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Each city’s risk to public safety can be as unique as the people who live and work there. That’s why many municipal fire departments across Georgia rely on data-based, strategic approaches, such as Community Risk Reduction program (CRR), to mitigate risks from large-scale events like fires, floods, or tornadoes to individual incidents like falls and medical emergencies.  

According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), CRR is a method for identifying and prioritizing local risks, followed by the integrated and strategic investment of resources to reduce their occurrence and impact. A CRR strategy is often based around “the 5Es” – education, engineering, enforcement, economic incentives, and emergency response. 

“Collaboration among fire, police, EMS, city administration, and other departments such as planning and development, economic development, parks and recreation can uncover hazards or risks that the city can mitigate through unified action,” explained Roswell Fire Division Chief Brian G. Wolfe, a strong advocate of Community Risk Reduction. The action could take the form of an “ordinance change to reduce fire risk in assisted living facilities,” Wolfe said, “or the opening of a city facility to provide shelter during extreme weather to reduce the risk of cold or heat exposure to unhoused or limited-resource members of our communities.” 

For example, in 2012 Union City became the first city in Georgia to adopt an ordinance requiring owners of new multi-family or high-risk dwellings to equip housing units with devices that require “high-end heat limiting technology” for electric coiled cooking devices (ranges, cooktops and hot plates) helping to prevent stovetop cooking fires (the number one cause of household fires in the U.S. – 44% of all fires according to the NFPA). 

As an example of enforcement action, Wolfe highlighted a technology tool – the Compliance Engine portal – that the cities of Roswell, Alpharetta, and Sandy Springs use to streamline system inspections like alarms and sprinklers to minimize wasted time and effort. Using the Compliance Engine portal, local businesses upload compliance reports before inspections, allowing inspectors to spend less time on repeat visits. Inspections are postponed if a company is non-compliant until a passing report is upoloaded. Roswell also has a Cry Wolf Program that tracks false alarms and determines if fines are needed to reduce false alarms, which can be a nuisance to fire and police departments. 

According to Fayetteville Community Risk Reduction Officer Stephaene Core, the city has implemented “quite a few programs” as part of its risk reduction efforts. 

One program called the Vial of Life encourages residents that are senior or disabled to fill out a form with their current medical information, enclose it and other pertinent documents in a clearly marked medical vial, put it in the refrigerator or freezer, and attach a Vial of Life sticker outside the refrigerator in case of a medical emergency. 

“If the patient is unresponsive, [first responders] could get the information from the vial. They can understand what could be going on,” Core explained. “Everyone can take a program like this and adjust to their community.”  

Fayetteville CRR officers also educate schoolchildren on fire safety through activities like station tours and fire truck appearances. They also provide CPR training at local businesses, install free smoke alarms for select residents in need, and conduct a junior firefighter camp for 6th to 8th graders, where the participants learn about what makes a fire, fire safety, radio communications, and more. 

“My goal is not just to have programs, but to have them have an impact and be sustainable,” Core said, adding that in the year since the city implemented the risk reduction programs, the city’s ISO rating has dropped from two to three. An ISO rating is a score given to the fire departments and their communities by the Insurance Services Office (ISO) that assesses how well-prepared the community is for fires. “I want to grow our CRR program to reach all age groups,” Core added. “Ensuring the programs fit our needs.” 

The city of Milton’s CRR program involves the Fire Marshal and the Medical Services offices, and the city targets its programs based on incident data.  

“The Medical Services office looks at a broader scope of medical-related needs, like CPR, community stop the bleed classes, and safe sitter programs that teach young girls how to become babysitters in the community,” explained Milton Deputy Fire Chief and Fire Marshal Alex Fortner. “Another Milton CRR program is a co-response unit with the city’s police department that speaks to mental health.” The program is called Community Advocates for Referral and Education Services or CARES. The CARES medics refer those who have experienced a mental health episode to additional services. “Anytime the hospital discharges someone in the program who lives in Milton, a CARES medic will call and ask if they patient needs anything,” Fortner said. The outreach program aims to bridge the gap between emergency care and everyday healthcare needs. 

The city also has an education program on when to call 9-1-1 and a barn safety program, as it is known as an equestrian city. 

Milton has also launched an online risk-assessment platform called CRAIG 1300, which incorporates incident data and overlays it with local community indicators. 

“While we’ll use this information in-house to better plan fire and life safety initiatives, it also has a public-facing component,” Fortner explained. “That’s right – the general public has access to key information and data points that will help them fully understand the risks in our community, how we respond, and what we’re doing to reduce them.” 

Alpharetta Fire Marshal Ethan Talbot said that city prevention and education programs enable fire departments to address potential threats before they escalate to crisis levels. 

“By doing this, we reduce the burden on community resources and emergency services,” he said. “In Georgia, where diverse urban, rural, and coastal communities each face distinct risks, a robust CRR plan ensures that we are not only prepared for the unexpected but actively working to prevent it or restore our communities to normal with minimal disruption. When we invest in resources to implement CRR programs, we invest in our communities’ longevity and prosperity, fostering environments where businesses can flourish, families can grow, and neighborhoods can thrive.” 

• “Minions” Friday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m.
• “Little Rascals” Friday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m.
• “Casper” Friday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m.

• Midland: The Get Lucky Tour
  Friday, Oct. 4 at 8 p.m.

• Nothing But Thieves
  Sunday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m.

• Knocked Loose
  Thursday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.

• The Script
  Friday, Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

• Stephen Sanchez
  Sunday, Oct. 13 at 8 p.m.

• Jungle
  Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 8 p.m.

• The Red Clay Strays
  Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m.

• Massive Attack
  Thursday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m.

• A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie
  Saturday, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m.

• MrBallen: The Strange, Dark, & Mysterious
  Sunday, Oct. 20 at 8 p.m.

• Bethel Music
  Monday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m.

• Chase Atlantic
  Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 8 p.m.

• Judah & the Lion
  Friday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m.

• Tinashe World
  Saturday, Oct. 25 at 8 p.m.

• Danny Ocean
  Thursday, Oct. 31 at 8 p.m.

• Coordinates LLC – A pajamas brand and loungewear that celebrates creativity, art, and family. Designed to enhance special moments, Coordinates offers sleepwear and lifestyle apparel that reflects global diversity and encourages families to express their unique style.  
• Cakes Designer Boutique & Academy – The company offers several workshops and classes in different culinary areas, as well as designs the most beautiful, original, and incredible custom cakes for various occasions like weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, baptisms, baby showers, and more. 
• Dope Pieces, LLC – The company uses puzzles as a vehicle to connect artists needing more visibility for their work with a community seeking more representative puzzles.  
•  Moosh (Tracey Reed, LLC) – A women’s home and children’s boutique in Atlanta’s historic Virginia Highlands, Moosh envisioned a lifestyle boutique with an urbane sensibility reflecting their cultural heritage. Moosh offers women’s and children’s clothing, shoes, accessories, home decor, toys, and specialty baby gifts.  
• A Few Wood Men – A wooden watch and accessory collection was created and designed for Men of Distinction, that aims to provide sustainability, representation, and community through their wooden watches and accessory collection 

Kroger’s Atlanta Division todayannounced it is hosting a customer round-up to help support the American Red Cross and its enormous relief effort in the aftermath of Helene’s devastating damage to local communities. Starting today, Kroger customers can round up their purchase at the register to the nearest dollar amount or make a donation at checkout.

“Area residents are asking how they can help victims of Helene,” said Tammie Young-Ennaemba, corporate affairs manager for Kroger’s Atlanta Division. “Kroger is hosting the round-up to make it easier for customers to provide much-needed donations. One hundred percent of all donations made during the month of October will go directly to the American Red Cross to support disaster relief.”

Kroger’s Atlanta Division is also supporting local communities through direct donations of much-needed supplies such as water and ice.

“It is times like these that we band together to rebuild our communities. Our customers and associates have always demonstrated their compassion during times such as these and their generosity truly makes a difference in the lives of so many people,” Young-Ennaemba said.

More than one dozen academic studies have found guaranteed income programs led to several key benefits, including higher rates of employment, improved financial stability, better housing and food security, and more time spent together as families. 

A guaranteed income refers to monthly cash payments made to low-income individuals, with no strings attached. Around 150 cities are or have recently run guaranteed income pilots, and 60 of those are affiliated with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income (MGI), a network of mayors and city and county officials dedicated to creating best practices for this policy intervention. Several leading research institutions have collaborated with MGI cities and counties to study these guaranteed income pilots, and full results have been released for thirteen cities whose pilots have completed. 

Nearly every pilot studied has shown higher rates of employment, in direct contradiction to the most common criticism from opponents. In Stockton, CA recipients found full-time employment at more than twice the rate of non-recipients. Paterson, NJ‘s year-long guaranteed income program showed a rise in gig work and self-employment, and recipients increased their income significantly. In Saint Paul, MN researchers found an increase in employment that lasted after the program. Cambridge, MA‘s program for single caregivers showed an increase in the employment rate from 36% at baseline to 40% after 12 months, while employment fell amongst the control group. Birmingham, AL‘s pilot for single mothers showed that participants experienced significantly fewer issues at work due to childcare challenges—44 percent fewer recipients reported having been late for work in the past month due to childcare issues than did working mothers in the control group. Read more about employment outcomes here.

Increased parent-child time is another common finding, and several cities have demonstrated better outcomes for children because of it. In Cambridge, MA, households receiving guaranteed income reported fewer school disciplinary actions and fewer instances of absenteeism and truancy, and more children placed in the Advanced Placement classes among the recipient group, compared to the control group. In Los Angeles, CA, parents receiving guaranteed income were significantly more likely to maintain their children’s extracurricular activities and reported more time for parenting.  In Richmond, VA, recipients reported being able to make deliberate parenting choices, key for healthy child development. An analysis of four Southern cities–Atlanta, GA, Birmingham, AL, Louisville, KYand Shreveport, LA–found positive impacts in 5 key areas: basic needs, educational outcomes, work-life balance, parent-child relationships, and parents’ mental health. Read more about parent-child outcomes here.

Greater financial stability has been found across all studies, and other notable results include greater housing and food security, better mental health, reduced exposure to intimate partner violence, among other important quality of life markers.

The thirteen pilots randomly selected a fixed number of people to receive guaranteed income out of a larger pool of qualified applicants, and most included a control group of people who also met the qualifications. Most pilots were based on income level alone, but some programs were targeted to specific, vulnerable populations. Cambridge’s program was for single caregivers making less than 80% of the area median income, and Birmingham’s focused on single mothers specifically. Ventura County, California opted to support foster youth with a guaranteed income as they transitioned out of state care. In Denver, Colorado, the Basic Income Project focused on people without housing.

“What makes these guaranteed income pilots especially meaningful is the democratic process that our pilots naturally undergo, as each municipality elects leaders who promise to tackle the issues that the community prioritizes,” said Michael D. Tubbs, founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income. “Research shows that recipients are able to pull themselves out of poverty and create economic stability for themselves and their families. With polls showing that a majority of American voters – 62% – support a federal guaranteed income, it’s time to take this from pilots to national policy.”

Ultimately, the collaboration between cities, counties and researchers will produce the largest body of guaranteed income research ever. Read more about pilot-specific results, and find new studies as they are released, at www.guaranteedincomeworks.org/research, and at the Denver Basic Income Project, the Urban Institute (for Austin, TX) and the Arlington Community Foundation (Arlington, VA).

Capitol Beat is a nonprofit news service operated by the Georgia Press Educational Foundation that provides coverage of state government to newspapers throughout Georgia. For more information visit capitol-beat.org.

Voting rights advocates and local election officials Tuesday criticized new rules the Republican-controlled State Election Board has approved in recent weeks as unnecessary mandates that will only throw doubt into the voting process.

“This State Election Board has unleashed a Pandora’s box of chaos and confusion,” Isabel Otero, Georgia policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, told the state Senate’s Urban Affairs Committee, a panel made up entirely of Democrats. “[The new rules] are going to give them an excuse to deny certification [of results] and cause unnecessary delays. … Our voters deserve better.”

Specifically, Otero cited three rules changes the board has approved since early August allowing county election officials to certify results only after a “reasonable inquiry” ensures their accuracy, requiring those same officials to reconcile the total number of ballots cast in each precinct with the total number of voters, and requiring counties to hand-count the number of ballots cast at polling places on Election Night.

“Those three rules in combination allow bad actors to deny election results,” Otero said.

The three board members who voted for the rules changes have denied taking part in a conspiracy to help former President Donald Trump carry Georgia’s 16 electoral votes by sowing uncertainty in the election results and delaying certification of the vote. Instead, they have argued the changes are aimed at ensuring the integrity of the results.

But Chris Bruce, policy and advocacy director for the ACLU of Georgia, said the board has overstepped its legal authority by passing the new rules just weeks ahead of Election Day.

“The State Election Board is trying to become a legislative body,” Bruce said. “All this is doing is spreading mistrust and voter apathy.”

Milton Kidd, director of the Douglas County Board of Elections, said the requirements the new rules will impose on local election workers after the polls close on Election Night are so burdensome he’s afraid many won’t be willing to serve in the future.

“There’s no legitimate purpose to having poll workers do this,” Kidd said. “It’s chaos from an administrative perspective.”

The Cobb County Board of Elections recently adopted a resolution opposing the rules changes.

“It’s a solution looking for a problem,” said Tori Silas, who chairs the Cobb board.

Cindy Battles, policy director with the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, said the new requirements are forcing counties to spend more money on municipal elections without help from the state. Some have even considered cutting their emergency services budgets to pay for elections, she said.

The State Election Board may not be through with rules changes. The board has additional meetings scheduled for Oct. 8 and Oct. 15 ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

Southeast Georgia state highways have been cleared of fallen trees and debris from Hurricane Helene’s aftermath.
 
Following Hurricane Helene, 29 state routes in Southeast Georgia were closed. However, Georgia DOT’s dedicated crews, working tirelessly, managed to clear roadways by pushing debris to the shoulders, making them passable for motorists.
 
Some debris removal was hindered by powerlines wrapped up in the trees, which the utility company had to deem safe. However, due to the massive amount of debris, Georgia DOT’s crews are not alone in this effort. Contractors are assisting them with debris pickup.
 
The hurricane also battered traffic signals, and, at some intersections, a loop of wiring is all that remains intact. They are striving to replace damaged signals before power is restored at most intersections, showing a strong determination to restore normalcy. To reach that goal, they are assisted by a contractor and Georgia DOT technicians from other areas of the state.
 
Significant roadway damage occurred during the hurricane on US 341 at milepost 17 between Lumber City and McRea-Helena in Telfair County. Traffic on this four-lane divided highway has been directed to a single lane in each direction. Southeast district department heads are in the process of getting the roadway repaired.

For real-time road conditions anywhere in the state, call 511 or click on (www.511ga.org). 

A few safety reminders as the post-Helene recovery marathon continues:

• Drivers failing to stop at “dark” (without power) signalized intersections continues to be an issue. Treat these intersections like a four-way stop. The same rule applies if a signal is flashing red.

• Please give Georgia DOT crews space to work safely. If possible, move over a lane. Vehicles clearing roads will make frequent stops so don’t tailgate. For the safety of signal technicians working in bucket trucks, slow down as you approach and don’t crowd the trucks.

• Drive alert! There are many “leaners and hangers” on road shoulders – trees that are leaning over lanes and trees that would have fallen onto the road if they weren’t hanging on something. Work is underway to identify those locations on state route rights of way so they can be cleared.

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