Latest news with #AndreDickens'
Axios
5 days ago
- Business
- Axios
Atlanta doubles down on rapid housing to reduce homelessness
Construction will soon begin on Atlanta's latest plan to provide housing to its most vulnerable residents amid a larger effort to end homelessness in the Downtown area before the city hosts eight 2026 FIFA World Cup matches. Why it matters: The project is another nudge forward in Mayor Andre Dickens' goal to build 500 rapid housing units by the end of the year and a plan by Partners for Home, the nonprofit managing Atlanta's strategy to reduce homelessness, to house 400 people within that same timeframe. Driving the news: A groundbreaking ceremony was held Friday at the site, which is at 405 Cooper St., in the city's Mechanicsville neighborhood. Plans for the project's first phase call for 100 housing units to be constructed on the site, which at one point served as a homeless encampment. People living in those units will have access to mental health, workforce development and case management services that will help them get on their feet and obtain long-term stable housing, the city said. What they're saying: "A lot of sad days have happened here. A lot of desperate days have happened here, and this marks a hopeful future of what the city can be," said Josh Humphries, senior housing adviser to the mayor. Dickens said the second phase of the project will feature 70 market-rate townhomes. "This will give families opportunities to stay, invest and build generational wealth in this neighborhood," he said, adding that the city helped connect the former encampment's residents with services they needed to get off the streets. Dickens also said the city is searching for a director to lead a new Office of Homelessness, which is part of the recommendations released last week from the 90-Day Homelessness Task Force. Zoom out: Partners for Home, which also coordinates the city's annual count of unhoused people, last week released its $212 million Atlanta Rising plan to eliminate homelessness in the city. The first phase of the project, dubbed Downtown Rising, is a "coordinated, place-based initiative focused on rehousing individuals living unsheltered in the city's core," Partners for Home said last week in a statement. It includes outreach to people living in at least 10 homeless encampments near Mercedes-Benz Stadium, according to the AJC. Catch up quick: The city has opened three previous rapid housing projects: The Melody, Ralph David House and 729 Bonaventure. The Melody features 40 converted shipping containers on city-owned property on Forsyth Street near the Garnett MARTA Station in South Downtown. 729 Bonaventure, a building dating back to the early 1900s, was renovated to offer 23 units reserved for people who are unhoused in Virginia-Highland. The Ralph David House is a former motel refurbished into 56 studio apartments off Moreland Avenue. What's next: The city has another rapid housing project under construction on city-owned property, on the northwest corner of 17th Street and Northside Drive.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dickens Champions ‘Cop City,' Crime Drop, and Housing Gains
The anticipated spring opening of the facility commonly referred to as 'Cop City' was one of the highlights of Mayor Andre Dickens' Tuesday night State of the City Address during a speech that felt like both a victory lap and a kickoff for his reelection campaign. The Atlanta Police Department's Facebook page announced the Public Safety Training Center news late Monday afternoon. Video footage showing police on motorcycles circling orange cones in a parking lot lit up the large onstage projector screen inside the Woodruff Arts Center auditorium Tuesday evening. 'Today, under Mayor Dickens' leadership, the new, state-of-the-art Public Safety Training Center is open for business,' the video narrator declared before his voice was drowned out by applause from hundreds of supporters in the room. The looming launch of Cop City is one of several key political battles Dickens has won against adversaries from both sides of the political spectrum since taking office in 2021. During his remarks, the mayor noted his defeat of the conservative Buckhead City movement (with the help of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp) in addition to his apparent triumph over the progressive push to stop Cop City. 'When they tried to tear our city in two, we fought back and kept our city whole,' Dickens said during his address. 'When they tried to stop Cop City, we fought back and built the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.' Lowering crime, creating more affordable housing, and securing higher-paying jobs have been some of the top concerns for Black voters since Dickens took office three years ago. The former Atlanta City Council member highlighted progress his administration has made on all those fronts throughout his speech while noting there's still work to be done over the next four years as he seeks a second term. Dickens touted reducing homicides by 26%, robberies by 15%, and auto thefts by 29% since 2022. He reminded those in attendance of the 2023 launch of the city's first-ever Department of Labor and the 14,000 young people hired through his Summer Youth Employment Program. Dickens also said his administration is on track to exceed its goal of creating 20,000 affordable housing units by the year 2030. 'We are building or have families already moved into over 11,000!' he boasted during his speech. He noted the list of accolades and honors Atlanta has received during his three-year tenure. That list includes Money magazine naming Atlanta as the best place to live in America for two consecutive years, Black Enterprise calling the city the best place to start a business in 2024, and the Mortgage Research Center dubbing the metro area as the best for Black homebuyers. Critics of Dickens contend the Atlanta he's building is displacing much of the city's native, low-income, Black population in favor of a wealthier, more diverse group of transplants relocating here from around the nation. The mayor acknowledged the city's ongoing homelessness crisis during his remarks, as event organizers showed footage of him working with unhoused locals during the city's latest Point-In-Time homeless census count in late January. He took credit for creating the city's Rapid Response housing program for the homeless and working with City Council last year to set aside $60 million to combat homelessness in Atlanta. 'Our Housing Help Center has helped seniors and legacy residents stay in their homes, and we are deeply committed to helping our homeless population,' the mayor said. 'Through our housing-first strategy, we have provided more homes to homeless individuals than at any time in our history.' The post Dickens Champions 'Cop City,' Crime Drop, and Housing Gains appeared first on Capital B News - Atlanta.
Axios
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Atlanta moves to next phase of inspector general overhaul
Atlanta leaders are looking for fresh faces to serve on the Office of Inspector General's governing board a week after the City Council passed legislation to overhaul the agency. Why it matters: Mayor Andre Dickens' administration says changes approved last Monday will ensure employees are informed of their rights, but critics argue say some of the changes will make it harder for the OIG to root out City Hall corruption. The latest: Atlanta's Department of Labor and Employment Services on Friday released an Employee Bill of Rights, which outlines how employees should respond to investigations. Mayor Andre Dickens said Friday in a press release that the list (and an accompanying guide) "balances transparency and accountability for the city's public servants, while making clear their rights and responsibilities." Zoom in: The governing board for the OIG, which also oversaw the Ethics Office, was disbanded immediately after the City Council passed the charter amendments and Dickens signed them into law. Both offices will now have separate governing boards. Letters were sent last Monday evening informing members of the dissolution. Organizations tasked with putting up nominations for the board were made aware of change and will now have to toss new names in the hat for consideration. What they're saying: Former governing board chair Nichola Hines, who said she resigned on Feb. 14, before the council's action, told Axios the legislation is faulty because it allows the OIG to notify people if they are being investigated. Hines also said criticism from the administration about how former inspector general Shannon Manigault conducted investigations "has weakened the office because people are not going to feel comfortable regardless of who else you put in that space." "If I do my job, you're going to do the same thing you did to the last inspector general," she said. The seven members of the governing board, which is tasked with hiring an inspector general, will serve three-year terms. The chair must be an attorney that has "no less than five years of investigative experience." Appointments to the board are required to be confirmed by the City Council and approved by the mayor. Any employee interviews done by the OIG must take place during their working hours and in city-owned buildings. The office is prohibited from using "convert surveillance technology" as part of its investigations. Between the lines: The inspector general is now required to give quarterly reports to the board, submit standard operating procedures — including its investigative policies — to the board for approval, and provide an annual report to the mayor and city council. The other side: The new ordinance is needed because it gives the governing board more responsibility over the Office of Inspector General, said former board member Todd Gray. The old ordinance did not have any protocols for how the inspector general should report to the board, he told Axios. "I don't feel, as a board member, I should find out in the news what's going on in the OIG office," he said. "That's not where I should find out spy pens were purchased." What we're watching: It's possible that nominating organizations could select the same people who served on the governing board before it was dissolved.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Atlanta OIG sued over alleged improper subpoenas of bank records
On Monday, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens' office announced that the city's Office of Inspector General had violated Georgia law at least 50 times when issuing subpoenas. Now, the office, the city and the Inspector General herself are being sued. According to the mayor's office, OIG had issued subpoenas but failed to provide notice to the individuals whose bank records they were requesting, violating state law. 'According to the Georgia statute, any government agency or official that issues a subpoena for an individual's financial records must provide prior written notice to the individual concerned. This notice requirement ensures transparency and gives the individual an opportunity to respond or contest the subpoena before their private financial information is disclosed. Recent findings indicate that the OIG did not adhere to this legal requirement,' the mayor's office said in a statement. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] In response to those findings, and a cease and desist letter to the OIG from the City Attorney, the OIG's office said they were 'finalizing a revision to its policies and procedures regarding subpoenas to financial institutions based on the banking law provision.' City Attorney Patrise Perkins-Hooker also said in a statement that the improper subpoenas were not only illegal, but placed 'the City of Atlanta at risk for potential liability for this intentional violation of Georgia's Banking and Finance Laws.' TRENDING STORIES: Judge temporarily blocks Trump plan offering incentives for federal workers to resign Alpharetta-based makers of SMITE lays off dozens of staff Georgia Senate to vote on bill banning transgender students from girls' sports While changes of policy by OIG and ordinances to further clarity, processes from the Atlanta City Council will help in the longer term, for some Atlantans, it's too late. On Thursday, Attorney Stephen M. Katz filed a lawsuit against the City of Atlanta, the Atlanta Office of Inspector General and Atlanta Inspector General Shannon K. Manigualt for alleged violations of his client, Bernard Tokarz's, First, Fourth and 14th Amendment rights and for invasion of privacy as defined in Georgia law. According to the filing in court, the lawsuit is in direct response to improper financial records subpoenas filed by Manigault and the OIG over the course of several years, and at least as far back as January 2021. The lawsuit also alleged that Tokarz is not the only person impacted by this tactic, where a subpoena duces tecum was filed with banks to request banking records, but financial institutions were urged not to notify the bank clients as to not interfere with a law enforcement investigation. The lawsuit filed by Katz on behalf of Tokarz lists 10 clients, including a music studio, as those facing several subpoenas for their financial records that were not informed, at the request of the OIG. The court document also says the financial records were then used as purported evidence in accusations of financial and official impropriety, causing injury to various individuals' reputations and financial situations. The lawsuit alleges that the OIG violated the plaintiff's, and others', rights under the color of law and were not conducting a criminal or tax investigation. The lawsuit cites the Feb. 3 cease and desist letter from the Atlanta City Attorney as evidence that the accusations against the OIG were 'intentional' acts. As a result, Tokarz is seeking compensatory damages in court and requesting a trial by jury. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
