{"id":28811,"date":"2023-09-29T20:44:43","date_gmt":"2023-09-30T03:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=28811"},"modified":"2023-09-30T20:59:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T03:59:42","slug":"atlanta-mayor-dismisses-cop-city-referendum-as-not-an-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/09\/29\/atlanta-mayor-dismisses-cop-city-referendum-as-not-an-election\/","title":{"rendered":"[Facebook took down this post from our Occupy SF Facebook page] ATLANTA MAYOR DISMISSES COP CITY REFERENDUM AS \u201cNOT AN ELECTION\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Atlanta<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/a>BECOME
A MEMBER<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens speaks at an election night watch party for Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock on on, Nov. 8, 2022, in Atlanta. Photo: John Bazemore\/AP<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mayor Andre Dickens said he wants residents to be heard on Cop City \u2014 but his own administration is slow-walking a possible vote on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Prem Thakker<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 27 2023, 4:49 p.m. (TheIntercept.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ATLANTA MAYOR ANDRE<\/strong> Dickens said this week that he wishes to \u201cerr on the side\u201d of ensuring residents are heard in their effort to hold a citywide vote on the construction of a $90 million police training facility \u2014 even as his own administration refuses to move forward with the process of verifying signatures gathered in support of the referendum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dickens\u2019s comment came in a letter<\/a> to Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., who had written<\/a> to the mayor in mid-September and raised questions about the city\u2019s use of signature verification<\/a> \u2014 a practice Georgia Democrats have previously criticized as \u201cproblematic\u201d \u2014 to validate the referendum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 11, organizers submitted around 116,000 signatures supporting a referendum on the police training facility, double the number needed to get the referendum on the ballot. The deadline for submitting the signatures is the subject of an ongoing legal battle<\/a> in which the city has argued that the entire referendum effort is invalid. City officials have said they cannot start the process of verifying the signatures until a federal court makes a ruling, which may not happen until November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his letter, Dickens, a Democrat, wrote that the city \u201cwill err on the side of ensuring that Atlanta voters who desire to bring this issue to a vote will have that opportunity.\u201d The mayor recently attacked<\/a> a council member in a group chat for talking to the press about concerns surrounding the project, dubbed Cop City by residents and protesters, and disparaged the referendum effort as a whole, saying<\/a> that \u201cwe know that this is going to be unsuccessful, if it\u2019s done honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMayor Dickens has been trying to prevent a vote on Cop City from the very beginning. Now that he is being called out for it, he\u2019s hiding behind a court appeal that he filed,\u201d said Vonne Martin, deputy chief of campaigns at the Center for Popular Democracy and a Cop City Vote organizer. \u201cHe can\u2019t have it both ways. If Mayor Dickens actually believes in democracy and respects the voices of his constituents, he should simply drop his appeal and begin counting the petitions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dickens\u2019s office does not see itself as having it both ways. \u201cThe City has not stood in the way of anyone seeking to follow the process as defined by state law and city code,\u201d a city of Atlanta spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Intercept. \u201cIf the Court allows the verification process to proceed, and it is determined that the petitioners have reached the 15% threshold, then the Mayor will support placing this question on the ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dickens, in his letter to Warnock, dismissed the referendum as \u201cnot an election\u201d and argued that by building the facility, the city is actually pursuing a comprehensive vision toward public safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not an election,\u201d the mayor wrote. \u201cNot yet. People are not and have not been asked to vote. We cannot allow people from either end of the political spectrum to conflate this effort with an election. Standing in front of your local grocery store to collect signatures from customers who may be residents, while commendable, is vastly different from registering to vote and casting a ballot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IN SEPTEMBER 2021<\/strong>, Atlanta\u2019s city council \u2014 after hearing 17 hours of public comment, much of it opposed \u2014 voted 10-4 to approve a land lease for the facility to the Atlanta Police Foundation. Opposition has only grown since, as has the police crackdown<\/a> against protesters<\/a>. In June, the council held another hearing, prompting another 15-plus hours of public comment and mass protest. Still, the council approved $67 million in taxpayer dollars for the facility, inciting Atlantans to launch the referendum effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On July 6, Atlanta organizers filed a lawsuit, challenging a requirement for signature collectors to be Atlanta residents. On July 27, a federal judge ruled that requirement unconstitutional and extended the deadline for collecting signatures by 60 days. The court rejected the city\u2019s appeal of the ruling, so the city took it up with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. There, the city argued<\/a> that the entire referendum effort was invalid because, if passed, it would impair the city\u2019s already-authorized contract with the Atlanta Police Foundation and that the court did not have the authority to extend the signature collection timeline this close to an election. On September 1, the circuit court ruled in favor of the city, issuing a stay and freezing the federal court ruling. While organizers submitted the signatures within 60 days of the July 27 ruling, the city now argues that the actual deadline was August 21, making the signatures invalid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe City is simply defending itself against the suit brought by the petitioners which sought to change the process in the middle of the original timeline,\u201d wrote the city spokesperson. \u201cThe City is obligated to adhere to state law, and in this case, must receive legal guidance from the Court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 11th Circuit Court is expected to decide on this issue later this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his letter, Dickens attempted to draw a distinction between the referendum process and actual voting, both democratic processes. \u201cEquating the petition process to voter suppression minimizes actual instances of voter suppression,\u201d Dickens wrote. \u201cThis petition process provides an option for those who disagree with the decisions of their elected leaders, in this case a veto proof supermajority of the City Council who approved the project twice, to have their voices heard. That process is difficult because it should only be used in extraordinary circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dickens wrote about the \u201crisk of petition fraud\u201d when \u201chundreds of thousands of dollars (or more) are spent by out of state interests to influence the process.\u201d He cited a tweet<\/a> announcing fundraising for groups dedicated to supporting Black communities and arrested protesters, comparing it to instances of QAnon and GOP-affiliated petition fraud. (He had comparably little to say about the millions of corporate dollars<\/a> funding the Atlanta Police Foundation\u2019s efforts for the facility.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Related<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Atlanta City Leaders Are Subverting Democracy to Save Cop City<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Atlanta mayor also wrote significantly about public safety, juxtaposing the police murders of George Floyd and others with \u201ca spike in violent crime.\u201d \u201cDo we achieve public safety through more officers, or more training, or investing in addressing the root causes of crime? The answer to all of those is yes,\u201d he wrote. Dickens pointed to the city council\u2019s recent reforms, like banning chokeholds, requiring de-escalation tactics, and expanding the authority of the Citizen Review Board as positive developments (seven of the board\u2019s<\/a> 16 positions are currently vacant, including the chair).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cop City Vote coalition raised a number of counterpoints in an annotated version<\/a> of the mayor\u2019s letter. While the mayor lauded recent police reforms, the activists noted that the reforms have not resulted in comprehensive accountability for the Atlanta Police Department. For instance, the police department refuses to release body camera footage from an August encounter that led to 62-year-old deacon Johnny Hollman\u2019s death<\/a>. Hollman called 911 after getting into a car accident. When officers arrived, they deemed Hollman at fault, according to Atlanta police. He asked to see a sergeant, and the officers threatened to arrest him if he didn\u2019t sign a ticket, per Hollman\u2019s family, who have seen the footage. According to them, Hollman said he\u2019d sign the ticket, but the officer still grabbed him and began tasing him. Hollman apparently told the officer \u201cI can\u2019t breathe\u201d up to 16 times, the family said. Hollman was taken into custody and pronounced dead at the hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Dickens wrote that \u201cpeople feel safe when they know we are investing in criminal justice reform and non-policing alternatives,\u201d organizers pointed to a multimillion-dollar violence prevention initiative that has floundered<\/a> over the past year, losing its executive director and leaving millions of dollars untouched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And though Dickens stated that \u201cpeople feel safe when they have a secure roof over their heads,\u201d organizers countered that the city let go of $10 million<\/a> in emergency rental assistance funding after it didn\u2019t provide the money to needy residents before a deadline. \u201cInnovative collaboration,\u201d Dickens wrote, has enabled the city \u201cto ensure that people could remain in their homes.\u201d Still, as the city\u2019s Covid-19 eviction moratorium was lifted earlier this month, an estimated 12,000<\/a> area residents were said to be facing or soon facing eviction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe could address the inaccuracies, misinformation, and incoherence of this letter \u2014 and we did \u2014 but the bottom line: We\u2019re not falling for it,\u201d said Mary Hooks, tactical lead for the Cop City Vote coalition. \u201cThe mayor says he doesn\u2019t believe we have the required number of petitions. OK. Get out of the way, withdraw your unnecessary and expensive legal appeal, and start counting. We\u2019ll bet your political career that we\u2019ve got the numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONTACT THE AUTHOR:<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Prem Thakker<\/a>prem.thakker@\u200btheintercept.com<\/a>@prem_thakker<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BECOMEA MEMBER Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens speaks at an election night watch party for Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock on on, Nov. 8, 2022, in Atlanta. Photo: John Bazemore\/AP Mayor Andre Dickens said he wants residents to be heard on Cop City \u2014 but his own administration is slow-walking a possible vote… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[91],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28811"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28811"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28811\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28844,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28811\/revisions\/28844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}