Coming off another weekend of violence, Atlanta mayoral candidates discussed how they’d curb crime during a June 8 forum organized by the Committee for a Better Atlanta (CBA).
The event included separate forums for the mayoral, at-large, council president (which you can watch in the video above) and city council elections. Qualifying will take place Aug. 17-20.
The mayoral candidates in attendance were City Council President Felicia Moore, Councilmember Andre Dickens, attorney Sharon Gay, Councilmember Antonio Brown and political newcomer Walter Reeves. They were given 30 seconds to answer questions and allowed no debate.
“The primary issue in this city is to make sure that everyone feels safe no matter what income bracket or neighborhood you live in,” Moore said. “This is going to be a collective effort that we all have to work to address.”
Dickens said in his first 100 days as mayor, the police chief would need to make an impact or a search for a new chief would be necessary.
Gay agreed the city has a public safety emergency, saying she was a victim of a mugging near her home. Gay said she would implement fresh ideas to deal with crime.
“What’s happening is different from what we have seen before,” she said. “It is more random. It is more violent. It is everywhere … We cannot solve this with the same old techniques and tactics we’ve used before.”
Brown said he has a different perspective on public safety. “I think the crime we are seeing in Atlanta is a side effect of generational poverty that has gone unaddressed for decades in this city,” he said. “You have to address them both.”
Reeves didn’t specifically address crime. “I have a special skill for building teams,” he said.
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