Kasim Reed

Our health is affected by a variety of factors that are directly influenced by policies made by the city council and supported by the Atlanta Mayor. What is your plan to control the COVID-19 pandemic in Atlanta? What are your plans to encourage vaccination given that Georgia and Atlanta’s vaccination rates fall far behind the national average? Given that a growing number of Atlanta businesses are opting to implement vaccine mandates, would you support a vaccine mandate for public employees?

First of all, I will re-open the city government. I will be at work every day and Atlanta residents will know that City Hall is open and a resource. I will make vaccinations available at City Hall and at appropriate city facilities throughout Atlanta, particularly community recreation and senior centers.

COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated economic disparity in Atlanta. What are your plans to promote economic opportunities for all people in our city? How do you plan to ensure this growth is shared by all, especially historically marginalized groups?

The federal government has made billions of dollars available to support Americans during the pandemic and aid in post-pandemic recovery through the various CARES Acts, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and the American Rescue Plan Act. Too much of the money that has been made available has not been put into action. I will ensure that all currently available funds are deployed within six months, including funds available for renters, job training, vaccination support. And I will work closely with the Biden Administration on the Build Back Better Plan to ensure that Atlanta receives as much funding as possible. Recovery will require intention and focus to address the massive job losses in the service, arts and entertainment industries that drive Atlanta's economy. Atlanta is a resilient city; we will recover from this pandemic and thrive again.

Atlanta’s population has seen steady growth over the past few years, and many have noted that this growth has pushed members out of their communities. What are your plans to increase affordable housing availability?

As growth and development occurs, we need to fight to ensure that Atlanta remains affordable for the people who have long called it home, as well as the people who work hard every day to keep our doors open. Here are the core elements of my plan to ensure affordability and workforce housing throughout the City:

• Conduct a city-wide audit of the area’s current affordable housing digest, ensuring that current affordability commitments are being met.

• Create Atlanta’s first-ever Office of Anti-Displacement.

• Make better use of currently owned public land.

• Layer units to help both low and middle-income households.

• Build housing for middle income city employees, including public safety officers and teachers, so they can live in the town they serve.

• Double the number of affordable units near MARTA stations without jeopardizing or destabilizing historic single-family neighborhoods.

We need to better leverage current public real estate assets, particularly the properties owned by the Atlanta Housing Authority and MARTA, and leverage the federal dollars available to expand affordable, transit-oriented housing options. We need to layer the affordable units so that we have options to serve low-income households earning up to 60% of area median income, while also supporting middle-income households that earn up to 100% of median income.

A good example from my prior term is the partnership with the Atlanta Police Foundation called Secure Neighborhoods. That program offers sworn Atlanta Police Department officers affordable options and incentives to purchase a home that has been renovated or built from the ground up in English Avenue, Vine City, and Pittsburgh. That program aids in officer retention, helps reknit the fabric of those communities, and ensures that the people who serve our city can afford to live in it as well.

We have to create more workforce housing that serves this middle-income market, allowing teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other city employees to live where they work. With a focus on public-private partnerships, we can help double the number of affordable units at or near MARTA stations from 1,500 completed, under construction or in planning, to over 3,000.

At the same time, we do not need to sacrifice what makes Atlanta special – like our historic in-town neighborhoods – if we take intentional steps to create affordability and density in areas that can support and welcome it. We’ll use warning metrics, like water and utility disruption, to identify legacy residents that need additional support to maintain their homes. We have been told we either need to choose affordability or historic and community preservation, but that’s a false choice.

Atlanta has taken solid steps to create and preserve long-term affordability, but we know we must do more. Displacement does not have to be the inevitable result of economic growth and neighborhood change. With intentional policies to protect lower income residents, they can stay and access the benefits of improved housing, job opportunities, and access to transit.

Do you support the Atlanta Homeless Union’s 4 demands - for “housing, healthcare, water, and a seat at the table” - and if so, how do you plan to meet these demands as mayor?

The City of Atlanta is one of only two municipalities in the State of Georgia that has met the federal benchmarks and criteria for creating an effective end to homelessness for veterans. Meeting the criteria for each benchmark, set by USICH, means Atlanta has created a system and capacity to quickly identify and house veterans experiencing homelessness. While this is a tremendous achievement, homelessness continues to be an issue in our city, and we must do more. I remain sympathetic to the plight of these individuals. I remain committed to using the necessary city resources to help them in the most compassionate ways possible. Here are the ways we will demonstrate our compassion and ensure that we do not leave anyone behind:

• Work with local faith-based institutions to increase the amount of no-barrier shelter space.

• Coordinate with food banks and other charities to make sure hot meals are available.

• Partner with Grady, Worksource Atlanta and community stakeholders to expand wraparound services.

• Protect significant sub-categories, such as HOPWA and the city’s unsheltered youth. Work with local businesses on job training and placements.

• Establish family shelters so parents aren’t separated from their children.

• Improve police training on dealing with these individuals to help them off the streets and into shelters.

• Follow through on our plans to improve the economy and increase affordable housing to create jobs and homes.

In the wake of all these natural disasters occurring nationwide, what is your plan to make Atlanta more resilient to the effects of climate change? Do you support declaring a climate emergency?

My public service record on conservation and climate issues stands head and shoulders above every other candidate in this race. I believe the city of Atlanta should be a leading example of how a major urban municipality can take greater responsibility for efficient energy and water use, the conservation of green space, and the promotion of a healthier, cleaner and greener environment. When I took office in 2010, I rolled out Atlanta’s Sustainability Plan at the city’s first Sustainability Week in October. Over my eight years in office, the city took concrete, measurable actions around sustainability. Among the highlights:

• Developed and adopted the first municipal Climate Action Plan in Georgia.

• Signed the Cities Pledge to advance the Paris Climate Accord in 2017 to intensify Atlanta’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and ramp up clean energy solutions.

• Honored in 2017 with the Climate Leadership Award – Partnership Award Certificate from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for our work to promote energy and water conservation through the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge and the Climate Action Plan.

We need bold, aggressive leadership on sustainability and conservation. No other candidate has the record I have on conservation and no other candidate will forge ahead with a plan to address climate change when the inevitable push back comes.

The health of all persons, including immigrants and incarcerated populations, matter. During the pandemic, we’ve witnessed COVID-19 outbreaks in prison and ICE detention facilities. As mayor, how will you ensure that the health of these individuals are maintained and held to the appropriate standards?

As Mayor, I have no authority over any jail other than the Atlanta City Jail. All inmates held at the Atlanta jail will be treated fairly and provided appropriate medical care.

The pandemic has further exacerbated the opioid crisis. What measures would you implement to decrease opioid deaths and the spread of infectious disease among people who use drugs in Atlanta? Further, what harm reduction policies would you implement more broadly?

No response

Racial justice, particularly in the context of the Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate movements, has been central to our city’s discourse in the past year. How would you address hate crimes and discrimination as mayor?

I have zero tolerance for hate crimes and discrimination. I will ensure that hate crimes are properly investigated and prosecuted.

The Atlanta City Council recently voted to move forward with a lease to the Atlanta Policing Foundation for the construction of a police training facility, called “Cop City”. Do you support this move, and what is your stance on public safety and policing more generally?

Crime is the number one crisis facing our city. Right now, in every neighborhood across our city, Atlantans feel less safe. Crime impacts our personal and collective quality of life and the city’s reputation, creating a vicious cycle that undermines everything that makes our city vibrant. The fundamental truth is that until Atlanta feels safe again, nothing else will feel right. As for the new police academy training facility, I do not believe the proposed location is the right location.

Public safety reform starts at the top. During my eight years as Mayor, the city’s crime rate was at 40-year lows and the city employed 2,000 sworn police officers, the largest force in the city’s history. Here are the core elements of my plan to make every neighborhood safe:

• Hire and properly train 750 new APD officers so that we have a fully functional force, and coverage throughout the city.

• Provide all – new and existing – officers with implicit bias and de-escalation training.

• Keep the Atlanta City jail open to eliminate the overcrowding in the Fulton County jail, and shut down the revolving door for repeat violent criminals.

• Work with state and county leaders to hire new judges to eliminate the huge prosecution backlog caused by COVID-shutdowns.

• Establish weekly cabinet meetings to review crime data and implement solutions across departments.

• Upgrade precinct locations and facilities and replace outdated equipment.

• Expand Atlanta’s Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative (PAD), a program created during Mayor Reed’s first term, and reopen the Centers of Hope recreation centers to get kids off the streets safely.

• Triple the city’s network of traffic cameras and license plate readers, including adding safety surveillance to public parks.

• Revamp APD Code Enforcement processes to target the city's most egregious offenders and aggressively prosecute nuisance establishments.

• Establish LGBTQ+ hate crime protections in APD's Special Victims Unit.