Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens on Thursday made his way down Cascade Road in southwest Atlanta. The first-term mayor wasn’t hard to spot, a crowd in campaign t-shirts followed him as he visited the iconic soul food spot, The Beautiful Restaurant, then was off to a smoothie shop, ice cream bar and tattoo parlor.
While the stretch of neighborhood businesses is a favorite campaign stop for Dickens, his appearance last week wasn’t to promote his own reelection bid, which will come next year. It was a run of stops for Ali Carter, a candidate for Fulton County Commission and a former staff member in Dickens’ city council office.
“You know I got this start when I was a City Council member,” Dickens told diners. “When I was a City Council member this man right here was my right hand man — from the days of campaigning to working in the office to taking care of business.
“He was my chief of staff on City Council and now he’s about to be your next Fulton County Commissioner,” the mayor said.
Carter is running for the Fulton County Commission District 6 seat against incumbent Khadijah Abdur-Rahman. And while Dickens and Carter are old friends, it wouldn’t hurt for Atlanta’s mayor to have an ally with voting power in county government.
The city of Atlanta and Fulton County have been butting heads recently over the renewal of the animal control service contract between the two, a yelling match at a commission meeting and a newfound argument over unpaid water bills. The disagreement over the animal control contract caused Fulton to stop providing service in the city for a short time.
“It means a lot to the residents of both Fulton and the city of Atlanta when we all get along,” Dickens told the AJC. “There’s been times where there has been tension and that’s been because people don’t know how to sit down at a table and have reasonable conversation.”
After Fulton County paused animal services to the city during a debate over an increased price tag, Atlanta hit back that the county owes it millions in unpaid water bills. Atlanta and Fulton officials were supposed to meet last week to hash it out, but the conversation was rescheduled.
Carter isn’t the only candidate Dickens’ hopes to see in office after the election this month.
According to his campaign, he’s also endorsing Fani Willis for Fulton County District Attorney; Che Alexander for Fulton County Clerk of Superior Court; Larry Johnson for DeKalb County CEO; Lisa Cupid for Cobb County Commission chair; Nicole Love Hendrickson for Gwinnett County Commission chair; and Carlotta Harrell for Henry County Commission chair.
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Credit: Courtesy of the City of Atlanta
Credit: Courtesy of the City of Atlanta
Atlanta’s police and fire departments are looking to expand their alternative policing programs.
Atlanta’s elected officials are in the middle of a tedious review of the city’s $853 million budget. That means on top of their regular policy-making, members sit through hours of presentations from the city’s department heads and other key agencies.
Both police and fire officials want dollars to go toward programs like APD’s mental health co-responder units — specialized teams made up of mental health experts to respond alongside officers. APD is also on track to form a C.A.R.E. unit made up of civilian responders who answer non-emergency calls to free up patrols.
“In 2023, we responded to 7,289 calls of a person in a mental health crisis,” APD Chief Darin Schierbaum said during the department’s budget briefing. “...Our officers are prepared to do that, but we should not be the primary responder to mental health emergency.”
The fire department is also looking to grow its citizen task force to address non-emergency calls for the city’s seniors, which falls into a broader effort to reduce 9-1-1 call volumes.
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Credit: Miguel Martinez
Credit: Miguel Martinez
