed and sad. You did not disannounce racism on this day and time when we got people in Washington, Supreme Court, doing stuff that's taking us back, that do not protect democracy or our people. But you chose not to even acknowledge me. Michael, we go way back. Only somebody heard from Westmoreland. Antonio, you're one of my counterparts in people's side. I have to hear from you. Jason, Jason, y'all a third part of Peopletown. I didn't hear from you either. Byron, I worked with your mama to help educate black children in the Peopletown community to make sure they didn't lose their education or lose what they had. I just had to call it out sometime. Don't mind, Alex, you've been to people's town plenty of times. And so there's no reason that you can't acknowledge when you see racism at its best. Crew cut plans at its best, coming from people in the neighborhood. I mean, I'm part of the legacy, Reverend. I've been there a long time. Been working a long time, trying to be sure. But I sent you all the emails. And I forward you all the emails, send it to the mayor that none of you all refused for whatever reason. That's why I brought you a copy today in case you lost it, misplaced it, or didn't see it. That it's never too late to do the right thing. Always prayers, prayers always, it's never too late to do the right thing. If you are allowed, I didn't even get a copy, because I'm not on social media like that, but a lot of people brought that to my teacher, what was being said, calling me a poverty pimp. I don't know, Junior Barnes, was he called a poverty pimp? Andrea, remember the work I did with Reverend Boone, was he called a poverty pimp? So I was saying, so people know my work, they know what I do. So I'm just trying to figure out why you have not acknowledged, or at least send me just words that we didn't expect that to happen to you Columbus, we think that's bad, we don't support that. No, it's not too late to do something about it. That's my whole thing, saying come to y'all, it's the wake up call, y'all. If you're seeing what's going on that you don't support, What's happening on the street with us is legacy people out there fighting every day, doing the work that you all couldn't be doing. We go, we circle with the people. When you got Atlanta living, almost half of the people in Atlanta live below the poverty level. Nobody's really representing them like they should represent them. But we do. We try to make sure they are served and get what they needed to continue to live and play, live in Atlanta. A lot of our legacy residents has already lost the opportunity to stay here, so they're already gone. So I'm just trying to make sure you understand, we're talking about legacy residents who've been around that I try to represent and be a part of. I'm a low-income resident. I live on fixed income. I live on my Social Security check. But I want you all to be able to see that some of this stuff is in this part, this package here about all the negative stuff about racism that came on. The other one was about the mayor's copy, all got that. It asks you to denounce this type of behavior. But I want to read you all with a prayer. As the truth of Mark 1 and 12 hits my soul, may it serve as a reminder to never allow my life to be as a fake tree, never allow my life to have the appearance of God and the appearance of obedience when really there is no fruit in my life. At this moment, I am making the conscious choice to allow my word and my action to remain in alignment, giving me the boldness to stand up, righteousness like Jesus in the temple, courtyard, and oppose anything and everything that is circumcision to the word of God. Let me speak with the authority of heaven behind me. Let me speak with the love of Jesus with me. And let me speak with the caring heart of restored people back to their righteous place with God, with your God. I decree and I declare that I will not be intimidated nor silent by those who give the appearance that they are in power, but who are in corrupt and hard indeed. From this moment on, I will be with the full assurance in whatever I speak in the name. I will be able to receive it because I live in direct obedience to you. In your words, in Jesus' name, amen. Just use that for yourself. If you don't mind standing up and fighting for the people, use that prayer. Help yourself because you should immediately let me out. Particularly if some of you want to know the person's name, let me know that you don't agree with that. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Dr. DeJuan Robinson. You have a total of 10 minutes.

Y'all put my three seconds back up there, please. Please. Afternoon, council. Before I start off, let me say to all the city workers that's watching and everybody out here, you have a voice that's willing to speak up for you. I encourage you to come to us first instead of going to the OIG or the ethics office because we know that there are some fraternizing there and your privacy is not so private. So I am back and I am on the case full time. Let me also issue an apology to Mr. Donnell Cozy at the airport. I mentioned you last week as someone that are deleting files at the airport, but sir, you are doing this under the direction of your boss, Mr. Chris Chris, who Jan Lennon hired. What you have in front of you now is a resume of Jan Lennon and Mr. Ricky Smith, your general manager. You have 17 years of security and maintenance and one year of operation, Mr. Wayne Martin, one year of operation and we made her interim GM against a 40-year stellar career, aviation operation career versus Ricky Smith. What I don't like is the private conversation that most people have when it comes to whether or not what Ms. COO Burke's doing or what the mayor doing, but when the mayor get in your face, when Ms. Burke get in your face, that's a lot of ass kissing. I hate that. I really hate that. And what I don't seem to understand is that once again we are willing, A year and a half ago we had a deputy general manager and your general manager that we sat with them under the leadership of Mr. Byron Amos, asked them to sit with me. They chose not to and we was talking about a $1,300 Kindle and a repass that they lied about. And we went down this road and sometimes some people were let go and under disguise of retirement or whatever and right now, We know that there's some things going on. I don't like to use that C word, right? I don't like to use that word. But there are some things going on that I'm surprised that we are willing to let these things keep going on, keep festering, knowing that we're doing things behind the scenes that could get people locked up, that could get people locked up, and we're willing to keep having those come out here. A wise council member told me, if you want to stop people from coming down here, stop them from coming down here. Stop doing the things that you're doing, and we won't have people coming down here. And I don't get it, man. Like, we get in positions of power, and, you know, we get $150,000, $200,000, and we're willing to do things that will land us in prison for favoritism. Oftentimes, what I learned being born and raised in this city, Mr. Thomas worded, I'll be 49 in June. Some people, God is the fraternity or the sorority that they represent. A lot of people have gotten favor in life that they give to the sorority and the fraternity in which they represent instead of God himself. they'll give their friends who pull the application to glory. And that's why ain't no work getting done, because we are still operate under the umbrella of this Delta criminal enterprise. And I hate to say this, but we've just seen another, and Ms. Collins, not all Delta, we ain't saying all Delta, because you frowning. We know nothing in life is all or none. Nothing in life is all or none. Intelligent people understand that. So when people say all, we know, I've never said all, but the corporates who are causing all the friction in hell are Deltas. We're not saying all Deltas, but it is a Delta sisterhood nonetheless. It's a Delta sisterhood nonetheless. And what I'm saying is that council, you guys say that you don't get involved in personnel, but that's a lot. You guys vote on these salaries and the appointment. That's personnel, right? How do you sit here and allow a former warden with no experience to make $394,000? Her insurance package is $660,000. Who not qualified. Who they made up a position with Mr. Warren, I want to get to you, on the vacancy review board, right? Are we asking why are people still... in a temporary holding position. When Jan Lennon was put into the interim general manager position, Mr. Bond, someone else took her old position. She was in a holding position after Mr. Ricky Smith came. To my knowledge, and I want the second floor to prove me wrong, they took her out of that temporary position in one week. But these people are being told that they can't take them out of there. Their position about to expire in, 42 days. Now, we know the game that they're going to play is they're going to let it roll out and say, oh, it's expired. Now, Ms. Boone, this has been your friend since third grade, I hear. That's what I've heard. And I think that you can tell Ms. LaShonda Burns, hey, my friend, I love you. But God damn it, some things ain't right in Atlanta and at that airport, and we need to sit down and have a discussion and do what's right. I just think sometimes we gotta tell a friend that. And y'all always hear me reference, Jose L. William telling Andrew Young, you my best friend in the whole wide world, but tomorrow I'll be protesting you at City Hall because there's too many poor folks and hungry black folks in Atlanta. That's what a real friend does. See, I come from the era when my grandfather was born in 1914, he was a real man. Taught me how to be a real man. I remember watching as a kid, Mr. Julian Bond was friends with the late, great John Lewis, and they both were running for office. John Lewis betrayed his best friend and said, can we test him for cocaine? But everybody loved John Lewis, but nobody say the betrayal and the backstabbing. That's what politics does. You will stab your best friend in the back and say, hey, test him for cocaine. You want that seat that bad. And I ask people all the time, what is the legacy of John Lewis? All he can say is he will hit across the head. And I think it was a hell of a courage back then to stand on front line knowing that you could be killed and beaten on front line back then from the racism that was there. But as a congressman, I ask you, what is the legacy? I ask you, what is the legacy? Can't nobody tell me that. I asked you about the little boys that was raped in Piedmont Park that when Andrew Young was mayor, he gave him a slap on the wrist because his best friend was molesting little boys at Piedmont Park. What are we doing about that? He's grown men in Atlanta right now that was abused and raped and molested in Piedmont Park that was covered up by his damn best friend. But we want to pat folks on the damn back. I ain't that nigga that do that. That's what I stand for. So when I took two years off of not speaking, it was to give people a chance to do right by folks in this city. Niggas ain't got enough money to pay me off to not speak or to speak on something. I do what I want to do because it's the right thing to do. And y'all keep letting Jay and Lenny and the COO and everybody corporate. And the mayor, I always want to say he don't know. I've been telling you that's a lie. I think he do know. And I want to tell every city attorney who worked for the city, you have a bar license. Do not let anybody trick you into doing anything that ain't damn right in this damn city under the skies of whatever terminology you think you can do it right. Because people are always going to tell and we watching. But that's the type of man I am. I never asked nobody to endorse me when I ran for office. I would never put nobody on the flyer who I don't believe in just to hope to get some votes. I know men out here my age and older who molested from these folks in Atlanta and raped and can't talk because the higher ups was protecting these folks, man. It's the damn city we live in. And Jason Winston, you ain't spoken in a couple of years, brother. I need you to start speaking out. A lot of people think you talk the mirror ice water. I don't want to sit on a grown man, but God damn it, can you show us something different? I don't believe it, but I want to see it, brother. You got to start speaking out. It's time, man. We can't do that, man. It's time. It's time. How in the hell are commissioner parking recs have a DUI and it was here for four months in this damn city? Why? How? And the black guy who was the officer that was told to come get the car, they've been hiring him for the last month since he'd been discovered. He'd been off work with pay because they hired him because they don't want to bother asking what happened on that night. Come on, man. We can't be playing these games in Atlanta in this day, man. Maynard, last speech, he said, Counsel, I'm afraid that all y'all have turned cowards. I made so many black men rich in Atlanta, but I couldn't get $1,000 a month from these black men. And so many wonder why I do stand with a man like Darryl Anderson. Let me tell you what happened with Aiden Nelson Limousine. Maynard Jackson showed up at his front door in Metropolitan Wayne, Martin. Cadillac ran out and was then caught on fire, Mr. Bond, and you know it. His headset busted. Mr. Anderson drove him to the Cadillac up in Buckhead. Bought him a brand new car. Never speak about it. Never brag about it when all the other friends that he made millionaires didn't live for a finger to help him. Them are the type of people that I stand with and why I'm the man that I am because this city is too hypocritical and I don't like it.

This ends our public comment. We are now at the report of the journal, Madam Clerk.

Good afternoon, President Pro Tem and Members of Council. I, Corinne Lindo, Municipal Clerk of the City of Atlanta, do hereby certify that the minutes of the regular meeting held on Monday, May 18th, 2026 are true and correct.

I will entertain a motion to adopt the agenda. Moved by the Honorable Antonio Lewis, seconded by the Honorable Wayne Martin. Madam Clerk, we can do this by unanimous consent. That's 13 yays, zero nays. We are now at the communications portion of our agenda. Madam Clerk.

Thank you, President Pro Tem. We have item number one is 26C-5048. This is a communication from Council Members Jason H. Winston, District 1, Kelsey Bond, District 2, Byron D. Amos, District 3, Jason Dozer, District 4, and Michael Julian Bond, Post 1 at Large, appointing Dr. Ra Malika Emotep, to serve as a member of the community access media board this appointment is for a term of two years staff recommendation to refer to city utilities committee and committee on council let it follow that course item number two is 26c 5049 this is the communication from sahara jones president of atlanta planning advisory board submitting the appointment of miss alicia daniel to serve as a member of the atlanta citizen review board in the neighborhood planning unit NPU groups S through Z category. This appointment is for a term of three years. Staff recommendation to refer to public safety and legal administration committee and committee on council. Let it follow that course. Item number three is 26C. Madam... President, if I may take item three and four as a block. Please proceed. Item number three is 26C-5030. This is the governing board of the Office of the Inspector General final decision report submitted to the Atlanta City Council. Item number four is 26C-5041, the Department of Procurement City Council monthly report. Staff recommendation on both those items is to accept and file.

I will entertain a motion to accept and file those items. Moved by the Honorable Wayne Martin, seconded by the Honorable Liliana Batyera. Madam Clerk, please open the vote. The vote is open.

Will everyone please vote? The vote's closed.

12 yeas, zero nays. 12 yeas, zero nays. Those items are accepted and filed. Consideration of veto legislation. There is none.

Unfinished business. There is none. Madam President, if I may just make a few election announcements, please. Please. I just wanted to remind everyone that early voting for the midterm runoff elections will begin on Saturday, June 6th through Friday, June 12th. Early voting hours on Saturday is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. during Monday to Friday, the hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thank you.

Thank you, Vice Chair Wayne Martin, Public Safety and Legal Administration. We are now to consent agenda items section one. These are items that received unanimous votes out of committees. Are there any items to be removed from consent agenda section one? The Honorable Jason Winston.

Thank you, Madam President Pro Temp. I have three items I'd like to remove. 26-01080, which is item number one on page four. Item number two on page four, 26-01236. And then page three, I mean item three on page four as well, which is 26-01237. Any other items?

I will entertain a motion to adopt consent agenda section one, moved by the Honorable Antonio Lewis, seconded by the Honorable Thomas Worthy. Please open the vote. One moment.

The vote is open. Will everyone please vote? The vote's closed, 12 yays, zero nays.

12 yays, zero nays. Consent agenda section one has been adopted.

Excuse me, got one item I'd like to send post haste, if that's okay.

Send, please proceed.

Item number 26-R3613, which is item number four on page 12.

Senate Postage, page four, number 1226-R-3613. Please open the vote. Seconded by the Honorable Thomas Worthy, please open the vote. Unanimous consent. That item will be moved. 12 yays, zero nays. 12 yays, zero nays. That item will be moved post-haste to the mayor's office.

13 yays.

13 yays, zero nays. Public safety, Vice Chair.

It's gotta do section two.

Section two.

We are now to consent agenda section two. These are items that were introduced for first reading committees and are to be referred back to the respective committees. Are there any items to be removed from consent agenda section two? If there are no items, Madam Clerk, please proceed. No motion. No motion. There's a motion and a second. Move to refer by the Honorable Thomas Worthy, seconded by the Honorable Alex Wan. Please open the vote.

The vote is open. Will everyone please vote? Yay. 13 yays, zero nays.

13 yays, zero nays. Consent agenda section two, items are referred back to committees. We are now to the public safety legal administration portion, Vice Chair Wayne Martin.

Thank you so much, Madam Council President Pro Tem. We will need to enter into a Committee of the Whole to conduct our business today. With that said, I will make a motion to enter Committee of the Whole.

Moved by the Honorable Wayne Martin, seconded by the Honorable Liliana Batyera. Please open the vote.

The vote is open. Will everyone please vote? The vote's closed. Madam Pro Tem, how do you vote? Yay. 13 yays, zero nays.

All right, thank you so much. The first item we will take up is communication 26-C-5047, a communication from Mayor Andre Dickens appointing Ms. Dorothy Hurst to serve as a member of the Licensed Review Board. This appointment is for a term of two years. We want to make a motion to hold on this item. Yeah, make a motion to hold. Yes, hold it in committee. Looks like we do have a motion, and I made the motion, and we have a second by Westmoreland on that item.

Please open the vote. The vote is open.

Will everyone please vote? Council Member Wan, what is your vote? Council President Pro Tem? Aye. The vote's closed. 13 yeas, 0 nays.

Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. We will now move on to our consent agenda. Starting with our claims, I will make a motion to approve the favorable claims. That's been motioned and seconded by Council Member Worthy.

Madam Chair, we'll take the vote. Please open the vote.

All right, Madam Chair, I think we got it. All right, so starting here, okay. All right, now I will, that's what I was trying to do. We gotta take a vote for that.

Please open the vote.

The vote is open.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

Aye.

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. 13 yeas, 0 nays. Those items have been adopted.

All right. Thank you so much. Now we'll entertain a motion to adverse our unfavorable claims. Moved by myself and seconded by Council Member Worthy.

Please open vote. Is that not all?

The vote is open. Will everyone please vote? The vote is closed. 13 yays. There are nays. Those ayes have been at first.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. This brings us to our ordinance for first reading, for which we have one item to be sounded. Our ordinance for first readings are as follows. Item 26-0-1363, an ordinance by Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee to waive the procurement source selection provisions contained in Division 4 of Chapter 2, Article 10 of the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances, as well as... as well as any other conflicting code provisions to authorize the mayor or his designee to enter into an amendment number five for agreement SP-APD-2212-1230170, body, camera, police equipment, and services with Axon Enterprises on behalf of the Atlanta Police Department. Add the scope. of a security and counter drone system to detect, track, identify, and mitigate unauthorized drones in an amount not to exceed $3,499,999.99. All contracted work to be charged to and paid from the fund department, organization, and account numbers listed herein and for other purposes. All right, now we move on to our regular agenda. This item, this brings us to our ordinance for second reading, starting with item 28. Under second reading, item 26-0-1333, an ordinance by Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee, waiving Article 10, Section 2-1546 of the Procurement Code of the City of Atlanta, Code of Ordinances. authorizing the mayor or his designee on behalf of the city of Atlanta to execute a lease agreement with the Trustees Israel Missionary Baptist Church, a Georgia nonprofit corporation for the rental of 9,000 square feet of office space located at 2025 Jose Williams Drive, Southeast Atlanta, Georgia, 30317. for the Atlanta Police Department Zone 6 Main Precinct, commencing retroactively on August 1st, 2025 and ending September 30th, 2030 at an annual rental rate of $102,000.00 with a $500.00 annual escalation to be charged to and paid from fund account and center numbers 1001 General Fund 240401 APD uniform patrol. And that takes us to our resolutions. I'm sorry? There we go. Thank you. I would like to make a motion to adopt this item. I second it by Council Member Worthy.

We do have two speakers waiting, the Honorable Liliana Batyera, followed by the Honorable Alex Nguyen.

Thank you. This location, this precinct is actually located in the Kirkwood neighborhood in District 5 and is shared by some colleagues. And I have questions about extending this lease because this location has been a topic of discussion. Some consternation for quite a while. The neighborhoods that fall under this zone have all written a letter to the executive, to myself, to my colleagues, asking for us to find a different location because we have seen this location time and time again be riddled with mold. And we've had to move out our APD staff into the parking lot, into trailers. And it's just not conducive, I believe, to them being able to properly do their jobs and to us not having a functioning precinct. But I would like to better understand that. But before I ask any more questions, I'm going to go ahead and defer to my colleague. Yeah, I would want to understand why this lease is being extended with everything discussed. And I believe we are still waiting on analysis that were promised back in August. And that still has in August of last year. So.

We do have the commissioner here from the Department of Enterprise Assets Management. Please come forward.

Got you.

Good afternoon, Council Members, Council Members of the Chair. Thanks, Chris Davis, the Commissioner for the Department of Enterprise Asset Management. The request for the lease agreement here from APD is to lease the space out. This currently right now provides them with the location that they have to be able to provide the service there. I am aware of some of the challenges that they've had, and I'm aware that they actually have addressed those issues. They've done the remediation was done by the church, and they're responsible for those issues that relates to the facility. We've requested a air quality test, which we've done. APD has moved back into the facility, and right now they're still currently trying to find another spot for being able to provide service in that area.

The Honorable Alex Wan, next. Well, go ahead.

So I'm not sure that that satisfies my questions on this because it doesn't feel like there is actually a specific plan forward. And I'm coupled with the fact that this is going retroactively to last August, yet it is a five-year lease, signals to me that we have no intention of leaving this space. And so... Last summer, as you are probably aware, and the administration is aware, there was a coalition of neighborhoods that are covered in Zone 6, highlighting the challenges with the space, expressing their concerns, and the mayor responded and said that he was gonna get with leadership to provide a plan forward. And it is now June 1st, and to my knowledge, we haven't received anything. So unless there is something more that you or APD know about a future site, I have real reservations about moving forward with this because I don't have the confidence, again, with the five-year lease that we have any incentive whatsoever to try and accelerate the move out of the facility. I, quite frankly, I think five years is too long. Unless, again, unless we have a plan that will quickly, and we need to find whatever during that period. But without that, there is definitely unreadiness on my part on this. And if it's already retroactive to last August, I have no problems trying to get my colleagues to support holding this until we do get those answers. Because I feel like not only the men and women serving in Zone 6, but also the neighborhoods who've expressed this concern have been very, very patient on a response that they haven't gotten. I think it would be in bad form for the council members that are served by Zone 6. not to hold this and to advance it. And so is there a more detailed plan?

So what I can share is that I know that my team has been working with APD on looking for areas in the location to be able to either do a different lease based upon just the condition of the space and also to be able to see if they can find vacant property that they can actually be able to purchase as well. So why five years? So and I'm a Put it this way, so five years, I mean, they do have a early release out of the lease if need be. I think the difference is, so if we were successful in being able to either locate property to purchase or the timeline to be able to provide a new facility that would be included within that timeline, it's the same thing if they were able to find a different lease piece that would serve that, then they would just get in time to be able to prepare that other space to do what they need to do. I mean, so that's part of that. Like I said, again, I can't, having had recently having conversations with APD, I can just share that piece of it with you.

What is the out clause? Is it without penalty and 30-day notice?

I need to go back and look at the refines upon that.

Thank you, Mr. Commissioner. Colleagues, I'm going to go ahead and make a motion to hold. Second. And depending on the rest of the deliberation, if we find a more satisfying answer, I may withdraw that motion, but I'll go ahead and put that on the table now. Thank you. The holding committee. Thank you. Thank you.

Let's hear from the Honorable Antonio Lewis.

I truly appreciate Council Member Bakhtiar and Council Member Warren for bringing this to our attention. And what's holding me up is the price per year. I'm just thinking about $8,000, almost $9,000 per month. I know they talk about how much money we spend per month. I know what people, as a person who leases and rents out a space in the city of Atlanta, I'm just thinking... is there any more suitable places that we can even get for a cheaper price than that? And so I'm okay with that month to month. And so I appreciate you all for bringing that up to us because we can start looking around at places that we can actually, $100,000 a year to rent somewhere? So thank you again.

I mean, I appreciate that. And like I said, again, we will continue looking, but the, you know, what's included in this rent is the tenant is actually responsible for everything. So the maintenance, the upkeep, the whole nine yards. So that's included in that particular number. So we don't do, we don't provide any services to that facility. So the landlord does everything.

And I appreciate you for responding. So my president will allow me to respond to. And so I appreciate you saying that because that even made me feel better about saying we should be looking around because I would accept 100K a year and you wouldn't have to do anything to because we know that the going rate. of $9,000 a month is a good rate. And I would do everything in that house to make sure that you continue to give me that $9,000 a month for five years up to $500,000. So thank you for telling me that. That implores me more to say, hey, you should look at, during this time period, since we're on a month-to-month, since the contract has not been signed, I implore, I would ask you, I know it's in Council Member Bakhtiari's district, but I would say, hey, go look for some more spaces that we can actually, or look at a space that we own. in the city because we have spaces that we own as well. Thank you.

The Honorable Liliana Baltierra, followed by the Honorable Ishe Collins.

Thank you. So I do want to say and highlight for the record that this is not the first time that mold has occurred in this location. And it has been the same landlord for decades and understood. But this has been a repeated issue. And I believe, and I'll just state for the record, I believe five years is far too long. I think this could be done in two. I think that's more than enough time. So five years, though, is going to be, quite frankly, in talking to my colleagues, five years is, I believe, is a non-starter. It's too much time. We need to push ourselves to find out a solution more quickly than this. And it's been a longstanding issue. And so I do appreciate you, Commissioner. But for the feedback as we get those answers, I do want to say that I believe five years is far too long. Thank you. The Honorable Ishe Collins.

Yes, I'm sorry, just thank you for that, Council Member Batara. That was gonna be my question as well, is that time span being, but thank you, Council Member Wan, for placing this on hold. I know there's just questions to be asked on this. I also want to, I don't sit on Public Service League Administration Committee, but also just wanted to recognize, I think Councilman Lewis, what we also want to look at as well is that this is commercial, not this commercial and not residential. And so I know sometimes those, the rate, not sometimes, they are often much higher than residential, but in this space as well, where, I mean, the landlord is the Israel Baptist Church. We do have commercial properties that are sometimes in the space of not necessarily being up to what we're seeing here. So I just look forward to the conversation. I'll defer to my colleagues' knowledge, expertise, and recommendation as this is placed on hold. But I agree with Councilman Batiari in terms of the question, is the five years necessary? We're under the circumstance. I think this should be addressed and remediated sooner than that. So just something to think about. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The Honorable Thomas Worthy.

Madam President, Pro Tem, it has been duly moved and seconded to hold in committee and I'll call the question.

That's not, that is not, no, I apologize.

Alex 1, Liliana Batyara, please open the vote. The vote is open.

Will everyone please vote? Madam Pro Tem.

Boon aye.

The most close 13 years, zero names. This item will be held in committee.

All right. Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. This brings us to our resolutions. If there are no objections, may we take items 29 and 30 together as a block?

Please proceed.

All right. Thank you so much. Item number 29 is 26-R-3649, a resolution by Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee authorizing the reemployment of City of Atlanta Department of Corrections employees Cheryl Dowdy. corrections identification technician under Section 3-505A of the Charter of the City of Atlanta and for Other Purposes. And item number 30, 26-R-3650, a resolution by Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee authorizing the reemployment of City of Atlanta Department of police employee, Chenquetta Pitts, retired administrative assistant 3 under section 3-505A of the Charter of the City of Atlanta. And for other purposes, I would like to make a motion to approve.

Moved by the Honorable Wayne Martin, seconded by the Honorable Thomas Worthy. Please open the vote. The vote is open.

Will everyone please vote?

I'm gonna guess. Who is that?

Council Member Lewis, what is your vote?

Council Member Lewis, he's away.

The vote's closed, 12 yay, 0 nay, those items have been approved.

All right. Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. Our next item is item 31, 26-R-3651, a resolution by Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee authorizing the mayor or his designee on behalf of the Atlanta Police Department to apply for and accept a grant from the Joint 2025 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Accept Assistance in an amount not to exceed $582,102.00 for the purpose of law enforcement programs aimed at reducing crime, ensuring the safety of our residents, and that build trust through partnerships with the community and for other purposes. I make a motion to approve this item.

Seconded by, moved by the Honorable Vice Chair Wayne Martin, seconded by the Honorable Antonio Lewis. Please open the vote.

The vote is open. Will everyone please vote? That's close, 12 yeas, zero nays.

Thank you so much, Madam.

That item is approved.

My apologies. Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. Our next item is item number 32, 26- I'm sorry. Okay. Madam Chair, do you recognize Council Member Lewis?

The Honorable Antonio Lewis.

And if the Atlanta Police Department could let me know or let this counselor know how organizations can apply for the funding to see that this funding is from JAG and it's a Georgia Mutual Aid Act, which means that some of the CVI organizations may be eligible for this funding. So just wanted to know if the Atlanta Police Department can send us an email to let us know how people can apply for this funding. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Overton, please note it. Note it. Vice Chair, please proceed.

All right. Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Our next item is item 32, 26-R3607, a resolution by Council Members Wayne Martin and Andrea L. Boone, authorizing the Chief of Police and the Chief of the Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department to enter and execute mutual aid agreements with outside law enforcement agencies to provide mutual aid and assistance between the Atlanta Police Department and the Atlanta Fire and Rescue Department's With applicable outside law enforcement agencies and for other purposes, I'd like to make a motion to approve this item.

Move by the Honorable Vice Chair Wayne Martin, seconded by the Honorable Antonio Lewis. Please open the vote.

The vote is open. The vote's closed. 12 yeas, 0 nays. That item is approved.

All right, thank you so much, Madam Clerk. Our next item is item number 33, 26-R-3608, a resolution by council members Wayne Martin and Andrea L. Boone, authorizing the mayor or his designee to execute cooperative agreement CP-GS-APD-2604-1260179. This is an agreement, CP-APD-2604-1260179. I'm sorry, counter-UA system command vehicle with Farber specialty vehicles on behalf of the Atlanta Police Department for a term of two years with three one-year renewal options and an amount not to exceed $537,035. All contracted work will be charged to and paid from the fund department organization and account number listed herein. And for other purposes, I'd like to make a motion to approve this item.

Moved by the Honorable Wayne Martin, Vice Chair. Do we have a second? Second. Seconded by the Honorable Thomas Worthy. Please open the vote.

The vote is open. Everyone please vote. Madam Pro Tem, what is your vote?

Council Member Bakhtiari?

The vote is closed. 11 yeas, 0 nays. That item is approved.

Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. If there are no objections, may we take items 34, 35, and 36 together as a block?

Please proceed.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Item number 34, 26-R-3652, a resolution. 26-R-3319, an authorizing payment. A resolution by public safety committee to rescind resolution number 26-R-3195, an authorizing payment in the amount of $4,047.60 in settlement of the property damage claims of AMS A-S-O, Big Brother Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta against the city of Atlanta and for other purposes. And finally, item 36, a resolution by Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee to rescind resolution number 26-R-4250 and authorizing payment in the amount of $650.00 in settlement of the property damage claim of Ileana Lemus against the City of Atlanta and for other purposes. If there are no objections, I would like to make a motion to approve these items.

Moved by the Honorable Vice Chair Wayne Martin. Do we have a second? seconded by the Honorable Thomas Worthy. Please open the vote. The vote is open.

Will everyone please vote? The vote's closed, 13 yeas, zero nays, both items are approved.

Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. If there are no objections, I'd also like to take items 37, 38, 39, and 40 together as a block.

Please proceed.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Item 37, 26-R-3655, a resolution by Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee authorizing the settlement of all claims against defendant City of Atlanta in the case of State Farm Mutual Automotive... Automobile Insurance Company, a subrogate of Munishakar M. Patel v. City of Atlanta, action file number 25EV009027, pending in the state court of Fulton County in the amount of $9,421.62, the settlement amount authorizing the settlement. amount to be charged to and paid from the fund department, organization, and account numbers listed herein. And for other purposes, item number 38, 26-R-3656, a resolution by public safety and legal administration committee authorizing the settlement of all claims against the city of Atlanta in the case of Rupert Jones versus Malekia Ballard in city of Atlanta. Civil action file number 25EB001193 pending in the state, uh, Court of Fulton County, Georgia, in the amount of $68,000.00, the settlement amount authorizing the settlement amount to be charged to and paid from the fund department organization and account numbers listed herein. And for other purposes, item number 39 is 26-R-3657, a resolution by Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee authorizing the settlement of all claims against the City of Atlanta in the case of Allende K. Woodley v. City of Atlanta, Civil Action File No. 25EV010817, pending in the State Court of Fulton County, Georgia, in the amount of $27,500.00, the settlement amount authorizing the settlement amount. to be charged to and paid from the Fund Department organization and account numbers listed herein and for other purposes. And lastly, item 4026-R-3658, a resolution by Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee authorizing the settlement of all claims against defendant City of Atlanta in the case of Shiasia Travis v. City of Atlanta, Civil Action File No. 25EV009587 pending the State Court of... Fulton County in the amount of $50,000 and zero cents, the settlement amount, authorizing the settlement amount to be charged to and paid from the fund, department, organization, and account numbers listed herein and for other purposes. The motion on these items are to approve.

Motion to approve by the Honorable Vice Chair Wayne Martin, seconded by the Honorable Thomas Worthy. Please open the vote.

The vote is open. Will everyone please vote? The vote's closed, 12 yeas, 0 nays. Those items have been approved.

Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. This takes us to our items held in committee, for which we have one item to consider, item number 42. Colleagues, this item will have to be amended to attach an IPRO report. I will make a motion to amend.

Motion to bring forth the substitute by the Honorable Vice Chair Wayne Martin, seconded by the Honorable Liliana Batyera. Please open the vote.

The vote is open. Will everyone please vote? The vote's closed. The amendment is before you.

Thank you so much. Everyone has the amended item. And now I will make a motion to approve the item as amended.

Moved by the Honorable Vice Chair Wayne Martin, seconded by the Honorable Antonio Lewis. Please open the vote.

Oh, you have to read the caption.

So sorry about that. Madam Chair, Madam Clerk, I apologize for that. And Madam Chair, my apologies. Let me also read in the caption for the amended item, which is 26-R-3175, a resolution by Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari to request that the Mayor and the Atlanta City Council impose a 180-day moratorium on the acceptance of any new alcohol license applications in the Edgewood Corridor and for other purposes. And now I would like to make a motion to approve this item. Is that correct? Motion as amended. Excuse me.

Moved by the Honorable Vice Chair Wayne Martin, seconded by, do we have a second? By the Honorable Thomas Worthy.

We got some unreadiness, Madam President, Madam Chair. I'm just reading.

The vote is open.

Let's check. Let's check.

My apologies. I read the wrong caption there. Let me correct the record on that. Actually, the item that we're making a motion to amend to attach the IPRO report is a resolution by Councilmember Thomas Worthy as amended by Atlantis... Atlanta City Council authorizing the mayor who doesn't need to execute cooperative agreement CP-PS-APD-2603-1260144 with Motorola Mobility LLC and CDW Government LLC on behalf of the Atlanta Police Department for a term of three years with two one-year renewal options in an amount not to exceed $5 million and zero cents. All contract work will be charged to and paid from the fund department organization. organization and account number listed herein. And for other purposes, we have a motion to approve as amended.

Moved by the Honorable Vice Chair Wayne Martin, seconded by the Honorable Thomas Worthy. Please open the vote. The vote is open.

Will everyone please vote? The vote's closed. 12 VA, zero names. That item is approved as amended.

Thank you so much, Madam Clerk. I am happy to now make a motion to exit Committee of the Whole.

Moved to exit the Committee on the Whole by the Honorable Wayne Martin, seconded by the Honorable Antonio Lewis. Please open the vote, Madam Clerk. The vote is open.

Will everyone please vote? Council Member Hillis? Council Member Norwood? Those closed, 12 yeas, zero nays. We're now back in regular session.

12 yeas, zero nays. All actions from the Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee have been adopted in gross. And now this...

All right, we just came out of the Committee on the Whole. We have one more action to take, which is my motion. I would like to make a motion to adopt and engross all actions taken in Committee of the Whole.

Moved by the Honorable Wayne Martin, seconded by the Honorable Antonio Lewis. Please open the vote.

One moment. The vote is open to adopt all items in growth. Will everyone please vote? The vote's closed.

12 yeas, zero nays.

All actions have been approved, adopted.

Thank you.

Next item, the Honorable Jason Winston, Chair of the Finance Executive Committee.

Thank you, Council President Pro Temp. All right, colleagues, there were three items that were removed from the consent agenda. If there's no objection, I'm going to sign on these three items as a block. First item is 26-01080, an ordinance by Councilmember Jason H. Winston as substituted by the Finance Executive Committee to amend Chapter 114, Personnel Article Listed Classification Plan of the Code of Ordinances, City of Atlanta, Georgia, so as to provide for certain position abolishments, creations, reclassifications, class creations above entry authorization, employee position transfer, position funding, allocation changes, and other personnel actions in line with the FY2027 budget and for other purposes. 26-0-1236, a substituted and amended ordinance by the Finance Executive Committee adopting the fiscal year 2027 proposed budget to include all funds to authorize any necessary adjustments to ensure the proper closeout of fiscal year 2026 for all funds and for other purposes. Third item is 26-0-1237, a substitute ordinance by the Finance Executive Committee to set the avalorium tax rate for the general levy, bonded indebtedness levy, parks levy, education levy, special tax district levy, the Atlanta Beltline special service district levy, and the Atlanta Stitch special service district levy based on every $1,000 or part thereof at the value of all real and personal property for the fiscal year 2027 and provide that the tax rate... Established hearings shall remain fixed until amended or repealed and for other purposes. Colleagues, as you know, we will be having an additional public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget on Monday, June 8, 2026 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers. So at this time, I would like to make a motion to refer these items back to committee.

Second.

Moved by the Honorable Chair Jason Winston, seconded by the Honorable Antonio Lewis. Please open the vote.

The vote is up. Will everyone please vote? The vote's closed, 14 yays, zero nays. Those items are referred back to the FEC.

Thank you. That takes us to resolutions. The first item is 26-R3612. This item was forwarded with no recommendation. A resolution by Councilmember Dustin Hillis has substituted by the Finance Executive Committee authorizing the mayor or his designee to execute a special procurement agreement for the account number listed, Water Tank Services FIFA with Davis Water Services Inc. on behalf of the Department of Watershed Management. Pursuant to the section number listed of the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances for a term of 39 days with no renewal options in an amount not to exceed $2,289,600.00, all contracted work will be charged to and paid from the fund department organization and account numbers listed herein and for other purposes. Colleagues, we were still waiting on the IPER report. As of right now, this is a special procurement and it may turn into an emergency procurement. So I will make a motion to refer back to the FEC Committee.

Motion to refer back to committee by the Honorable Chair Jason Winston, seconded by the Honorable Alex One. Please open the vote.

The vote is open. Will everyone please vote?

The vote's closed. 13 yays, 0 nays. 13 yays, 0 nays. Item 26-R-3612 is referred back to committee.

Thank you. Takes us to our last resolution, 26-R-3619. Colleagues, this item was favorable on condition. That condition has now been met, which is a resolution by the Finance Executive Committee authorizing the mayor or his designee to execute sole source agreement for the number listed on airport's council international airport service quality program at hartfield jackson atlanta international airport with airport council international pursuant to the section i'm listed of the city of atlanta's code of ordinances on behalf of the department of aviation for a term of five years with zero or no options in an amount not to exceed three hundred seventy seven thousand one hundred fifty dollars and zero cents all services will be charged to and paid from account number listed in and for other purposes i will make a motion to adopt

Moved by the Honorable Chair, Jason Winston. Please open the vote.

It's out of committee, so. The vote is open. Will everyone please vote?

The vote's closed. 12 yeas, 0 nays. 12 yeas, 0 nays. 26-R-3619 is adopted.

Thank you. That does conclude my report. But again, I would like to make an announcement to the general public that we will be, again, having a public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2027 budget on Monday, June 8, 2026 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers. The Atlanta City Council will subsequently meet to consider and adopt the fiscal year 2027 budget, which is 26-0-1236 on Monday, June 15th, when our budget commission will meet as well. So thank you.

Thank you, Chair Winston. Next committee on council, Byron D. Amos, Chair.

Thank you, Madam President, Pro Tem. We have six items coming before you today. With no objection, may I take items one through five as a block? Please proceed. Communications 26-C-5028, a communication from Michael Wilborn, Jr., Executive Director, Atlanta Board of Education, submitting the appointee of Mr. Alfred Chevy Brooks to serve as a member of the Beltline Affordable Housing Advisory Board. This appointment is for a term of two years. 26-C-5032, a communication from Michael Wilborn, Jr., Executive Director, Atlanta Board of Education, submitting the appointment. of Mr. Avery Chibby Brooks to serve as a member of the Beltline Tax Allocation District Advisory Committee. This appointment is for a term of two years. 26-C-5039, a communication from Mayor Andre Dickens appointing Ms. Sadie Denard to serve as a member of the Community Access Media Board. This appointment is for a term of two years. 26-C-5040, communication from council members Jason H. Winston, District 1, Kelsey Bunn, District 2, Michael Julian Bunn, Post 1 at Large, appointing Mr. Forrest Cooley, Jr. to serve as a member of the Atlanta Urban Design Commission in the neighborhood representative category. This appointment is for a term of three years. And 26-C-5046, a communication from Councilmember Dustin Hillis, District 9, Andrea L. Boone, District 10, Wayne Martin, District 11, Antonio Lewis, District 12, and Ishae Collins, Post 3 at Large, appointing Mr. Wayne Martin to serve as a member of the Community Access Media Board. This appointment is for a term of two years. Madam President Pro Tem, all five communications coming out of the committee favor will make a motion to approve.

Moved by the Honorable Byron D. Amos. Please open the vote.

The vote is open. Everyone please vote. Councilman Martin, what is your vote?

The vote's closed, 13 yeas, zero nays. 13 yeas and zero nays. Those items have been adopted.

Thank you. That takes us to our resolutions. 26-R-3611, a resolution by Byron D. Amos. We question that the municipal clerk or her designee maintain and publicly display time records for proclamations and ceremonial presentations during regular meetings of the Atlanta City Council and for other purposes. This come out of the committee favor room. Motion to approve.

Moved by the Honorable Chair of Byron D. Amos. Please open the vote. The vote is open.

Everyone please vote.

13 yeas, zero nays. 19 yeas, zero nays. 13 yeas, zero nays. 13 yeas, zero nays. Those items have been approved.

Thank you, Council President. That ends my report.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Our next committee, Zoning Committee, Chair Mary Norwood.

Good afternoon. We have five items. The first four I'd like to take as a block. The motion coming out of the committee is to file. The first is 260-1050-Z2575, 11 Mildred Place NW. The ordinance is to rezone from R4, single-family residential, to R5, two-family residential. And that recommendation is to file. Second one is 260-1072, Z25767. 74, Emily Place, Northwest. The ordinance is to rezone from R4, single-family residential, to R5, two-family residential. That recommendation is also to file. The third is 260-1105, Z2578, 511, South Evelyn Place, Northwest. Again, the ordinance is to rezone from R4, single-family residential to R5, two-family residential. That is also recommended to file. The last one is 260-1203, Z2613, 875 North Grand Avenue, Northwest. The ordinance is to rezone from R4A NWAWO Single Family Residential Northwest Affordable Workforce Housing Overlay to R5 NWAWO Two Family Residential Northwest Affordable Housing Overlay. And that recommendation from the committee is to file these four ordinances and I so move.

Moved by the Honorable Chair Mary Norwood. Please open the vote. The vote is open.

Will everyone please vote?

13 yeas, zero nays. 13 yeas, zero nays.

Those items will be filed. The next item has a recommendation from the committee to adverse. It's 260-1299U2604, 416 Andrew J. Harrison Place, Northwest. The ordinance is for a special use permit for a personal care home. The recommendation of the committee is to adverse, and I so move.

Motion to adverse by Chair Mary Norwood. Please open the vote.

The vote is open. Council Member Collins, what is your vote? The vote is closed.

13 yays, 0 nays. 13 yays, 0 nays. This item is adverse.

Thank you, Madam Chair Pro Tem. And that concludes the report.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Our next committee item is City Utilities.

Thank you, Madam Pro Tem. Happy to report that CUC has no report. Thank you.

Next committee, Community Development Human Services Committee.

Thank you, Madam President Pro Tem. No report.

Our last committee, Transportation, Chair Alex Won.

Thank you, Madam President Pro Tem. We have one item, and that is 2601320. There is a substitute that changes the caption. I'll read in the new caption and make the motion to bring it forward. It's a substitute ordinance by Transportation Committee as substituted by Atlanta City Council authorizing the City of Atlanta to waive The procurement source selection provisions contained in Division 4 of Chapter 2, Article 10 of the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances, as well as any other conflicting code provisions, in connection with RFP number listed, Security Access Control System Operations and Maintenance, with Dean Allsecurity, LLC, on behalf of the Department of Aviation, to ratify services and to authorize the mayor or his designee to execute an amendment to extend the term of the agreement on a month-to-month basis for a period up to six months retroactively, Effective from May 30, 2026 through November 28, 2026, in an amount not to exceed $1,103,105.70, all contracted work to be charged to and paid from account numbers listed herein and for other purposes. The substitute reduces the funding amount to $1.1 million and changes the extension end date to November 28, 2026. Move to bring the substitute forward.

Seconded by, moved by the Honorable Alex One, seconded by the Honorable Liliana Batyura. Please open the vote.

The vote is, the vote is open. Will everyone please vote? Council Member Collins, what is your vote?

The vote's closed. 13 yeas, 0 nays. 13 yeas, 0 nays. The substitute is before us.

Move to adopt on substitute.

Moved by the Honorable Alex Wong, seconded by the Honorable Wayne Martin. Please open the vote. The vote is open.

Will everyone please vote? The vote's closed, 13 yeas, zero nays.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

That concludes my committee report.

Thank you. We do have one item for immediate consideration, the Honorable Antonio Lewis.

No, I think it's mine. Oh, I have one as well. You got one too? That's not immediate. But I have one that's immediate, yeah.

Chair Wan, please proceed.

All right, thank you, Madam President Pro Tem. Colleagues, you have a copy of this in your folders. It's ELMS ID 40548. It's a resolution by Councilmember Alex Wan to amend Resolution 26R3433, which established the City of Atlanta Special Event Technical Advisory Group, CTAG, by removing the requirement that members be residents of the City of Atlanta and for other purposes, whereas Resolution 26R3433, adopted by the Atlanta City Council on May 4th, 2026, and approved per City Charter Section 2403, on May 13, 2026, created the City of Atlanta Special Event Technical Advisory Group, or CTAG, and whereas the Council recognizes that the goals and functions of the body created or governed by Resolution 26R3433 may be effectively served by individuals who possess relevant experience, expertise, or professional qualifications regardless of their municipal residency, and whereas removing the residency requirement may broaden the pool of qualified candidates, enhance the effectiveness, diversity, and operational capacity of the body, and whereas the Council finds it in the best interest of the City of Atlanta to amend Resolution 26R3433 accordingly, now therefore be it resolved by the Council of the City of Atlanta that any portion of Resolution 26R3433 Requiring that members be residents of the city of Atlanta is hereby amended by striking said residency requirement in its retiree be it finally resolved that all other provisions of resolution 26 are 34 33 remain shall remain unchanged colleagues the reason for the immediate Consideration is the appointments process have has already begun and we wanted to make sure we get the best folks to the non Well to the non neighborhood related folks so move approval. I

We have a speaker, the Honorable Byron D. Amos.

Thank you. This brings concern. I had original concern from the original paper that we're looking at city processes that only have representatives from a certain council district, certain part of town. Now we're even removing the requirement that it have to be city of Atlanta residents. This brings me grave concern, and especially since it's immediate consideration, so I will be voting no.

Thank you. If I may respond to that, the main reason is the event producers, the event organizers, many of them do not live in the city of Atlanta and by any sort of task force that their voice is very, very important. Not being able to have them participate would hamper the findings of it, but I respect Council Member Amos's position.

The Honorable Michael Julian Bond.

Thank you. Madam President Pro Tem, you know, Council Member wanted that. I share some of the same concerns that Mr Amos does, and when I've had these situations in the past for members who were not residents, we would make them ex officio members. Have you all thought about that as an option? Because once you begin to, I guess. dilute the strength of a body with people who aren't in the city making policy for the city, it can become a slippery slope. So have you considered doing that?

Thank you, Mr. Bond, for the question. And yes, we have. I mean, the committee... Commission, sorry, is 19 members. Um, and the majority of them are still will be city of Atlanta residents just by virtue of the organizations that are appointing them. Most are neighborhood voices. Um, I think if we were to make the non-resident, particularly the event organizers ex officio, I think, um, as ex officio members, you do not get a vote. And I think that they would feel that they were being, um, uh, lessened in terms of their ability to drive decisions and conversations that impact what they do and events at Speedmont Park. So yes, that was considered, but I still feel like this is the best path forward for the effectiveness of the commission.

Well, just to quickly respond, would you reconsider it? Because ultimately, when we have these boards and commissions, the decisions should be made for the ultimate benefit, not necessarily for the developers or the planners or the event organizers, but ultimately for the citizens' benefit. So, would you consider that or reconsider it again?

So, Mr. Bond, the composition of the commission includes a representative, for example, from Class A event organizers. And so, Class A event organizers within... TO ADD THE CITY OF ATLANTA REQUIREMENTS WOULD CUT OUT A LOT OF THE KEY PARTNERS THAT WE HAVE PARTNERED WITH THE CITY HAS IN TERMS OF CLASS A EVENTS IN THE CITY. SO THAT TO ME IS AN EXAMPLE AND WHY I DO THINK THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO RELAX THIS PARTICULAR REQUIREMENT. AGAIN, OF THE 19, I THINK IT IMPACTS MAYBE FIVE OR SIX BECAUSE ALL THE OTHER ONES ARE GOING TO BE NEIGHBORHOOD REPRESENTATIVES AND HAVE VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY.

Well, I don't want to be a dead horse, but an example of what I've done with, let's say, the Reparations Commission, that there are roughly about the same number, give or take one or two members of the commission, but the three main national, the three main reparation organizations are they have local offices, they're national in nature, and we made them ex-officio, even though one might argue the same argument that you're making here today about, let's say, the Class A class, promoters that these people have the same kind of vested interest in reparations. So the decision that we made was to make those persons, we wanted their input, we wanted their contribution, we wanted their expertise, but ultimately we wanted the folks who were residents to make the decisions. So I don't wanna vote against your paper because I think it's important. But I just think it is important to make sure that whenever possible, that we put as many Atlanta people who are fully invested as residents on these boards and commissions to make these decisions that ultimately affect the residents.

Thank you, Mr. Bond. Again, I don't make this decision or recommendation lightly, but I do receive what you said and appreciate your feedback.

The Honorable Isha Collins.

Thank you for that clarification, Council Member Wan. I think that was my assumption when removing the Atlanta residence requirements. Just for a refresher, can you give us a breakdown of that group so that we'll understand the composition of the 19? Thank you.

You bet. It starts with the council members from Districts 2 and 6, representatives from MPUE and MPUF, representatives from Midtown Neighbors Association, Ansley Park Association, Morningside Lenox Park, Virginia Highland Civic Associations, and I think I said Midtown Neighbors, representative from Piedmont Park Conservancy, Atlanta Track Club, Atlanta Botanical Gardens, and then a Class A event producer, a Class B or C producer, a Class D or E, and then a representative who has experience doing security control consulting at Piedmont Park,

Sorry, what?

I think, I don't know if that adds up to 19, but you get the gist of the conglomeration of people.

Great, thank you. Last question, no consideration for adding the at-large member as a council representative on that piece to give the city, you know, at least kind of like that city-wide reach as well. so that other districts that may be concerned about the, you know, or may even want information about what's happening could also be a piece of that information as well?

Yep, so these meetings will all be open, and quite frankly, I think we're going to end up doing kind of more groups that's focusing on specific topics and definitely invite and welcome all voices at that point.

Great, thank you. Thank you so much.

You're welcome.

The Honorable Wayne Martin.

I'd like to call the question.

Is this approved? Okay. It's not debatable.

It requires two-thirds vote. He moved the motion to call the question. It's been seconded.

Open the vote. Please open the vote, Madam Clerk.

This is on the motion to approve or the call to question? Call to question.

So, Council Member Martin, who's the second? Council Member Bakhtiar, thank you. The vote is open.

Will everyone please vote?

One moment. Number one, what is your?

Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye.

15 yeas, zero nays. 15 yeas, zero nays. We are now ready to adopt. Motion to adopt. The Honorable Alex One, seconded by the Honorable Matt Westmoreland. Please open the vote. The vote is open.

Any nays? Everybody's denying.

Will everyone please vote?

Yes. Sorry, I'm in line.

Council Member Lewis? Council Member K. Bond, what is your vote? Fourteen yays, one nay.

Fourteen yays, one nay. This item has been adopted. We are now at the personal paper portion of our agenda. First item, the Honorable Thomas Worthy, and we will follow the line.

Thank you, Madam President. Pro Tem Elms ID 40241, a resolution by Councilmember Thomas Worthy authorizing the mayor is designee to exercise the first renewal option for IFB CON DOT 2402-1240-228, unpaved roads phase one, group two with BRTU Construction, Inc., On behalf of the Atlanta Department of Transportation, for a term of one year effective from May 23rd, 2026 through May 22nd, 2027, in an amount not to exceed $2,893,207.64, all contracted work will be charged to and paid from the fund, department, organizations, and account number listed herein and for other purposes.

Next item.

Refer. Refer.

Refer to transportation.

Elms ID 40542, an ordinance by Councilmember Thomas Worthy to waive Part 3, Land Development Code, Part 16, Zoning, Chapter 28A, sign ordinance section 16-28A.0106A and section 16-28A. of the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances to exceed the number of wall signs allowed and to exceed the number of building signs on corner lots at 2525 Piedmont Road and for other purposes.

Item ELMS ID number 40542 referred to zoning.

That concludes mine. Thank you, Madam President.

Madam President.

The Honorable Antonio Lewis.

ELMS ID 40546, a resolution by Councilmember Antonio Lewis, Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari, Councilmember Ishe Collins, Councilmember Matt Westmoreland, Councilmember Jason Dozier, Councilmember Micah Julian Bond, Councilmember Kelsey Bond, Councilmember Jason Winston, a resolution to requesting the Atlanta City Detention Center and appropriate city officials to review opportunities to reduce detention of certain low-level, non-violent misdemeanor offenses consistent with the laws in order to address overcrowding, improve safety, prioritize detention space, and for serious offenses and for other purposes.

Elms ID number 40546, referred to Public Safety Legal Administration.

And Council Member... Wayne Martin and Council Member Andrea Boone as well. Thank you.

Next item.

Thank you, Madam President Pro Tem. ELMS ID 40550, a resolution by Councilmembers Matt Wismore and Ishe Collins to accept the final report and recommendations of the Amir R. Farroki Artificial Intelligence Commission and for other purposes.

ELMS ID number 40550 referred to Finance Executive Committee.

Thank you.

Thank you. Elms ID 40527, an ordinance by Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari to zone property located at 2341 Glen Drive, Southeast Atlanta, Georgia, 30316 to the R4 Zoning District and for other purposes. Elms ID number 40527 referred to the zoning committee. Elms ID number 40529, an ordinance by Councilmember Liliana Bacchiari to amend the land use element of the 2025 City of Atlanta Comprehensive Development Plan so as to designate property located at 2341 Glen Drive, Southeast Atlanta, Georgia 30316 to the medium lot single family land use designation and for other purposes. ELMS ID number 40529, referred to CDHS. ELMS ID 40533, an ordinance by Councilmember Liliana Bacciari to provide for the annexation of property located at 2341 Glen Drive Southeast, Atlanta, Georgia, 30316, and to the corporate limits of the City of Atlanta, Georgia, pursuant to the 100% method to extend the boundaries of the Atlanta Independent School System to notify the Department of Community Affairs of the State of Georgia of such annexation and for other purposes. ELMS ID number 40533, referred to CDHS. Refer to FEC. Elms ID number 40545, an ordinance by Councilmember Liliana Bacchiari to amend Chapter 150 to add Section 150-246 to be entitled prohibition of commercial cut-through truck traffic on Astoria Street between Wiley Street and Memorial Drive Southeast and on Tunnell Street and Carroll Street between the Wiley Street and Boulevard to prohibit commercial cut-through truck traffic through portions of the Cabbage Town Landmark District to provide for enforcement for clear language in the required signage and for penalties and for other purposes.

Elms ID number 40545 referred to transportation. Thank you. Thank you. Next, Honorable Wayne Martin.

Thank you so much, Madam Pro Tem. Elms number 40540, a resolution by Councilmember Wayne Martin to designate the portion of the Utoy Creek watershed within the city of Atlanta as the Utoy Creek urban forest to direct city departments to develop implementation strategies to protect, enhance, and monitor this urban forest and for other purposes.

Helms ID number 40540. Refer to CDHS.

Thank you, Madam President. Or Madam Chair. Apologies. It suits you. First item is ELMS number 40536. An ordinance by Councilmember Jason Dozier, Kelsey Bond, Jason Winston, Dustin Hillis, Thomas Worthy, Matt Westmoreland, Alex Wan, and Ishe Collins, and Liliana Bakhtiari. Can't read y'all's handwriting. So amend Chapter 74, Section 513 to add back to Chapter 74 performance criteria for stormwater management standards. The additional incentives for green infrastructure and requirements to retain water quantity that were removed in 2020 and for other purposes.

Item 40536 referred to city utilities.

Next item is Elms number 40537, an ordinance by council members Jason Dozier, Kelsey Bond, Dustin Hillis, Alex Wong, Liliana Boxiari, Jason Winston, Thomas Worthy, Matt Westmoreland, Ishe Collins, amending chapter 30 of the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances entitled Businesses, article entitled Parking Lots and Parking Garages to Establish Consumer Protection, Rate Disclosure, Payment Accessibility, Privacy Notice, Data Retention, Validation, and Dispute Resolution Requirements for Park-for-Hire Facilities, operating within the city of Atlanta to provide enforcement and penalties and for other purposes.

Elms ID number 40537, refer to transportation.

Next item is ELMS ID number 40534, in ordinance by Councilmember Jason Dozier and Ishe Collins, authorizing the mayor or his designee on behalf of the City of Atlanta to accept a land donation from the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority of approximately blank square feet of real property located at 0 Eugenia Street, Southwest Atlanta, Georgia, 30312, valued at blank dollars and zero cents for the public purpose of delivering affordable and mixed income housing units in the Mechanicsville neighborhood and for other purposes.

My anxiety number 40534 refers to CDHS.

Next item is Elms ID number 40535, an ordinance by Councilmember Jason Dozier authorizing the mayor or his designee on behalf of the city of Atlanta to enter into a right of access agreement by and among Fulton County, Georgia, and the Fulton County Recreation Authority, together with the city of Atlanta, with the city in Africa, referred to individually as licensor or together as licensees at the property located at 0 Eugenia Street, Southwest Atlanta, Georgia, 30312. Located in Landlot 76 of the 14th District of Fulton County, Georgia, to execute all necessary documents to effectuate the license agreement and for other purposes. I don't know if I said it, but this is an ordinance by Councilmember Jason Dozier and Ishe Collins.

Elms ID number 40535, referred to CDHS.

That's my last item. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

Madam Pro Temp, I have one item, Elms number 40235. A resolution by Councilmember Dustin Hillis and Ishe Collins authorizing the Mayor and his designee to execute an agreement for contract number listed LMIG Street Resurfacing Project Group 1 with Blount Construction Company, Inc. on behalf of the Atlanta Department of Transportation for a term of three years with two one-year renewal options that amount not to exceed $3,278,256.44. All contracted work will be charged to and paid from the... fund, department, organization, and account numbers listed herein and for other purposes.

ELMS ID number 40235, refer to transportation. No, please, my items.

Thank you. ELMS ID 40549, a resolution by council members Kelsey Bond, Matt Westmoreland, Jason Dozier, Thomas Worthy, Jason Winston, Byron Amos, Antonio Lewis, Michael Bond, Ishe Collins. Ooh, I'm getting lost. Dustin Hillison, Alex 1. Requesting the city to utilize the process outlined in 24-0-1370 to impose a tax increase on property owners of neglected properties contributing to blight for 1155 Peachtree Street Northeast and for other purposes.

Elmstead ID number 40549 referred to CDHS and FEC. Next item.

ELMS ID 40541, an ordinance by Councilmember Kelsey Bond, Jason Dozier, Liliana Bakhtiari, Jason Winston, Ishe Collins, Dustin Hillis, Michael Bond, Antonio Lewis, and Thomas Worthy.

I'm getting lost.

To amend Chapter 138, Street, Sidewalks, and Other Public Places, Article 3, Construction or Excavation in the Right-of-Way City Code Section 138.67, Pedestrian Access, to require the Commissioner of the Atlanta Department of Transportation to establish mandatory temporary pedestrian routes when sidewalks are rendered inaccessible and for other purposes. Elms ID number 40541, refer to transportation. Elms ID 40538, a resolution by Councilmember Kelsey Bond, Liliana Bakhtiari, and Jason Dozier to encourage the prioritization of the use of human-created visual media, including photography, graphic design, illustration, and video production in official city communications intended for public distribution across the whole of city of Atlanta government to encourage transparency regarding the use of artificial intelligence, generated media, and for other purposes.

Elms ID number 40538, referred to FEC. Sure. Chair Winston.

Thank you. First is Elms ID 40525, an ordinance by Councilmember Jason Winston supplementing that certain ordinances 26-01268 adopted by the Atlanta City Council on May 18th, 2026 and approved by the mayor on May 19th, 2026 to among other things provide for the sale of $4 million. City of Atlanta Various Purpose General Obligation Bond Series 2026. The naming of a bond register and paying agent for said bonds. The adoption of a form to which said bonds shall adhere. Preparation of a tax digest and the levy of a tax sufficient to pay principal and interest on said bonds. The execution, delivery, and performance of said bonds, the creation and maintenance of a construction fund, the ratification of the distribution of a request for proposals, the authorization approval for the execution, delivery, and performance of a term sheet, and for other related purposes.

Referred to FEC.

Elms ID 40526, an ordinance by Councilmember Jason A. Swenson supplementing that certain ordinances 26-0-1269 adopted by the Atlanta City Council on May 18, 2026 and approved by the Mayor on May 19, 2026 to, among other things, provide for the sale of $4 million City of Atlanta Various Purpose General Obligation Bond Series 2027, the naming of bond, registering and paying the agent for said bonds, the adoption of of a farm to which said bond shall adhere the preparation of a tax digest and levy of a tax sufficient to pay principal and interest on said bonds, the execution, delivery, and performance of said bonds, the creation and maintenance of a construction fund, ratification of distribution of a request for proposal, the authorization and approval of the execution, delivery, and performance of a term sheet, and for other related purposes.

Refer to FEC.

Elms 40543, a resolution by Council Member Jason H. Winston authorizing the Commissioner of the Department of Watershed Management to adjust water and sewer service charges on certain customer accounts in accordance with Atlanta City Code Section 154, that's 28, and the amount of dollars to be given to us later and for other purposes.