e e e e good afternoon everyone U my name is Matt West Morland I serve as the post to a large member in the Atlanta City Council um council president is out sick today um as is our president proem and as you can tell a number of folks from the body are making their way here from another meeting and so we will begin just as soon as we have a quorum I'm sorry about the delay e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e three at large council member Jason H Winston district one here council member orir foki district two here Council m Byron D Amos District three here council member Jason Dozer District Four here council member Lilian bakar District Five here council member Alex Juan District Six council member Howard shook District Seven council member Mary Norway District 8 council member Dustin Hills district nine council member Andre albon district 10 council member Marcy Coler over Street District 11 council member Antonio Lewis District 12 mayor um Mr uh president PRM we do have a quum of members present thank you madam clerk um next up on our agenda is adoption of the agenda entertain a motion to adopt so motion by councilman bakari second by Council M doer we can take this item on unanimous consent of members present if there is no objection unanimous consent is 10 Zer 10 Zer the agenda is adopted um next up on the agenda is the invocation colleagues we do not have um someone to provide said invocation so before we take a moment of silence um I wanted to see if anyone on the deis had anybody whose names they wanted to lift up council member Boon Follow by councilman Bach Cherry thank you we would like to send condolences and prayers to two families the family of civil rights and human rights leader Charles Pon who was the youngest Living member of the original Freedom Fighters to the family of the late Charles person and then to our chief of staff Santana kson Wright who lost two members of her family suddenly Dolores Hopson and Keith Hopson please keep her mother and their entire family in your prayers the funeral services for the hobsons will be at the West Hunter Street Baptist Church next Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. so a special thank you to Pastor Jackson at West Hunter Street Baptist Church thank you thank you council member froi yeah I'd like to acknowledge uh recognize the passing of uh my chief of staff's Father Dr Bill trippy who passed away in winon s North Carolina uh a week ago and Jay's been up there most of last month taking care of him is back with us now but I want to acknowledge his passing thank you council member V thank you um first uh a positive thing my mother-in-law rang the bell today and is officially a survivor of breast cancer and remission so I wanted to give her call a shout out [Applause] also wanted to say uh cille Phillips who passed away who was the head of Planned Parenthood and somebody I was lucky enough to meet lost a longtime battle with cancer um again Santana kimson Wright losing her aunt and then her cousin eight hours later on Friday keeping her in our prayers um and then finally uh Cornelius Taylor um last Thursday I believe it was last Thursday um Cornelius was an unsheltered man who lived on Wheat Street old wheat in an encampment back there and was uh run over and crushed during a sweep it is not typical that someone speaks this much during this time but I think it is important to name that um Cornelius was not just an unsheltered person to the press that might be in the room he was a person start using his name um he's not an unsheltered man Cornelius is only in his late 40s I want to thank his um family for being here who will hear from today um but a couple of things there has to be a change in how we handle homelessness and it's not working it has not been working um our pit count last January this Council has not still not received an update from Continuum of Care on the pit count which tells us how many unsheltered people on the street they're fighting us on summer pit counts when people are more folks on the street we get a more accurate number Continuum of Care should not be fi in Council on a legislative priority to have our off Years be in the summer that is a basic thing and it is low cost not that ever human life should be equated to money um the COC received uh Co oh I should also say that it's supposed to be by Hud requirements the numbers are supposed to be shared with us by May 10th we didn't get the numbers until June still has not been been presented to council we still do not know what happened and why we got the data late and we still haven't gotten a presentation and there's supposed to be another pit count this month um the 2024 Hut award gave them ,500,000 they were awarded an additional 4.6 Million by the mayor and with construction included that's 24 million where's the money going so I would like I'm I'm I'm thankful for our cdhs chair council member Winston who's going to allow who's going to help with this but Continuum of Care needs to come and present before Council we need to understand the process that does not mean the investigation you don't have to speak on that but you sure you sure can break down to us what happened and why and who was on site and who was responsible and also we will not allow an employee to be scapegoated for this we need to understand what happened so be calling for that and I do have a paper today calling for a moratorium on all sweeps until we understand because you don't clean sweeps you house them I'm sorry you don't clean you don't sweep un you don't sweep encampments you house them and again not [Applause] that and if there had been case managers on the ground to build relationships with people there the same people and the case managers who deserve to be paid living wages and we retain them if we had had them then Cornelius would have been housed it shouldn't have taken a year a year of Outreach and him not to be housed and if anyone tells you he didn't want to leave that has nothing to do with it I don't care if Cornel I don't care if he was an addict I don't care if he was struggling with addiction everybody in this room is struggling with something he deserved to be housed housing is a human right and because these pictures got confiscated this is Cornelius Taylor so please keep all of them in prayers thank you thank you council member Lewis thank you the prayers to the family of Cornelius thank you thank you ma'am Mr Lewis H I would like to send the condolences out to to the family of conus Taylor I would like to send condolences out to the family of Kenneth Cara Jr and I would also like to send condolences out to the family of my my chief of staff a advocate of myself Tyrese Miller who lost his grandfather this weekend so adding to your prayers thank you thank you anyone else all right for those mentioned and those in our hearts and on our minds if you please join me in a moment of silence thank you you please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all next on the agenda is proclamations commendations and other special Awards of which we have none um and so we will move at this moment indeed we will move at this moment U into comments by members of the public um as a reminder folks we'll have two minutes to speak unless time has been yielded to you up for a total of 10 minutes um and the first three individuals on our list are crystal Jeffrey Carlton ham and Gerard Jackson so Crystal Jeffrey thank you much jard Jackson or Jared Jackson good afternoon everyone my name is Gerard Jackson and I'm a proud member of the city of Atlanta of excuse me when I just heard I just heard it was so sad it made me skip my voice I'm sorry it's okay sorry that happened to that person all right my name is Gerard Jackson and I'm a proud city of atanta employee I want to take this opportunity to highlight the tyrest efforts that city of Atlanta employees are doing during this hadous time right now water shed workers are working around the clock to ensure that essential Services remain operational Parks workers are out in full Forest keeping the streets clean and safe despite the challenging conditions Recreation stamps are out Recreation staff members out managing warming shelters leaving the safety of their own homes to ensure that the children and members of our community have a safe place to be in because of these CR critical efforts many of our colleagues who normally here to discuss the ongoing issues with the oig are unable to attend however I assure you that we remain Stand Fast in our commit commitment to address these issues our Focus to is to ensure that all city of L employees receive the support transparency and fairness thank you for your time thank you next speaker is danan Robinson who thanks to yielded time will have eight minutes followed by Mr Robinson is George pikney and Spencer Compton okay in that case Mr Compton is not speaking Mr Robinson has 10 minutes followed by George pikney and then Devin Franklin who thinks to yield of time will have six minutes yes good afternoon Council um um so the O can y'all put the time up there to say 10 minutes yes um Council um the oig has a duty to um to investigate fraud waste and abuse so I want to speak about um abuse we have um council member who just marched out Liliana abuse of power being at a park late night or without Authority saying that she was robed when she wasn't get them black man fire but she's here today for the family Mr Taylor who jly here but for the wrong reason feel no shame Miss Liliana office was the one who asked the mayor's office to clear the encampment I'm not going to stand here and let y'all be the seed it's my damn City and she sitting here marching and then Li y'all saying she was getting help for the last two months that's a lie Liliana about already want to parade and take advantage of her being gay she want to parade take advantage of her being Palestinian when it's all beneficial to her it's a lie she seem s to me but where she been the last two months oig office investigate where she been where's her doctor notice that she put herself in a mental institution are we going to allow council members to lie and do that and then parade down here with this black family when she calls black man to lose her job and then get him his job back no we ain't going to fall for that he ain't got nothing to do with the tailor family what y'all going for I sit out here and speak and feed the Homeless for the last 20 years so I understand what y'all go for but let this be known I was in the hallway last week and I don't speak to take up for nobody courtne to English was supposed to have a meeting I was trying to ask him something he got that phone call that a young man that's lost his life me being nosy being who I am I drove out there to that encampment and seen the city workers in tears of what happened out there man this was an honest mistake and I'm not saying the F don't deserve no we're not saying that hold on I'm not saying that I'm not I'm not here for the a he Tim don't do that don't do I'm not saying that you're mocking the issue up ain't nobody mocking no issue up don't play with me like that cuz I don't play with y'all where y'all out here with really be going on so don't give me that man cuz I'm the wrong one for that ain't no man Dr Robinson Dr Robinson please said don't give me that I'm the wrong for that your comments towards councel I don't care about going the right Street for it play with it who y'all think y'all playing with for that stop coming down the city hall playing the game with the race card and the gay card y'all going to stop that in 25 cuz you don't care about black folks for real for real so stop acting like you do we don't go and I'm one who use it down for the fight but I have also been used for misinformation plenty of time we come down here and we fight and we March up when we don't have a simple conversation with those that can help we're always going to be at the back end when we come down to fight first and when we don't have conversations I call the mayor's office that day and say hey man what is going to happen they ask me that I know the family cuz I be out we be doing stuff with the homeless I didn't know the Taylor family and I said no I don't know the Taylor family but do you know when I made a comment on social media eight lawyers hit me back and said do you know the family everybody be wanting the money grab they don't give a damn about Mr Taylor they be wanting the money grab but what I can say is when I asked Mr English that day after we left that the scene this is their this what they want their legacy to be the youth and the the affordable housing and dealing with the homeless so I think that instead of having all these lawyers trying to fight and come up with something let's have a conversation and see how can we help this family and if we've had that conversation and they ignored the family then we fight but I think that we can get somewhere if we have a conversation and say Hey listen man we understand it was a mistake or whatever where do we go from here and then if we don't get the ansers then we come down here but to allow A city councilman leading his charge who got a black man fired lion I don't think y'all really understand how many black folk lost their lives burned and killed in jail cuz people lying saying that a black man done something to him and he didn't do it to him but you got that same council member leading these efforts and then when the heat got on her she hid and then even more was worse went to to a school they yelled at a black girl who asked her when she get the black man his job back curs the little girl out this is the council member that did this and y'all want to let her lead these effort playing games trying to get her name back in TCT not on my watch it suits her well to play gay when it's a gay issue it's s well she told a white man in this audience I'm not one of them white women so don't play with me that way so what do you want to be but she want to get y'all down here to fight for this that make her look good and y'all and you think I'm going allow that man is you crazy not on my watch not in my city and we not going to continue to allow that to happen I don't care who like it and don't like it man we got to stop playing games man we got somebody that took office got rid of all black folks day one Dei gone Federal black employees gone we can't afford to play that City I mean them games in Atlanta we've been divided so much we can't play that game no more man we got to start helping folks for real in this city man y'all be quick to quote King and mayor but who living it who passing legislation like they did who standing up for the people like they did in this city nobody we can't afford to play that game no more I'm a Delta I'm a AKA I'm a Kaa I'm a Omega hey man that over with man man we in trouble know y'all seen what's going on in DC we in trouble Marcy and we can't afford to play that no more in Atlanta councilman bu thank you for coming hey we can't AFF FL to play these games no more I know you're not going back and look at it but when we talking about your fellow council member Liliana B leading this effort down here with these people using his family the opportunity to make her name look good again when it's mud and it's going to stay mud in a park late at night ain't nobody doing nothing that Park late night unless you drinking and getting high first of all ain't nobody at no Park that late at night not no woman cuz if you scared you wouldn't be at the park after hours if you're scared first of all and then if you scared you ain't calling burning to calls you calling 911 if you're really scared but why is you at a part late night I can't be there late night you can't be there late night if you in't a counselman huh can you do that can't nobody do that but a council member can do that that's abuse of power oig look into that and we just got to stop playing these games man it's been going on for far too long and we got to stop it man we all know about the 1904 race Wars race riers right here in Atlanta we know what happen Cil rights all that being taken away from the federal level but we got to say so on the city Side man and we got to be more conscious about helping our people and I'm not saying that's only black people but if you're black you should care by black people but if you're a human you should care by gay straight black white asian all that all that benefited from the Civil Right bill that black folks fought in March and died for everybody benefited from those benefits po white gay black Jewish everybody Let It Be know that KKK didn't like Mexicans they didn't like Jews know I'm saying they didn't like homosexuals they didn't like blacks now that laws pass everybody going on about their mared way but they still treating the PO black man the same that they did in the 60s everybody got their laws pass and going about their Mar except for the black man and that shouldn't be the case in the city of Atlanta in 2025 that should not be the case and we have to do better and we got to do better thank you next up is Devon Franklin who will have thanks to yielded time six minutes followed by J pagado with four minutes and Jonathan Holly Mr Franklin good afternoon Council persons um afternoon name is Devon Franklin I'm senior movement policy council at the southern Center for human rights I am here today to offer um comment as to the pending legislation um related to the Reformation of the office of the Inspector General however first um I would like to take the opportunity to offer my condolences to the Taylor family and to those who are here as support of the Taylor family um I can't tell you how deeply Disturbed I was to learn of um the way that Mr Taylor was killed um knowing that the president of the college football national championship in our city at that same time our City's history with attempting to hide it homelessness when we have National eyes on it um I'm very disturbed with the role that I believe that may have played but as it pertains to the issue as to why I'm here I want to draw your attention to at least three paragraphs that are of particular concern to my colleagues and I at the southern Center um as pertains to this legislation the first that I would draw your attention to and I'm also including some um packets for you all if you P those around pertains to section 811b which seeks to limit the investigative authority of the oig to allegations of waste fraud abuse and Corruption by including new restrictive language that prohibits the oig from conducting criminal investigations which from a purely a public interest perspective is odd because it implicitly suggests that there is criminal activity ongoing that those who offered the language would rather let be ignored than be explored by someone who over whom they have no influence or authority but more importantly from a practical perspective a technical perspective the language of this paragraph is ambiguous and fails to provide a definition of criminal investigation and such ambiguity leads to unnecessary complication and effectively kneecaps the oig from pursuing the waste fraud abuse and Corruption that the same paragraph authorizes them to investigate because many of those actions are also criminal in nature as demonstrated by the numerous federal indictments for former city employees whose actions inspired the original leg legislation that created the oig secondly regarding 88101 E1 addressing access to records and property the suggested amended language requiring that the IG make a request to the city employee to voluntarily surrender the city on property and that such request quote unquote detailed the reason for the investigation and cite any relevant laws regulations or policies and further um um offers that the oig can only seek subpoena compelling the turn the turning over of that property if the employee refuses to voluntarily surrender to property this language unnecessarily complicates convolutes and delays meaningful investigation into actions of potential harm to the city it poses a very obvious obstruction to unearthing fraud waste abuse and Corruption and actually invites alterations modification deletion and destruction of evidence to be clear concerned about actions that persons being investigated tampering with evidence is not some Fantastical Whimsical hypothetical I remind you all that my organization has recently been on the doorsteps of an open records lawsuit with the city of Atlanta and we are aware that alerts of a pending inquiry into information um are sometimes related to targets what do you all think would be the response by targets if they know the the nature of the investigation by the oig all of that being said in a city that has created the oig for very specific his hisorical reasons citation to the authority of the office of the Inspector General should be sufficient because if a city employee or contractor is not engaged in fraud waste abuse or corruption there is no single justification to delay the surrender of city-owned property my colleagues and I have also also have great issue with Section 8101 e7b which is entirely new constructed language offered with regard to the rights and responsibilities of the oig must convey to employees when interacting with them this section seeks to make any statement made by an employee during the course of an investigation quote a compelled statement with the inference that such categorization as a compel statement prevents usage of information in the future by prosecutors or police as a 12-year veteran of Atlanta's fton County Defender's Office one who has tried dozens of cases to trial and earn many not guilties let me be abundantly clear um to you all and to every city of Atlanta employee who is in this room and who has been misled and told that the language in this paragraph is some sort of protection or indication of workers rights any assertion that those statements cannot be used to your detriment is false patently false the information learned from that statement that this legislation is now that this legislation proposes to force you to make can still be used against you it only protects the actual verbatim statement from being used these issues are only three of the dozens that my colleagues and I have with this legislation my team and I continue to offer our time and our expertise in fixing the many issues with this legislation you all have my contact number I look forward to the planned work session on this legislation and I look forward to hearing from you all very soon thank you next up is Gina pagn who has 4 minutes followed by Jonathan Holly and Cat Leatherwood Miss pegn happy New Year hadn't seen you all in a while I'm Gina pnot I'm president of pace Union City Employees profession Association city employees and I'm also uh vice president of nage um first of all it just breaks my heart I wish I had more time but it's a lot and I wrote some notes and then after hearing this gentleman from oig speak it kind of upset me a little bit and you all that know me know I talk from my heart and my soul and I I always go off the script um first I would like to say um our condolences to the Taylor family it it really really I hate to come up here and speak because oig probably in the in the city is in investigating that tragic situation however I have to go by let me say what I'm going to say and then let me say what's the real deal now I'm not even going to read this CU I got to say by heart let me say this I was with um Felicia Moore you all are aware with Felicia Moore and this Union had actually met with her to say we need something back in the day under certain Administration that wasn't doing right we saw a lot of corruption we saw a lot of stuff and our employees were being held accountable when they wasn't the ones and we came up with an idea which she called the oig so I'm very well familiar what the oig is supposed to stand for but somehow they've gotten out of hand I've met personally with the leader of oig some months ago last year I saw one of the first cases that they had I had the opportunity to read it because it was one of our members that we did not know was being investigated to after the fact some of the statements in that oig report was false let me say that again it was false and I had the rep I had the documentation and asked why did you not make this statement exactly as that employee said that it was supposed to be they say they didn't feel that it was necessary how do you not feel something that's necessary and is not necessary when you doing an investigation I'm not saying that that entity is not needed any entity that's looking for waste and fraud is needed my question is who's governing that entity who picked the governing board for that entity when you calling one of our members of the city employees according to our mou signed by the mayor that is also Quantified in The Code by you counsel every employee has the right to have Union representation or any representation on the onset of an administrative discipline investig ations all the way and when it becomes criminal they have the right to attain their private attorney even when you getting arrested you have the right to remain silent y'all remember that till you get an attorney but when you go and pull a city employee to just do an administrator whether they the accused or the witness and tell them they cannot have representation you tell me what's fair that is not fair that is my only plight against the oig quit going to their homes quit going and sending police to their homes or pick up phones they're not criminals and quit making them feel scared and interrogated that they cannot speak to their union representative or even their attorney that has to stop and I've asked this and someone told me yes they have rights to representation but I've got seven cases that we didn't know about it till after the fact and is more let this protocol of DHR Labor Relations the city Administration this Union and other unions they have the right to represent their members when they are costed for something that they may or may not have done and then let the city's criminal justice system do their job thank you I am remiss in not acknowledging the arrival of council members Michael JM Bond Howard Shook and Mary Norwood at various points over the last few minutes next speaker is Jonathan holl followed by cat Leawood and Michael Jones who thanks to yield at time will have four minutes good afternoon good afternoon my name is Jonathan Holly I'm a resident of old forth Ward that's you Jason hello I hope you're paying attention Cornelius was my neighbor and as far as we can tell his death was an accident but that does not mean no one is responsible I'm here to tell you that you are responsible you may not have driven the bulldozer but you over saw the system of interweaving incompetence and recklessness and open disregard for human life and dignity that ended his life prematurely it is on you it is your job to fix this and I will tell you how the first thing I need to see is some shame condolences while they are appreciated are not enough you should be hanging your heads Mr Taylor's mother is here with a letter for the mayor and she was not allowed to deliver it for security concerns she's a little old woman what is the security concern that is absurd it's shameful after shame I need to see Contrition that's a big word contrition means repentance I need to see each of you tell your voters that you are going to turn this around you are not going to let this happen again because it's unacceptable Cornelius when he was alive was an unhoused man living on the streets of Atlanta that alone in my view is an affront to human decency you have1 billion at your disposal what is wrong with you there's 3,000 people living on the street on our last numbers projects like the melody are very nice they house 40 people at a time you need 600 of those to really address the problem which leads me to action after shame after Contrition I want to see action housing first has been proven in many cities to be an extremely effective way to deal with this problem Salt Lake City reduced its homelessness by 70% in the mid-2010s with housing first New Orleans has made homeless veterans a thing of the past there are no homeless veterans in the City of New Orleans we're going to let the Mormons beat us at this come on that's an insane housing first is not a complete system it's just the first step that's why the word first is in there you house them and then you help them further but you get them off the streets first that's how you fix it it is not going to be easy but it is going to be very simple it's just money and time intensive but you can do it and I will even give you the first step the vacant lot right next to the site of cornelius's murder is unused it is about six or seven acres of land which used to have an affordable housing unit called The Garden the excuse me the Wheat Street Garden Apartments it stood there until 2010 it was demolished and replaced by an urban farm and that urban farm was dismantled in 2016 the land has sat empty for 9 years it is owned by the Wheat Street Baptist Church you can go to them and you can buy that land or you can lease it from them you need to talk to Reverend Dr William J Smith Jr or Mr Holmes who oversees the nonprofit who controls the land either one of them I'm sure that you have better resources than I do for contacting them you can build a housing unit there the foundations are still there you can go and look at them the concrete pads are still visible you can build a housing unit there and that is a good start then you have to build more housing this is a ridiculous situation it should never have been allowed to happen I will remind you all of something you all already know this is an election year so in addition to doing the right thing is also the politically expedient thing to get on this problem you can consider this comment a performance review your jobs are at stake I yield the remainder of my time thank you next on the agenda is cat cat Leatherwood followed by Michael Jones who thanks to Y time has four minutes and then Jay Wesley day with two minutes so cat Leatherwood two minutes go hi I'm cat Leatherwood um I live in East Atlanta um and I've had the privilege of getting to work with a lot of these folks um helping our neighbors who are unhoused um and last Thursday I went to Old Wheat Street um where a man named Cornelius Taylor one of our neighbors was murdered he did not have an address but he was our neighbor he should have been protected by the councilman responsible for that district and the mayor's office instead we hear in town halls about how the homeless make residents mind you they live here too feel uncomfortable and unsafe but we don't hold Town Halls at the old Wheat Street encampment we don't ask our unhoused neighbors how they feel when they are treated with outright hostility or even worse indifference by their neighbors it makes me think of Everest and those who climb it those who Ascend to the Peaks are hailed as Heroes we ignore the money of costs the guides and infrastructure needed to reach the top these people are hailed as exceptional individuals those who perish are demoted to markers along the path and given nicknames like green boots they are dehumanized because of truth is harder than anything else all the money infrastructure and knowledge isn't enough it is often the right conditions or luck that gets us where we are Cornelius Taylor isn't a pair of boots attached to a skeleton that dresses the landscape he was a person he was loved he had dreams and his death is a death of potential to grow you are not smarter you are not more determined or stronger than him or any of our unhoused neighbors the conditions were laid out for you to be where where you are my parent was homeless at one point and has stressed this to me time and time again that we are where we are because of certain circumstances we are not special you are usted with our tax doers and you have failed to build affordable housing you have failed to increase wages you have failed to curb Rising rents provide safe housing for those who are unhoused or safety from the city and police for those who do not have it mwood your time has expired less sweeps more housing thank you next up Duty y time is Michael Jones with 4 minutes um followed by Duty y time Jay Westley day for four minutes followed by Andrew Cohen Mr Jones good afternoon Council my name is Michael Jones I'm an employee of the city of Atlanta for 20 something years 22 years to be exact um I've personally along with my uh co-workers back in March started coming down talking to the transportation committee councilman Lewis councilwoman over Street councilman Juan councilman Amos foki um brought a lot of problems and issues to you guys um some of them got bandid none of them really got fixed um some of them were swept under the rug uh we keep trying to make a difference and it's not until we spoke with the oig office Inspector General things started to move along and unlike uh one of the other speakers up here we had Union reps in there with us we were speaking to them things are starting to be investigated starting to being Chang as they should be um it seems like the oig is getting a bad rap they're taking cell phones they're doing the never that I aware of have they taken anybody's personal cell phone however us employees at the department of Aviation have been told on multiple occasions that if we use our personal cell phones for something as minuscule as calling in to work it is now uh it can now be confiscated Andor through open records can be taken from us by Human Resources by the city of Atlanta now if the city of Atlanta Human Resources could do that but the ig's catching Flack for never have doing it I I don't get it right that it don't make a whole lot of sense to me um what why would you take a an office uh such as the Inspector General and take away their power why not sit down and communicate with them and see if you can't work it out first uh versus having a task force to go in and say wait wait we're going to restrict you from doing this that and the other you know me as an employee um I feel that they're they're they're they're helping us they're protecting us in some form or fashion um they're helping us with retaliation I was told uh July 23d 20 uh 202 see July 6 2024 when I got back after being unjustly terminated for 5 years that there would be no retaliation none I'm here today on administrative leave for the second time in six months and you're telling me I'm not being retaliated against the only person that's helping is the oig's department they're the only people that call hey how you doing what's going on we're investigating let's do this retaliation is not allowed in the city of Atlanta it was told to me still happening today the second time I've been out there 22 years Department of Aviation never got written up been written up five times in the last six months put on ad Ministry Twi administrated lead twice in the last six months o is the only one doing investigation now y'all want to take away or it's they're looking to take away some of their power to do these uh investigations now like I said I know for a fact theyve never taken anybody's cell phone the only person I've had threatened to take away our cell phones was Human Resources here was city of Atlanta um I mean if you we don't really have you can't give everybody a city cell phone right but if you have a city cell phone or computer they can obviously take it for and for good reason um if you're doing unjust stuff the only the only reason to me you would take away power from these uh from this department is if you had something to hide yourself if you ain't got nothing to hide don't take away the power let them do their investigation let let us you know stop the way stop the fraud stop the mismanagement of funds that I have spoken on to the transportation committee nothing's being done about it they put a few bandaids on it make it look good but nothing's being done about it thank you counsel thank you next on our list is Jay W oh Mr Lewis M Mr Jones you you said my name so I want to make sure I was able to respond to this and I had a question as well and I remember you coming down I remember you being a leader yes sir you came down i' I've talked to some former employees they remember 5 years ago when you got fired yes sir I mean not when whatever happened justly terminated when you came back so to even see your voice now and to still see it I I understand fully but my my question because I want to make sure I heard you correctly you went to we we partner you typically with HR and when when you were coming out here every time we were partnering with HR you saying you got movement for the first time when you went to oig correct and so when you were working with HR did you see any movement no I have uh matter of fact I have agreements in uh I just talked to her can Christy Jo's office ol group been there since December 9th I had to go up there and ask her you know where's my grievance you know what's the findings on it nothing's been found like nothing has been done and and you were threatened by HR to take your phone now they had a meeting with us at the department of Aviation uh Candace Co Christy Jos they would all come down they would talk and in these meetings they told us that your person personal cell phone is is is subject to open records if you do anything for the city with it all I was just making sure thank you CLE that up thank you next up is Jay Wesley day who has four minutes followed by Andrew Cohen with two minutes and Pastor James Davenport who thanks to yielded time will have six minutes good afternoon my name is Jay Wesley day I want to let the oig department know if they're here that I stand with them I stand with Miss Frost who lost her job um and I stand with the Taylor family anything I can do for you all please let me know white people take care of their own look at Donald Trump partnering aund something people for the j6 however back here in a city that is too busy to hate no one cares about the injustices that continuously occurs especially when it's one of our own see I was brutally beaten into a coma at the joystick game bar in 2018 I was on life support fighting for my life my mom didn't even know where I was on Thanksgiving 2018 here we are going on seven years and no one has been prosecuted when they are captured on my cell phone footage the city cameras the the cameras of the nightclub they've yet to be prosecuted yes two have been indicted but they've yet to be prosecuted what you all should take this as and try to partner with your other Justice systems is how does this impact the city if it takes this long to get Justice perhaps this is why people take matters into their own hands because right now I feel like I should have taken my glock and handle and self- defended myself I feel like I should have fought back but instead I'm waiting on seven years for justice the reason most reasonable person wouldn't feel that they can wait that long for justice do you think Mary Norwood would have let one of her own get beaten and then get charged with the felony when the white man is on camera doing nothing just filming his his ass salance I doubt M Mary Norwood would let one of her citizens go down and bookhead that way the same with Dustin Hillis the same with Amir foki but it's only our black leaders who turn the Blind Eye who don't want to assist I thank you Mr Julian bun you've the only one that has had balls backbone to show me some type of love and support because power and love has the face of Keith gamage for those who don't know Keith gamage he's the solicitor general I call him the mini funny Willis funny Willis handles felonies Keith gamit handles all misdemeanors see Keith gamage in 2018 although I had my as salant on camera capturing them calling me homophobic slurs and epithets and telling me I suck dick it's all on camera Keith gamage charged me with The Fray some of you probably never heard of it before it's like a disorderly conduct but then Keith gamage took a freight charge and upgraded it to a felony now some are asking did I have an attorney I paid $5,000 to attorney Gerald Griggs who's also president of NAACP thinking that that was going to help me I only found out GG Gerald Griggs is a media it did me no justice because he didn't come tell me that I had a felony Keith gamage didn't come tell me I had a felony guess who came and told me I had a felony Delta Airlines my employer when I went to my then councilman Byron Amos and asked for help I emailed I called I ran into him in the hallway shook his hand and asked to meet with him nothing I implore my black leaders to stand up and support and get a little Donald Trump in you thank you sir your time has expired next up is Andrew Cohen followed by Pastor James Davenport who will have six minutes and Andra Kong forgive me if I mispronounced your name also with six minutes excuse excuse me sir I want to speak I apologize I didn't see your name no problem you know normally I don't address when this gentleman come to address us cuz he's he's exercising his right to do so this is a new year so but we must tell the truth you are correct we have spoke several times about this that you have been coming to speak to me about for over a year and a half and I said at that time that was no path forward in what I could do to help you with County issues but on other issues you have bought to me in which I would not say what they are CU it is your personal business I have made phone calls we have emailed we have talked and we got those issues resolved but on this one particular issue we cannot see eye to eye on this one particular issue you come down here and continuously tell people I'm not responsive I have not talked to you and not I will not work with you you need to tell the truth to say we have spoke about this hold on I did not interrupt you we have spoke about this and I said I saw no path forward whenever you're able to bring the city of Atlanta a path forward in addressing County issues then we can talk only thing I ask is for you to continuously to tell the truth and stop carefully creating because I don't want to call you a lie but you skirt that path every time you come to that mic speak the truth that's all I ask thank you sir Mr Co I will say that you are a liar show me the proof where you've spoken to me or met with me when I leave this meeting today as I have before I will send all of you all the emails that requesting to meet with my and counsilman for several years you never see a trail back on that where he's ever responded back to me you are a liar I say it to your face and if I see you in the street I'll say it to your face Mr con good afternoon my name is Andrew Cohen I am a resident and a homeowner in the city of Atlanta I also serve on the governing board of the Office of the Inspector General in the ethics office for the City of Atlanta I'm chair of the Department of philosophy at Georgia State University where I also serve as director of research for the Gan beer blufeld Center for ethics I speak today on my own behalf I am the board rep of the seven major local universities and colleges the leaders of those institutions have honored Me by appointing me to serve in this oversight role and my short tenure on the governing board I have seen dedicated public servants and City officials do their best to ensure the city Administration is governing fairly transparently and efficiently now I see this a proposal under consideration it would change some of what the oig must must not and may do and it would eliminate various board positions including the one I currently fill I must be candid here I don't understand what's going on that's not good it's not good because if anyone should be able to understand what's going on it should be somebody like me who's on the inside I don't know what version of legis drafts it's up to with the precise changes on offer some versions I've seen have the mayor's office appointing their own reps on the boards who were charged with overseeing the very people such as the oig who were there to investigate allegations of wayte f Fraud and Abuse in the city to me without fully appreciating what's going on that just looks like self-dealing and then we see proposals to eliminate a Pointes from the League of Women Voters and the seven major universities and colleges these changes don't make sense for a public who wants a fair and transparent government Administration we're all trying to do right by the city the point of the governing board is to ensure that key local stakeholders have seats at the table of government oversight these seats should be filled by those Key Community stakeholders that helps ensure government oversight it helps ensure accountability it helps Foster trust the way to do that is not to make the oig's job harder the way to do that is not to cut back on commity Community representation as many current proposals do thank you for your consideration next up James Davenport with six minutes followed by andreen Kong with for six minutes followed by John stop for two thank very much uh Happy New Year everybody I am James Davenport president and founder of the hit Mar and help Foundation I've asked you all for a lot but it's really not normally I'm asking you to provide lift rides for seniors councilman bar I know i' be saying provide free lift fries but I'm not stupid enough to know that you can't afford that do something um let me get to why I'm here uh several years ago I was told that there was homeless students at Bugatti Washington High School myam Mar I took it upon myself I walked Mar Luther King Drive from White House drive to Thurman Street I knocked on every Merchant's door I did not miss one and just in one day raised $1,000 I've had the opportunity to witness a young girl after school hours laying down sleep at a Mel train station I have several times I ain't going to say that it it bothers me and now more so than any it bothers me that you all the ones who are not knew shut down PE stre Pine building shut it down homeless people at least had a safe haven to go to in the evening if some of you will get out of your cars walk downtown you you'll you'll just experience the wreak of urine all up and down Peach Street I don't care what side you walk on but I can tell none of you have actually experienced this I dare you to go out and see what's going on now I get a phone call to past week Ron Shakir called me hey devp man you have you heard no I hadn't heard I had not heard that Mr Taylor had run been run over by a street sweeper ain't no sense in sugarcoating it the mayor sit up and said he been tossing and turning since this situation M Dickens you were one of the persons who actually agreed to shut down Peach Street Pine building all of a sudden I'm seeing in the news that you all are $22 million in debt and you just put a down payment on what we all call cop city are you serious are you serious $80 million for a facility that you going to be paying for for the next 50 years the governor have blocks up under every overpass on the west side this man was run over by a street sweeper because you all were too ashamed for that area for people to see on Dr King's Day have mercy you got to be kidding me run over by a street sweeper and I don't care who you try to convince no way in the world you going to tell me somebody actually check those tents before they started rolling you can't tell you can't convince me one of my uncles always saidwell pee on my head and tell me it's raining you cannot do that how can you how can you how can you nobody I haven't heard well this about Ari just mentioned today but it's been on the news a street sweeper y'all you all have seen what those um maches can do it's more than sad y'all say the city too busy to hate y'all got to be kidding and and I could I can almost commend you because this is the test I've seen you all since I've been coming down here since pH felici more live normally you all have sidebars you're walking around disrespecting people I can remember one of the last times I was here Reverend Johnson who actually ministers to the homeless right downtown receive an accommodation from the president of the United States you all did not hear a word that man said cuz you were busy walking around and talking from the work that he does and then how all of a sudden the Taylor family is grieving and you having a you have a mayor who would not even come out and confront this family it's a damn shame next speaker Andre Kong who do to yield of time will have six minutes followed by John stop and jaah here shwani okay I'm a little nervous so that's okay okay great thank you guys all right good afternoon council members my name is andreen Kong and I am here to address an urgent matter regarding my housing situation at marshan managed by Greystar first I want to express my deep gratitude to council member Liliana bak tiari and her counterpart Nick Capone and this Council for your support when I last came before you in September your intervention provided my family the stability we desperately needed allowing us to remain housed and focused on moving forward today I find myself back before you because my family stability is once again at risk due to actions taken by Property Management which participates in the invest Atlanta Workforce housing program on November 16th 2024 a kitchen fire broke out in my unit due to electrical issues the fire not only damaged my um home but also left me with injuries to my hands and leg which prevented me from working a critical event that would have allowed me to pay December's rent to make matters worse the fire extinguisher in my building was empty and inoperable leaving me to fight the fire alone until my neighbors came to assist my children and I were not even home when this incident occurred since then I have done everything within my power to resolve these issues but the property Management's retaliatory actions including rejecting my rent payment raising my rent beyond the council negotiated rate and filing for eviction have placed me in an untenable position additionally despite their promises to address the issues I took it took them nearly a month to replace the empty fire extinguisher and they have yet they have yet to complete necessary repairs to the kitchen or provide documentation confirming the electrical system safety as a single mother of two young children actually a single parent this situation has taken tremendous a tremendous emotional toll on me I have been doing everything I can to ensure I mean to make sure that my children and I do not slip through the cracks of this system since my layoff in October 23 I have relied so on my work as an entrepreneur the council's intervention last fall including lowered rental rate was instrumental in helping me regain my footing I took that opportunity seriously and worked hard to build a foundation for my family's future I want to highlight that I was a part of the workforce housing program in partnership with invest Atlanta and I made every effort to meet the uh meet the expectations set by that program however despite my efforts great Stars regional manager for Marshon Chrissy Condon cons singly informed me that I would be denied recertification this came after my rate was honored for the month of October and November following the passing of the former property manager Michael Warner who had shown me consistent support throughout 2024 until his untimely death in October these decisions appear retaliatory and undermine the purpose of the workforce housing program which provides stability for families like mine I'm here today because I cannot afford the luxury of waiting for an answer from housing assistance or navigating the system that might not respond in time my children and I my children are in my full possession and custody and I will not stand by their by while their stability and safety are threatened I would hope that the city of Atlant will not stand by as a single mother actually single parent is unjustly put out with her two children after all the assistance and work that has been done to make progress furthermore grar has failed to provide Pro proper documentation throughout this process I have yet to receive any any formal notice of termination of my lease documentation regarding the safety of the electrical system or confirmation that the kitchen damages would be repaired their actions have left my family in an unst in unstable conditions which should not be tolerated I'm asking for the council's intervention to ensure that this eviction is dismissed based on the retaliatory actions taken by Property Management mandate immediate repairs to the electrical damage caused by the fire to ensure my home is safer my children and me hold the property management accountable for their refusal to honor the agreed upon rental rate and their rejection of my full payment and their failure to provide documentation regarding lease termination electrical safety and kitchen repairs provide urgent solutions to prevent my family from falling through the cracks of a system that should protect us my family's livelihood and stability are at stake and I come I Came To You in September because I believed in your ability to help and you exceeded my expectations and I'm grateful for that I am here again because I believe that your intervention can make a difference between progress and Devastation for my children and me I respectfully ask for your continued support and action to ensure that we remain housed and can continue to build a future a better future thank you for your time and attention and commitment to the residents of Atlanta and I'm happy to provide additional documentation and answer any questions that you may have Samuel and Bella do you have anything that you'd like to say do you have anything want want to say sweetie yeah come here you got 30 seconds go ahead [Music] baby Chang TR to sneak but the moms know them see okay well I think you guys get the point and thank you so much for listening thank you I hope this here's this Falls this doesn't fall on DEA airs and it falls on people who will make a difference and my heart goes out to the Taylor family thank you very much I Believe Miss B has a quick comment Miss Kong before you go how much has your rent been raised since you moved in what 3 years ago a little less than three years yes um the rate was negotiated down to 1554 and um when I tried to pay everything that was on the eviction notice it was almost at 2,900 yes thank you for sharing that um the reason I asked and so people know I met Miss Kong at the ribbon cutting for this where they had her as a guest speaker for how this uh how impactful in a positive way this apartment complex was for her and now she's being we've been fighting this eviction now for almost a year um I wanted to cite that because Miss Kong is an extraordinary mother I've gotten to know I know I still I still I still owe you a Grindhouse dat we're going to do it but I you an extraordinary mom you have done everything we've asked and Beyond you have been so kind you have every reason to be resentful and upset and you've LED with such kindness and love and I know how much you love your kids thank you I'm very grateful thank you I'm very grateful for you and I'm sorry so we are going to I'm going to give the county a call today because they can help investigate we are going to get you a representation we are going to figure it out okay I'm going to keep trying but um I wanted to cite this because this apartment complex is supposed to be considered Workforce housing and that is how much they they've raised their rent in two years thank you so thank you next speaker next speaker Mr day next speaker is John stop followed by jaeh here shwani followed by Jeremy ponds each with two minutes Mr stop please come forward uh hey good afternoon um I just wanted to start up front by saying I completely agree with everything Liliana bakari said at the top of the meeting about the homelessness issues and especially when the temperatures get down to freezing and below it it does Boggle my mind that there isn't a big company like cocacola or some some company like that that could set up a tent with heaters and really help out even if it's just a few nights um but of course I'm back here to talk about what happened at Oakland cemetery and I was doing my due diligence I had been in touch with the east lake neighborhood president because at first I was upset about the ike kiosk they got put up at second and Jose I was of the opinion that was an intersection too far and we don't need that type of invasive 247 advertisement there really is a a disruptor in my opinion um but as it seems to be the case with everybody here and um you know it seems to be the case with everybody here that uh you know y'all want to sweep that one under the rug and so if if nobody in any leadership position can do the right thing and just come out and say hey that that type of behavior is wrong um you know lashing out at a high school student who had the courage to ask you about that wrong if everybody else is is content to let that one slip away then I guess that's just where we are at as a society and um you know I think there's some metaphysical things going on you know when when it's Martin Luther King Jr day you know that that you know I tracked the guy down that was there and so I know I know what happened thank you sir your time has expired next time I'll be moving on to something else so thank you for your time and your attention thank you next speaker is jawahir shwani followed by Jeremy Pond and Kendra Williams hello everyone my name is jaah shirwani first my condolence to the tellar family I'm sorry I by your loss Cornelius uh we were uh last week uh we went to T gigas memory we were in the middle of the rally and I found out about it the night before about um um sorry I found out about uh Cornelius uh uh death and the way he died and I just moved to Georgia uh literally uh last year and the second I move I just been going I'm a I'm an activist uh for for a human right and everybody right that's what I have I just have my voice to share it around and I would like you know I do share it I just want to mention that um last year a couple months ago I was coming back from a meeting at 12:00 at night and I had the honor of meeting this homeless person his name is Michael I don't know what's his last name he asked me for money I said I don't have any money he said do you how could you offer to buy me food I said yes I did and we start talking until 1:00 in the morning outside the gas station I was not afraid of him he was not afraid of me and he said something very very smart to say he said instead of the city let us to live outside the building why they don't let us to be inside the building why they don't build these housing for us the building we sleep outside and why they don't and and I didn't figure I was talking to a really smart person I have to say I was honored to speak to speak with him and he said to me why people treating us like we're we're colored racism it does not have a color it does not have a gender that does not have a race or whatever or it's just racism to being racist and for the mayor to not meet with a with a M with Mrs Taylor to to give him the letter that's literally that's racism if you could just went outside and just greet her if I'm a mayor I would greet her that he died Mr Cornel has died in the most brutal ways ever is he was died in a bulldo that's his house if you want to you want to do the sweep provide them houses provide them hotels provide them hot water and do your Sweep use all this money I know you have all the money we this is our tax money please use it for for our people for our human being treat them as a human being don't treat them as some kind of they're homeless this is his home the one destroyed thank you ma'am this is was his home thank you next speaker is Jeremy Pond followed by Kendra Williams and then Nicole Hines good evening to members of the council I'm Jeremy ponds I'm representing the national office of the Southern Christian Le leadership conference and we take the murder yes I said the murder of Cornelius Taylor very seriously because our national office sits on Auburn Avenue and old week street is the street right directly behind our national office and as Dr King was our founder this is a travesty that situation had to happen because Dr King died for poor folks Dr King died Hosea Williams died advocating for the homeless and we are all one paycheck away from being in this situation poverty aside from gun violence is one of the highest forms of violence committed on a person in this nation not just racial Injustice but economic Injustice is a very critical situation in our nation as we continue to build these gigantic buildings in this city that working people can barely afford to live in but we can't even address the situation of our homeless in our community to displace groups of our homeless this one area to another we can't just focus on shortterm Solutions we got to focus on a long-term solution so as we address the sweeps we need to address access we need to address resources Dr King said right before he was assassinated Dr King assassin Dr King said there's nothing new about poverty but what is new is that we have the techniques and the resources to address poverty the question is do we have the will thank you next speaker is Kendra Williams followed by nicolea Hines and Ronda Frost Miss Williams all right I don't see Miss Williams Miss Hines HS will be followed by Ronda Frost and then James Martin good afternoon Council and condolences to the Taylor family and friends my name is Nia Hines I am the serving chair for the governing board of the office of Inspector General and ethics office um thank you for allowing me to speak on 25-19 which is the new legislation for the legislation for the oig as I appreciate the updated legislation that restores the legal Women Voters of Atlanta Fulton County to the ethics board it's still very concerning that it's not part of the inspector General's board and and on top that the seven universities are still eliminated and now that the Georgia Society of certified public accountants are also eliminated uh their removal jeopardizes the trust and balance that has been fun uh foundational to our oversight role Additionally the legislation still requires the chair for both boards to be an attorney with five years of investigative experiences this standard is Impractical and unnecessary restrictive multiple legal professionals have confided that most attorneys do not have investigative experien as part of their career path this requirement creates a significant barrier to find qualified candidates ignoring broader leadership worse it dictates leadership through legislation removing the board's autonomy to select the most suitable chair and further arose the independence of the governing board the issue is also combatting of by introducing appointees by the mayor's office and full counsel to the board which fundamentally shifts it from an independent oversight body to one is influenced by political appointments Independence is not just a principle it is a foundation of public trust and effectiveness of office of Inspector generals and ethics this brings me to the question that council president Shipman asked what problem are these changes solving many of these proposed amendments including the removal of the key nominating entities restricts the criteria of the brard chair were not part of the task force recommendations these changes do not align with the task force intent to strengthen the office Independence and transparency instead they weaken the autonomy of the office of Inspector General ethics office and board making it harder for them to to fulfill their mandate addressing fraud waste abuse and ethical compliance once again I just want to let you know that the governing board across this country is the gold standard there are cities and states that are looking to change their board like the city of Atlanta and we are going backwards thank you thank you thank you next speaker is Ronda Frost M Mr President protim um I would like to ask guidance from the Law Department we have a former elected official that would like to speak to the body he has a very important meeting and I would like to ask our courtesy and diligence and guidance from the law department on how we can allow him to address the body for two minutes Law Department good afternoon Amber a Robinson city of Atlanta Department of Law it would be possible um only to vote to go into Committee of the whole when the council can hear from any person that it wishes to hear from um in order to have somebody speak outside of the signup list and who isn't a current elected official um as those procedures are set forth in the code uh that would be the only method of which I'm aware that That Could by which that could occur well hold on what Miss Boon has the floor she's asked a question the Law Department member Derek Boseman so Madame City attorney you've just laid out how that could happen are there any legal or constitutional concerns you have about that not understanding the purpose of the request to have um the person at issues speak um there could be an issue raised um concerning why it is that would be done to allows someone to speak outside of the usual um public comment procedures if it is nothing more than simply more public comment though if there is some distinguishing reason that that could help overcome any um allegation of discrimination there miss Boone still has the floor I would like to make a motion to go into the committee on a hold for for or does a purpose need to be provided suggested okay parliamentarian would like to suggest a purpose what is purpose for a former elected official to speak to a very important matter for how long two minutes okay that is the motion on the floor is there a second okay we have a motion by council member Boone and a second by council member Bond can this be done I'm sorry leou can this be done on unanimous consent yes okay okay can this be done on unanimous consent law Department yes yes with any objection all right we've got an objection so we will take a take the vote you will open the vote the vote is open will everyone please vote the vot's closed 11 y z n 11 y Tay um reging Committee of the whole sure um thank you Mr President B I'm going to explain my vote it is out not out of disrespect for uh former council member Boseman it's out of respect for the 19 people who are waiting to speak that I feel like they should are afforded the ability to speak so that's POS you may explain your go just want to say when if count a former council member comes in he said as long as he could we know this is a a a different type of meeting because it's on a Thursday not at 100 p.m and he's trying so and if he has these type of important things to say that we reach out I would always be open for that so I'm explaining my vote for this because the council member truly ask and I think that he has something to say to us thank you um we are in Committee of the whole Mr Boseman there you are if you would come forward please um and provide your two minutes of public comment let me first of all thank uh Mr President members of the council yes sir uh for the extraordinary breach of protocol to allow me to speak but I stand in this place of cornelus Taylor because today he can't stand here for himself Cornelius Taylor is the victim of fail policy that don't see the humanity and those whose index of their income don't rise to the level where they have housing the tragedy of last week that it comes on the heels of the King memorial celebration was that conelius Taylor represent too many people in the city of Atlanta that some of us would rather sweep away than to deal with the reality you know what broke my heart as a former member who sit down here was the policy that said clean it up and get it out of sight who were they doing that for the one thing we do know that Cornelius Taylor after they would have cleaned his house up the only house he had that there was no keys that was given to him to go somewhere else the next day so the policy was we're going to take the only thing that he owned other than his good name and his reputation in the community and he had a good name and a good reputation but for the grace of God some of us and L even some of you could be in his place and so we want to examine the policy I like this mayor but I would say even to Mayor Dickens it was a mistake to not meet with the citizens who came to see you about this issue it was a mistake not to meet with this family to sit down at the table and reason together we can't say we're a city that host International uh fif for uh soccer games and all these great sporting events and all this sporting play and we can't host people who live right here even though they may live under bridge we're better city than that so I hope that we will take the opportunity to examine our policy and don't let home Partners be the policy maker nobody elected them to do anything partners for home is not elected to do anything and any policymaking board that does not have people who represent that Community not a single homeless person occupy a seat on that board we elected each one of you all take back that power from a unelected board who's making public policy about who get resource and who don't who get housing and who does not they should not be making those decisions thank you sir if they want to put that name on the ballot and run then let them do that and then we can say they get a chance to P punch one of these three buttons up here otherwise there being you all have being der licking your duty to look at the leas the lost and left out that's all I got to say I am cornelus Taylor I amor I am I am and I stand today because he can thank you I'll entertain a motion to exit Committee of the whole motion by Council m bakari is there a second second by council member Lewis we can do this on unanimous consent is there any objection seeing none we have departed Committee of the whole and we are moving back to Ronda Frost James Martin and pastor and breed love good afterno all my name is Ronda Frost I'm the former deputy director of public affairs for the Atlanta Police Department I'm here real quick in in support of the office of Inspector General um I want to express my concern uh with the proposed recommendation for that they uh pull open records requests for documents uh I I know firsthand how that system works and how information is leaked before the request is ever fulfilled that requirement is counterintuitive to confidentiality people talk and that's all I'm going to say on that matter I'm also here to express uh my story you might have seen my story on Fox 5 News uh Roland Martin uncensored Dr rard Richie indisputable or maybe you read the investigative reports in the emails which detail the retaliation and Punishment I suffered at the hands of the of Peter aan the mayor's right-hand man Chief Darren sheer bomb Chada spikes public affairs director and other city of Atlanta HR officials I have over 600 under redacted emails and an investigative report from the city of Atlanta which exposed corrupt and unlawful actions yet no no task force was assigned for my case in 2022 my daughter Chen a law school student at the time posted a video on Instagram where she analyzed a homicide and challenged apd's homicide charges against Shaka Zulu the manager of ludicrous her video went viral and my work life became hail on November 30th 2022 I was physically locked out of my office without notice I was investigated for for 7 months without due process I was never interviewed on April 27 2023 I sent mayor Dickens and his team an email asking for help they did nothing on May 15 2023 HR Director Patrick Pendleton concluded his investigation he told the HR commissioner I had done nothing wrong violated no rules or policies or Sops and that I should be put back in my job everyone ignored that I was not notified of the investigation updated results I remained home on administrative leave for 5 more months in the dark on July 10th APD sergeant and HR Director came to my home unannounced and confiscated my ID work phone and laptop they informed me I no longer work for APD instead I worked for the City of Atlanta in an unnamed role on September 10th I was fired under the guise of reduction and force even though APD had already hired someone for my job but you want us to believe the oig task force was formed out of concern for city of employees I think not because either they care about all investig in all employees or they don't care at all thank you Miss Frost next up is James Martin followed by Pastor an Breedlove and Jonas ho yes Jim Martin resident Berkeley Park chairman of neighborhood planning Unit D I'm here to speak to about the oig legislation at the last public hearing on this matter uh I heard councilman shook say that you were all in agreement that something needed to be fixed and yet I have not heard any member of this Council say what that something actually is um I have heard allegations that the inspector General has violated the Fifth Amendment rights of employees and yet I have yet to see any example of that I believe it to be false oig has stated that it is false and yet uh the Administration has repeatedly and publicly made this unfounded accusation um it has been implied that oig has been abusing its subpoena Authority by issuing numerous unjustified subpoenas on fish Expeditions if so why have we not been told how many subpoenas have in fact been issued I filed a public records request 61 subpoenas had been issued 48 of them were for financial records uh councilman Juan will be glad to hear that zero of them were for medical records be because he expressed concern about that in the last meeting on this matter um 51 of these involved criminal investigations just so you know has oig been infringing on the rights of employees those rights to intimidate Witnesses destroy evidence and retaliate against whistleblowers perhaps but those are not the sorts of rights that we need to be protecting in fact oig is protecting employees because those acts are infringing upon their rights um the legislation that is before you is predicated on falsehoods advancing it would set the city backwards I urge you to file it instead of and instead deal with the very real problems that we are that are now facing the city which we have heard plenty about today thank you thank you Pastor an breed love followed by Jonas ho and Leticia Morris greetings people good afternoon I love you all we love you back I'm really grieving because the Lord is not pleased I'm grieving because of we are God's people and we must know how to treat one another and we need prayer that's why I roll up to tell you prayer is needed here in Atlanta and all over the world are we're not looking at California are we're not looking at California we can have today and everything is gone tomorrow no matter how rich you are how poor you are I'm here to stand to let you know God said if my my people who is called by my name humble themsel and pray seek Him turn from your Wicked Ways then we will hear from heaven and God will heal our land I have fed on these streets for a long time I fed kesia Taylor two days before he died weak street is one of my main areas that I feed with Gateway area and all over the city and it was a Devastation to my spirit and heart to know that this happened to him because me and him prayed together we read scriptures and he always would tell the other children that would try and come upon me he would say stand back such a great young man respectful and today I'm surprised that many of you here where you are respect if you put these people in office have the heart of respect I'm an elder I grew up on the farm we always respect people no matter how bad they are or good they are give respect people God bless you and I love you and I ask the mayor as I said on the radio wa give him a proper barer and I ask my pastor W not to have it at evanel Baptist Church God bless you thank you Pastor next speaker is Jonas ho followed by Laticia Morris and Darlene Cheney Jonas ho Leticia Morris Leticia Morris all right Darlene Cheney hi my name is Kristen toer I coinc my time to miss Darlene Cheney toer okay thank you very much you have four minutes my name is Darlene Cheney I first want to say thank you to everyone for listening thank you to everyone for coming to support because you didn't have have to be here because to many Cornelius Taylor's life didn't matter it mattered to me he was my brother my big brother and even saying was is insane because it should be here I was awakened to a call a voicemail and all the voicemail said was your brother's dead no other details my brother suffered from diabetes so in my thought it was he was deceased from diabetes not that he was murdered so after phone call or two and then Googling it because nobody contacted me to actually tell me I found that he had been ran over crushed to be specific but I choose not to remember him like that because his Spirit was so big that you couldn't crush it you couldn't crush it out of him he was an artist I remember him as the little boy that played the flute that wanted to go to school and perform and I wanted to go too because I looked up to him my mom wouldn't let me go I said in lap I rocked back and forth cracked my head on the uh the windshield because he meant that much to me so I stand Here willing to put my pain to the side to give him the voice that he deserves I really ask that change is brought about no one deserves to find their sibling their father their mother their cousin their grandmother because this could be anybody this wouldn't just be me this is somebody else it's just that I have the stage right now to plead for him to pray for him and to actually beg you all to create change um Cornelius had hopes and dreams and though many people just see him as a homeless man he was again Cornelius Taylor he was a brother a father a son an uncle a cousin he had people that loved him he and I had an agreement that he would always Reach Out he'd find a way he was very resourceful um so when I heard that when I got the voicemail that he was dead I didn't believe it but after about 2 hours and he didn't call me I knew it was true because he loved me because he knew he was loved he always reciprocated that you all need to know that this is not just the nobody he was a somebody to me and a lot of my family and his friends because he did have friends being homeless doesn't mean that nobody cares for you it means you falling on bad times and again those times could comfor any of us as they've said before we could all be one paycheck away I work every day I do but I understand that one misstep could have me outside we all stood outside today it was cold we were layered up but can you imagine sleeping like that and then when you're trying to sleep somebody just crushes you you can't imagine it because it kills you you don't even know what that feels like so we have to all put ourselves in his place that could have been us that could be us it it might be us if we don't make a change so please guys let's do something different thank [Applause] you next speaker is Kristen Garrett followed by Justin Garrett and Tim fransen Kristen Garrett just all right Mr fransen good afternoon afternoon um I'm I'm here in support of Cornelius Taylor's family um you know we came here today to not with pitchforks or or torches we came here to meet as partners with the mayor and with all y'all with the assumption that uh there was Collective outrage over what happened on Thursday in advance of the King Day celebration I continue to have that assumption when looking at y'all you know uh and I think it's a little embarrassing that that any activist is going to come in here and use it as an opportunity to Grand stand against a council member that was embarrassing um there's people in here that I disagree with if you're with us on this issue today then you're my friend and I love you um the the the the reality is is that uh driving that bulldozzer was decades of failed approach when it comes to policy uh to the issue of ending homelessness and we've seen a a huge increase in the homeless population since covid 40% um and and and this whacka all let's push them into the margins let's make them invisible let's put spikes on benches approach just doesn't work it destabilizes an already unstable population it destroys the few things that folks that are trying to climb out of a hole get out of quicksand have and so we we we hope today that one we can have a moratorium we could stop the sweeps y all have the power to do that we could stop the sweeps and uh two that we could really take some time to develop housing first approaches that treat folks like human beings we see other cities doing it and having success and and the irony the kind irony is that when we do it right we can actually save the city money and put people in housing so thank yall thank you Allison Johnson who will be followed by Monica Johnson and Amanda leopard um good afternoon good afternoon thank you all y'all um for being here um I am a bit upset because of what happened this afternoon we were forbidden from going into our office to present um with the family um a letter to um break bread and have conversation with our mayor um I'm a bit also really disgusted um I've been to this mic several times to talk about the issues that our city has particularly when it comes to folks being unsheltered homeless or people not being able to afford their rent um but today is um um another horrific time that I'm here to speak about an issue that should never have come about um there's no doubt that there's a crisis and particularly a housing crisis here um but there's also no doubt that we don't have all of the answers right now but we also have to understand that because people are homeless we don't have the right to deny them their human rights we don't have the right to make them invisible right in the shadows of Ebenezer someone was killed because they didn't fit the physical identity that we want people to believe who we are so I come here today begging and asking that we sit down together to create policies that don't create homicides in these types of tragedies it is a shame that we haven't moved a need needle farther than it it can be moved with with resources that we have but that's not going to happen if we continue to be in denial I don't have an adversary relationship with this mayor's office but I'm going to rethink that after being shut out today because I understand it takes all of us to do the work and if we're going to do the work we have to own up to our mistakes the good thing about this is we have the opportunity to change it I'm a lifelong Episcopalian and in the shadows and in the footprints of our Bishop I come to you as she did with our president in asking you for mercy and ask you don't forget about those who are unsheltered in our house thank you man' next speaker next speaker is Monica Johnson followed by Amanda leopard and Matthew nury hello hello um I don't have much that's different to say from everyone else I just want to be counted in claiming my disgust for what has happened to Cornelius Taylor and for what the city is doing I know that there's a lot of pressure I guess on the city council to do what normal City councils do which is give a whole lot of money to developers continue funding police cop City new jails all that sorts of things instead of dealing with the root causes of our issues but I think if you all want to have a clean moral if you want your heart to be clear of this crime then we really have to make a change we cannot continue doing what we've been doing over and over we can't have this the solution to the housing crisis be peace meal we have to instead of for example we know it costs tens of thousands of dollars to put someone in jail for a year we can take that money and put them in an apartment Atlanta has over I looked at 2024 over 66,000 unused units of of housing we can fix these issues it's really not that difficult and we H we can't be in the practice of having to means test and be really stingy with the money that goes to housing but we throw money to overtime for these cops to tell us that we can't go into the mayor's office for all of this it's wasteful and it's you're defunding the community the community puts the money in that pays the salaries pays for this office pays for all of this but we can't get anything back and it's it's grotesque it's disgusting it's a a shame to the legacy of Martin Luther King and if we want to pretend not even even if we want to we have the responsibility in Atlanta to do what's right and if you're not going to stop using Martin Luther King's name thank you excuse me next speaker is Amanda leopard due to yield of time you have four minutes followed by Matthew Nursey and Derek Cheney leopard as a person with lived experience of homelessness in Atlanta and as a former Atlanta youth action board member for 2 years and co-author of Atlanta's Community coordinated plan to prevent and end youth homelessness let me be clear this is not the first death of a person experiencing homelessness whose blood is on your hands it's one of few that are actually being paid attention to this is not even the first time that people with lived experience are demanding accountability from the COC because somebody died even though this is the first time I'm doing so in this space this time more people are watching and you can't sweep it under the rug the fact of the matter is you keep letting my community die on your watch as you let the system inflict extreme violence Upon Us assist let me also be clear there is no such thing as a compassionate encampment closure you say you offer everyone in the encampment the opportunity priority for permanent support of housing units and the alternative is they need to go to your shelters in the meantime but you don't talk about how we don't have low barrier shelter system in Atlanta you don't talk about how we are treated as far from compassionate in the system A system that often does not treat us as humans A system that tells people in shelters when we say we have more needs than are being met that this is maybe not the program for us and we're free to leave and go somewhere else because I want to stay Justice for Cornelius Taylor and I also want to stay Justice for Xavier Simmon because when you let the organizations you contract ban youth from shelters without a plan for where they can go and they bring up safety concerns for fear of their safety and they reach out to outreach workers but they're still on the streets and they die their blood is on your hands I want to say justice for Cornelius Taylor and I also want to say justice for Lesean Thompson because when you rest my community for sleeping in the parking deck of Georgia Tech and they die while incarcerated their blood is on your hands I want to see Justice for Cornelius Taylor but I o want to say justice for Noni batis coko because when you arrest my Community member who had previously been experiencing homelessness after leaving a mental health facility for not showing up to court for a misdemeanor offense and they die while incarcerated their blood is on your hands I want to ask for justice I want to call for justice for Cornelius Taylor and justice for the dozens of unsheltered people who have died of hypothermia in metro Atlanta instead of working to make sure that this doesn't happen again your body has made sure that um warming shelters cannot operate near schools because you don't want us near you I want to say justice for Cornelius Taylor and I want to say justice for the 176 people who have died in fton and decab County this year alone experiencing homelessness the streets and halls and jail cells of Atlanta are soaked in our blood when will you take accountability for the fact that your policies are killing us literally and it's also Justice for the queer youth experiencing homelessness which of which over 60% uh report seriously considering suicide and over 35% um attempt suicide if they die their blood is on your hands you can't just remove us from your eyesight so you don't have to confront the crisis you allow you can't continue to tokenize us when we work try to work with you you can't continue to ignore us when we demand accountability justice for Cornelius Taylor and justice for my community thank you next speaker is Matthew nury followed by Derek Cheney and Nolan English hello thank you my name is Matthew nury and I'm with the housing Justice League I'm here to say Cornelius Taylor's name and to stand in solidarity with his friends and family um shame on the mayor and his office and shame on all the cops who are here to prevent the family of Cornelius Taylor from delivering a letter to the mayor's office this is already an extremely tragic and embarrassing situation and you had an opportunity to do the right thing and failed to do it you know as it's been said here a lot of us are just one paycheck away from being on house ourselves in a city where wages are low y'all have taken away all the public housing decades ago um you have decided in one of the coldest winters that we've seen in a long time that you are going to shut down warming centers all right uh we have rents in the city in the state of Georgia rents in the state of Georgia in some cities have gone up 14% in one year that's untenable corporate landlords are left to run a muck and make prices untenable as well every time yall allow an inl of fee to uh let these corporations skirt the amount of affordable housing they were supposed to provide you exacerbate the problem so this is on you and so we're not only just acting or asking for a moratorium and a stop to the sweeps we are asking for justice so that Cornelius Taylor was not killed in vain we need affordable and public housing now we need a lot of it we need to increase the amount of warming centers that there are as has been said the shelters are not a hospitable place and there's it's not low barrier to entry and there's lots of stringent requirements to be in these shelters we need to provide people with housing first and then provide them with health care jobs and anything else they need need because this situation again is caused by you all allowing the corporate Elites to take over our city and make it untenable for people to live thank thank you time has expired next speaker is Derek Cheney followed by noan English and Lauren Wilson Derek Cheney all right how y'all doing today hey K is my brother first and foremost um this whole ordal was like beyond disrespectful to me just me personally like how this whole thing's been handled appear us trying to take the letter in there like even with the police officer with me it's not what you say it's how you say it I'm big I'm huge on that a lot of this is beyond it was beyond un it was avoidable if the necessary precautions it took my sister took everything that I want to say from me but reality is that's my first hero I'm talking about my hero same same bed slept together but I'm talking about like everything my nephew he not going to get to see his dad again my kids that was taken away from them until until y'all stand in those shoes the thing that it pisses me off when people say I feel you I nah this this pain is nah it's not bearable at all but this is the same dude that we from Kirkwood East over in that area the area in which we grew up in like I said my big brother walked me to the park rebound for me Kel didn't play no basketball Kel artistic draw write music poetry this is this is who K really is a smile on my mama I brighten this room up the light of everything when I say the light I really mean the light of everything like I say with me it's not what you say it's how you say it we just need a change man seriously don't sit here don't like you said man don't don't pee on my head and tell me it's rain don't put on the plate and tell me it's a state like I don't go for it that's all thank [Applause] you next speaker is Nolan English followed by Lauren Wilson Asa mmud good evening evening my name is Lauren Wilson and I'm a thirdy year political science student at Clark Atlanta University what happened to Mr Cornelius Taylor was disgusting and how the mayor treated his mother is disgraceful and reprehensible it sends a message about the sentiments the city holds for the most vulnerable members of this community the city spends billions a year gentrifying traditional black communities it spends billions investing in tourist attractions and entertainment centers that help nobody who is native to the city of Atlanta and building Mega police training facilities that further disrupt our environment the least you all can do as decent human beings is support the organizations that have been advocating for the unhoused but doing your job effectively would mean taking accountability for the negligence and inhumane policy that was passed that allowed this act to take place the unhoused are people they have lives and are full of love as you can see just like you all and they deserve to be here they deserve dignity and respect and to be housed and not be bulldozed in their home Mr Taylor's story and and what has happened to him and so many other members of his communities who were not able to come out today and say what happened is horrible and you all have a responsibility to change it and make sure that this does not happen again it's time to address our morally bankrupt leaders who are mismanaging our tax dollars and investing too much into business and not enough into people not everything is about profit your job is to protect the people of Atlanta and it's time that you do [Applause] so oam mmud followed by Arthur Langford and then the final speaker of the day is Vera Bill good afternoon my name is Asar Mahmud and I'm here on behalf of the Georgia chapter of the Council of American relations to offer public comment on the tragic killing of Mr Cornelius Taylor Murder By bulldozer many of us here are all too familiar with this barbaric phrase because this is exactly what happens when people are dehumanized be it Cornelius Taylor in Atlanta or Rachel Cory in Palestine you cannot sweep away an issue instead of addressing it all over this country unhoused disabled marginalized people are stigmatized and dehumanized because this country has decided to spend billions of dollars on everything Wars propaganda tax breaks for the rich everything except for its own people Americans are dying from lack of Housing and Health Care senator waro of Ebenezer Baptist Church just voted to send more money to Israel when eaner Baptist Church holds a requim for 300 homeless people every year the state of Georgia runs a surplus of billions of dollars each year but cannot create affordable housing for its own the city of Atlanta has a duty to its people serve your constituents protect your citizens build affordable housing don't invest in training your police with the IDF that bulldo Palestinians for sport or you will see deaths like cornelius's become common place here at home like they are in Palestine our brother Cornelius Taylor deserved to Live and Die in dignity all our people deserve to live in die in dignity stop the sweeps yes sir commission you're right I I I missed your name so you first we need to hear from Arthur Langford and Vera Bill if either of them are still here okay then indeed Mr Shakir you our speaker thank you so much my name is Ron Shakir um born in L Alabama on the West Side Tusa and um never had a night or day that I remember that my mother and father was not in the house my father was the oldest of 12 children and he had some education college education he took out to go north in N nor in that northern city of New York Buffalo our family stayed in public housing my best friends my riding a bike my marbles my memories my school days in elementary was well Remembered in public housing I knew all my friends fathers and mother they were citizens of the community we moved to Atlanta there were public housing the schools that I went to all had public housing communities the Lanta lost his way and lost his conscience because what they did to family amilies mothers and fathers and children they demolished public housing in the city of Atlanta and they did it in a way that they thought it was something good and people would accept well they did accept it it was passed at this city council that's where the big devil was at in the policies that this city council sat in to close public housing well we can't keep doing wrong when we have people in the streets that's sleeping under bushes and trees and get run over by trucks and City work trucks the city has lost its way in trafficking the wrong way and the citizens that had lost his life his other lives of family lives has been distort dis dis disrupted because of the policies of public housing I'm asking you as city council officials to do what you can to reestablish the stable housing in this city and do not look Overlook uh public housing in property or housing that can be used to create stable housings and safe housings for the citizens of Atlanta Georgia in this city thank you sir that concludes public comment on the agenda um I am been made aware that the law department has requested that Council enter into an executive session and I would ask the City attorney to explain why for purposes of discussing litigation one more time for purposes of discussing litigation okay um I will entertain a motion to enter into executive session there's a motion by Council b a second by council member Bond we can do this on unanimous consent of members present if there is not any objection seeing none we will reconvene in committee 14 y z 14 y zero n um we will reconvene in committee room two e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e contain a motion to come out of executive session motion by by foki second by Lewis um we can take that on unanimous cons of members present which is Winston foki doer Juan shook Collins West Morland Boone and Lewis two three four five six seven eight nine nine yay zero nay um 980 days we are back in our regularly scheduled programming which takes us to the report of the journal good afternoon council president protm and members of council i k Lindell municipal clerk of the city of Atlanta do hereby certify that the minutes of the regular meeting held on Monday January 6th 2025 are true and correct thank you that takes us to the with approve motion to approve oh I will entertain a motion to approv motion by ju second by Lewis we can do that on your name as consent of members present which is still nine of us um N9 Journal is adopted next up communications first item uh council president proam is 25c 00005 this is a communication from Daniel hamton chair audit committee submitting the performance audit report moving Atlanta forward 2024 annual review staff recommendation to refer to Transportation committee and committee development Human Services committee without objection let it follow that course next item is 25c 00006 this is a communication from Dr quame o calamari calamara lecturer Spelman College accepting the appointment to serve as a member of the commission to determine an appropriate manner in which to honor the 150th anniversary of the first regimen of us color troops formed in Atlanta by Bishop Henry mcneel Turner staff recommendation to accept and file without objection let it follow that course that concludes the item thank you next up uh is there any consideration to veto legislation no spoiler alert um is there any unfinished business no that takes us to the consent agenda um before I entertain a motion to approve are there any items that individuals like to take off said agenda seeing none I'll entertain a motion to approve from councilman Juan second by shook please open that vote the vote is open will everyone please vote close close 10 y zero nay 10 y zero Nays the consent agenda is adopted Mr shook yeah thank you I would like to move um that we send item number 10 on page seven which is 25108 it's the baby Bond paper to the mayor's office post haste it's a motion to send 25 25108 to the mayor's office post been seconded by council member Juan is there any objection with doing this unanimous consent of members present seeing none 10 zero nay that item is sent post haste next up is adoption of the consent agenda section two motion to refer I believe is the appropriate motion as a motion to refer by Juan second by shook please open that vote one moment the vot is open everyone please vote the vot's closed 11 y Zer 11 y Zer those items are referred that takes us to reports of the standing committees we will start with the committee on councel chair Collins turn your mic on it's okay thank you Mr President protemp I would like to make a motion to enter into the committee of the whole in order to act on the items on the committee on Council agenda there's a motion by Collins a second by Juan to move into Committee of the whole we can do that on your name as consent of members present if there is no objection seeing none 10 zero nay we are in Committee of the whole great thank you so we only have one item on the 11 11 years your days um so we only have one item on the agenda to excuse me one second I'm getting used to this let me move down thank you thank you um so we only have one item on the agenda today um this item is what we call a dual referred item coming to us from the finance and um executive committee um in which if anyone from the Administration has input on this item let's see Excuse excuse me which is item number 25-0 d1009 which is then um an ordinance by council members Howard shook Marca Cara over Street Mary Norwood Andrea boom Liliana baari Dustin Hillis and Byron Amos as substituted by the finance executive committee to amend the charter of the city of Atlanta um the city of Atlanta Georgia 1996 Georgia law 4469 and such adopted under and by virtue of the authority of the municipal home rule Act of 1965 in accordance with the recommendations 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 excuse we're good governing Office of the Inspector General and the ethics office regarding the authority oversight and the clarification in respect of roles and responsibility of the office of Inspector General the ethics office and to create separate governing boards for the oig and the ethics office and for other purposes we are going to move we're foring this with no recommendation by the finance and finance and executive committee but with the request to move in a work move forward with the work session I will pause right here I think councilwoman C council member B wanted to say something my apologies thank you madam chair um I would like to motion to amend to remove my name okay so we have there's a motion to amend to remove council member V's name as a sponsor as a second by council member Lewis we can do that on unanimous consent of members present of now there are one 13 of us any objection all right seeing none unanimous consent 13 y zero Nays the item is now amended thank you yes so the yep so the motion thank before the motion to amend removing your name from this legislation and so I will now make a motion to hold the item um motion to hold has been made by council member Colin second by council member Bach tiari any discussion yes so yes I would like to go ahead and at least open the discussion up in terms of holding this legislation holding this leg legislation to allow um to allow city council the opportunity to engage in a work session that will in fact informed us inform us on the portions of this legislation that are still of issue and are also being debated across multiple across multiple entities it has been clear from the from feedback from not only the finance and executive committee but also from the committee of the whole and also from Council and our constituents the need to really um discuss more of those key issues but I do want to make clear the legislation is that there are a lot of portions of this legislation that all entities have agreed upon and when I say entities I am referring to the city of Atlanta the Atlanta City Council and the office of expector general and the ethics office but there are some key issues that we do need to in fact enter into work session to understand more so that we can get this legislation to a point where the business of the city and what we've been charged to do can continue um Mr President Pro Temp I would like to open it up for for any discussion but also invite anyone from the administration that has input on this item and let us so we got yes we've got a motion to hold before us Mr Lewis would you like to speak to that motion okay that he's not going to make any comments miss bakari any discussion on the motion to hold she re a Davis when have you become rashita Davis I want to um also clarify for anyone watching this is not rashita Davis this is chair woman EA Collins um but I also just wanted to uh I I appreciate this I think the work session is absolutely necessary but most import most importantly I just wanted to commend chairwoman Collins on her leading her first meeting and leading on this topic thank you any other comments on the motion to one question was do we have a date for the work session yet we don't have a date yet we will be look we will be com you know getting with you all in terms of a date and we hope that it will be soon so please be on the please be on lookout for communication on on that date the go the goal is to have that work session within the next at least of next week to 10 seven to 10 10 business days for sure um but also just understanding that that work session will be led by Atlanta City Council with the office of Inspector General our Law Department and also our ethics office and so um we will be sharing that AG those that agenda format um as well and also just want to acknowledge my colleague councilman shook he and I will be co-chairing that uh that work session along with our amazing uh City staff so thank you thank you so I just want to clarify for M because my constituents I've had a lot of questions absolutely a work session will be held we're just waiting on the date go absolutely thank you Mr Lewis similar to council M bakari I've been bombarded with questions from my constituents and folks who want to hear my my voice on this actually and so my voice was similar to this making sure we can hold it I think the 7day turnaround and not knowing the date today it would be an issue to my to my constituents because I think you just said that you want to get it done within the next seven days next seven to 10 business days we're looking at the regular working session day which will be next Thursday January the 30th but before I stepped out and put that out there I wanted to confer with all my colleagues to make sure that that's that everyone is available I do think it's important for for us to ensure that many as many as majority of us is able to be present as we've done a lot of work in this space and so um projected to look at uh sometime within the next s to 10 days so and and the thing that because I know a lot of my constituents are watching this particularly on the south side of the city of Atlanta and what they the 7 to 10 day turnaround they would want us to open it up so I would want to want to make sure I say that 7 to 10 day turnaround turny trying to get some scheduling purposes I want to give folks more of a not more notice I think that this is such a a huge change to the city of Atlanta I think we have to be as intentional as possible about this and I I don't I don't want to rush it similar to us when we voted last week in the first council meeting for our for pay city City Council salaries to go into effect under the next Council I would even be okay with us taking our time for this and whatever we do vote on going effect under the next Administration not this one so I just want to make sure that my thoughts were out there and so folks could actually hear it but the S to 10day turnaround to me is not enough notice to get out to the citizens of Atlanta so they could be in tune in knowing what's was going on thank you thank you any other comments on the motion to hold seeing none please open that vote the vote is open member comments oh yes I'm good thank you the votes closed 13 yay zero Nays Mr shook how would you like your vote recorded Mr shook how would you like your vote recorded holding the paper yes the whole shook as an i 14 y z Nays that item is held um I'll entertain a motion to come out of Committee of the whole so move by um you're done right yes wait wait wait no no no we're not no we're not no let's make sorry sorry it's all good yes we do have one we do have one other matter um that is been held as well we have nothing coming off of held this week but 24-0-11 1684 was amended at the last meeting to to reflect the following salary adjustments for the mayor city council president and members of the council for the terms of office beginning in 2026 respectfully the me the Amendment states that the mayor will earn a salary of $236,800 and members of council earn a salary of $999,990 we will continue to hold this paper to allow for the appropriate advertising period pursuant to section 2-36 A2 of the Atlanta City code of ordinance which is to run consec consecutively for three weeks but also want to acknowledge that these salary that this proposed salary is a um reduction uh excuse me is a a reduction from the initial salaries as proposed um based on our last meeting thank you for that announcement Miss Norwood yes I just just wanted to see if we could finalize the date for the work session before we come out of Committee of the whole uh for the committee on Council Mr sh have a date yeah I I I think I'm pretty confident we can have it announced by the end of the meeting yeah absolutely yep so we so Council sh councilman Shook and I will work on that for you Council councilman Norwood and get that to you yes any other comments I will entertain a motion to exit Committee of the whole not yet sorry sir okay a couple more things um there isn't any walk-in legislation nor requested items but wanting to also colleagues plan to adopt our 2025 goals and objectives at our next meeting which will be on February the 17th and so of course committee members please send your recommendations to Mr Overton and we'll collect um he'll collect our uh suggestions there are some additional vacancies that we will that we will talk about but we can focus on that at our next commit at our next committee on council meeting Mr over do we have any additional business today great thank you so much you've been amazing um and so Mr President I will entertain a motion to exit Committee of the whole motion by Juan second by Lewis um we can do this on unanimous consent of members present I believe we're back up to 14 strong on the de um so 14 y Zer n we are out of Committee of the whole I will now entertain a motion to ratify the actions taken Tak in Committee of the whole motion by bakari second by Juan we can do this on name as consent of members present of which there are without objection seeing none 14 y zero Nays we have ratified the action that we took in Committee of the whole great thank you all so much thank you next up is the zoning committee which I chair uh but I have asked council member farooqi if he would come and deliver the report um on the of the chair and the vice chair Mr pro pro Tim and Mr chair uh the zoning committee report uh has 16 ordinances for second read four of which are to adopt as amended 12 of which are to refer to ZB and zoning and we'll have eight ordinances for first read um always a good chance to run to the restroom if you see fit uh first the ordinances for second read um to be adopted as amended uh I'll read them collectively 24014 93 case number Z 2458 location 425 Chapel Road Northwest the ordinance is to reone from pdmu plan development mixed use spell line overlay to plan development mixed use spell line overlay for a major site plan Amendment 240646 uh case number U 2431 3 3190 Roswell Road Northwest the ordinances for a special use permit for an outdoor sales area 24649 case number U 2434 uh 1544 pedmont Avenue Northeast the ordinance is for a special use permit for outdoor parking excuse me outdoor dining at and at eating and drinking establishments when any part of such use is located within a, ft of a property that is owned as a residential property and 24650 case number u435 1881 how Mill Road Northwest the ordinances for a special use permit for a non-residential use or establishment exceeding 7500 Square ft in area in which alcoholic beverages are sold or consumed on the premises the recommendation coming out of committee is to adopt as amended recommendation of coming coming out of committee is to adopt as amended it does not need a second is there any discussion seeing none please open the vote on those three items the vot is open four four items brok Mr fori Mr Veri yes your yes you're yes yeah Will everyone please vote will everyone please [Music] vote c m Collins what is your vote the vot's closed 13 yay zero Nays 13 yay zero Nays those items are favorable adopted as amended next up all right I'll Now read in 12 items that are ordinances for second read for fertile ZB and Z zoning committee uh 240704 case number Z 2479 11151 White Oak Avenue Southwest the ordinances to reone from single family residential Oakland City Historic District to two family residential Oakland City Historic District 24705 case number Z 2484 2428 Baker Road Northwest the substitute ordinances to rezone from single family residential to single family residential R4 to r4b 240 1706 case number Z 2486 2242 and 2246 Bernard Road Northwest the ordinance is to rezone from I2 heavy industrial to r4a single family residential 240 1707 case number Z