e e e sure there [Music] of yeah good afternoon I'm Doug Shipman Atlanta City Council president calling to order this regularly scheduled meeting of the Atlanta City Council it's Monday November 18th 1 p.m. and I'd like to ask the clerk to call the opening role good afternoon council president members of council we have council president Doug Shipman president council member Michael Julian bom post one at large council member Matt West Morland post two at large here council member Jason H Winston district one here good afternoon I'm at city council president calling to order meting Council it's Monday November 18c Jason doer District 4 council member Alex Juan District Six council member Howard shook District s council member Mary Norwood District eight nine eight council member uh Dustin Hills district nine want you go ahead and continue we'll try to get that turned off council member Andre elbon district 10 council member Mary caller over Street District 11 council member Antonia Lewis District 12 pres council president we have a members we have a Corum of members present thank you we will try to work on the chamber you can hear an echo from the audio we work on that to get that turned off uh we are now to the adoption of the agenda the agenda was set out ahead of time if there are no changes or updates to the agenda I'd entertain a motion to adopt move by Council M Lewis there a second second by Council M shook is there any debate on the uh motion to adop the agenda hearing none we do this vamous consent any objection to the motion to adopt the agenda Madam clerk please sign the count unanimous consent 12a z 12a z n is a motion to adopt the agenda carries give us just a moment we will now move to the invocation we don't have a guest today so I would just take a moment of we will take a moment of silence but I would take a moment to ask if there are any acknowledgements from members of council council member Norwood just a yes I would just like to acknowledge that we had the memorial service for Paul zuka long-term Community Advocate uh Paul lived in Grant Park with his partner for many years and was a great preservationist and a great supporter of candidates for public office I think everyone up here on the de has known Paul and most of y'all in the audience have known Paul he was a marvelous K kind soul shrewd strategist and sad politician and a great friend to us all so he will be missed thank you councilman Lewis I I would like to acknowledge that we had the memorial services for Mr marus Marcus Bentley and if you know the Bentley family if you're from Jonesboro Road Oxford Village you know Mrs Bentley you know the entire family you know that the family is going through a morning period so every prayer we can to the Bentley family from Jonesboro thank you again thank you councelor yes I too would like to offer condolences to the family and friends of Paul zuka we had a wonderful repass um at the Kaiser's home I was joined by The Honorable Jason Winston um council member Mary Norwood and so many other members um of the city of Atlanta Paul zuku was a wonderful dedicated and diligent servant to the citizens of Atlanta he will be truly missed thank you thank you C mroi I just wanted to offer condolences to the family of Felicia mccre who is the upper school principal the Galloway school she died suddenly last week and uh shaped the lives of hundreds if not over a thousand young people who um came through that school and just uh I know it's shaken that community and wanted to acknowledge her passing and what it meant to a lot of young people in the city thank you councelor Bond thank you thank you Mr President I also want to add my voice uh in memorializing the great Paul zuka was able to attend his funeral but not the repass and of course uh council member Norwood gave a really good one of four eulogies uh but was very moving eulogy and words at that ceremony and uh Paul was the type of person who loved Atlanta loved it earnestly and he did the right thing all the time and he gave you the right advice all the time whether you wanted to hear that advice he could deliver it in a way in a warm and heartfelt loving way so he will definitely be missed he is an unsung contributor to the type of Atlanta way the type of community the type of city that we have and he was really one of the best of the best of our citizens I also want to um acknowledge the passing of a classmate of mine Cheryl Hill Harper who was the daughter of one of Atlanta's first African-American firefighters she died uh suddenly uh last week and of course want to give condolences to the Cofield family of Atlanta uh the eldest son uh David uh passed also just as suddenly uh a week ago and they were both uh Memorial eyes also on on Saturday thank you any others well for these and those UNAM would you please join me in a moment of silence thank you would you please 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 next we will move to proclamations commendations and other special awards first I'd like to ask Council memb Michael Julian bond to come forward and all of those who are here to honor Miss Georgia team 2024 Carrington menace to come forward and join us up on the DI for all money behind no just yeah just come on in you you all can keep coming come on around is that everybody well it's really a a pleasure to be here this afternoon to honor uh someone who has made strides in their in the short short years that they've been amongst us here on planet Earth it is it is really good to admire and acknowledge young people who are having a positive impact on our community and are self-aware enough to know that they are a example to those coming behind them uh even at the at their young and tender age right you know because I was just 16 a short time ago and so it's good to know that there are those who are striving for excellence and setting and still blazing Trails as we move forward I'm here today to honor such an in in individual who I've had the pleasure of working with in small measure uh a a couple years ago all also uh aiding her and being recognized and acknowledged at her school and so I've got a proclamation uh in honor of this Trailblazer and I will read the proclamation in pertinent part in honor of Miss Georgia teen 2024 carington mamos whereas carington is the current George uh Miss Georgia teen is a distinguished resident of Atlanta Georgia and an honor student at the Woodward Academy and exemplifies academic excellence and steadfast dedication to her community whereas uh Miss Carrington's community service initiative caring and cares # decod dyslexia seeks to empower students with dyslexia with providing educational roles raise raising awareness and fostering an environment of understanding and support and whereas Caron's advocacy is deeply personal having been diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of seven her journey of resilience and determination has inspired countless others as she becomes a Beacon of Hope for those students with uh familiar circumstances and whereas Carrington played a pivotal role in collaborating with the Georgia Senator Gloria Butler on the successful passage of Senate Bill 48 which secured $3.5 million in funding for free dyselxia texting in kindergarten through third grade St with through it with kindergarten and third through third grade students demonstrating her commitment to ensuring access to early intervention and support for children of those ages and whereas as the author of The dyslexia doesn't Define me uh Caron has shared her story to help to dispel myths about dyslexia and to encourage other others to embrace their unique differences while raising more than $90,000 for dyslexia awareness and support across uh the C the country showing a global impact for her efforts and whereas Carrington's aspiration is to earn a Jurish doctorate and continue her advocacy work uh reflects her unwavering commitment to creating a more Equitable and inclusive Society for individuals with learning differ now therefore we the M of Council on behalf of the citizens city of Atlanta here by Proclaim this day as Miss Georgia teen 2024 carington Manis day in our Fair City and witness thereof I have set my hand and have caused the Seal of the city of Atlanta to be here and to affixed congratulations take a quick shot you got us oh all right hold on to that are there any colleagues that like to make a comment not seeing any I know several of our colleagues have been in beauty contest before but I don't know if they've had the impact so is there any member of your family are the parents any anyone I will you will please come forward thank you um first thank you so much for recognizing carington that means the world to us um Carrington's story um to your point is one of Hope and one of understanding that whatever your difference may be it does not define where you where you can go in life and I just want to publicly say to Carrington how proud I am of you and how you have always and will always continue to be not only an inspiration for other students I'm the mom I'm shant di I'm sorry um you will not just be inspiration for this generation of students but generations to come and more importantly you're an inspiration to me as your mom and I'm just very proud and I thank God for you every day because you have Beyond exceeded my expectation as a daughter and I'm very proud of you and I just wanted to tell you that publicly so thank you all for honoring Carrington in this way and um she promises to continue to make all of you proud thank thank [Applause] you um hi I'm Carrington um sorry I'm a very sensitive person so just to see my mom cry um I may get a little choked up but um I would like to say it's your day take your time I can never imagine standing here talking about something that I didn't even want to tell my family members um I was very ashamed of my dyslexia because a lot of people didn't know what it was and for me to be able to bring awareness and help so many students Thrive to do something better in their lives it's really inspiring to me and I hope for students all around the world to not only just advocate for dyslexia but to advocate for other things that they may be ashamed of and you realize when you're doing things in the world your voice matters to someone else and you can help so you can help support and you can help help someone get the help they need so for me to be able to do the things I'm doing with all the amazing people who's standing behind me I'm very blessed and I'm thankful for each and every one of you guys for always standing by me and taking up with whatever I have to come um let's go do this let's go to Miss America and thank you all so much for taking time out of your day to come and see me get honored with this amazing Proclamation and thank you so much and that's right one of the things that didn't you have a fantastic remarks and speech such Poise let's give her another round of applause will you are going to represent Georgia in the national uh Miss Teen USA P Miss America Pardon Me Miss America uh pageant when will that take place December 31st to the 4th dece December 31st through the 4th and it'll be announced on January 4th okay so you you've got your marching orders ATL is there anything that we can do here from Georgia to support you to keep spreading awareness about what to the mic to keep spreading awareness about what dyslexia is and to stay connected with my journey on my social media platforms um Miss America's teen GA and I am carington Elan you are the first african-amer no I'm the fourth African American yes te Miss te Georgia yes all right well we appreciate you and thank you we look forward to your success thank you all right all right now um if there are no other remarks we will do what city council does best we'll take a picture of group shock that's a joke you're supposed to so we we'll move ahead of the podium here I'm sorry someone no no it had to be a compliment so we we appreciate it thank you so everybody let's move ahead of the Podi to here prob you and just quickly this morning we had a reception uh for carington and her supporters we still have a lot of food left so if you're in the building please make your way to the second floor I got up early this morning cooked all this food thank you so please you know help yourself over here to the side my next I'd like to invite council member Antonio Lewis and all of those who are here for the recognition of Verna C Singleton's 32 years of service to please join us up here on the Das for for today's the day to be up front right I I present this Proclamation today in recognition of Miss Vera C Singleton 32 years of service me myself as a city council person who comes out of Labor who truly understands that the Frontline workers of America the essential workers of America are the Frontline workers are the city workers the municipal workers and truly thankful for your 32 years of service to the city of Atlanta in recognition of Miss ER C Singleton 32 years of service whereas the Atlanta City Council is pleased to honor Miss Vera C Singleton for 32 years of dedicated service to the city of Atlanta and Rez we offer special recognition for her service and honor Miss Singleton for her distinguished tenure with the city of Atlanta and R Miss Vera C Singleton joined the city of Atlanta's Department of Public Works and December 1992 is retiring from the Department after 32 years and whereas while many aspects have changed over the years the one aspect that has not changed is the delivery of quality customer service over the years Miss Singleton currently has delivered impeccable service and R members of the public works department are vital import are vital and important to the health safety and well-being of the people of the this community and R the efficiency of the qualifi and the of the qualified and dedicated Personnel whose staff Public Work departments and offices is maternally influenced by The People's attitude and understanding of the importance of work they perform and RZ for 32 years Miss veros c s Singleton performed her duties with pride and with the highest Integrity for this an entire city is Greatful now therefore it be a resolve that we the members of the Atlanta City Council on behalf of the citizens of Atlanta do hereby express our sincere appreciation to miss Verner C Singleton for her dedication to the Department of Public Works her dedication to the city of Atlanta and we wish her much happiness and good health in her future [Applause] now first I want to open up to any of my colleagues we got CM Andrea honorable Andrea boom Vera I think I have known you longer than anyone probably here um I met you in the 90s 199 what 1992 and you have always been a bright and shining star um when we needed to get things done in District 10 we only had to make one call and that was all you were um the lieutenant the right hand to our great friend Gayla doson and your footprint will always be here in the city of Atlanta congratulations well done well done any of my other colleagues any any staff or family any staff wants to come and speak commissioner thank you council member Lewis um civil service is good service civil service is Honorable service um I've commented to some that I have to take three b12's in the morning just to keep up with Veron um she always has a pep in her step she always has a kind word she's serious about her work I don't know what all she's going to do in retirement but if she goes anywhere else and and and employs her Talent they're they're getting something truly rewarding um thank you so much for being a civil servant thank you so much for giving to the Department of Public Works we certainly wish you the best in your future endeavors thank [Applause] you any of the any of our family members or friends want to come up and speak I see some beautiful flowers right here now um I'm Karen Curry the C in Verna C is forur um not only is she my amazing aunt and Sor she has been the one person that I have always tried to mirror um as a child as a teenager and as an adult she is an amazing woman and I know she was an amazing leader in her role and I am happy for her to take this time to just enjoy life in retirement and I want to say congratul ations for a job well [Applause] done Miss Vera Miss verer Blair ver I'mma miss you I'm G Miss not getting getting your emails um thank you for being a coworker for all these years even though people got us mixed up um but you're amazing woman I love you it's been truly an honor to work with you and I wish you all the very best take care okay I'm just making sure now I'm making sure because when when you think about the folks that take care of our city uh we we can't wait to put you out in front and so I wanted to make sure you ready to take full stage and turn up for us first all I would like to thank you all the city council for presenting me with this prestigious uh Proclamation I have truly enjoyed working for the City of Atlanta dep partment of Public Works for 32 years the city of Atlanta has been an excellent workplace it's allowed me to grow it allowed me to meet many many um colleagues council member Mayors and so on I have so much pride and honor standing here today to have served the citizens of Atlanta um provided in services for them for 32 years and it has truly been a blessing so as I leave in this retirement um I honor those that went before me and those that will come after me thank you and now we'll come up for a photo for for for for thank you all very much um the third listed Proclamation is going to have to be res scheduled um so we will move now to remarks of the public now move to remarks of the public I'd like to remind everyone that you will have up to two minutes unless you've been yielded time on the list ahead of time uh we do have have several today so I'd ask everybody to please stick to the time first will be uh hry Jordan you'll have up to 2 minutes giving on to the spirit of God everyone that's here while they promise them Liberty they themselves are the Servants of corruption for whom a man is overcome of the same is he brought in bondage second Peter 2 chapter 19th verse false teachers are further called Servants of corruption because despite their profession of Salvation they become entangled in the world and overcome by it I dream James Griff agrees with the white man against me I will raise them up a prophet from among their Brethren like unto thee and will put my words in his mouth and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him d omy 18 chter 18 verse the will of God was to was to be discovered through a prophet not through a diviner a magic worker or a spiritist and that servant which knew his Lord's will and prepare not himself neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many stripes Luke 12th CH 47 verse to do good here requires including God and one's plans omitting God is Not merely bad planning it is sin we cannot defeat our enemy without Jesus instruction I know I can't thou shall not rest judgment thou shall not respect persons neither take a gift for a gift does blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous Deuter Deuteronomy 16th chapter 19th verse Deuteronomy 16 CH 182 is an introd call for for the appointment of judges and officials who will exercise impartial Justice Christ hates Injustice I had a vision time has expired the people are asking for death you're asking for death when you go against God's word thank you next will be Michael [Applause] Taylor have up to two minutes okay um I'm just here speaking as a participant on behalf of P um I would like to say taking away P from us is like um throwing us back into the lions then I would say I'm a 35y old black man I'm on felony probation misdemeanor probation I was diagnosed with PTSD February of this year due to the foron county jail the killings in the inside of the jail the stabbings inside of the jail pad has been tremendous help to me they have been the balance in my life that I needed to help me turn Turn Around My Life um they have helped me with um appointments they have helped me with um Breeze cars they have helped me with so many other things but I know only have two minutes um before I had my phone I would go to the library and email them on a Day-Day basis um I would like to um drop a few names Miss AR has been great um Miss Leticia maau has been great um Mr Eugene walls has been great Mr gar Hogan has been great my case work with Miss Terry has been great um as far as responding to my needs and helping me with my push start start in life that I need to turn these things around because the odds are against me I am on fony and misdem meaning probation the chances of me going back to jail are very high but um I do plan on beating the odd and I do believe that pad has been the difference in me not going back to jail I have been in pad since November of last year I have not been incarcerated um like I said I choose to beat the eyes but I do believe that taking pad away from us will be throwing us back into a lion's den sir so I stand very high on pad I believe in them I know that they have made a difference in My Walk of Life and that's all I would like to say thank you next will be next will be brother Muhammad due to yield of time you'll have up to six minutes I am that I am I am a spark of this one that you call God not I'm a spark to know who he is whom he is and what I am to do I'm here today to talk about AI Atlant Commission on women at Commission on women were initiated by Miss shot Frankin in 1993 93 we had a milon Man March two years later car onto Washington see 1 million Brothers said we had about 2 million why do I bring that up because today I'm not affiliated with no religion in your scriptures of your Bible from Genesis to Revelation not one person was born from a woman W Canal but I am representing that spot because it's time now and Miss Margie would say you got a sister in audience she'll speak later rent control when this commission was started it was started to look out for the interest of women and children and seniors but we never have had based on mind comprehension brother Muhammad just one out of 260,000 people in Atlanta back then I live here we almost had a million PE in Atlanta and we were serving one another where you didn't come downtown Mr hillers and see no dark antia people living on the street ex the Sor slave Miss Andre boom you didn't see him walking around without nowhere to go begging no you didn't s him but why we send him today because you got you young people that call the Millennium Mr doia and Mr Winston the millennial why are y'all not being sympathetic to your people you had over 20 million people of my brothers of the continent Mexico to come over here under leadership of Biden the Democrats and I'm so happy that majority of citizens of this country Mr sh and other people like myself decided we W going to allow you to have that game no more we're going to tell the truth those that can tell the truth that they speak on for the benefit of humanity because people need people have one voice the will the want to represent the interest of good you got a at Commission on women you had a proclamation just last time you gave a proclamation L you give all the time to members Miss over Street Miss Boom of that commission why you had a council member Miss Adrian she used to be a council member would ask why don't we have a quality report Mr Wiston and let us know what the evaluation of the commission you set up we ain't had no one to speak about these women conditions since the mil man margin 1995 we had nobody to speak even when y'all gave the woman the commission why would y'all give people's commission to not to talk about the condition of Women's and Children living on the street do you know the woman is what you would call God on the earth his pres that that woman represent she connected to Nature all the elements of nature we all have that we a duality polarity you can act like you don't give a DA you act like you don't care but you know I don't really give a DA about what you care cuz Universal order of good in nature the cosmo is a brain the cosmo already been Pro program to think good they already know it's a natural law and the elements of laws got to be adhered to we living in a crav age the information age you can take me lightly Mr may had proved it with his program he initiated for the brothers and sisters at the airport The Apprentice program and you m don't even want them to get that money the M Pro when he started the idea to get some homes built some houses built Mar little King he came with some idea but what about you the majority member of councel when are y'all going to come up with something I know I'll be a little loud I know I'm a little aggressive and calling you out I'm not calling you out I'm calling you to do right it's right that you help our sisters and brothers who can't help themselves I'm man with this Denzel Washington y'all know Denzel he did a narrative on the wolf the wolf when he made with one of the Wolf women he stayed there for life that wolf and that man and when that man want to feed his family the wolves get together and get the food and bring it back to their den but when their mother and father get in their mature ages like brother muham they feed them with what they have went out and fire find to feed their family they look after the poor they look after the elderly parent the wolf and the Wolf won't eat no caucus he won't eat a not a caucus you know they talk about the animal got instincts what they tell you if we are connected to Nature we got laws in nature I don't care what government of United States say you got the First Amendment you don't have a law greater than nature you got to submit to and until you come and want to do right by the sisters that you see on the street the brothers you see on the street you ain't going to have good good not going to come to you today your time is up and my time is sir I didn't greet you in the words of May met Hotel I didn't greet you as I say I say I say thank thank you next will be Mark Spencer due to yield of time you'll have up to eight minutes hello uh my name is Mark Spencer I'm a physician in Atlanta and the executive director of stop criminalization of our patients we are a collective of healthcare students and workers who care for patients across Atlanta and research the ways in which the legal system um it adversely impacts health Health like many we are both perplexed and frustrated at the controversy surrounding funding for the policing Alternatives and diversion initiative we were especially shocked by the announcement of the special emergency procurement process through the mayor's office which amounted to nothing but wasted time over the past weeks you've heard the statistics you've heard the powerful personal narratives and stories of pad's positive impact we're here to offer our additional support for alternative responses through pad specifically it is an intervention rooted in sound Public Health practices and one we have seen work time and time again in our collaboration an abundance of evidence supports pad approach to community response for many reasons one alternate response is far superior to co-response an idea that the mayor's office has toyed with two program rooted in the philosophy of harm reduction are much more successful than corros corrosive and inflexible ones and three lived experience drivve Superior outcomes always this is not something easily replaceable with swapping in one program for another this is built on relationships and trust and lived experience a Diversion Center May complement but it cannot replace the work that pad does it is the people and the approach not simply diversion as a concept that sees pad transform lives we request that you fully fund pad for the full length of their contract today in light of the Department of Justice report on Fon County jails released last week I would like to also address the Atlanta City Detention Center in 2022 we sent the mayor and this Council a letter signed by over 300 healthcare workers in opposition of the least of the Atlanta City Detention Center to fton county yet under the guise of humanitarianism the lease was approved and has now opened the door to a permanent sale forced or otherwise of the jail to fton County what the intervening two years have shown us all is that it was never about the space but a culture of dehumanization and neglect fton must fix its legal system inefficiencies and widespread mismanagement and Corruption by providing them more jail space we have enabled and at times participated in this dysfunction we see the controversy around pad funding as another example of this administration's structurally violent policymaking when it comes to community safety this type of violence which causes preventable suffering and premature death is avoidable if we chart a different path we are requesting the formation of a new committee by January 2025 to address the final repurposing of ACDC when the lease ends as the 30-year anniversary of ACDC opening approaches it is past time we use the space to serve Atlanta communities instead of harm them if we continue to lease or sell this jail they will fill it I want to end with the story of a patient of mine this gentleman struggled with alcohol use for 20 years or so following some traumatic experiences in that time he was arrested and booked at least 20 times in fton county and Atlanta alone for most of this time pad did not exist but most of his charges would have been diversion eligible in 2023 he was once again arrested this time he was eligible for diversion and Pad did exist however he was looked anyways where he sat in Rice Street until I met him in the summer of 2024 one year later as many of you are aware high doses of alcohol over many years can cause damage to your liver ultimately causing curosis you see this is what happened to my patient over all these years and with curosis you're at increased risk of liver cancer guidelines would say that you get a screening of your liver with imaging every six months this didn't happen when he sat in R Street for a year missing two screenings because for 20 years nobody asked this gentleman what happened to you do you need help each time he was viewed as a problem to disappear when I met him he was Shackled to the bed there was an officer at his bedside he had been denied life-saving Medical Care and now he was denied his privacy and dignity he died a few weeks later in that same hospital bed the cancer too advanced to treat how many opportunities were missed to offer care over 20 years how might pad have impacted his life if Community response was widely embraced when my students asked me how can something like that happen in Atlanta we embark on a discussion not of lab tests and vital signs but of how policy choices determine who lives and who dies I want to be clear that this uncertainty And Delay who it really harms it's our most vulnerable patients and community members we are here today because we want to help we want to collaborate Atlanta must chart a more equable course forward and we're happy to offer our expertise in that process thank you thank you next will be next will be Tony Jackson due to yielded time you'll have up to six [Applause] minutes good afternoon my name is Tony Jackson and I am the director of community resp response services at pad I've been with pad since the start of community response services and have been an advocate in Atlanta my entire life as I was born and raised here I resided and received my education in South fton but most of my weekends and Summers were spent in Adamsville where my grandmother has resided off Baker's fairy my entire life my first job was at Hollywood Studios in Green Brier mall I graduated from Atlanta Tech's cosmetology program and became an entrepreneur and mobile stylist for a few years I have also been a city of Atlanta employee working under Latasha Tucker then Haney in parks and wreck who is also still a mentor to me today I also have had the pleasure of working under wonderful Ed Robinson in the Law Department before become coming to pad what I'm trying to say is I love and I am invested in my city and I'm unfortunately all too familiar with navigating the challenges of this City's infrastructure as it relates to support and connection to services I am also entirely too familiar with the countless lives being stigmatized disregarded and quite literally left in the cold so you can imagine my excitement when I discovered P's existence and Mission the last time I had the opportunity to speak with you I presented the statistical outcomes of my team's hard work and dedication to this city as an agency you can depend on what I did not get was the opportunity to speak to the links we go to to support our neighbors I didn't get to highlight all of the family families we've reunited both locally and out of state we've helped reunite missing persons elderly individuals with dementia as Rel refugees I didn't get to speak to the domestic violence and trafficking victims we've gotten to safety a personal mission of mine being a domestic violence Survivor myself I didn't get to acknowledge the five overdoses we've prevented by administering Narcan and CPR in my time here two of which were not actual referrals but my team just happened to be in the right place at the right time to the untrained eye most people would perceive and even be uneasy about being involved in such situations or might even lack the awareness time and patience those engagements require but my team my team sees them as an opportunity for help and for Hope even now with our jobs on the line we are still going out into the community and giv the same unmatched care we have always provided Pat is known as a trailblazer and pillar of this scope of work Across the Nation we are both recognized and respected by local agencies such as the Georgia Association of black women attorneys and nationally by the NFL who is Spotlight imp pad in an upcoming National Commercial this December this will illuminate this Progressive City best known as Atlanta being a crucial partner in the realization of the new center for diversion Services opening later this year is only one of our most proud accomplishments but for us this is bigger than politics proclamations or celebrations for us this is personal this is life or death for us this is about our past clients present clients and potential future clients for us this is about shifting mindsets and biases it's about changing the culture for us it's about restoring Atlanta and the trust we so desperately need in our city it's about building Community I often refer to my team as non-emergent First Responders when the truth of the matter is emerging or not we are simply First Responders and should be respected as such Atlanta is comprised of more than just City agencies and officials Atlanta is a Mecca of growth and development Atlanta is innovative and Progressive and atlantans deserve programs that represent exactly that pad is a vital artery in Atlanta's anatomy and we look forward to continuing disrupting the unacceptable status quo and ultimately healing our community to close I'll leave you with a quote from my favorite author B hooks she says for me forgiveness and compassion are always linked how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their Humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed that answer is pad thank [Applause] you next next will be Jay Wesley day jay Wesley day you'll have up to two minutes I was instructed to use my Michael Jackson voice so November 20th in two days this Wednesday will Mark six years that I was brutally attacked and left in a coma and I was ultimately charged with a felony when I had my as salant on camera beating me and taunting me with homophobic slurs and in these six years no one's been prosecuted two have been indicted but why why haven't they been prosecuted in six years and Mr Lewis Antonio last time we left off you say why am I coming after people that look like me I can't depend on these white people to do anything for me if my own people won't stand up for me my then councilman Byron Amos who I campaigned for knocked on doors let him speak to my audience as I was president and founder of the Atlanta nightlife task force has refused to meet with me this isn't my first time stating that my current councilman who has met with me but promised me something that he's yet to deliver on so it's been my own black people that beat me into a coma it was a black man that I have learned you're sleeping in be with do through your wife Keith gamit is your wife boss I could never understand why you would come at me so hard but now it makes sense your wife is the assistant Deputy solicitor general so it makes sense why you've come at me so hard instead of standing up for me as you should in the leader of city of Atlanta I asked for that exact reason that each of you consider proclamations that's being made with fraiz it's no way that Keith gam should have gotten a proclamation that was in initiated by this man time has expired thank you please consider that thank you Mr Le you want to respond and and I never said speaking to us what I said why you only curse and say disrespectful things like that to people that look like you similar to what you just said right and like once again you don't mean it just like when you keep shooting me DMs right on my social media when you all of my if anything just praying for you cuz imagine what you just said imagine what you said last time you say I'm grabbing you only said about people that look like you and that that's what I said some people hate themselves though next up will be Devin Franklin due to yeld the time you'll have up to to time you up up to 8 minutes right good afternoon everyone as you all know my name is Devin Franklin I am Senior movement policy Council for the southern Center for human rights here in Atlanta I came to the committee on Council this morning to speak very briefly about the ability and the capacity of this body to actually take a vote on the legislation funding pad today um Mr foki as sponsor of that paper it is within your power puring to the rules of council that since it has been held for more than two regular Council sessions that you can in fact if you so desired call for that vote to be had today going forward I want to talk a bit about transparency and good governance and particularly the open records act at this point we are all very much aware of the timeline as it pertains to the stalling of pad's funding in April of this year the city of Atlanta released an RFP for mobile response and diversion Services pad applied for that contract they were deemed to be the most qualified bidder for that contract they were awarded that contract on July 26 of this year since that point in time we have seen delay after delay some seemingly innocuous and innocent others a great deal more intentional initially there was an issue about whether or not um the proper funding number could be attached to the legislation all right cool but we eventually learned um at a finance executive committee meeting on September 25th that there was in fact an intentional delay that was related to I quote the um philosophical differences in how the mayor um wanted to Define diversion services so finally we get to October 30th and after that delay we learned that not only were there philosophical differences there were efforts made by the mayor's Administration to actually put out a special procurement process so given the history and past that we have seen since the awarding of the contract of pad certainly those of us at Southern Center were very interested in trying to figure out what was what so a couple days after we learned of that procurement process our public policy director Tiffany Roberts put forth a open records request to the Department of procurement to figure out exactly figure out exactly uh to get a copy of the entire file for that 14-day special procurement for Divergence Services as well as emails from different parties associated with the mayor's Administration this Council as well as the department of procurement what we learned is well first off the department of procurement fail to respond in a timely fashion there's a three-day requirement of acknowledgement for that email for that request they did not respond within that 3-day period further when they did finally respond on November 8th their response was incomplete as it did not include the legally required written finding of the chief procurement off officer as to why there is a special procurement and why it is needed Miss Roberts notified the department that same day that the notice that the response was deficient that also that we had not yet received the email correspondence of those parties that we named earlier and to this day we have not received a substantive response as to why so accordingly we have retained Council which as of this morning has emailed the department of procurement our final requests for compliance with the open records act to Pro to provide the required documents um by Thursday of this week L we take appropriate action at that point in time that being said I'd like to address what is also an elephant in the room because I'm not the only person a number of of us have attempted to figure out what exactly is behind the delay the cause what are the actual concerns of those of you who are positioned to make a decision about this matter that is so important to so many people of Atlanta and there are a few things that I've been told that there remain there are some questions about the um effectiveness or the efficiency of pad and that being said I want to name that what should be obvious pad is a primarily a diversion program is not a housing for the homeless program and in light of the overcrowding and the deplorable conditions at the fton county jail this body should this body should heavily encourage and the Atlanta Police Department should heavily use the services that are given by pad not just out of convenience but because it is actually the best and the safest thing to do for those people who are in need to the extent any of you have concerns about the number of people who are being served by pad and whether the amount of funding um is appropriate for that amount because I've kind of heard whispers about that as well I think it's very under it's it's necessary that we understand and I put forth that these same vetting and critical processes that you are attempting to apply to pad you should apply to the Atlanta police department and their usage of pad because if quantity of services is your concern you only need to look at the Atlanta pad. org website um and review the monthly reports that are conveniently published under the tab that is titled reports um and I was able to quickly access this tab and see that um the number of number of refer by the Atlanta Police Department Tad has consistently gone down I think it's not a coincident that during the same period of time that the usage of force the Violence by Atlanta police officers towards citizens of Atlanta has increased and that is because and that is because you do not have trained professionals who are dealing with these situations nevertheless um we have some packets that are on their way to you um and because I know everyone doesn't like reading reports we made made them color-coded and really pretty so you can track by District the referrals of to pad now as it pertains to additional data that I think is extremely important to you all um I know that some of you all believe that the services that pad provides are those things that should be at the um the the the the burden of the county and not the city that it's a human resource or community resource or some some of that I want you all to understand that um of the thousands of people who are currently in the the full County jail now more than 1100 of those individuals are arrestes of the Atlanta Police Department I want you all to understand that per the 2022 jail population review report that you all commissioned prior to the lease of the Atlanta City Detention Center to Fon County that that report named that of the people released that year more than 33 of those 3300 of those folks or 26% of them were people who um had divertible charges or as I should say people who probably could not have gone to jail and probably could have been diverted additionally there are there was a report that was released last week from the Department of Justice that was a report that if you recall those of us at Southern Center called for um after the publ publicization of the death of lean Thompson the man who was arrested ared for Criminal Trespass by Atlanta um I'm Sorry by Georgia Tech police um and was eventually eat Alive by bed bugs because they did not want to divert him um I encourage you all to look at the one page that I'm going to give you shortly um there are some very disturbing findings as it pertains to persons uh with mental health issues and subst use disorders as it per to F County Jail thank you call for the vote Mr froi next next will be Sher McCoy Sher McCoy you have up to two minutes good morning good morning good morning type this out because I Matt knows I can speak forever uh good afternoon esteemed members of the Atlanta City Council my name is Sher McCoy I am the CEO and founder of blessing bags of warmth we are a Grassroots organization dedicated to supporting our City's most vulnerable residents through Street Outreach and essential Services I'm here today to speak in support of policing Alternatives division or pad a program that embodies Atlantic's commitment to Innovative and compassionate solutions for addressing systematic challenges pad is not just a program it's a Lifeline I've seen it um um pad is not just a program it's Lifeline it was built by the very people who understood what they needed by the actual community members that pad serves numerous times pad's Community response model has ensured that a client we've assisted during our Outreach efforts are met with systems designed to help not punish together we've been able to reach individuals who would otherwise have fallen between the cracks like the gentleman that was just discussed pad's commitment to separating community support from traditional law enforcement complements our approach by creating safer more accessible Pathways to care just want to give a quick story of a young lady that I personally worked with that was experiencing an emotional situation that others would have considered to be aggressive instead of the police called pad came out and instead of a man in Authority this mother of three her three were at school was talked to calmed down by pad I urge the council to continue championing pad and the Innovative work it represents it is a testament to Atlanta's ability to lead with empathy and to craft solutions that truly reflect the needs of its people thank you for your time and your commitment to our community thank you next up will be Michael Nolan you have up to two minutes good afternoon Council Michael Nolan with in town cares my name has come up a lot in this room in the last year and a half and my work in East Atlanta specifically but I'm not here to talk about me or to talk about that work today I'm here to talk about the critically important work of the policing Alternatives and diversion initiative five years ago I worked for pad it was a much smaller team then in fact I was one half of what was then called the Outreach and harm reduction team that team has grown considerably and so has the need and I don't think there's anybody in this room right now or anyone that might be watching who can deny that there is a major need for this services that pad provides pad is about more than diverting people from incarceration pad also provides a necessary point of connection in a system that has no other reliable non-law enforcement mechanism in place for people experiencing a mental health crisis in the city of Atlanta that's not all pad does but it is an incredibly important connection that may not exist at all if they don't I am one person charged with managing housing unmet mental health needs and active Addiction in East Atlanta which is a large community pad makes it possible for me to focus on the bigger picture ensuring the long-term success of my clients I need pad Atlanta needs pad I implore you call for a vote make this vote unanimous and let's get pad their funding and let's get beyond all of this delay thank you thank you next will be Denise Wade Denise Wade you'll have up to two minutes good afternoon Council my name is Denise Wade and I'm a doctorate of Public Health student Georgia State I also serve as a senior program associate at the Carter Center at the rule of law program in my role in my role at the Carter Center I support a project that is specifically focused on building policy awareness and investment for alternative responses to criminalizing people experiencing homelessness mental health and substance use addiction today I'm here to advocate for the continued funding of pad by the city of Atlanta in this country and Atlanta specifically we have a Public Health crisis with too many people that are unhoused and not able to receive the treatment they need for mental health and substance use addiction if you drive around Atlanta you are likely to see many of these people in crisis today pad was designed to address this Public Health crisis in a compassionate warm way pad shows up for those often forgotten in our city and provides them with Services they may not otherwise receive pad's work is driven by the community community members call 311 to access pad Services there may be a lack of awareness around pad's work in some parts of the city and the Carter Center is here to help raise awareness of pad its services and how to access pad via 311 in all parts of the city to ensure each district is able to benefit from pad services in polling work initiated by The Carter Center 80% of atlon support expanding pad and 70% believe that funding for pad should come from tax dollars and Public Funding to conclude I urge you to consider the profound impact that pad has had on our community by continuing to fund this vital initiative we are not only addressing immediate needs but also investing in a healthier safer and more compassionate Atlanta pad represents a Beacon of Hope for those who are often marginalized and forgotten your support will ensure that pad can re expand its reach providing critical services to every corner of our city together we can build a community that everyone has the community to thrive regardless of their circumstances thank you for your time and consideration thank you next will be Ryan Greenstein you'll have up to two minutes hey good afternoon my name is Ryan Greenstein I serve as associate director of public policy for the Carter Center's mental health program and I'm here advocate for the continued funding of pad by the city of Atlanta I appreciate my colleague Denise being here as well and want to emphasize that our joint collaboration between the rule of law program and human and the mental health program shows this is both a health and human right priority for the Carter Center in previous roles I was responsible for supporting implementation of the federal prison rape elimination act and advocating for Medicaid funds to be available for incarcerated and returning citizens I visited Correctional Facilities across the country met with wardens sheriffs incarcerated individuals and recently returned citizens the everyone I met with was committed to lowering recidivism rates reducing overdoses and generally improving Health outcomes there was wide consensus that the justice system was not the appropriate Avenue for addressing health challenges unlike those other jurisdictions I visited Atlanta is fortunate to have pad a national leader in policing Alternatives work pad's Community response approach saves lives improves Health outcomes and saves the city of Atlanta a portion of the immense financial burden of incarceration on top of that as the Denise mentioned polling by our team at the Carter Center found that 80% of respondents in the city of Atlanta support an expansion of pads work by continuing to fund pad the city can continue to reap the current benefits that pad provides City residents and the Carter Center also looks forward to continuing helping pad with data collection and Reporting as well as increasing awareness and use of its services across all districts I want to recognize that the opportunity and any weight for my testimony today is not due to my own background but because a door has been opened by Giants before me at the Carter Center tomorrow will be the one-year anniversary of first lady rosn Carter's passing Miss Carter Champion mental health as Georgia first lady the United States first lady and co-founder of the Carter Center alongside her husband President Jimmy Carter pad's work is aligned with Miss Carter's legacy and history of advocacy for mental health care access I commend pad for their contributions to the city and urge this Council to continue enabling their life-saving work thank you for the opportunity again to testify and we at the Carter Center are happy to host any council members at our campus for further discussion on our role and support thank you thank you next will be uh Dave Martis have up to two minutes good afternoon y'all uh Dave Martis I'm a uh nurse at Hugh balding uh Children's Hospital Emergency Department uh Deacon of abundant love Unitarian Universalist Congregation in the West End and Secretary of uh nput I'm here to read a letter from NP UT uh on behalf of mput we are writing to express our strong support for the office police Alternatives and diversion initiative and to respectfully urge the Atlanta City Council to honor the two-year funding contract awarded to pad for fiscal year 2024 pad has played a vital role in our community by addressing non-emergency issues with empathy and expertise reducing unnecessary police involvement and providing critical social support to those who need it most as you are aware Atlanta has seen a significant increase in 911 calls many of which are non-emergencies that could be better addressed by pad's trained teams rather than police officers pad's efforts allow for more appropriate responses to individuals experiencing homelessness mental health crises or substance abuse issues despite pad's established track record we are deeply concerned about the current hold on pad's funding and the recent shift toward a closed non-competitive bidding process for diversion services this decision not not only delays pad's much needed funding but also raises concerns around transparency and accountability in the city's funding allocation we respectfully urge the city council to fulfill its commitment to pad by upholding the awarded two-year funding contract patad has earned community support and has demonstrated its Effectiveness in addressing non-criminal emergencies while fostering a safer safer healthier Atlanta continued support for pad's work is essential in achieving a balanced and compassionate approach to community safety one that prioritizes P prioritizes appropriate responses over incarceration thank you thank you next will be Sasha fredman you have up to two minutes thank you Council um my name is Sasha fredman I'm a resident and member of pad's community leadership team I want to take a minute to actually talk with you about 911 we often think about 911 is something that's been around forever that people have always known but it actually didn't exist until 1968 and even a decade later when there was support from the federal government AT&T local municipalities only 26% of the country was using it it took significant effort and intention for that to happen and for what is now a second nature response for us when there's an emergency here in Atlanta January Peter aan came and told Council that the increase in 911 calls has been significant of the 1.3 million 911 calls last year only 3% that's 45,000 calls were actual emergencies if you think about just two minutes per call that's an additional 41,8 183 hours that 911 is being held up in responses that could have been handled by 311 but we don't have to worry about what 911 had to worry about when they were starting of building an infrastructure of getting the telephone systems of getting the response teams that is in place with pad and they have the relationships the knowledge and the commitment to make it happen they not only know how to give the response but they know Atlanta and they know how to meet people where they're at in this city and the partners who can make it happen from January to October this year they fielded 1,610 calls through 311 those were all calls that were able to clear space for emergencies on the 911 line so I don't think the question is whether or not you all will fund pad because I know you will just like you unanimous unanimously voted for funding in 2020 I think it's what can you do with your power to expand pad to build on its Legacy just like what happened with 911 to make it part of this vital infrastructure for the city because I know when I call 311 I'm so happy that Pat is responding and I also know that I'm glad 911 is available when there's an actual emergency aren't you thank you next next will be somebody who just used an acronym of NW you have up to four minutes do the old the time good day to distinguished people of the Atlanta City Council my name is Dominic Winters I'm the executive director nwbc we act as a lay on between the local community the local government the state government County government and federal government as a community informant um we have conducted an survey and an initiative to clean up uh several districts that you guys uh sit as council members on but one in particular that we have an active project on I'm going to use as an example okay um Jet Street Avenue uh located in District 3 um there's a $299 million project and several million doll projects that's in that District but for some strange reason Jet Street and historically neglected areas around this great city has infrastruct hazards that are deemed unconstitutional uh we've done cleanups and we surveyed over a 100 people in those particular communities and we gotten the same feedback the only thing they get is food from the church they have to live in uh distressed areas with trash and litter um they all don't have proper housing I've had some people mention pad when I heard pad being mentioned they say they had a complaint but unfortunately all the citizen complained that pad doesn't have any funding which brings me to my next issue um with these statistics and these real time surveys and these real time actions and programs that me and my organizations and the volunteers have put in we realize there has been a historical situation within public officials throughout this great nation which is misappropriation of federal government funds the federal government gives funds to the state the state gives it to the county and the county distributes These funds to the city okay most of our issues that we're tackling on are including homelessness or um distress infrastructures creates a safety hazard and also impedes on free enjoyment of the people's constitutional rights we all should have the right to dwell or even pride and have free passage on a sidewalk when you have camon Alexander Boulevard which is I'm sorry Cameron Alexander street or road which is less than 30t next to the opening bridge on Jet Street which is completely clean and you have Jet Street which is filled with trash for over 20 20 years worth of trash I mean I've seen cans that had expiration dates in the early 2000s and 2021 so we have years of misappropriation of funds and non neglecting that has been going on at nwbc will be passing and presenting or city ordinances State legislation and house bills that can be passed that can better help us serve our community and accommodate and account for allocated funds through these great City Council meetings that we have and through these different programs and nonprofits that we fund that are clearly not doing their job because if they were we wouldn't have the situation that we're having with with the homelessness with the crime because funds are being misappropriated and that that's how wi in my time I appreciate you guys next up will be Devon barington Ward you'll have up to six minutes due to yielded [Applause] time good afternoon uh Devin barington Ward former candidate for Atlanta City Council current Troublemaker EXP respecting father um you know the reason why I can walk in this building with my head held high after defeat is because I know that my character and my commitment to the people of the city of Atlanta is greater than any title found in this building it's unfortunate though because I would like to see more character from this body I'd like to see more character from this body I'd like to see more character and commitment from those who are still in the race for the Post three at large commitment to issues like codifying the recommendations of the oig like making sure that the residents of GE Towers LOF have an advocate like making sure what happened with this pad situation never happens again making sure that the mother of Devon Anderson Valerie Anderson receives Justice for her child making sure that we aren't spending another 1.6 million doll on the Public Safety Training Center that many residents in Atlanta do not want I've been asked about whether or not I will provide an endorsement in the race for post three here's why I'm challenged by that I'm challenged by that because when it was time for people to advocate for pad many of the candidates that were in that race were nowhere to be found I'm challenged by that because at a recent debate when a question was asked about their opinions about what's happening with the office of the Inspector General no one had real answers I'm challenged by that because none of them have addressed the Devon Anderson situation I'm challenged by that because when we talk about cop City and my supporters 28,000 people who didn't need to get bought by $200,000 in campaign funds but people who followed my record who followed the issues who saw Where I Stood on very important issues in the city when they are now being asked to show back up for a runoff they are confused because they're how are these candidates any different from from each other and what would they be doing any different than this current iteration of city council we have some challenges here we have some big challenges and I'll start with Devon Anderson we have some really huge challenges here a young man was killed by an Atlanta police officer with a history of DUI who has been investigated by Internal Affairs for allegedly choking another member of the police department to whom he was in a relationship with he caught an obstruction of justice charge and to this day no one on Council has been able to get an answer from APD or the administration as to why they are waiting to do their administrative investigation which is completely separate from the investigation that the gbi is engaging in around the murder char what we are asking from this body is very clear an opinion from this body that this police officer is not fit to serve the people of Atlanta that's not hard we shouldn't have to wait and hide behind gbi investigations when there is an administrative decision that can be made right here right now by the city of Atlanta you all will say well we're not involved in Personnel but you all can absolutely apply pressure to the administration to do the right thing thing why hasn't that been done it makes me question what would I have been getting on this body to do who would I be coming here to work with do the people that are on this body still have the same level of character that I have regardless of whether I have the title or not I'm challenged because the situation with pad should have never happened the moment that you all got notification that the administration was going to do a secret procurement a private procurement an invite only procurement city council should have said no why did we need to come down here to tell you all to do that I thought that this was a government body with checks and balances you all hear from your constituencies regularly about the support for pad and you also know that you all approved a contract that is the mayor circumventing you all's Authority yet nobody on this body does anything about it it's laughable cop City $1.6 million how much more times is the administration gonna hang y'all out to drive do you all not realize that every time the dollar figure goes up many of you all's Pathways to re-election gets harder and harder in 2025 this ain't an election in 2025 where 196,000 people show up it's an election with 990,000 I know my 28,000 people will show back up well yours and so I just really want to know where is the character of this body are you all willing to push back when you see the administration is engaging in borderline and legal activity to punish an entity that does more good for this city than many of the people on this Das I'm concerned but also time has expired yeah time hasn't expired time has expired you're right it's late in the day please make the right decision thank you thank you next is next is Ken roing Ken robling you'll have up to two minutes good afternoon there are 43 and A2 days left in this very horrible year we don't know what the rest of this year will bring but we must be prepared for anything the election is over and we have to live with the results next year your election will be up hopefully you'll farewell but the taxpayers of Atlanta may have some questions like why did you pass 24hour 4200 for $900 million of their money without knowing what you are getting of course the mayor could have vetoed the bill but I have not seen that on the agenda also do not know if he has a pocket veto or it becomes effective without his signature be sure the taxpayers are watching and will decide next November of course the mayor may want to use that $900 million for homeless shelters he promised them but that seems like a lot of money for shelters unless the mayor is planning to shelter everyone in the state thank you thank you next will be Dr dwan Robinson due to yield of time you have up to eight minutes afternoon Council I would like for the audience and everyone to follow this um cuz this is a not an emotional piece but intelligent piece uh what I don't like is first of all I think that if you agree to give someone a contract under the contract should be warranted it should be given but what I don't like as a black man born and raised in Atlanta when we have issues in Atlanta this whole crowd come for pad and we stand up but when there's black issues we don't see these people standing up for black issues in Atlanta we we have a city council member that support pad that was in an altercation with a unarmed black man who didn't even have a flashlight she called Bernie toe cars instead of calling pad Pat didn't come down here and speak to that nobody in this audience have spoken to that but we come down here today to f for what is an injustice against P I do agree but y'all can't pick and choose what y'all want to fight for in this city you're not going to do that often time when I run for the office I have to tiptoe on what I say because maybe I lose a white vote maybe I lose a gay vote the hell with that I'm so free today I'm so tired of walking on eggshells why I ain't got to worry about that the hell with that today we have a council member here is absent I was watching on the news today she spoke with a high school group and a kid in the audience asked her do you plan on helping that black man get his job back she cursed the little 14y old kid out and storm out of the meeting and the principal asked his black mother not to share those details this is who y'all choose to take up for are we babing her or we scatter her which one is it which one is it cuz I'm tired of walking on EX shells about it you guys also today passed the your voting on but you passed last week I was watching there was a black cop that bid it on the same contract that Bernie to cars bid it on a black cop who bid it $70 Bernie toar bid a 100 y'all passed it and gave it to him $100 and then y'all up now y'all giving them $1.4 million when the oig recommended that he do not do business in the city of Atlanta you scared Negroes turned around and gave him another $1.4 million extension I seen two FBI officers in here today I don't know if they here today but I seen them walking around there they looking at procurement you guys got to [Music] be unfearful of going to federal prison Dustin hillers I know you don't look good in ear orang man I know you not I know and I know you're on Bernie's friends and I know what you doing over in nine they said you got about three houses from contractors that you got over there I know that you bought your neighbor's house for your parents I might can give you that because when your parents old you might want to be close to you but you guys are doing some criminal things over there that too I try to walk a thin line with because coming from the streets I live by a certain code that I don't even try to get involved when it come to police the FBI the oig and all that but you guys are doing criminal stuff man giving pad a contract then say hey we backing off that's not fair if you guys don't like the stats that Pat is providing and you think that they're only Serv I heard someone say only seven things a year or whatever honor the contract and something to go away the city got enough money to pay them and let them just be done with it and do whatever you guys want to do moving forward but don't do that I can sit here and not agree that I don't think everybody supporting pad don't show up when we have real black issues in this city but I still don't agree with y'all not giving them the money that y'all said you was going to give them and they War the contract fair and square we got to honor that but we also got to be and we got to ask our s or we willing to go to federal prison for Bernie toe cars or anybody but in this issue Bernie toe cars he has given Dar every city council member either a Max check hell fundraisers for you but is that enough to go to federal prison for him is that enough to go to federal prison for him Mr shook I met your new guy there who's supposed to take your place mesite what his name who was here before Mary you see that's what white folks do I ain't got no competition you know what they say Mary going to step down Mite going to come back ain't nobody going to run against him how sh got his person ain't no white folks ain't going to run against them that's going to be what it is but we black folks we like to play games amongst each other and be crabs in the barrel now white folks get in the room and say hey man I'm retiring you going to run nobody going to run against you that's what it's going to be but we still be want to tiptoe and play games and y'all think Bernie give a damn about you it shows how in White Privilege is when you get questioned I read oig report he stumbled oh I I was Bond Chief of Staff oh I was over here white folks not used to throw rock down the hand they ain't got to but when they get in that room and get answer them question they wouldn't tell on every single negro that's involved because he don't want to go to prison his answers to the oig was hey man it was childlike I don't know I don't remember his ass should have been on the YSL trial I don't know I don't remember and y'all think it's cool to keep giving them money I mean we are charging parking red folks I've seen 20 Folks at CT Mar midnight league basketball game Bernie toart got eight officers out there eight damn officers in the 24 in the building no man nobody's above reproach and we are letting this white young guy think that he running Atlanta this arrogant guy really thinks he running Atlanta when they get drunk he get to talking too much Mr B I know that's your friend but he will take y'all down to prison over a bottle of gin cuz he talk too much when he drink and he really think that he's Above the Law and we can't have that Miss no wood you stand on corruption and you hate corruption but yet you about to vote to give Bernie TOA a $1.4 million increase when the oig who y'all voted on said that she recommend he do not do business in here see the problem is when you guys created the oig Office you didn't think you was going to get a strong black woman that don't care about taking pictures want to be friends with the administration want to be friends with counsel y'all didn't think y'all was getting a strong black woman that really stand on corruption and really stand on business Atlanta wasn't ready for that because we all want to take pictures and be friends and want to be cool with this person and that person y'all weren't ready for that because y'all wanted America Reed locked up and everybody else I get that but now that you done created a monster we want to tame the monster we don't want to take the recommendations of the oig when it come to people like Bernie TOA but everybody else is fair game so is this young white 3ome year old lobbyist um someone who um violated the blackout period is he worth y'all going to federal prison for because them two FBI officers i s here they they watching y'all ass on this about that burning toe CA thing thank you next will be next will be John stop John stop you'll have up to two minutes uh yeah I'll be piggy back in a little on that one um a couple meetings back I came to speak about council member bakari's Behavior at the Oakland Cemetery when she was called uh after park hours at a party with her friends and U we all know how that story ended sorry my notes are a little jumbled uh I came I came and spoked about that and um when I was returning to my seat I looked back and uh she was glaring at me and I kind of raised my hands I was like what she told me I should be ashamed of myself uh so I went home and I reviewed the body cam footage again it really only reconfirmed my conviction that she acted at the disgraceful Manner and was using her Council position and connections to inflict Max punishment on the guard who was simply doing his job um so yeah councilman Lewis last week you said I did see the report I did see the entire video and I don't think that the police report matched up with the video um I was hoping you might elaborate on your thoughts uh specifically as Dr Robinson just pointed out again somehow a lobbyist was looped in on the incident and was the one who contacted the responding officer uh to me that would seem highly irregular and I was just wondering if you could follow up on the comment you made last week about the discrepancy between the video and the police report thank you thank you council member Lewis as a I think you heard a little bit earlier my wife's a prosecutor so video reports is something I understand I also understand matching police reports with video camera and I as a person who as a human being way before a council person I saw the video and I also read the police report that were attached and the police report did not match up with the video was there anything specific that we're we're not going to that's time thank you thank you next up will be Valerie Anderson due to yield of time you'll have up to six minutes good afternoon thank you for answering me um my name is Valerie Anderson the vaugh Anderson mother who was murdered by APD officer named Melvin Potter August 5th and since August 5th as I've stated many many many times before have not heard anything at this point I feel like I don't even have a son Devon Anderson is my son and at this point I don't even feel like I have a son murdered by Melvin Potter have not heard anything am I here to be begging you all to tell me something about what happened to my son I shouldn't feel like I have to beg to find out what happened to my son but that's how I feel Melvin par has been a police officer from 2015 2018 he has been in trouble with domestic violence up until he murdered my son wherever he got he should have been fired prior to murdering my son he should have been fired he had a record enough to be fir fired because if he was fired and APD did their job he my son would be alive today and I'm not going against that feeling because my son would be alive today and I'm coming here stating this the facts of this police officer Melvin poter which is public knowledge of all his wrongdoing I mean what does it take what more does it take take for for you all to act about this police officer what what what else does it take what else do you all need Darren the the chief of police Darren Shan when I met him he offered me his condolences Miss Boon did also miss Boon asked him if he's going to reach out to me that was in August it's been three months since I lost my son three months and he has not um said anything to me Mr Bond I would I I like to um thank you for asking the Deputy Chief of Police Jason Smith if it's customary for gbi to reach out to the to the family he said yes did he not well I don't know if it's protocol to reach out to me because he didn't that was Tuesday right and I'm here today and he has nobody has reached out to me so I'm I'mma yield my time and ask each and every one of you which one of you would like to trade places with me which one of you to know your son got murdered by a useless bum police and not know anything about what happened to your son that day I know nothing what happened to my son why it happened to my son so again I would yield my time to you all for each and every one of you to tell me which one of you would take my place which one of you would get up every day missing your son and crying over your son that your son left this world murdered by a police officer who is want to protect which one of you but this is how I get up every day missing my son wondering why somebody murdered my son not somebody Melvin Potter murdered my son why and there's no transparency there's no accountability there's nothing and I'm angry I'm very angry because if if one of your kids get murdered by police it would be happening stuff would be moving answers would you all would be getting answers but me I'm not getting anything and I want to know why I want to know why I'm not getting any answers like I said I'm going to show this picture every minute because like I said my son have parents siblings and a community that loved him this man right here nobody's perfect but he was decent and I love my son very much I love my son and I miss my son every day every day I miss my son and and like I've said before and I'm going going to say again many times over because I want you all to hear me I'm not going anywhere anywhere until I get Justice for my son cuz Melvin part should be in jail the night he murdered my son he should have been in jail because he was still on probation from a DUI so he should have been in jail and I want him in jail and I'm not going to stop until he goes to jail time has [Applause] expired woman lost her son you got time to take your papers to your fellow Council m the process and a procedure how dare you and how dare council member over Street council member over Street you have the [Music] floor I am the only mother on Council I am my heart hurts for you it truly truly does I don't know what y'all are talking about whatever Mary nor I I don't that didn't happen back here with me or any of us and so I don't want y'all to complete to continue that narrative no one was distracting me while this woman was talking about her son now my heart truly hurts for you truly when my son is sick with a cold I'm sick so I understand you're hurt I truly do I just know as a a body I am not sure what our our parameters are around that because it didn't happen city of Atlanta but I want you to know I'm talking I'm speaking I am speaking but I want you to know that your your heart is felt and your words are not in vain I am very sorry for your loss I truly am now I am I've asked a couple questions outside of council and it keeps coming back to the fact that it is not our jurisdiction as a council but that doesn't mean I don't care about what you're going through I truly do I just wanted to say that and thank you president Mr Mr Mr Ward you already had your time Mr Ward Mr Ward you already had your time M Mr Ward you're finished for today Adam [Applause] Wadley Mr Ward Mr Ward you're done next is Adam Wadley I want to [Music] be Mr Lewis do you want to speak to this Mr Lewis Council Lewis the a resolution being passed by us would also have to be followed by the mayor's office so they would also have to do the things so even the resolution that we passed wouldn't fire Melvin parter so the mayor's office will have to do that thank you again next up will be Adam Wadley have up to two minutes sorry Jason Amir Jason Alex Howard Mary Doug Dustin Andre Marcy Antonio Michael my cousin-in-law is a police officer in gwick County his name is Todd heler earlier this year Todd heler was featured on a news story because my cousin-in-law was riding down the street in his patrol car and saw somebody there on the street and asked that person how they were doing that person said that they were waiting on a blessing Todd said what kind of blessing are you waiting on my cousin-in-law proceeded to take that person to Walmart and buy them $150 worth of stuff and then left them um he didn't report that it was been made into a puff piece on uh on some news sites some things about that that stood out to me were that here is my cousin-in-law going out of his way to help somebody and starting to talk about how you know this is his duty to protect and serve his community he talks about how this is not a job for him it's a calling he talks about how the most important thing in his life is his faith think about that we have a law enforcement officer is the law the most important thing is your jurisdiction the most important thing I submit to you that just as hatred disr destruction disrespect can be Lawless so love too can go beyond the law and in these times it's becoming clear to more and more of us that that's required and so for all of you I invite anybody now to say what have you done I understand it's not your jurisdiction what overtures have been made to gbi what have you been what have you been doing on behalf of Valerie Anderson for justice for Devon and Anderson and I just want to recognize that there's nobody waiting to speak time has expired and I just want to let you know about the kind of blessing that I'm waiting for thank you next up will be Jennifer Brooks you'll have up to two minutes uh thank you uh council members for your service I'm Jennifer Brooks I live downtown and I just want wanted to share with you uh with all of the tension surrounding experiences with Atlanta Police Department I've had different kinds of experiences as a volunteer at the national Center for civil and human rights I have the honor of taking people on guided tours through the exhibits and for the past eight years I've had the privilege of meeting with Atlanta Police Academy Cadets because every class spends a day at the national Center for civil and human rights so my interactions with the cadets when they're in their training gives me optimism I see them interacting with the materials I see them learning I see their openness and I see potential in them as they face the rest of their training APD Cadets get more training than any other program in the state um and this gives me optimism and I know council member Lewis you and your constituents in district 12 have had particularly tense interactions with Zone 3 and I just wonder if there's anything I can do to ease those tensions uh by maybe exposing you in a in a more positive way towards the policing in your neighborhood I believe you can expect better and I believe that APD can deliver better and I would like a greater degree collaboration going forward again thank you thank you council member Lewis I I appreciate you I I think that the historical knowledge of Public Safety in the city of Atlanta is the Red Dogs I think that people in my community myself included my experiences with some of the things that are going on right now in the area are aggressive Public Safety we want to go we know we can't lock our way up out of this situation again and so my hope is always looking at new ways in which we're doing Public Safety if you look at the city of New York which is a much older City they've Advanced and they're using technology different and I love what's going on on Boulevard and so I would love to talk to anybody about getting a robo Rob robot police officer that drives down Metropolitan and Cleveland Avenue that that that instead of having more police interaction with people so I can't wait until we use the advances instead of the older stuff thank you again next up will be Leslie Reagan you'll have up to two minutes good afternoon my name is lesie Reagan I am a resident at GE Tower Mechanicsville I'm here to Advocate and um address ongoing issues surrounding Leasing and property management at GE Tower um personally of late I um within the span of 7 days I've gone from signing a lease to getting a demand letter um I was not provided the 60-day notice that has been standard I've been there for N9 years um and I've been through maybe seven leasing um uh events and I was not I was only given approximately four days to respond to me renewing my lease [Music] um we have been having meetings with um that have been um I guess over overseen by um Atlanta Housing Authority since I believe September but it seems like um they're just not working out um in terms of things being better for us as tenants um just like the situation that I had um that I just uh described I've reached out to Atlanta Housing uh to find out what I could possibly do uh especially with the fact that I was not given adequate notice to renew my lease I have not gotten any response and it just kind of un nerves me um that with the renovations that have been going on for almost a year now um that were um uh involved that involves uh Marta invest Atlanta there's been no Outreach from them nothing uh um with them trying to reach out to us as as residents to see how um things are going I know they've heard that we were having some issues over there and I just feel like that our demographic value is being exploited so that um the owners can get uh low interest interest loans and um systematically uh turn over the um time has expired the the tenant population is there for Market um rate rents thank you thank you council member Council Bon thank you Mr President well just Sor Sor just to respond most Atlanta residents don't know that you can call the Atlanta Public Defender's Office over at Municipal Court uh the office of Kenneth day and get free legal advice concerning your lead and potential evictions they've helped thousands of people over the last almost four years I guess since during the middle of the pandemic when we passed the legislation authorized them to do so so if you're having an issue you can call them today and uh get some free legal advice on on how to move forward CER doer thank you Mr President Miss Reagan and I know I saw Monica and Matthew as well I'll be following up with you as I shared before uh I know we last spoke in August with some of the ongoing issues that we've been dealing with with Lincoln capital I was not aware of the latest issues over the last couple weeks and so we want to make sure that y'all know that the full power of our office behind y'all in this effort so I'll be following up with you to make sure that we can support y'all going forward thank you yeah we be thank you and and just and and I know the people can't hear you because since you're not from my microphone but I just want to to say you know on the record absolutely I'm I'm here with you all and um it's not just us say me saying in the microphone and uh y'all not hearing from me again we got the solicitor's office involved last time the reason why Atlanta Housing came to the table in the first place was because we intervene and so I will continue to make sure that this gets seen through and I recognize that every leas situation is different and that's you know we're going to work through it but know that I hear you and I'll be following up to make sure that we can see this through thank you next up will be Skylar Atkins or Akin sorry due to yielded time you'll have up to four minutes thank you Mr President I'm happy to be here today um I wanted to call everyone's attention to page 12 of the public agenda day on the consent calendar item number 21 ordinance 24600 again this is item 21 um this is an ordinance that would award um $1.5 million to a company called Club rehearsed erand JV uh for Security Guard Services um I have a lot of concerns with this because on August of this year August the 14th your office of Inspector General released a report that found quite a few troubling things the first of which was a form two violation meaning that there were improper Communications between city employees vendors and other Personnel in the city there was also blackout violations meaning that the vendor was communicating with other City personnel throughout the procurement process second of all actually third of all there were two companies that were originally on this contract the company that you're awarding $1.5 million to today is 25% more per hour than the other vendor on the same contract one of the oig recommendations was to immediately cease and desist or actually let me be precise in my speech suspend or debar cloverhurst from doing business with the city of Atlanta that's in the report word for word so here we are today 24600 item 21 page 12 awarding $1.5 million of taxpayer dollars to a company that our own Watchdog agencies have said should be debarred or suspended from City business so I just wanted to make sure that you're aware of what you're doing today and one of the final troubling things I should say is that one of the filing officers of this company is a former high ranking City official the red flags keep going where there's so much smoke there's definitely fire these are all in the oig report that are issued that are public and I wanted to say thank you today for holding the resolution um doing away with the oig or recommending reform to the oig because there's a paper trail as as wide as the United States with problems with the task force that's examining the oig's um office in the first place um you got a letter today from from the National Association of Inspector General documenting several severe severe process and procedure violations and concerns that they had with the uh examination that you're doing of the oig and it's really interesting especially as I'm here today to point out an oig report that everyone can read where we're about to spend $1.5 million of taxpayer dollars to an A company that has been called out and whistle blowed by the city's Inspector General as someone that should be suspended or disbarred from doing business with the city that's all only I have I ask you that you please table or not give money and not award this contract uh the people of Atlanta deserve better I don't think that anyone's trying to do anything bad here I just wanted to bring your attention to this and ask that you please do better and please read the report thank you next will be Jay Zapata you have a to uh two minutes hello hey y'all my name is Juanes sabata um I used to work for pad um as a former I was their for more data manag data manager and I currently run a farm education program as one of my part-time roles I'm teaching students from teenagers high school students college kids up to uh with incarcerated people that are up until the ages of like in their 60s and 70s and I would say that they're in that leadership and like teaching role their ability to actively listen is so much they are so much more capable than every single one of you here I would say the majority have like a failing grade in that and the best grade is a C+ for real and I think y'all are enacting very actively the philosophical differences that y'all are um that show that sorry the philosophical differences in which y'all are now choosing to try to jeopardize pad you know also the jeopardizes twofold whereas not only are they currently having to justify their own existence but also the by being here now they're not able to operate at their full capacity and be out there right now currently serving people they're having to be here just to justify why their role is so important so I like to say you know it's not too late for your philosophy to adapt and that you could actually represent Community but to be able to represent Community you need to listen you need to be active and not I've seen four council members fall asleep I've seen so many extended absences walking away inside bar conversations and you cannot represent a community without listening I'd like to also remind y'all that to be able to represent Community since y'all are people that um were voted for that you should not vote in accordance with giving $1.6 million to Bradfield and gory thank you thank you next will be Cody massan or Mason you'll have up to two minutes um hi first I would like to state that um I offer my um condolences and my um support of both pad and the Anderson family um I'm sorry to have to switch the subject to my my um circumstances I'm also a resident of GE Tower I'll follow up and expound on what lesie Reagan um mentioned um and another thing excuse me because I am actually working as as right now I work from home um so I'm kind of gathering myself from a meeting looking at a notes I joted down on my phone um but that brings me to one of the main points I have to be here to speak up uh against the discrepancies and inaccuracies the injustices um at GE Tower and it's very invasive of my personal life um like I just mentioned I have to be here opposed to uh doing what I'm supposed to be doing at work another thing I can mention that um you know is interrupting our daily lives my son recently attended an event at uh CT Martin which Miss Boon I've seen you multiple times there and he's an 8-year-old he was not able to enjoy himself because this event was I guess uh uh sponsored or promoted I know that uh the mayor had part he was able to reach out to the mayor get his card he lost the bag that had his card he could not enjoy himself because he as an 8-year-old felt it was his duty to get the mayor's information back to me so we can speak about the injustices and the discrepancies and retaliatory actions from management at GE Tower um again um I'm just trying to keep everything concise there's so much more that I have to say but we need some action other than you know the previous discussion we've had Mr doer um there's there hasn't been much followup um or any change since our last discussion with you like we've we've been receiving a retaliatory actions it actually seems to have been worsening um time has expired so yeah if we could have that conversation that you were mentioning again my condolences to um the Anderson family and my support for pad thank you council member doer thank you and and just once again you know I know we had a lot of robust conversation earlier this year about the issues you all been facing the G Tower I'm going through my inbox check with my team we hadn't gotten an update since our last conversation in August September so my apologies for not knowing that there's been an ongoing issue but we are being as responsive as we can when we find out something's happening so I'm finding out something's happening and I'll be following up with you all to make sure that we can get some redress for you all thank you next will be Matthew nury of up to two minutes thank you Council my name is Matthew nury I am with the housing Justice League um you know it's amazing that we have this award-winning um initiative uh that helps with Public Safety and everything like that but we can't get it uh you know expanded or you know refunded because of Tom Foolery and shenanigans always always and also my my condolences as well to the Anderson family as well um you know people in the city are going to be looking to city government um to kind of protect them over the next four years because as a housing advocacy group we're expecting complete wire stripping at the federal level and so these projects uh like GE Tower um that are funded with local taxpayer dollars and Mara invest Atlanta funding it's really important that you know we have stronger contractual agreements and that the community is really involved in these projects um you know it the one of the only tools that tenants have in in Georgia because the tenant laws are so bad here being here in the south is that uh we can take action by collectively organizing with our neighbors uh to better our living conditions that's a right that we have and right now that right is under attack um um you know uh ge tower has clearly retaliated against our most vocal organizers it is not coincidence that we haven't been able to get leases for these tenants you know for months and months and months and all of a sudden you know we we have these meetings and these public uh actions and all of a sudden uh we get a lease and it's you know the tenant rent has been marked up to market rate uh they get an eviction 7-Day eviction notice all for speaking out so again you know we're not going to see much help from the federal level we are relying on city government please pass a tenant Bill of Rights this the tenants in our city need a Bill of Rights we need to codify protections for organizing thank you thank you next will be Monica Johnson have up to two minutes hello good afternoon um I am here to underscore um how saddening it is that the city government seems to have limited power that they're willing to use in order to support the regular people of Atlanta I mean it's relevant when it comes to the pad issue when it comes to um Devin Anderson and of course here when it comes to the tenants of GE Towers um we started up with these meetings with Atlanta Housing which have seemed to become conduits for more of the same of people being told okay we're going to take your information down and we'll fall up with you and nothing really happens so uh you know Leslie and Cody spoke about their situations um I know Cody also her children um are have not had a bed for months they just got a bed um replaced that was broken by the movers that are receiving money from our government so I think we need a much stronger oversight process if the management company that we are dealing with shows itself to lack Integrity shows itself to have mismanaged funds and all these things I don't think they should have the leeway to be able to evict the tenant that's speaking out um we are it's we've set it over and over again um affordable housing in the city is disappearing um we are not meeting the moment we see another $107 million for a very fancy project in the city of Atlanta in a downtown area for GSU which seems like it'll probably be another uh mechanism by which our regular and long-term residents are removed so uh we're putting this on record we came here today because we don't want closed door backside meetings we want it to be put out in the in the public and we want the city of Atlanta to actually stand up for its people thank you thank you next will be shabnam bashiri shabnam bashiri next will be Pastor keiana Jones do to yield a time you have up two four minutes so I'm here today in two capacities and first I will speak to you in my capacity as chapter organizer for Sierra Club Georgia chapter and I will say that Sierra Club Georgia chapter is still vehemently opposed to the construction of cop City to the decimation of 381 Acres of forest land and the continued pollution of the South River and the South River Watershed we also oppose any further funding for anything at the site any further funding coming from the taxpayers of the city of Atlanta should be to perhaps replace some of the trees that you've destroyed and put in other measures that will add to the quality of life of the people of the city of Atlanta so Sierra Club Georgia chapter continues to organize and to be in support of all who stand against cop City now in my personal capacity as a community member the first thing I want to say uh councilwoman over Street Coler over Street I give a lot of criticism to you often but I want you to know that I see you and I see your humanity and I do recognize that you were not deterred or allowed your attention to be taken away when the mother of Devon Anderson was speaking and I know that hit you in a different way so I do want to appreciate you for that for those of you that did particularly you miss Norwood how dare you I don't know you but I really want to see you outside sometime I truly do because I don't know who told you that you were better than anybody else first of all they lied because I need you to look in the mirror and know that that's number one number two the type of vitriol that we see from you when people are talking about black people and their issues in the city of Atlanta is so indicative of what you really stand for you can't hide it anymore and I don't know if you ever want it to but what I also say to the rest of this Council y'all's time is winding up and you better decide what you are going to do and if it's going to be the right thing don't allow Andre Dickens to keep scaring you into doing things that could land you somewhere that you don't want to be don't obliterate the office of the Inspector General because of things that will come out because what don't come out in the wash comes out in the rents anyway it's going to come out at some point and it is going to be found out your lies will find you out none of us will escape the law of reciprocity for those of you who won't be returning next year here which is probably the majority as you go out of these doors from these seats make sure that before you go you leave some shred of dignity I want you to act ethically and with Integrity even if you haven't before the time is always right to do what is right people don't like coming up here having to say some of the things that they say trust me this is not not what we plan on doing every Monday but we do it because somebody's got to speak up and tell the truth and we do it because we know that it's only us who will save our communities because you all have completely dropped the ball thank you next will be Roberta Douglas you have up to two minutes good afternoon I'm Roberta Myers Douglas and I come before you again on behalf of the legal action center a national nonprofit law and policy organization that fights for people to get care instead of incarceration we have been a staunch supporter and promoter of the idea of Atlanta getting out of the jailing business pads Services have been a part of the way forward you all should stand on the ground of what is right and what is best for the residents of Atlanta quick Civics reminder we have a three branch system of government for a reason you are one of those branches you should not allow pad to fall prey to political itical Antics and bullying at the hands of the mayor's office you are part of the checks and balances that should be at play here the fact that we are here still talking about this is truly an injustice pad is a community-based human service provider that has been at the Forefront of leading this city to Innovation and change that has garnered National recognition it has fought to bring Federal and private philanthropic resources to Atlanta and Fon County to facilitate the service delivery necessary to reach the people who need care and services it has stood up to the call of improving our Public Safety response through its role in Manning the 311 system please honor the approval of their contract as a community we hold them accountable about the work they do just as we do you thank you thank you next will be jair sherwani you have up to two minutes sorry I actually lost my note but uh hello everyone my name is uh jaar sherwani I'm a Palestinian I'm a resident of here of Atlanta uh Georgia this is the first time being in here beside being in the street and fighting for the people uh press people either of colors of religion of uh of all the people that I'm in the street with everybody fighting uh I'm talking here I just want to like um address the militarizing cops we have here it's the same programs they get trained in Israel and they come here and they militarize us and treat us as we are some kind of not a human being to the residence of American citizen we get treated here like with some kind of slave and I seen that we're targeting they're targeting they're targeting people of color they target minority they targeting uh I went to vigil two weeks ago and was crying the the whole time the way I was crying today listening to the mothers talking about her child I'm a mother and I'm sure all of you are are parents so instead of um going against pad which they I learned a lot today okay why we are fighting of giving funds and supporting the people who speak and they're in the street they're in meetings talking about other people they're actually American citizen they're homeless they lost their house they lost their homes they lost everything so instead of we're putting that budget and honoring that budget and and giving them all the the support we're here to actually start to talking about how we are going to stop that so I want to I want to stop uh I want you all of you to look at us as a human being as with your heart not with your eyes when those cops out there when they're holding the Gun and shooting a black person they need to know that this black person is not because of the same color as them is he's a human being and he need to be treated as a human being not to be treated as he's a criminal because of his color as the Palestinian we are being treated as we are some kind of we are the terrorists but we are not the terrorists Israel is the terrorist Israel is doing all these things to uh to other people and here in the United States so please stand up for the right free free free Palestine Palestine from The River To The Sea Palestine will be free we are all free next up will be Jody WMS J WMS okay that concludes remarks from the public I want to thank everybody who came to speak before Council we will now move to the report of the journal M clerk good afternoon good afternoon Mr President and members of council if I may report of the journal yes yes I kin Lindell municipal clerk at the city of Atlanta to hereby certify that the minutes of the regular meeting held on Monday November 4th 2024 are true and correct if there are no additions or changes to the journal I would uh entertain a motion to adopt move by Lewis seconded by Hillis um any discussion on the motion to adopt the journal we do this V name's consent without any objection any objection the motion to adopt Madam clerk please sign the count unanimous consent 10 Z 10 Z is a motion to adopt the journal carries next we'll move to Comm unic Madam clerk Mr President if I may takes item one to three as a block without objection please proceed item number one is 24c 5139 this a communication from Council president Doug Shipman appointing Mr Larry Riley to serve as a member of the Atlanta the city of Atlanta reparation study commission staff recommendation to refer to commun development Human Services committee and committee on Council item number two is 24c 5140 Mr a communication from Council president Doug Shipman appointing Miss Cheryl Venable to serve as a member of the Midtown Community Improvement District Board of Directors disappointments for a term of four years staff recommendation to refer the Community Development Human Services committee and committee on Council item number three is 24c 5141 this a communication for mayor Andre Dickens appointing Dr Alan Ferguson to serve as a member of the Housing Commission this appointment is for a term of three years staff recommendation to refer to Community Development Human Services committee and committee and Council let all three item item follow that course if I may take item four and five as the plot that objection please proceed item number 4 is 24c 5142 this is a communication from Tony Roberts executive director and CEO of the Atlanta Bor Association submitting the appointment of Miss Andrea bbia to serve as a member of the Atlanta citizen review board this appointment is for a term of three years staff recommendation to refer to Public Safety and legal Administration committee and committee on Council item number five is 24c 5143 a communication from mayor Andre Dickens appointing Mr Jim wri to serve as a member of the lent citizen review board this appointment is for a term of three years staff recommendation to refer to Public Safety and legue administration committee and committee and councel let both items follow that course item number six is 24c 5144 this a communication from Council president duck Shipman appointing Mr Antoine Lang to serve as a member of the solid W appeals board this appointment is for a term of four years staff recommendation to refer to City Utilities committee and committee on Council let the Adam follow that course item number seven is 24c 5145 this is a communication from Daniel Hampton chair audit committee submitting their appoint the performance audit report ATL 311 staff recommendation to refer to finance executive committee but the item follow that course Mr President if I may take items number eight and nine as a block without objection please proceed 4C is 5146 this a communication from Dr Clarissa Merrick Harris white Professor morouse College Africana studies and history Department accepting the appointment to serve as a member of the commission to determine an approprate manner in which to honor the sequential Centennial anniversary of the first Regiment of us colored Troops formed in Atlanta by Bishop Henry McNeil Turner staff recommendation to accept and file item number N9 is 24c 5147 there a commun communication from Dr Kimberly bug CEO and Library director of the Atlanta University Center Robert W Woodruff Library accepting the appointment to serve as a member of the commission to determine an appropriate manner in which to honor this the quent Centennial anniversary of the first Regiment of U us color troops formed in Atlanta by Bishop Henry mcneel Turner staff recommendation to accept and file let both items follow that course that completes the communication items Mr President thank you any items that are vetoed no sir uh we do have one piece of Unfinished Business 24- r- 4290 it was held in the breast of council at our last meeting it comes back before us uh council member Winston yes I'd like to make a motion to continue to hold in the breast the council for more cycle there's a motion by Council Winston to hold in the breast of council once again is there a second seconded by Council ran this is not up for debate but per code since this is the second cycle it needs a 2/3 vote that means it needs 10 affirmatives so an affirmative vote is to continue hold list in the breast of council a negative vote is to not hold this in the breast of council Madame clerk please open the vote on the motion to hold in the breast of councel one moment the vote is open please make my vote in the affirmative coun Hillis is also a yay council member uh West Morland I West morland's and I who else is not reflected counc mook counc mook an i one moment it's not taking it vot is closed 11 y0 11 y z is a motion to hold in the breast of council passes we will now move to the consent agenda section one these are items on page five that are for second reading the appropriate motion will be to adopt but before we entertain that motion I would ask are there any items to be removed from the consent agenda council member Norwood yes item number 21 on page 12 24- -1600 24- -1600 any other items should be removed from the consent agenda section one hearing none I would entertain a motion to adopt move by Council Juan is there a second second by Council Amos is there any discussion on the motion to adopt the consent agenda section one with one item removed hearing n move to vote Madam Clark please open the vote on the motion to adopt consor G section one with one item removed the vote is open to said I was the but I wasn't council member shook believe there's an issue yeah I need to pull 2406 1623 item 15 page 9 for the purpose of bringing in a substitute can I get the Mover to withdraw their motion for to council has withdrawn as motion to adopt Council M can you repeat that one more time uh item 15 page 9 24623 any other items to be pulled from the cons section one now I have an entertainment a motion to adopt with two items removed mooved by councelor Juan seconded by councel amine discussion on the motion to adopt the consent agenda section one with two items removed hearing none we can move to a vote may have to do it via V Voice vote one moment okay the vote is open do will everyone please vote then just and one moment I'm trying not to look so your V you want your vote reflected 12 y Zer na 12 Zer Naes the consent agenda motion to adopt the consent agenda section one with two items removes carries next we'll move to the consent agenda section two these are items that begin on page 29 they are for first reading thus the appropriate motion motion will be to refer but first let me ask are there any items to be removed from the consent agenda section two hearing none I would entertain a motion to refer move by councelor ran is there a second seconded by council member shook any discussion on the motion to refer the consent agenda section two hearing none move to a vote Madam clerk please open the vote on the motion to refer the vote is open good for you for 12 y z 12 y z the motion to uh refer carries now we'll move to the report of standing committees first up today will be the Community Development Human Services committee chair Winston thank you council president we have no report but I would like to make an announcement if you allow uh the Community Development Human Services Committee of the Atlanta City Council will hold its fourth quarter comprehensive development plan amendments public hearing on Monday November the 25th that's at 6 PM right here in the Atlanta City Chamber thank you thank you next up will be the transportation committee uh Vice chair over Street will be giving the report today thank you president Shipman we only have one item that is before us since we didn't since we had an abstention okay yes just one item so number one 24- 01621 is item one on page 38 everyone an ordinance by council member Dustin Hillis as amended by Transportation committee authoriz authorizing the Chief Financial Officer or is designed to amend the fiscal year 2025 General government Capital over outlay fund Budget on behalf of the Atlanta Department of Transportation by transferring impact fee funds to Transportation infrastructure projects in the sum of 20,900 1870 for the purpose of Martinizing traffic signals communication corridors complete streets and intersection Improvement projects to increase roadway system capacity and for other purposes this item came out of committee with a favorable recommendation of three Y and one exension so the motion is to adop adopt there's a motion coming out of committee to adopt 24621 it doesn't not need a second is there any discussion of this motion to adopt Council Maran thank you Mr President so I was the abstention on this because I requested uh the numbers that were presented for the impact fee balances were as of uh fy22 um we got an update today that is as of June 30th 23 we are now at the end of November of 24 and I'd like to ask the finance department when do we how long do we need before we can get the fy4 impact fee balances seems five months is enough time but just asking Finance supportment want respond Mr CFO um I'm sorry council member ju I was resolving another issue so I missed the the question can you the question yep so uh I had asked to get the uh current balances on the impact fee accounts um the last report that we got this afternoon was um as of June 30th 23 just wondering if the June 30th 24 numbers are available or how long it typically takes before those can be compiled uh we'll work on that right now I think we should be able to get them to you we're closing the fiscal year numbers now so they should be available okay um I'm going to support this but just you know um in the future it's particularly with these types of um Investments and these when they come from specialized accounts like this it'd be nice to have the most up-to-date numbers in advance but I'll I'll go ahead and support this in in the interum any other discussion on the motion to adopt this item hearing none we move to vote Madam clerk please open the vote on the motion to adopt 24- 01621 as amended the vote is open will everyone please vote the vote is closed 12 vaa z n 12 vaa z n the motion to adopt carries that concludes the transportation committee thank you next up will be Finance exact chair shook all right thank you our first item is 24016 23 um airport uh paper notes um so I need this was pulled off consent and I would like to uh move to bring forward the substitute motion to bring forth substitute by council member schook seconded by council member over Street any discussion on the motion to bring forth substitute we can do this V n's consent without objection any objection the motion bring forth substitute all right let me read M Clark please sound the count on the motion the uh 12 12 y0 a 12 y0 a a motion to bring forth subtitute carries Council M okay the caption read uh this is an ordinance by Miss over Street substituted by Finance exec substituted by the Atlanta City Council 34 supplemental Bond ordinance supplemented by the restated amended Master Bond ordinance city of Atlanta adopted on the dates indicated as previously amended supplemented to provide for the establishment of the 2024 airport commercial uh paper program in connection with the issuance by the city of its third lean airport General Revenue commercial paper notes from time to time in support of the airport's project encumbrance Authority and for thep purp of engineering on an interim basis and whole or in part the costs of planning engineering designing acquiring constructing and equipping certain improvements to the airport to authorize the issuance by the city of Atlanta of its third lean airport General Revenue commercial paper notes series p and Q in an aggreg principal amount not to exceed $450 million outstanding in any time uh to designate the initial letter of credit providers with regard uh to the commercial paper program to authorize the form of letter of credit and reimbursement agreements and related fee agreements for the repayment um of advances made on the city's behalf in regard uh to those notes to designate an initial commercial paper dealers an issuing um and paying agent to approve forms of an issuing and paying agency agreement commercial paper dealer uh agreements and certain other agreements in connection with the p andq notes to authorize a preparation distribution and use of an offering memorandum in connection with the offering of sale of the P andq notes to authorized city of Atlanta General Revenue bond series P andq to be issued if and to the extent required to pay for the principle of an accruit interest on the series P andq notes at maturity Al to the extent deemed to be in the best interest City by the CFO and for other purposes what the substitute does uh is it is it adds uh some input from financial institutions uh I'll move approval on substitute it's a motion by Council shook seced by Council one to adopt 240-1623 as substituted any discussion on the motion to adopt this item as substituted hearing Now we move to vote Madam clerk please open the vote on the motion to adopt to substituted the vote is open will everyone please vote the vot's closed 12a z n 12a z n a motion to adopt a substitute carries chair shook all right thank you um item number two is 24c 5126 this is a communication from M Danielle Hampton who's chair of the audit committee submitting the performance contract audit um of the on the office of contract compliance the motion is to accept and file as motion coming out of committee to accept and file 24- C- 5126 doesn't need a second any discussion on the motion to ad to accept and file this item we do this VI's consent with that objection any objection motion to accept and file 12 y z 12a a motion to accept a file carries then we have 24113 this an ordinance by Community uh development Human Resources a human services committee authorizing mayor or is designity to reinstate retroactively to December 19th of 2022 me memorandum of understanding between the city of Atlanta and Buckhead baseball Inc with respect to the operation maintenance of the baseball fields at Bagley Park formerly known as Frankie Allen Park for the recreational baseball program sexiz 5-year anwal uh option under theou commencing December 20th of 2022 through December 19th of 2027 to wave all ordinances and resolutions in Conflict herewith to permit the reinstatement of the mou to ratify all actions taken by um taken by we on behalf of the city since the date of expiration of the mou in purposes motions to file motion to file coming out committee 24- 01013 doesn't need a second is there any discussion on the motion to file this item hearing none move to vote Madam clerk please open the vote on the motion to file the vote is open the VES close 13 yay Z nay 13 y z nay the motion to file carries we have um several items taken off consent first of which is um on page 10 item 17 that is 24625 it's an ordinance by Miss over Street substitute by finan X supplementing the restated amended Master Bond ordinance of the city of Atlanta adopted on the dates indicated as previously amended and supplemented provide for the establishment of the 2024 airport short-term short-term note program in connection with the issuance from time to time uh by the city of Atlanta's third lean airport um General Revenue short-term note series 2024 uh A1 and A2 in a combined uh term notes no in the combined aggregate principal amount not to exceed $100 million outstanding in any time in support of the um airports ATL Next plan encumbrance Authority and for the purpose of financing on an interim basis in whole or in part the cost of the planning engineering designing acquiring constructing and equipping certain improvements the Hartsville Jackson International Airport to authorize and approve a form of revolving credit agreement and certain other agreements in connection with the 2024 airport short-term note program deise city of Atlanta General revenue bonds to be issued as takeout bonds if and to the extent required to pay the principle of and acred interest in the series 2024 short-term notes of maturity Alo the extent deemed to be in the best interest of the city by the CFO and for other related purposes I think you're just those weren't removed I think that's just you may be wanting to move those post taste yeah um motion is to move post taste the mayor only that item uh no um also uh 1623 1623 and 1625 is that correct yes any others it's resolution 4446 off on that list all right also would like to move 24r 4446 sent to the mayor's office post haste so there's a motion by council member shook to move 24623 24625 and 24r 4446 to the mayor's office post taste is there a second seconded by council member Hillis uh any discussion on the motion to move these three items post haste we do this VI name's consent any objection the motion to move these items post haste m cler 1 Z 13 y z the motion to move these three items post haste carries it's my pleasure to move 24592 also will be sent to the mayor's office post haste there a motion by council member shook to move 24592 to the mayor's office post haste is there a second seconded by Council M Hillis any discussion on the motion to move this item post T we do this you name as consent without objection any objection mam clerk please sign the count 13 yay zero nay 13 yay zero Nays the motion to move this item post haste carries right um by way of an announcement uh with Thanksgiving upon us there will be no FEC briefing on Monday the 25th the FEC committee will meet on Tuesday November 26 at 1:30 council member froi yeah thank you council president Shipman um I'd like to pull up a paper of mine that's been sitting in FBC for a couple Cycles 240 1474 is item 10 on of the FEC agenda page 44 of the whole Council agenda this is a paper that was introduced uh roughly a month plus ago to um execute the procurement award for pad to move forward with two years of operational funding um it was held in committee uh with the expectation that the administration was going to offer at the request and offer some alternative approach that has not yielded any progress and so I um think it's appropriate at this point for us to move it forward uh if the administration wants to do something with it on its own after after we pass it it's within their purview but I think that uh it's appropriate for us to to move this paper forward um I will move to do so and I appreciate your second yeah so per code any council member can pull a paper they've author authored off of held after two or more cycles of it been held in committee that's what council member froi has done council member foki has moved adoption of 24-- 1474 council member Lewis has seconded the motion to adopt is there any discussion on the motion to adopt this oh yes some someone needs to read the caption counc M would you like to U thank you 24474 is an ordinance by Mr froi authorizing the mayor or is designated execute the procurement agreement for the RFP indicated mobile Community referrals and diversion services on behalf of the city of Atlanta pursuant to the code section uh indicated here with the policing Alternatives and diversion initiative retroactively effective from July 1 of 2024 for a term of two years and with two twoyear uh renewal options in an amount not to exceed $5 million for the uh first two-year term all contracted work to be charged to and paid from the accounts listed thank you is there any discussion on the motion to adopt this item council member Bond thank you Mr President I I support the legislation but I believe the administration wanted to speak to the paper so I'd like to make a motion to go into Committee of the whole for the purpose of hearing what they had to say there's a motion by councilman bond to move in Committee of the whole is there a second second by councilman Lewis any discussion on the motion to movement Committee of the whole we do this VI name's consent without objection any objection the motion to movement Committee of the whole 13 yay zero Nays 13 yay Zer NS the motion carries we're now in the committee of the whole would anyone from the administration like to speak to this paper I see Co Burks good afternoon to each of you Leandra Burks Chief Operating Officer for the City of Atlanta to council president Shipman as well as other members of the city council thank you for allowing us this opportunity to stand before you today to talk about the piece of legislation um that is before you first and foremost want to really start by saying that the mayor in this Administration staunchly um support diversion services and I think it is one of those where we have invested so much that we have shown our support for it we have under the leadership of this mayor we have put forth $5 million allocated for the construction of the new Diversion Center $6 million to Grady hospital as the operator of the Diversion Center with another $6 million coming from fton County to Total 12 million we sought and received $5 million in federal appropriated spending with the assistance of our very own Senator warau earmarked for the construction of the Diversion Center including a $5.3 million pre-arrest diversion Services Incorporated contract um with pad totaling right at $22.3 million from this Administration alone to pre diversion Services I will say I know that there's consideration on the floor today and for many reasons I would ask that if you move forward with this consideration that you do so for one year all the reasons why we think one year would work we want to go back and begin some contract negotiations um and a part of those contract negotiations the administration will include a greater accountability um to include some key metrics and indicators that many of you as council members have suggested to us um and we would also like for the approximately 20 questions that were asked of pad from the Public Safety Committee to also be answered as a part of those negotiations and just to give you an idea of some of those 20 questions that were asked in the blast Public Safety um Le legal Administration committee questions around pad diversions by Council District discrepancies of pad diversions by police zones robust convers ation between Administration and foron County about the full about the future of diversion Services overall um there was an ask for a breakdown of their budget and expenses for FY 24 as well as an organizational chart those were kind of recap of the 20 questions that were an asked by members of that committee that we have not received answers to yet I also want to go back and just look very quickly at two of the most recent monthly reports that we have received um specifically in September we had a total of 54 diversions Citywide from May to July 25 people that's 46% were arrested were arrested but diverted by prosecutors post booking because they were eligible for pad let's look at October of 2024 pad reports we had 18 diversions 73 business engagement through Outreach 148 calls to our 311 Center of the 148 calls to the 311 Center we had right at two people referred for housing and one person to be reconnected with their family the majority of the services that were provided to those 148 individuals were around food and supplies on site and what we also know if there are more than three people at a particular site for a 311 call that is considered an encampment and you cannot receive services from pad so what we have seen and which is why we have asked that we do some more work around this and do a little more research as we continue to partner with fton County around the diversion Services Center that we have opening this month as well as the new Fon County oakill Behavioral Center that open which we are beginning to partner with fton County on again what we have seen is a huge increase in funding but the numbers beginning to trickle down and that is a cause of concern for us which is why we want to do a little more research into making sure we put some very strong metrics in place I do have Chief Sher bom here who would just talk a little bit about I've talked to you about the 311 diversions I would like for him to talk very briefly about the APD diversions and the services that are provided to APD and how Grady has been working very very closely with our Atlanta Police Department having officers over for visits to the new Diversion Center so that they understand what services They will receive so basically now if APD calls pad there is about a 20 average 20 to 29 minute wait for someone to get there with the new opening of the new Diversion Center an officer will would be able to drop off an individual and the max time that they will spend there is 5 minutes based on the process that Grady has defined so I will let Chief Sher bomb speak briefly and then come back and answer any questions if needed thank you thank you madam sh Mr President members of the council uh Darren sheram chief of police I've had a relationship with pad since its Inception I was actually the major of training at the time that we wrote out the program in the police department and as zone 5 Commander we were the number one zone for referrals I believe in diversion uh we cannot send our officers to these unique calls uh that they are called to without providing them the tools and the resources they need to navigate uh these type of calls that they are called to which often times are quality of life but certainly around mental holness economic depravity as well as alcohol and drug dependency uh during the time as chief of police I continue to promote the diversion Pro uh program very very excited about the center because I believe the Diversion Center is going to address some of the key barriers that we see within the police department around pad's Effectiveness when you look at the availability of pad it does not match the business model the Atlanta Police Department we are a 24 hours a day 7day a week operation in all weather at all times that were required to be of assistance to our citizens the verion center is going to allow us to make sure we have a resource that is there around the clock for us that regardless of where you are in the city you can transport an individual in need to the Diversion Center if care if pad is not working that day diversion resources are still working if the navigation team is already tied up diversion resources are still working so that will allow us to address uh what we see as one of the barriers uh secondly under the current model that is addressed uh through pad the individual has to be able to give a voluntary consent so if there is an impairment of drugs or alcohol pad is it's currently crafted as not a viable option for connection to Services again the Diversion Center which has grown with Concept uh that was developed back to the original concept of pad will allow us to take individuals there and to a medical center where we're able to turn individuals over to that area to provide the medical treatment they need if it's related to uh uh being intoxicated or being um paired at that time we also want to continue to grow the trust of our department to understand that uh diversion is not a silver bullet it is a tool to be used and we continue to make sure officers when they see an individual that is back in the same area committing the same offenses uh that has been referred to pad that this is a process and now we will have the ability to use the center which is 24h hour to keep engaging that so it will allow us to approach those faceted barriers that we've seen uh to M what I believe maximizes the full effectiveness of the diversion program and certainly open for any questions that you all may have for me as well thank you both uh we do have a few questions council member Lewis and thank you president I have a couple of questions I think the first one was surrounding around what Co Burke you you mentioned that you in the last public P public safety meeting we asked about 20 questions are you talking about the this last week's public safety meeting the last quarterly presentation from pad got your last which was within the last couple of yes so that thank you that changed that erased all those questions for me sure thank you the uh next question I have was to are we looking to with the new procurement are we looking to subtract or add new services to similar to Chief sheram I believe in diversion similar to you I believe in diversion I I this this Council we've been very adamant on making sure that $22 million was actually spent I I think we have the most Progressive Council one of the most Progressive Council we've ever had and we've been making sure that pad is funded in ways that has never been funded we've been pushing the mayor's office to make sure that diversion counc member kha weits fought for that Diversion Center so hard over there so I want to make sure we include the the the balance of power both us working together to make sure we brought them up so are you looking to subtract services or add more divertible services to the city and that's what we're asking based on you know if you move forward that's why we're asking for a year because that gives us a little bit of an opportunity to look to see how well the diversion Services Center will operate um it will have a lot of metrics around that we'll be able to come back and see where some of our gaps are which will also help inform form some of the additional services or different services that we feel we will need so that is where we are with that again extremely supportive of pre-arrest diversion services and I know you have the commitment of this mayor that it is in no way Our intention to take away but to add to in as many different ways as we possibly can and that's where I am too with adding and not subtracting so thinking about some of the things that pad that police alternative inversion does thinking about some things that our police department does but why don't we look at adding other organizations included with these but not subtracting them because pad has been so good at making sure we push the city on making sure that Diversion Center happened uh we didn't come up with that on our own you that side didn't come up on on their own this was a partnership and so with them being the premier partner in the country According to some of these news articles we've been getting and the people are copying off of what we've been doing with pad across the country and so I think it's time we add other partners to it instead of subtracting Partners from it and so I agree with you there and lastly and looking at just the growth of it I'm happy to be a council member this past three years and to see this growth of pad uh it came with the growth of 311 and so I think not I think my question is as 311 has grown as a city because we saw more people needed to access it we use AI a lot cuz 3 on one is now 24 hours but actively it's only what from 700 a.m. into 12 p.m. with people there but with AI it's 24 hours a day and so are we looking at cuz pad grew with 311 from what I'm looking at their hours expanded the moment 311 hours expanded to 12 they did so are we looking at expanding through on one to 24 hours so that cuz looking at padded span the same day that 311 did if 311 are we looking at expanding it to 24 hours 7 days a week so that pad can expand with it okay so I think a couple of questions you had in there and correct me if I'm answering you wrong one is I think the pre-arrest Diversion Center the Diversion Center will be open 24/7 so that is the place where APD officers can take 5 minutes max to drop off I cannot necessarily agree that the same day 311 extended their services that the preest that pad extended their services I cannot confirm that but what I can say is even if you just look at October with their expanded hours 148 calls from 311 of those 148 calls two people connected to housing one person connected with their family and the majority of the other services were given to them on site whereas with the divers verion Center an officer has an opportunity 24 hours a day to drop off an individual and not provide them resources on the street and leave them there thank you I think the one thing that pad has been trying to tell us is that their job is not to do housing and so that's why I was asking if we can make sure all of the partners were involved in this because if their job is to do this and on that just thinking about those questions that you say that the public safety because I asked a lot of them and so one of the questions I asked is mainly the police APD Department it was how many times have police actually called pad because I wanted to see that number increase like with the other ones and I've been trying to watch it since I got elected and particularly Zone 3 because the growth hasn't just happened there just hasn't and so I just wanted to know how many how often are police APD actually use pad because I think that's the best route cuz we we that jail that jail right Street that's a real thing we don't want to take nobody there we can't lock up our way out of this issue and so if our police officers the best trained if you listen to anybody in the world who comes in here they always say APD gets more hours training than anyone else and so if this is a part of their training I want to know cuz I've been asking the same question for three years has that increased have a PD trying to divert calls has it increased I want to know has that happened that has not you have seen the numbers go down um and you will see that in all of the monthly reports and I think you heard it from Chief shabam himself um some of it is officers adjusting to the hours where the services are offered U versus the hours where they are needed and so the Diversion Center will provide that 24hour operations operating the exact same hours as APD which is 24 hours so if there's an individual who APD encounters who needs assistance no officer will have to remember what hours of operation we're operating on they can take that individual to the Diversion Center to be serviced and can leave within five minutes which is how it is designed to work and I've seen it in action cuz Colorado already has it and and being a person who advocated for the foron county Rehabilitation Center before I got elected it wasn't isn't a thought that that that Center wasn't even a thought and so I I know what we did to get that Center there I know the purpose of it I know what it's going to do the thing I've asked APD and Pad is to make sure they're connecting with fton County because I I saw disconnections with both of them on going there and so I agree with you my only goal is that we add more services and not not operate in the manner that we're operating in with special procurements because we typically don't do special it's just not a it's not normal around here yes it is not after we've given a contract so I agree you say yes it is so I say not after we've given a contract thank you thank you Council M foki thank you council president um first I do want to acknowledge that this this body this Administration has been supportive of pre-arrest diversion services I think that's a continuation and a evolution in the right direction from previous administrations and previous councils it's I think a model of Public Safety that we all Embrace and want to continue to see grow and uh in some ways this discussion is around making diversion Services even better however I I find the administration's position a bit confusing at best and revisionary and gaslighting at worse because I find that um and correct me if I'm wrong this Administration issued an RFP through his executive branch pad responded y'all awarded a contract to pad we introduced a paper my name's at the top of it but it was prepared by the executive branch for me to carry because we believed in this RFP and somehow over the last five or six weeks y all have had a change of heart where you want to move the goalpost and in a way that to council member Lewis's point is exactly right this is not common behavior that happens in these processes if you all want to cancel the award cancel the award but to come in here and say oh we now we want to put some some kpis in the RFP or we want to shorten the the time frame of it y'all had the opportunity to do that you you issued an RFP and so you're either telling us either a we want to move the goalpost B you have buyers remorse or reason it's still not very clear or see you're acknowledging that you issued a poorly word worded or or bad RFP and I we've had four to six weeks for some direction for the administration on this issue and I've heard different things have come across the second floor as to the direction y'all want to go and it's it's changed over time and so I guess my question to you is uh what's changed since you since the executive branch awarded this RFB sure so thank you and I'll if I had to choose between AC ab and c I would ask you if it was a d for none of the above um so I will tell you one of the things that has changed in great detail um really was around some feedback from several council members around wanting to put some additional metrics in place that we probably probably had not thought of I will tell you the other thing is when you know when you start on a scope of work and you go through a full RFP process sometimes things change and one of the things that has changed since we did that is one our much better relationship with fton County around diversion services and being able to partner with them and learn of the new things that they are doing when we first did this many of us didn't even know about the new Behavioral Health Center until we got an a to the groundbreaking and so as we continue and fton County and our conversations have um thoughts and plans to do more than that and continue to partner with us around diversion services so one of the reasons we were asking you today to even consider if you want to move this forward is for one year it gives us an opportunity to finalize some of those Partnerships with Fon County to kind of see the direction that the county and the city collectively can go to as it relates to diversity services and take some of the input from many of the council members on this days so which is articulated was one of the options I gave which was a poorly worded RFP if you're now having second thoughts about what you included in the RFP what that's just it's not a question it's statement okay thank you the second point I want to make is you you were quoted earlier as saying that one of the the second givings you're having about pad is that when they interact with someone on the street only a certain limited number of times as someone reconnected with family or uh connected with housing and that quote the rest of the time they they quote leave them there um that's that's their right it's an individual's right to say I want to stay on the street right we may not like it all the time I may not like it in my neighborhood my residents may like it but P's job is not to uh abduct folks from the street and move them to a different part if they don't want to go to a different part of town right right the same holds true for the new Diversion Center anyone can stand up and walk out of that Diversion Center if they see fit and so I I find it a little bit disingenuous of you to say pads failing because they're leaving folks on the street when it's someone's right to say no I I I appreciate you you offering me a meal connect with my family whatever it may be um but I'm good and so I just want to make that point that the same is going to hold true of the Diversion Center which we all have high hopes for I think we're all excited about the Diversion Center pad was a champion of the Diversion Center and called for its establishment um it holds enormous promise for how we uh more thoroughly throughout a 24-hour day um and holistically help folks who need assistance but to say that it's going to result in fewer people being left on the street we don't we don't know that it hasn't it just kicked off and so I think it's a little unfair to pull that up as a um a comparison when that's not the the entire purpose of a pad now now I don't have any allegiance to Pat as an entity I mean I know many of the people over there and if there's an alternative organization or entity that could fill the administration's um desire for mobile services then cancel the RFP cancel the award and reissue it but yall have put us in a very difficult position by kind of putting the burden on us to navigate your anxiety about an RFP that you awarded and so my my position Remains the Same when we come out of this commit of the whole my MO is going to stand to award the contractors it's been awarded thank you I appreciate that I do want to and I know that those were your statements but I do want to say I never said that pad failed um so I did want to correct you never heard me use those terms so I don't want anyone to leave out of here thinking that I said that um but what I presented to you were actual facts around the services they do offer navigation care services but I presented the facts around the reporting that they have provided to us Council one uh thank you Mr President thank you madam Co and chief for being here to discuss this um yeah I'm going to Echo a lot of uh the sentiment coming from my colleague council member foki I think the most troubling piece of this to me I you know even if everything I shouldn't say even if everything you say is true it doesn't explain the special procurement it doesn't explain that none of these new requirements were even included at that um and the Diversion Center is not a new phenomenon we knew that it was coming so I just there's a lot that just doesn't add up and make sense and it's problematic for me to then say yeah that's you I I trust them and yeah that's right we need to to punt this um another year or two years I I you know I have real challenges with that I want to talk about the statistics that you raised because yeah I agree if you take those in a snapshot it's problematic but I've heard from you and your team in all the conversations we've been having about the encampments in my district that these interventions and these engagements take time so you can't on the one hand ask me to tell my constituents that things take time and then criticize pad for having you know the the results that they have because it it again it's it's something that you and partners from home have been telling me so there seems to be some Discord and and dissonance in terms of the messaging I've been getting from yall on that as well I also Chief I respect you I I I know you mean what you say but the notion of the five minutes out of an officer's time to deal with this I can guarantee you if you pick someone up at Lindberg under one of my bridges it's going to take more than five minutes to get down to the Divergence Center I promise you that my people don't want APD beat officers addressing this when there is another very viable service doing this so we you the last series of annual meetings in my district that's what everybody's been saying I don't want to call 911 I don't want to call 911 I want them fighting real crimes um I want a different service that is specialized in this and so the last thing I'll say is that you the Divergence Center I agree with council member foki it just opened and I to me this is a yes and proposition it's not an either or I believe that pad as much as we this whole process has been frustrating for all of us in terms of the the engagement on all sides I do believe pad is Mission driven and wants to do the service I also do believe that they are want to given the success and the the testimony they have they want to adapt with us and I do believe that they will work with us over time I don't know that we have to have metrics in a contract to be at the table with them to go hey can we adjust can we do this we're seeing this with the Diversion Center statistics this is what AP APD can do um in a situation where y'all can't serve during regular hours but we know APD is going to be there during the hours you're not and so I'm befuddled by the resistance and the shifting um and again nothing troubles me more than that special procurement that to me changed the dynamic completely for me and it was you know when I learned about it after I had signal to y'all I wanted to move this paper forward all of a sudden there's a special procurement that's that's when things started smelling funny and I'm not convinced that they haven't stopped smelling funny so I I'm ready and I think two years the the paper is written so that it actually goes back to June 30th we're already six months in you ask for a year that takes us to the end of next year we might as well just go the full two years as was promised in the RF the original RFP we have plenty of time to figure this out and so I I hope that the result of this horrible process up to this point will be a more collaborative posture from us with y'all yes get us the answer to our question yes pad please answer and accommodate what council memb concern is I think you've you've uh understand the resistance at this point but let's just move forward it's getting cold this this is when I start getting really anxious about um our unsheltered population I've had three Bridges go down in my district I don't want a fourth and I don't want it to be because we're squabbling over stupid contract stuff so I appreciate it um and and let's just go let's move this all right if I can respond to that council member Juan just a couple of things you talked about partners for home and all the conversations we've had around relationships certainly agree with you on that one way to build relationships is to constantly go back um and build that relationship if you a onetime touch does not build a relationship so I did want to make a comment on that as it relates to the drive from limberg um certainly agree that that takes more than 5 minutes but the contract if you move forward with it does not include P bringing people to the Diversion Center and so I want to make sure that there's Clarity that you will not get that service if you move forward with this agreement and then being talking about a yes and on the Diversion Center which is why um we have asked you know for the one year um but I just wanted to make sure that you understood that approve moving forward with the approval will not stop an officer from Lindberg to driving to the Diversion Center coun Bond thank you Mr President and and thank you madam Co for your presentation thank you Chief sh Sheron for your comments and for your commitment to P over the years um I I feel like I need to say this first I I voted to support pad and every time it's come before me but I think some people it gets lost on on people that we've done that as a body uh I'm talking about going all the way back when it was just conceptual resolutions before there was an entity that was pad uh we have voted to support uh uh diversion yeah all of those uh types of programs my concern about our existing Diversion Center and why I was not excited about it because cuz I'm like why would we put a Diversion Center for services at a point at a place returning people essentially to the place of some people's trauma which is the jail why would you bring them back to the jail right so imagine how terrified some people are going to be uh when they find themselves being driven up to ACDC but that notwithstanding uh I I do support the the legislation but I also want to say something to the public and the supporters of pad the organization not the principle that you know when you buy a new when you buy a new car right you never not do maintenance on that car you never not replace the tires on that car you never not get that car tuned up you never not try to improve your vehicle to keep it running and I think that's kind of where we are between ourselves and Fulton County there's an old African fable about Three Blind Men and an elephant and each one of those individuals has a different piece of the elephant and it looks different their feelings their Sensations their experiences with the different part of the elephant that they may be adjacent to is very very different and I think that's probably a fair assessment of where we are between ourselves and Fon County and providing these services and so I I think pad the organization and the way it's connected to the city the the way it engages with the city it has to evolve because obviously it's not effective right I mean if you're only serving three people out of 150 that's not effective that's not working even if it's the people's choice not to accept a choice so we have to find a way to improve those services along with our new I guess Diversion Center and at that meeting that you referenced Miss Burks when pad gave their last quarterly presentation uh Mr West Morland and councilwoman bachar came out to their supporting an effort in East Atlanta which really blew my mind because they have a regional micro Regional approach to dealing with those who were unhoused and challenged in that particular area of the city but I guess what's missing from the equation when you look at the way that pad reacts or pad is referred is that they are building a relation relationship with the people who are unhoused who are in that area so what I would challenge the and S and humbly suggest that the administration do that over the next period as it seems that this contract will probably be awarded you know was it Johnny Carson used to do with carac it says it'll be approved and you know you know we used to imitate the psychic and so it'll probably be approved as as is because I I don't anticipate anybody doing the sub substitute but over this period there there needs to be an evolution in the way the service is provided because the way the the push back that has been I guess perceived by those who support pad it hasn't been that people don't support pre-arrest diversion people are dismayed at the data that they're seeing coming out of what's going on with pad and we're spending money and just and we're held accountable for that money being spent so if I said all that to say that if some combination of a future version of how pre- arrested virgin Services can be partnered melded merged with what's working in East Atlanta very effectively because of the relationship they're able to build in a micro region the and I guess added to or attached to reacting on on a daily basis to calls for immediate help if there's some kind of regional nodes where these issues are prevalent like perhaps in district 6 perhaps you know North or downtown perhaps in West End that imitates or you know kind of what's going on in East Atlanta and and some type of mergence of that that seems to be important you know and that that would seem to me to be more effective when I a long time ago when I was in college I worked in the Corrections Department for the City of Atlanta and you know I I worked in the days that when a convention came to town you had mass arrest and they called it street sweeper they would bring the bus in and you didn't see any unhoused people during certain times and certain events in the city but but you also had people who were chronically within that system and they got to know the police officers that arrested them almost to the point where because of that relationship they say officer so and so don't charge me with this charge me with that I want to go to Key Road for four months not six months I I want to get off the street during the winter time it it is those types you know I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm attempting some levity on what is a very serious conversation but it's the building of relationships that helps get these folks stabilized and it has to be more than just a a 311 or 911 interaction because if you're if you've been on the street and you may have some issues or just simple distrust you may not want to take advantage you know if you've had a negative experience or some type of U negative interaction with with law enforcement or the city you know you may not trust it so they may not benefit from it but obviously what they're doing in East Atlanta is effective because they've got a person on the ground or persons on the ground and they're building a relationship with the people in that immediate area so I would make that suggestion that in the way as you look to redevelop that that perhaps Pat evolves into something more like that and then secondly you know we operate a uh water sewer uh plant with Fon County in the form of an authority correct perhaps we need an authority on to establish a joint Authority with Fon County around these issues so that that could be something that uh that they can manage it and so that we would always be a breast of what the county is and should and ought to be doing and likewise on this side of the equation and that way when we continue to jointly fund it we know what we're paying for and we know what to expect but oh yeah just well that's a contract right we we have a contract with the county on the on the uh on on the pets but we actually have an authority that operates a water sewer project plant up in North fton Tomo with Fon County right yes Tom water yeah with with underneath Watershed so if we if we if we were to formalize it something like that in the way of of ultimately you know it's not going to happen in two years well we could create Authority in two years but it's not what we're doing is not going to happen overnight but as we step to move to devel velop how we're going to provide this service I mean and people have to be honest every person we help they're replaced by two or three other people every single day in Atlanta so we have to do something that's more permanent more substantive and expands this Vision because you know pad has started out for all of its you know all of the fight and enthusiasm I mean it's an experiment and there's nothing to say that we shouldn't be improving upon this experiment so those are my suggestions uh you know for today thank you council member Council LS I I I typically don't get to don't get to add any institutional knowledge to Mr institutional knowledge but the city of Atlanta has done this before we we've been leading from the front on this particular issue our our my esteemed colleague mentioned that what we're doing at ACDC and with the diverence center Gateway used to be a jail when when I talk to people from Atlanta they I'm from the city so I got people who don't want to go to Gateway because that's the jail to them and so I understand fully what he's saying but to me we're changing their mindset cuz if they do go in they get resources that they need and so we've we we're leading from the front on that and my my mindset on ACDC 10 years from now cuz I a God willing I'd be around for a while my mindset is that takes the same mindset is Gateway one day and I see Burks I think you mentioned I want to make sure that I heard you correct cuz I know it's something I've been working I've ran for office talking about the rehabilitation center did you say that you all didn't know that was happening no not initially we did not we did not know about the you that was something that the fton county worked directly with the state on um which also speaks to our ability now to partner better with the foron county on various things but especially around diversion services and the new partnership that we are building with them and literally just met the other day and they have asked that we work with them on connecting them with APD so that that can also be a drop off point for APD as well so they didn't work directly with the state on it I've been working with foron County the state and the federal government since day one and that means the city we actually had to convince the community to turn the center from what it was into what it is today I'll say our office you may have been but not our office and there was no city funding put in and are we sure that your entire the administration didn't know that we spent $20 million on Metropolitan and Cleveland Avenue almost 20 million to build a space for 5,000 people I just want to make sure are for 5,000 yeah up it was service 5,000 people per day 100 people from gr Memorial Hospital will be there every single day and so it it was a long transition into it okay I appre all that went through Forton County so it it didn't it went through three three different branches of government and we actually wrote letters of recommendation to receive the funding so I just want to make sure we all on the same page the so Gateway used to be a jail so we've done it before and the mayor's office did not know the for and County Rehabilitation Center was coming not not not it's when it first started no at some point along the way we did but not when it first started no we did not okay the and we were glad to be a part of the opening and glad to now be able to partner with them so they've been partnering with the city but I I guess that's why I've been asking in the in the public safety meetings why isn't pad or why isn't APD connected with that service but we we if there's any kind of way that we can work better with for and County which is why today I actually have I actually I'm so nervous about what's going on to not know about that and to give them our jail right so Sheriff lebat has our jail has has but he talking about ACDC yes no I'm talking about the new one in your District I'm putting together in one sentence I said to not know this is going on to not know they're doing that and and we just gave I thank you thank you president I think you have it confused council member of course we knew and worked very closely with foren County on the ACDC PS which is what I talked about in my opening remarks around the $5 million for the renovation the $5 million from Senator War kno's office and partnering with fton County on the day-to-day operations $6 million a year from each organization I was referring to the new Oak heels Center for Behavioral and mental health which is a fton county and state of Georgia partnership that we are now beginning to be a part of as we work through with fton County our partnership around diversion services so we did not put $20 million into the Behavioral Health Center we put over $20 million into ACDC for the center for diversion Services two very different institutions and facilities and I I'll make sure I give you all of the information that with the city and with anyone from the administration that's on any email with me about this Rehabilitation Center I'll make sure I provide that to you appreciate it the so fton County Rehabilitation to give you a little bit more information on it's not a county and state project the federal government looked at fton County looked at the federal government looked at the state of Georgia and said we need five rehabilitation centers in the state the they're about to be sued the foron county has to do three this is the first of three so there'll be at least two more in for in County so I just want to make sure we on we we're together on that thank you again thank you councelor Rond just a quick follow up on why an authority would be a good idea you know the Atlanta Housing Authority when it was established in the 1930s was supposed to be our armed to build affordable and public housing they're now prevented by federal regulations they can't build homeless shelters transitional housing temporary housing if we were to do an Authority with Fon County we could develop affordable or transitional or temporary housing uh for this population that's one more of the benefits that could happen uh with that just a suggestion but yeah I used to work in that that's the jail I used to work in Mr Lewis was uh the what is now the Gateway Center it was built to hold 400 individuals we had an average daily population of 1,600 and that's why ACDC was built to the size that it was built so they would accommodate that population I used to work the floors there 11 to 7 sometimes I I we I worked uh on the shortest shift and sometimes I'd be on the floor with 400 inmates by myself wow W you know so it is well you brought back some some brought back a flashback to me so but anyway but anyway so you know those are ideas I think that you know going forward that this thing needs to evolve because obviously what we're doing now is good but it has to be better okay thank you counc froi I moved to exit commit the whole there's a motion by Council M foki seconded by who made the second who made the second Council Rond to move out a committee of the whole it is not debatable move to vote madame cler well let me ask is there any objection to moving out we can do this with unanimous consent is there any objection to moving out a committee of the whole Madam clerk please sound the count on unanimous consent 13 y z a 13 y z a want to thank folks from the administration for um coming so we are now back into our regular session we have a motion on the table to adopt by council member foki we are discussing the motion to adopt 24-- 1474 council member pero so I'd like to move to amend the paper to change the start date to January 1 2025 because we've already funded pad through the end of December so this would not change the end date uh it essentially go from a two-year contract to a de facto 18-month contract because they're already almost six months into the the new contract so it would start January 1 and end as it currently stated in the agreement there's a motion to amend by Council M froi seconded by council member Juan is there any discussion on the motion to amend council member over Street I think the amendment will also have to include uh funding streams I I don't think the paper is is ready is that is it there uh the CF we've been told by Finance that's not the case it's not because I don't I don't see it there there there's not a funding string identified in the paper as a stands but the paper does authorize the CFO to enact a funding string after it's passed so gives that Authority that's fine answer the question yeah no yeah that's fine I just didn't see it there okay uh other since we were amending I was just going to try to you know button it up that's all other discussion on the motion to amend hearing none will move to vote Madam clerk please open the vote on the motion to amend um council president I'm sorry for the record if we can just clarify what the amendment is because we will have to the amendment is to change the beginning date January 1st 2025 thank you mam clerk please open the vote on the motion to amend the vote is open the V Clos 12 Ys 1 n 12 Ys 1 nay the motion to amend carries we're now back to the motion to adopt as amended discussion on the motion to adopt ismed Council mroi I was going to move to adopt it if the motion's on the table it stands discussion on the motion to adopt as amended Council M doer thank you Mr President I just wanted to just make a brief remark I completely support this legislation I appreciate Council M fi's leadership and moving this forward uh one comment I did want to make I know in the discussion with the COO uh there was a request to potentially uh reduce the amount of time for this particular uh extension to just a year and I guess that context this would have been a six-month extension rather than an 18-month extension um and something that I think about a lot before I joined this body I spent over a decade uh working at a national nonprofit helping veterans find jobs when they transition from the military uh overseeing program operations and also overseeing uh metrics and data and all the things we need to do to report to funders and to report to our grant tours and you know funders when they give you a grant they give you some operational metrics that you have to report on at the end of the grant period uh in the case of the organization I was working with the number of people we helped the number of events that we conducted the number of placements that we had uh but as we got better at what we did uh we were able to innovate and identify uh things and and ways in which we were helping people that weren't necessarily explicitly in our grant agreements the time it takes us to find someone a job the salary attainment that someone has the salary goals that they have when when it come to our organization and then what percentage meet that or exceed that goal uh the retention rate 3 years from now 6 years from now uh are you still working at that same company and we were able to innovate largely despite the fact that you know we weren't being asked uh to to build in these metrics or these kpis but we're also able to innovate because of a core CAD of employees that stayed with the company for years because of the commitment to the mission uh the commitment to our company culture and commitment to an organization that they knew was going to be around uh because we had funding that lasted for years and so when I think about this conversation that we have on a regular basis with regards to pad this year can't think of how many different pieces of legislation we've had to approve to uh have stop Gap funding for pad and I think about what that means for employee morale what that means for employee retention and the people who are out in the field doing this work getting better at what they do being more efficient because they understand the work they do more intimately than ever before what does that mean for them when they don't know they're going to have a paycheck 3 months from now 6 months from now or even a year from now and so I just want to just say for the record that for me I think it's important that we have uh longer continuance for these sorts of agreements so that we can hire the best possible people out there and we can ensure that they stay with the organization long enough to build uh the confidence in their work and to build the institutional knowledge to deliver on all the things we're asking them to deliver on to build out these kpis and metrics that we want to put in that next RFP we have to make sure we have the right people in place and it's hard to do that when you have folks who are who are unsure whether that organization is going to be solvent in six months to a year so I just want to state that thank you councilman foki for your leadership and I look forward to supporting this measure thank you any other any other uh debate on the motion to adopt as amended this item hearing none we move to vote Madam clerk please the vote on the motion to adopt 24-- 1474 is amended the vote is open will everyone please vote the vot's closed 11 y two Nays 11 y two Nays the motion to adopt is amended carries chair sh all right thank you I have sure sure sure uh thank you I have one more uh paper that was passed on the consent agenda that needs to go to the mayor's office post haste it is item 12 on page 8 24610 my motion to send to the mayor's office post haste 24 there's a motion by Council M schook to move post haste 24- 01610 to the mayor's office is there a second second by council member uh ju uh we any discussion on the motion post we do this VI consent without objection any objection the motion move post haste Madam clerk please sound the count on J's consent 12a a 12a z a the motion move post T carries that concludes our report thank you thank you chair shook next up on the Committees will be the committee on councel Vice chair Amos will be delivering the report today thank you Mr President we have four items on the report today if there's no objection I would like to take item number one and two together please proceed 24- C- 5127 a communication from Council Members Lana barari District 5 alice1 district 6 Howard shook district 7 Marin Norwood District 8 and Matt West Mor and post two at large appointed Mr Kevin Bacon to serve as a member of the board of zoning adjustment this appointment is for a turn of two years 24- C- 5138 a communication from Leona bar Davenport president and CEO Atlanta business lead submitting the appointment of Miss Judy Walker to serve on the Atlanta citizens review board this appointment is for a term of three years both of these items came out favorably unanimously make a motion to adopt there's a motion coming out of committee to adopt 24- C- 5127 and 24- C- 5138 doesn't need a second any discussion on the motion to adopt these two Communications we can do this to be nam's consent without objection since there Communications any objection Madam clerk please sign the county nam's consent 13 y z n 13 y z nay motion to adopt these two items carries thank you sir n item is 24- r- 4449 a resolution by council member Jason H Winston as as amended by Finance Z committee appointing Mr Gary W Brigman to serve as the chair of the city of Atlanta Define benefit Pension Plan investment board for term of 5 years to begin on the date of Confirmation and for other purposes this came out favorable unanimously recommendation is to adopt there's a recommendation coming out of committee to adopt 24-- 4449 it doesn't need a second any discussion on the motion to adopt this item Hear n move to vote Madam clerk please open the vote on the motion to adopt this item the vote is open everyone please vote the vot's close 13 y0 n 13 y0 is motion to adopt carries thank you sir next item 24- r4517 a resolution by the committee on Council to correct the action taken by the Atlanta City Council regarding resolution 24- r-44 35 to revoke the previous action of accepting and filing said resolution and for other purposes it comes favorable unanimously recommendation to adopt recommendation coming out committee to adopt 24- r4517 doesn't need a second any discussion on the motion to adopt this item we can do this via unanimous consent without objection any objection I'm clerk please sign the count unanimous consent 13 y z n 13 y z n motion to adopt carries thank sir last item 24-- 4518 a resolution by committee on Counsel to express the appreciation of the city of Atlanta for the work of the city of Atlanta temporary task force charged with reviewing the process and procedures of the office of the Inspector General the ethics office and the governing board of the office of the Inspector General and the ethics office for its diligent work to provide recommendations in accordance with its charge to accept the report and final recommendation of the task force to approve the recommendations to declare that it is the desire of the city of Atlanta to ensure that the recommendations of the Tas Force are properly implemented in the best interest of the city of Atlanta to request that the City attorney or her desan shall prepare any draft legislation and or governing board standard operating procedures which shall be necessary for the implementation of the recommendations of the task force and for other purposes came out of the committee unanimously action is to file Mo committee to file 24-- 4518 doesn't need a second is there any discussion on the motion to file this item hearing none we move to vote Madam clerk please open the vote on the motion to file sure the vote is open the vot's closed 13 y zero nay 13 motion file carries thank you Mr President any my report thank you next up will be the zoning committee chair West Morland thank you Mr President uh we have 13 items for first read without objection I can take those as a block get to reading item number one 24638 Z2 2465 3520 North Camp Creek Parkway Southwest this ordinance is reone from R4 to MR2 240 1639 Z2 2471 631 flat shs Avenue Southeast to reone from R LCC to RLC 24640 Z 2473 582 Hope Street Southwest is to reson from r4b to R5 24641 Z2 2475 56 8 tryber Avenue Northwest is to rezone from mr4 BC to mr4 BC for a change of conditions 24642 Z 2476 389 389 and 385 lindsy Street Northwest as well as 380 388 392 396 404 406 and 416 Oliver Street Northwest is to rezone from spi3 sa1 BL Wiz and SPI 3s2 2 SPI 3s3 240 1643 Z 2477 383 payes Avenue Northwest is to reone from spi3 sa1 wiz2 SPI 3 sa3 24644 Z 2478 2439 Fair Road Southwest is to reone from R4 to PD 24645 U 2430 607 Magnolia Street Northwest is for a special use permit for a Barber and Beauty Shop 240646 U 2431 3190 Roswell Road Northwest Specialties permit for an outdoor sales area 24647 U 2432 1555 West bases fer Road Northwest is a Specialties for a private club 24648 U 2433 410 Markham Street Southwest special per for a hotel 24649 U 24341 1544 Pont Avenue special use permit for outdoor dining and eating and drinking establishment and finally 24650 U 24351 1881 how how Mill Road Northwest a special use permit for a non-residential use or establishment exceeding 7500 ft in area in which alcohol beverages are sold or consumed on the premises I make a motion to refer these 13 items to zrb and zoning committee there's a motion to refer these 13 items to zrb and zoning committee by councilman West Morland is there a second second by councilman bond is there any discussion on the motion to refer these 13 items hearing n we move to a vote Madam clerk please open the vote on the motion to refer the vote is open Le Zer Le Zer the motion to refer carries concludes my report thank you next up will be Public Safety legal Administration chair boon thank you Mr President first item item 24-0 D1 1615 an ordinance by council member Andrea Boon authorizing the mayor his design on behalf of the city of Atlanta Atlanta Police Department to wave the competitive Source selection requirements contained an article of the procurement code to allow the Atlanta Police Department to enter into an agreement with bretzville and gory LLC for security revisions at the public safety training Center all authorizing expenditure to be charged to and paid from the fund Department organization and account listed herein and for other purposes motion to adopt motion to adopt 24- d615 coming out of committee it does not need a second is there any discussion on the motion to adopt this item hearing none we move to vote Madam clerk please open the vote on the motion to adopt the vote is open how much more money how much the get you can do the right thing will everyone please vote the fotes Clos seven Ys four Nays seven y four Nays motion to adopt fails because you need eight votes in the affirmative no matter council member council member one I'll make a substitute motion to refer back to committee we will remember who voted yes you can't you can't refer it's failed so you can't you'd have to Reid it yeah you'd have to reconsider it in order to it just it just dies okay next item 24- 0-1 600 and Ed by public safety and legal Administration committee authorizing the mayor has designity on behalf of the city of Atlanta and the department of Parks and Recreation to retroactively reinstate agreement I5 ifb s122 0215 on call Post certified officers with Clover Hurst Aaron JV to enter into the first renewal option for one year committing on November 1st 2024 and ending on October 31st 2025 and an amount not to exceed 1 mil ,500,000 and0 to continue providing security needs at the various Parks and Recreation sites to wave all ordinances and parks of ordinances and conflict herewith to ratify all sections taken by are on behalf of the city since the date of expiration of the agreement and for other purposes this was pulled off consent therefore it was the the Motions to adopt coming out of committee it does not need a second is there any discussion on the motion to adopt this item uh Madam chair I'd like to make a substitute motion to send back to committee there's a motion to refer 24- o600 back to pslaa I'm assuming back to pslaa committee by Council Norwood is there a second seconded by council member Lewis is there any discussion on the motion to refer this item back to pslaa hearing none move to vote Madam clerk please open the vote on the motion to refer the vote is open will everyone please vote the votes closed 10 yays one nay 10 yays one nay the mo I'm sorry oh sorry uh 10 Ys two Nays the motion to refer carries chair Bo any other business that concludes my report thank you thank you um next up will be City Utilities committee chair Lewis Mr President we have no report but I would like to send 2 41611 to the mayor post haste there's a motion to move uh 24- 01611 to the mayor post haste is there a second seconded by Council one is there any discussion on the motion to move this item post taste hearing none we move to a vote we do this consent without objection any objection the motion move post haste Madam clerk Zer Nays sorry say it again 12 y 12 Z nay motion move post taste carries and I believe that's that concludes uh chair Lewis thank you great that concludes the standing committee reports we will now move to legislation for consideration new legislation for consideration I do not see any for immediate so we will move to items for referral council member Amos uh I don't see council member amamos so move to council member Bond counc Bond items for uh items to introduce not yet okay oh Council Amos is back Council amamos Beauty before you there you [Laughter] go C Rond thank you council member Amos elm's ID number 36913 in ordinance by council member Michael Julian Bond authorizing a donation and a total amount not to exceed $500 and0 from the post one at large carry forward account to the Marther King Junior Middle School to support the king cares campaign pursuant to section 6-36 of the city of Atlanta's Charter and for other purposes 36913 will be refer to the finance exec committee thank you Council amamos Mr Sir AMS ID 36869 a resolution by council member Byron de amamos authorizing the mayor or his design on behalf of the city of Atlanta keep uh Atlanta's keep Atlanta beautiful commission to enter into agreement with Hilton and keep Atlanta beautiful to receive from keep America beautiful and amount not to exceed $30,000 for a beautification project along ML King Jr Drive adjacent to Mosley Park and for other purposes I'm ID 36869 will be refer the City Utilities committee that can still have l e [Music] d you know who made it [Music] [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] e [Music] [Music] even the mighty might not see it coming it's pre-diabetes and it captures one in three adults you may not even know you have it but you can escape take the 1minute pre-diabetes risk test to know where you stand with early diagnosis you can change the outcome and prevent or delay type 2 diabetes be your own hero on smartphones everywhere at do ihav prediabetes.org has two separate Lots substantially consistent with the historic configuration and prevailing plat pattern and for other purposes ID 3917 will be referred to the zoning and zrb committees thank you that's all I have thank you Council froi elm's ID 36920 resolution by council members fooki and Amos to establish the artificial intelligence commission for the purpose of exploring the benefits opportunities and challenges of the use of AI and city government and for other purposes 36920 be refer to the finance exact committee counc M Hillis item is Elm ID 36876 an ordinance by council member Dustin pillis authorized the mayor his design on behalf of the city of Atlanta to Executive ground lease agreement with partners for home property located Reservoir Drive in 653 Green Street Northwest Atlanta foron County Georgia portion of tax partial number listed for a lease term not to exceed 20 years to be used to develop quick delivery housing on public land as part of the city of Atlanta's rapid Housing Initiative waving the competitive procurement Provisions contained in article 10 procurement and real estate code of the city of Atlanta code of ordinances and for other purposes El ID 36876 will be referred to the cdhs committee Elms 36875 in ordinance by council member Dustin Hillis authorizing the transfer of certain Surplus tracks of property owned by the city of Atlanta located on Reservoir Drive in 653 Green Street Northwest from the purview of the Department of watershed management to the purview of the Department of Enterprise assets management for the purpose of developing and operating high quality quick delivery Rapid housing with Supportive Services on the site to authorize the Chief Financial Officer to amend the FY 2025 budget to anticipate the transfer of funds in the amount of $885,000 and0 from the affordable housing trust fund to blank and for other purposes Elms ID 36875 will be referred to the cdhs committee Elms ID 3684 an ordinance by council member Dustin Hillis authorizing the mayor his Des KN on behalf of the city of Atlanta to abandon that portion of wil Circle Northwest south of triver Street Northwest and immediately north of Yates Drive Northwest consisting of approximately 95280 square feet and being more specifically described in the attached exhibit a and shown in the attached attached exhibit B lying and being in landlot 259 of the 17th District Fon County Georgia and to accept the donation of an in kind contribution equal to or greater than the fair market value of the roadway to wave appraisal requirements contained in section 138 -9 of the code of ordinances to execute a quick claim deed to the housing authority of the city of Atlanta Georgia for said abandonment abandon right away and for other purposes ID 3684 will be referred to the cdhs committee it thank thank you council member Boon I believe you had an item yes Mr President I would like to make a motion to reconsider item 24- 01615 there's a motion to Recons [Music] [Music] if you need to do something to feel okay to drive you're not okay to drive don't drive buzzed seconded by Council Norwood hold on just one moment the same have a motion on the floor to reconsider 24-- 1615 it is debatable is there any discussion on the motion to reconsider this item hearing none will move to vote Madame clerk please open the vote an I vote means that you do want to reconsider a nay vote means you do not want to reconsider the vote is open M Mr President sure the there's a motion on the floor to reconsider 24- -165 because it's a financial matter anyone can make the motion Council Reon made the motion it was seconded uh an I vote means yes to reconsider a a vote means no to reconsider it takes a majority vote Madame clerk will everyone please vote the vot's closed nine y four nay n nine y four nine y four nay the motion to reconsider carries that puts us back into the motion to adopt 24-0-11 16615 so we're back to that point uh is there any conversation or discussion about the motion to adopt 24-0-11 1615 just want to make sure everyone knows the item that we're that we're on okay hearing no further discussion Madam clerk please open the vote on the motion to adopt 24- 1615 the vote is open oh one moment the vote is open the votes closed nine Ys four Nays nine Ys four Nays the motion to adopt carries we will now go back to papers for referral Council M Lewis sorry about that forgot about an ordinance by council member Antonio Lewis Elms 36924 in ordinance by council member Antonio Lewis to amend chapter XX article X section X of the city of Atlanta code of ordinance to provide an exemption from the distance requirements for the Kroger located 2685 Metropolitan Parkway Southwest and for other purposes 36924 will be referred to the zoning committee Elms 36927 an ordinance by council member Mary Norwood council member Byron Amos Council Marcy Cario over Street council member Dustin Hillis council member Amir farooqi a ordinance by council member Antonio Lewis to amend 1114 article 10 division 3 section 114-112 1 of of the city of Atlanta code of ordinance to establish weekly pay periods for all entrylevel positions and for other purposes Elms ID 36927 will be referred to the FEC Elms 36926 and ordinance by council member Mary no wood council member Marcy K Over Street council member Matt West Morland council member Dustin Hillis council member Amir farooqi an ordinance by council member Antonio Lewis to amend council member Byron Amos an ordinance by counc and council member Jason Winston and ordinance by council member Antonio Lewis to amend chapter 114 article 12 division 3 section 1141 125 of the city of Atlanta code of ordinances to remove the requirement of a high school diploma or GED for entrylevel positions of grade to be determined by the financial department and below for other purposes Els ID 36 36926 will be referred to the finance exec committee Council Norwood thank you Elms 36914 an ordinance by council member Mary Norwood to amend 20-- 1652 adopted by the Atlanta City Council on December 7th 2020 approving a special use permit pursuant to chapter 16- 045d for civic club for property located at 1160 West Conway Drive and to am to amend the conditions applicable to such special use permit and for other purposes Elms ID 36914 will be jointly referred to the zoning and crb committees counc R Street thank you M's ID number 36904 resolution by council member Marcy Coler over Street authorizes authorizing the city of Atlanta to donate a total of not to exceed 400,000 $429,999 eight70 to United Way of Greater Atlanta Incorporated pursuant to section 36-36 of the city of Atlanta's Char Charter to support an emergency rental assistance program authorizing the mayor or his designate on to enter into a donation agreement which shall detail the actions of United Way of Greater Atlanta Incorporated to provide emergency rental assistance to citizens of Atlanta and to authorize the Chief Financial Officer or his dese to make all payments from the accounts listed herein and for other purposes Elms ID 36904 will be referred to the finance exec committee M's ID number 36831 an ordinance by council member Marcy CER over Street an ordinance providing for issuance during fiscal year 2025 of $4 million in aggregate principal amount of the city of Atlanta's General obligation bonds the series 2025 bonds for various purposes pursuant to and in accordance with an amendment to the Constitution of the state of Georgia ratified at the general election held on November 5th 1968 and proclaimed by the governor of the state of Georgia on December 13th 1968 law 1586 to 1587 inclusive and continued by 1986 Georgia laws 4824 and 4825 inclusive to authorize the sell of series 2025 bonds through a district placement to a bank or other Financial in Institute Institution to authorize the execution of and delivery of the said bonds to authorize the Chief Financial Officer to create Bond number Dash to authorize the naming of the bond registra and paying agent for the said bonds to authorize the adoption of the form of which said Bond shall adhere to authorize the preparation of a tax district and the levy of a tax sufficient to pay the principle of and interest on said bonds to amend the fiscal year 2025 budget by adding two anticipations and Appropriations Bond proceeds and for other purposes a public hearing will be held December 2nd 2024 during the full council meeting M 36831 will we refer to the finance exec committee elm's ID number 36921 a resolution by council member Marcy call your over Street to expand the boundaries of the Atlanta West Community improvement district as authorized by the general assembly of the state of Georgia in the Fulton County Community improvement district act to improve certain Parcels of the improvement district and for other purposes Elms ID 36921 will be referred to the cdhs committee counc Mook uh thank you Elms 36829 ordinance by shook waving the listed section of the code to ratify services rendered in connection with the listed agreement annual sanitary sewer repair with Ruby Collins Consortium joint venture retroactive effective between the dates indicated to authorize the mayor or his designed to exercise the first renewal option under the agreement on behalf of watered management for a term of onee retroactively effective September 1 of 24 through August 31st of 25 an amount not to exceed $8 million all contract work being charged and paid for them Etc Elms ID 36829 will be referred to the City Utilities committee Elms 36830 ordinance by shook waving the listed uh code section to authorize the mayor dis need to ratify services rendered in connection with the RFP which is listed annual sanitary sewer repair with Rockdale pipeline SL integral Municipal Services Corporation joint venture retroactively effective from the date listed through the exercise of the first renewal option to authorize the marriage design to exercise first renewal option under the agreement on behalf of watershed for a term of onee retroactively effective uh from September 11th this year through through September 10th of next in amount not to exceed $22 million all contracted work being charged to imp paid from Etc Elm 36830 will be referred to the City Utilities committee Elm 368 33 in ordinance by shook authorizing the mayor and CFO to execute deliver and perform a master lease agreement between the city and first Municipal Credit corp or company LLC as Lor uh two one or more related financing schedules and three an escro agreement between the city the Lort and escro agent all related to the acquisition of one laptop computers and related accessories for APD vehicles and certain related upfitting and Custom ation of set equipment provided that such lease financing shall be authorized in a combined principal amount not to exceed $22 million plus applicable interest component all rental payments will be charged to and paid from Etc 36833 will be referred to the finance exec committee Elm 36865 resolution by shook urging the 2025 2026 regular session of the Georgia General Assembly to support the city of Atlanta's 2025 legislative package and further purposes Elms 36865 would be refer to the finance exective committee Elms 36915 resolution by shook authorizing the commissioner of watershed management to adjust water sewer service charges on certain customer accounts in accordance with the Atlanta City code section listed here for a blank and for other purposes El C 36915 we refer to the finance EXA committee Elm 36916 resolution by shook authorizing the CFO to refund customers for overpayments to Water and Sewer accounts in man blank all funds to be charged to and PID for ETC ID 36916 will be refer to the finance exec committee that is all Council Juan uh thank you Mr President elm's ID 36911 an ordinance by council member Alex Juan authorizing a donation in an amount not to exceed $8,500 from the district 6 carry for account and the Atlanta uh should to the Atlanta police foundation for licensed Plate Reader cameras in Morningside Linux Park pursuant to section 6306 of the city of Atlant Charter and for other purposes home City 369 is that 11 or 10 11 11 is uh refer to the FEC ordance uh Elms ID 36910 an ordinance by council member Alex Juan authorizing a donation in an amount not to exceed $110,000 from the district 6 carry for and the department of Parks and Recreation to linders Martin Manor neighborhood association pursuant to section listed of the city of Atlanta's Charter and for other purposes I'm 36910 be refer to the finance exec Comm Council West Morland Elms ID 36863 resolution by West Morland authorizing the city of Atlanta to donate an amount not to exceed $1 million to communities and schools of Atlanta pursuant to section 6 just 306 of the city of Atlanta Charter to provide integrated support for the K12 students in Atlanta authorizing the mayor is designated into a donation agreement which shall detail the actions of communities and schools of Atlanta Inc to provide integrated support services for students to authorize the Chief Financial Officer or his design to make the donation payments from the accounts list ataran and for other purposes 36863 we refer to the cdhs committee 3692 n an ordinance by West Morland authorizing a donation amount not to exceed $8,000 and0 to living walls the city speaks from various carry forward accounts pursuant to section 6- 306 of the C Atlanta Charter and for other purposes 369 29 will be referred to the finance exec committee 369 23 ordinance by West Morland to amend the city of Atlanta code of ordinances who is to insert the world's criminal history status in various code sections referencing non-discrimination and listing the basis upon which discrimination is prohibited and for other purposes ID 3923 we refer to the cdhs committee 36922 a resolution by West Morland Amos doer Hillis Winston foki Boon requesting the department of City Planning calculate and publish an inl fee reflecting the current market for the affordable housing affordable Workforce housing Beltline overlay District Westside affordable Workforce housing district and Westside Park affordable Workforce housing district and for other purposes ID 36 922 refer to cdhs thank you ccor Winston thank you council president first item is elm's ID 36928 an ordinance by council members Winston 1 uh West Morland and foki uh ratifying the city of Atlanta's acceptance of a donation of probond Professional Services performed by Boston Consultant Group Inc in support of a 9we engagement to explore the feasibility of an lgbtq plus Community Center in Atlanta and for other related purposes El's ID 36928 will be referred to the cdhs Elms ID 36832 in ordinance by council member Jason Winston authorizing I'm Sorry by Jason Winston and ordinance waving part two code of the ordinance is listed chapter 2 Administration article 10 procurement and real estate code division four of the Atlanta City code to authorize the mayor or his desit need to execute the Third Amendment to the agreement listed risk management information system with origami risk in uh on behalf of the Department of Finance to extend the term of the agreement effective from December 23rd 2024 on a month-to-month basis for a period not to extend extend 6 months and and to add funding in an amount not to exceed 12255 3048 all contracted work to be charged to and paid from the fund Department organization in account number numbers listed here in and for other purposes Elms ID 36832 will be referred to the FEC Elms ID 36858 a resolution by quinston authorizing the city of Atlanta to donate an amount not to exceed $1,100,000 and0 to the Urban League of Great Atlanta pursuant to section three uh section 6306 of the city of Atlanta Charter to support the youth development grant program to authorize a mayor or his design to enter into an donation agreement which shall detail the action of Urban League of Great Atlanta to provide Youth Development grants to authorize a Chief Financial Officer or his design to make the donation payments from the accounts listed herein and for other purposes Elm ID 36858 will be referred to the cdhs Elms ID 36872 an ordinance by Winston authorizing the mayor or his design need to wave the competitive Source selection Provisions contained in the section of the article of article 10 of the procurement and real estate code of the city of Atlanta code of ordinances as as well as any other conflicting codee Provisions to execute the First Amendment to Soul Source agreement number listed for jail management system with bi2 Technologies LLC on behalf of the Department of Atlanta information management and Department of Corrections to add a term on a month-to-month basis for a period not to exceeds 6 months commencing January 31st 2025 through J July 31st 25 and to add funding in an amount not to exceed $180,000 all contracted work will be charged two and paid from the fund Department organization and account numbers listed for in and for other purposes El 36872 will be referred to the FEC thank you thank you any other papers for referral hearing none we'll move to General remarks I have two um kind of official notices to to give one a reminder that we have a runoff in the post three at large special election for city council the uh actual election final date is December 3rd November 22nd is the last day to request an absentee ballot advaned voting will be November 23rd to 27th that's Saturday the 23rd from 900 to 6 Sunday the 24th from 12:00 to 5: then Monday Tuesday Wednesday the 25th to 27th 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. that's right before Thanksgiving so please make sure that you go and vote in that special election runoff and then also due to city offices being closed Thursday November 28th and Friday November 29th and observance of Thanksgiving the committee schedule for next week will be changed zoning Transportation Public Safety all on Monday zoning at 10:00 a.m. Transportation at 11:00 a.m. Public Safety at 1 p.m. and then on Tuesday the 26th the utilities at 9:30 Community Development human services at 11: Finance exec at 1:30 p.m. with that any other announcements Council doer thank you Mr President I just want to wish uh my daughter Naomi uh a happy first rotation around the Sun she will be one years old next week and uh yeah I'm very proud of her thank you we're glad she's here Council Norwood yes I'd like to announce that there's going to be a forum tomorrow night at 6 o'clock for the two remaining candidates who are in the runoff for post three that is going to be at pedmont Center building 14 on pedmont road uh south of M Street Hab shamro thank you councelor Boon thank you Mr President just wanting um the public to know that there will be a work session scheduled very soon for z-4 D12 regarding security cameras in our community that is a work session being scheduled very soon for z-4 D12 thank you thank you Council froak thank you council president chman much like council member doer I'm uh do to wish my son kazra a happy birthday in two weeks C doer informed me we won't have a full council meeting before then so uh he doesn't know yet but he's going to enjoy some cake glad he's here council member over Street I'd like to invite everyone out to um Thanksgiving um giveaways which are happening next Saturday in District 11 uh one will actually happen aten green Bri mall we have 150 families that uh District 11 is partnering with to help and also it will be the um beginning of uh Santa Claus coming to town as well during the festival at green brown mall next Saturday morning starting around 11:00 until around 1 also a registration link is on our social media page uh as choices is um which um council member Boone and I on the choices board um choices is partnering with Amazon and we will be at Atlanta area Tech uh next Saturday as well on Saturday the 23rd so this coming Saturday uh for Thanksgiving giveaways so sign up uh get registered so that you can come to that huge drive-thru we will also be delivering 400 uh gift turkeys and fixing and everything uh via the Amazon truck throughout the uh districts so um please be a part of that get registered and come and so that we can um celebrate Thanksgiving thank you any other announcements hearing none we will move to the closing rooll Madam clerk thank you we have council president Doug Shipman present council member Michael Julian Bond post council member Matt West Morland District post to at large council member Jason H Winston district one here council member arir foki district two council member Byron D Amos District three council member Jason Dozer District Four council member Alex Juan District Six council member Howard shook District Seven council member Mary Norwood District eight council member Dustin Hillis District nine council member Andrea Alon district 10 council member Marcy Coler over stre District 11 council member Antonio Lewis District 12 without objection we will stand a journ thank you everyone