CCI Policy Updates: Week of April 27 - May 1

The Center for Civic Innovation’s mission is to inspire people to take action, invest in promising homegrown ideas, and advocate for policy change. Especially during this global pandemic, it can be hard to stay on top of local information regarding what’s happening. That's why we started this blog series to provide our community with important and relevant policy updates. Each post recaps the past week and provides a look ahead at what’s on the agenda next week, including opportunities for the public to engage.

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Week of April 27 Policy Updates:

  • Atlanta Public Schools shared a virtual Q&A with Dr. Lisa Herring, the sole finalist to become the new superintendent. The current superintendent, Dr. Meria Carstarphen, issued a memo outlining anticipated budget cuts of $60 million for the next fiscal year.

  • Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms spoke with City Council by phone to provide updates.

  • City Council met in committees. Items receiving significant discussion that remain held in committee for further discussion include the authorization of another $4 million for the MLK streetscape project, allocation of space at the Atlanta City Detention Center as a homeless shelter, the approval of Tree Recompense Fund for maintenance of the Lake Charlotte Nature Preserve, and the proposed issuance of $200 million in housing opportunity bonds. 

  • The Development Authority of Fulton County met remotely and approved over $200 million in bonds in the city of Atlanta.

  • The AJC reports that the City of Atlanta received a letter in February from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) threatening to cancel millions of dollars in grants meant to help people with AIDS pay for housing.

  • A DeKalb County Commissioner has introduced legislation opposing tax incentives for development projects.

  • The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the official annotated version of Georgia’s state laws cannot be copyrighted.

Opportunities for Engagement Next Week:

  • The Atlanta City Council will be meeting virtually on Monday. The administration will present the mayor’s budget. Significant legislation on the agenda includes hazard pay for frontline City employees, the collection of demographic data on COVID-19 patients, the deferral and possible forgiveness of small business loans, and preference for local businesses for pandemic response procurements.

  • The Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education also meets on Monday. Each of the district representatives will host a virtual question and answer session with the sole finalist for superintendent, Dr. Lisa Herring, this week on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Details can be found on the APS Board of Education Facebook page.

  • The Fulton County Board of Commissioners will meet virtually on Tuesday.

  • The City of Atlanta is seeking responses to its COVID-19 Response Survey on re-opening businesses and venues.

  • It’s time to respond to the 2020 Census. As of April 30th, the self-response rate in the City of Atlanta is 48.3% – 10.7% below the final self-response rate in 2010.

  • The State has begun mailing absentee ballots for the June 9th election. Check with DeKalb County or Fulton County on how to request and submit absentee ballot request forms. 

  • Neighborhood Planning Units (NPUs) B, C, E, and P will meet remotely. (agendas) Don’t know your NPU? Find your NPU here!

What We’re Reading/Watching/Hearing:


To make these updates better, we need your input. What was most informative or helpful? What did we miss? Please email us at policy@civicatlanta.org.

policy updatesKyle Kesslerpolicy