2021 City Elections

You can think of the role of mayor as the city's "CEO", as the leader of the executive branch of local government. The mayor runs the city day to day and prepares the budget each year, meaning that they propose how much funding goes to each city department, including the police department, city parks, transportation, and the fire department. The mayor also hires the Police Chief, Fire Chief, and city department heads, such as City Planning, Parks & Recreation, and Transportation.

Most Georgia mayors are elected in odd years to four year terms. Elections are nonpartisan.

Recent examples of impact

During Keisha Lance Bottom's term:

• 2018: eliminated cash bonds as a requirement to secure release from city jails (source: 11 Alive)
• 2018: signed an executive order forbidding the city jail to hold ICE detainees (source: atlanta.gov press release)
• 2019: appointed the city's first transparency officer to help prevent open records abuses (source: AJC)
• 2020: signed an executive order requiring masks in all public places, private businesses and establishments when indoors (source: atlanta.gov press release)
• 2021: announced the Reimagining Atlanta City Detention Center Task Force recommendations (source: atlanta.gov press release)

Learn more about the candidates

What's important to you? Affordable housing? Police reform? Accessible mental health resources? Community development? Elect someone who has a proven track record of prioritizing the issues that you care about and has improved the community in past positions.

• www.branch.vote
• mvp.sos.ga.gov
• www.ballotpedia.org
• www.mainlinezine.com/

The Council is responsible for the creation of laws enacted to run the city government. They play a key part in the budget process and asessing various government programs & agencies that are tasked to work for Atlanta's citizens.

There are 16 members: 12 are elected by the city's 12 districts and 3 other members and the City Council President are elected "at-large" (citywide).Most city council members in Georgia are elected in odd years to four year terms. Elections are nonpartisan.

Read more about the role of Council Members

Specific responsibilities of city council members include:

• ensuring the health, comfort, and safety of residents
• working together with the rest of city council to set and implement city policy
• working with the mayor to govern city departments (including police, fire, trasportation, parts & rec)
• members represent either the whole city or residents of a specific district

This election, all voters will elect three members that represent the whole city in addition to district-level seats. Head to branch.vote to preview your ballot based on your address!

Read more about the role of Council President

City Council President is appointed through a citywide election. Responsibilities include:

• presiding at all meetings of the council and only votes in the case of a tie
• appointing chairs and members of various committees
• exercises all powers and discharges all duties of the mayor in case of a vacancy or during the disability of the mayor.

There are five candidates running for this position. Head to branch.vote for a detailed candidate breakdown and to vote prepared!

Recent examples of impact

• 2019: unanimously passed a resolution opposing House Bill 481 or the “heartbeat bill" (source: AJC)
• 2020: unanimously passed police department's budget proposal; and rather than withholding $73M funding from police, the city increased the dept's budget by 7% to over $230M (source: AJC)
• 2020: overrode Mayor’s veto of road improvements on busy westside road (source: AJC)
• 2021: green lit the construction of a $90M new police and fire training facility on forested land that was once home to the old Atlanta prison farm (a.k.a. "Cop City") (source: mainlinezine.com)

Read more about the Cop City and who in council voted for and against the project to move forward here.

Learn more about the candidates

Atlantans have the power to elect 3+ council members AND council president. It's important to vote for folks that not only say they share your priorities but have a track record of voting for/against bills that align with your positions.

Places to learn about your ballot, the candidates and city council's impact:

• www.branch.vote
• www.ballotpedia.org
• www.mainlinezine.com/

The Board of Education runs the public school system, and it is entirely independent from the rest of the city government. Board of Education members work together to make school policy, set the budget, and appoint the superintendent to run the schools day-to-day. One super important thing to know is that Board of Education affects you, even if you don't have school-aged children.

Some Board of Education members are elected by the entire city, while others represent specific districts (just like the City Council). Board of Education members are elected to four-year terms in nonpartisan elections. This year, all nine seats are up for election. Only one incumbent is running unopposed.

Read more about the role of school boards

The Board of Education members are an independent system with no oversight from from the Mayor or City Council. So it's important to make sure these members are representing their communities!

• School board officials are elected to act as a bridge between schools and their communities and to determine educational policies implemented in schools and districts
• School boards determine whether to focus more attention on struggling schools and creating policies that uplift students
• School boards are also tasked with setting property tax millage rates within their district.
  • A millage rate is a tax rate used to calculate local property taxes, and represents the amount per every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.)
  • Property values and tax rates are directly tied to the work of the school board
  • A 2014 “equity audit” found that schools in different regions of the city receive unequal investment from Atlanta Public Schools, including different levels of spending, teacher quality, access to counselors and social workers, access to playgrounds, and PTA funding

Recent examples of Board of Ed's impact

• 2019: approved equity policy seeking to correct years of "historic inequity" and achievement gaps between white and black students (source: AJC)
• 2020: approved the renaming of Grady High to Midtown High School, removing 148 years of memorializing white supremacy (source: AJC)
• 2021: held the property tax rate steady, resulting in a 5.2% increase in taxes due to rising home values (source: AJC)
• 2021: hired the first ever Atlanta Public Schools' Chief Diversity & Social Justice Officer to champion the building of a more just and equitable school system (source: Southerner Online)

Learn more about the candidates

A couple of things to consider when choosing candidates for these positions:

• The new Board will need to determine how we close the gap created during the pandemic as students lost access to many school-provided opportunities and resources.
• Some describe APS currently as "two systems in one", which favors students in higher-income areas. While the current Board has made progress in reducing these inequities, there is still much more work to be done.

Research the candidate's plans for improving equity and access to opportunities across the school system. How do they plan to ensure all Atlanta children have equitable access to opportunities? Will they ensure property taxes are going to the right focus areas within our schools?

• www.branch.vote
• www.ballotpedia.org
• mvp.sos.ga.gov

Senators represent the entire state through the interests of their constituents. They study problems that citizens feel require legislation and work with other government agencies to bring proposals (bills) to Congress. Congress is made up of two “houses”: the Senate (upper) and the House of Representatives (lower). Every state has 2 Senators in the U.S. Senate, each elected for 6 years.

Read more about the role of a Senator

A Senator's vote is the ultimate step in the legislative process.Here's how that works:

1. Senators vote on bills that are brought to Congress by way of the House.
2. When a bill is passed by the Senate AND the House of Reps, it is sent to the President for his signature.
3. The President can sign the bill into law OR veto it.
4. If vetoed, the bill is sent back to Congress and put to a vote.
5. Congress can overturn a presidential veto with a 2/3 majority in both houses.

To put it simply, there are 2 people representing 10.62 million Georgians on both a state and national level and BOTH seats are up for election this year (which like, never happens)!

Things to consider when choosing your Senate candidates…

A senator can turn the tide on how liberal or conservative their state and the country is through their votes and the bills that they support..and we've got two to elect this year! For example...do you care about reproductive rights? Make sure your senator does too (because right now ours definitely don't).

State Senators & State Representatives are members of the Georgia General Assembly, which is the legislating body of the state of Georgia. You can think of it as our own "Congress". Like the U.S. Congress, it's also made up of two "houses": the Georgia Senate (upper) and the Georgia House of Representatives (lower). Each member serves a two-year term and are directly elected by constituents of their district. There are 56 senators and 180 house representatives.

Read more

Georgia's constitution gives the state legislature the power to:

• MAKE STATE LAWS,
• restrict land for environmental and natural resource preservation,
• form a state militia under the command of the Governor of Georgia (yikes!),
• condemn property,
• zone property,
• participate in tourism, and
• control and regulate outdoor advertising.

State Senators and Reps pass laws that directly affect your day-to-day life and our communities. Do you care about unemployment benefits? Teacher pay? Paid parental leave? Liquor delivery? Taxes on vaping? The list goes on...do your research!

It's important that you check your ballot and My Voter Page for your specific district and candidates, as there are district races within each county.

Learn more about the candidates

• mvp.sos.ga.gov
• www.ballotpedia.org
• www.branch.vote

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives each represent a portion of their state known as a Congressional District. The House of Reps is one part of our Congress (the other part is the Senate). Each rep is elected to a two-year term. Among other duties, representatives introduce bills and resolutions, offer amendments and serve on committees. This seat opened as a result of John Lewis' death earlier this year.

Read more

Georgia's 5th Congressional District is based in central Fulton and includes parts of Dekalb and Clayton counties:

So...this probably includes YOU!

Following Lewis' death, Nikema Williams (Democrat) was selected to replace Lewis on the November (Democratic) ballot. She faces Republican challenger, Angela Stanton-King.

In some ways we've probably taken this for granted, but this district had been represented by the late honorable John Lewis for the past 33 years. Let's do him proud in November!

Things to consider when choosing a candidate for this position:

Your congressional house representative represents you on a local level. Do you like/not like a bill? They're usually going to be the first person you go to express that. Vote for someone who will be loud and clear voice for issues you care about!

Learn more about the candidates

• mvp.sos.ga.gov
• www.ballotpedia.org
• www.branch.vote

The District Attorney (DA) is the most powerful person in the criminal legal system as the Chief Prosecuting Officer for the State of Georgia within each of the State’s 49 judicial circuits (judicial circuits are like counties, only bigger).

• Each DA is an elected part of the judicial branch of Georgia's state government.
• The DA represents the State of Georgia in the trial and appeal of felony criminal cases in the Superior Court for the judicial circuit and delinquency cases in the juvenile courts.
• The DA is also the legal advisor to the grand jury and performs other duties prescribed by law.

The DA is elected to four-year terms in partisan, circuit-wide races. Incumbent DAs are rarely challenged in elections, often leaving bad ones in power for long periods of time.

Fulton County DA

For those of us in the metro-Atlanta area, the Office of the District Attorney is in charge of all prosecutions for ALL felonies that occur within Fulton County (Atlanta's Judicial Circuit).

In addition to unincorporated Fulton County, this jurisdiction includes the municipalities of Alpharetta, Atlanta, College Park, East Point, Fairburn, Hapeville, Milton, Mountain Park, Palmetto, Roswell, Sandy Springs and Union City.

What do DAs have the power to do?

• Choose which charges are filed against an individual accused of a crime
• Chose to prosecute cases, divert the accused to a program or drug treatment, or dismiss the case altogether.
• Determine bail and pretrial detention
• Choose what evidence will be presented (!!!)
• Negotiate plea deals
• Influence sentencing
• File notices to seek the death penalty*

Not so fun fact! Paul Howard (defeated by Fani Willis in the August run-off) was one of the most aggressive pursuers of the death penalty in Georgia, seeking capital punishment in about 40 cases since 2005 (Source).

Along with their prosecution power and deciding who goes to jail/prison, DAs have the power to hold police accountable in wrongdoings (or decide not to). For example, the District Attorney for San Francisco announced in June a new policy requiring prosecutors to review all available evidence, like body camera footage, before filing charges against people accused of resisting arrest or assaulting officers (Source).

Things to consider when choosing a candidate...

• District Attorneys have significant political sway when legislators consider sentencing legislation.
• DAs can decide to implement reform that puts less attention on non-violent crimes, such as no longer seeking jail time for minor drug offenses.
• Do you think DAs should serve the interests of the people who live in their county or turn a blind eye to police? Make sure to vote for a candidate that shares your beliefs.

Learn more about the candidates

• www.knowyourdainpa.org/power-of-your-da-suggested
• mvp.sos.ga.gov
• www.ballotpedia.org
• www.branch.vote

Superior court clerks have been around since the inception of the State of Georgia. “Clerk of Court” is one of four elected county offices created by the Georgia Constitution. Each of Georgia’s 159 counties has one. Clerks are the official record keepers of the county -they receive and maintain legal documents and records, assist the judge, attorneys and the public. Some describe clerks as "the backbone" of the court.

We're comfortable admitting that documentation about this position may has well have been written in Greek! So we asked a lawyer friend to define it for us common folk...

What is the importance of a court clerk?

The goals of a good clerk should be to make sure procedures and processes are current, while looking at ways to improve and be more efficient (like being able to e-file documents).

An efficient office will keep you from having long waits to recieve your documents. A good clerk can make sure files don't go missing or pages aren’t missing. Clerks also maintain the electronic records system and are in charge of how much taxpayer money is spent on that system.

Think of them like the secretary at the office who gets no credit, but the second they call out sick, nobody knows how to load the copy machine or where any of the important phone numbers are.

Have you ever...

• Received/paid a traffic ticket?
• Been called for jury duty?
• Received/paid child support?
• Bought a house?
• Gotten a divorce?

The documents for all of these occurrences are maintained by the court - from your divorce papers to criminal records (for superior court) to business lawsuits (state court) or evictions (magistrate court).

You can thank the Superior Court Clerks for filing those records and keeping them organized and accessible to you! Or, if you've run into delays and missing documents, you know who not to vote for!

Learn more about the candidates

• mvp.sos.ga.gov
• www.ballotpedia.org
• www.branch.vote

You can think of Sheriffs as the “police chiefs” at the county level. While the precise role of elected sheriffs varies from state to state, they have some duties in common such as overseeing local jails, transporting prisoners/pretrial detainees, investigating crimes, security at local government buildings and some even act as coroners, ruling over a person’s cause of death.

Georgia Sheriffs have additional duties

Here are some additional duties of sheriffs in our state:

• Transportation of mentally ill residents of their county to mental health emergency receiving facilities.
• Responsible for maintaining jail conditions, which means whatever level they think is acceptable.
• Create policies with professional bonding companies.

While sheriffs are technically accountable to voters, it has led some to prioritize the "majority" over their responsibility to ensure equal rights.

Example 1: During the Civil Rights movement throughout the 1960s, many white Southern sheriffs sought to consolidate power for whites by cracking down on Black protesters who tried to exercise their right to vote.

"Oh, but we've come so far since then!"

Example 2: ...In 2017, the Sheriff in Worth County, GA subjected nearly the entire student body at Worth County High School, to invasive and aggressive drug searches. This included checking inside their underwear and touching breasts/genitalia. He was suspended and replaced after a Southern Center for Human Rights lawsuit. No drugs or drug paraphernalia were found. (New York Times)

Learn more about this position and the candidates

While many sheriffs serve important functions in the community, the position itself is easy to abuse. Long tenures with limited oversight allow some to run their counties as small fiefdoms, subject to their own rules.

And in Georgia, there's no limit to how many terms a sheriff may serve, so...choose wisely.

• www.fultonsheriff.org
• mvp.sos.ga.gov
• www.ballotpedia.org
• www.branch.vote

Elected by counties every 4 years, tax commissioners oversee most phases of the taxation process - billing, collecting, processing and distributing taxes.

Tax commissioners are generally in charge of:

• ad valorem, tag, title, and transfer fees taxes on motor vehicles
• property taxes
• public utility taxes
• solid waste fees

Let's get into the juicy stuff

Georgia is the only state that still allows county tax commissioners to legally pocket fees for collecting city taxes in their jurisdictions (Source). Even Alabama amended its laws in 1982 to prevent extra income from being earned off of these same fees, which are now deposited into the county's general fund.

The AJC and Georgia News Lab reported in 2019 that at least 48 Georgia tax commissioners charge fees to cities for which they collect property taxes and keep those fees as supplements to their county salaries.

No public official has profited more from the fee system than Arthur E. Ferdinand, the current Fulton County tax commissioner, who has served in his position for 23 years.

Let's look into some numbers...

• Ferdinand's starting salary (1997): $70,000
• Ferdinand's current salary (2019): $161,000
• Earnings from charging real estate and 911 fees for the city of Atlanta alone - $225,000
• Ferdinand collects fees from 6 cities (Atlanta, South Fulton, Sandy Springs, Johns Creek, Chattahoochee Hills, Mountain Park).
• Ferdinand's earnings in 2019 alone: $490,000*

Ferdinand now makes almost $100,000 more than the President of the United States per year, and nearly 3x the salary of Georgia's governor.

Instead of going into the Ferdinand's pockets, extra fees from collecting city taxes could be deposited into...

• County and school boards (like in Florida)
• County health and human services
• All the potholes in the city of Atlanta
• County elections budget

Many state legislatures have made calls to end Georgia's fee system. The Georgia General Assembly has the authorization to change laws that directly inform tax commissioner duties (along with any elected official in the state).

Things to consider when choosing a candidate for this position:

In Fulton County, Ferdinand runs unopposed as the Democratic incumbent. Although we can't do anything about that, we CAN elect State Senators and State Representatives that will enact laws to stop this blatant abuse of power! Make sure the state officials that you elect put your city and county ahead of the personal wealth of your tax commissioner.

And as a long-term thing you can do...encourage young people to run for public office! Or run for public office yourself.

Places to learn about the ballot and the candidates:

• mvp.sos.ga.gov
• www.ballotpedia.org
• www.branch.vote

Public Service Commissioners (PSCs) are state officials, responsible for making regulations covering Georgia's electric, gas, telecommunications and intrastate transportation firms. PSCs must ensure the safety of all natural gas pipelines across the entire state. There are 5 elected Commissioners for the state of Georgia.

Here's a fun fact for y'all - there are 5 PSCs in the state of Georgia, all of which, are white Republicans and 4 of which, are men. In the November 2020 election, the 2 Democratic challengers were both Black men. In one of those races, Jason Shaw, the incumbent Republican, was not defeated by Robert Bryant; however, in the second race, neither incumbent Lauren "Bubba" McDonald (very Republican, very white) nor Daniel Blackman, (a Democrat and like his last name, is a Black man) [received over 50% of the vote total][1] to declare victory. And so, we are headed for a runoff election for this final PSC seat!

Read more about the role of PSC

The Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) has the exclusive power to decide what are fair and reasonable rates for services under its jurisdiction. That means the PSC's decisions affect how much people pay for necessary utilities such as electricity and gas. They also decide who pays for the expansion and clean-up costs of those services.

Many PSC issues boil down to who pays for electricity and gas: the customers (us) or the shareholders?

For example...the PSC currently oversees the operation/expansion of the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant. In 2018, the PSC decided that CUSTOMERS rather than shareholders, would pay for this majority of this project, which is super over budget and years behind schedule. You can read more about that project here .

The PSC also decides WHO pays clean-up costs, like for "coal ash", a polluting byproduct of coal-fired power plants. Again, the current PSC has agreed that customers (that means you!) pay for this. TLDR; costs for a poorly managed nuclear power plant are reflected in your monthly Georgia Power bill, thanks to the PSC.

Solicitor Generals investigate, charge, and prosecute misdemeanor crimes that occur in their counties.

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Duties include:

• Investigates crimes
• Interviews victims and witnesses
• Makes decisions regarding prosecution
• Files accusations
• Prosecutes cases, which involve:
  • Subpoenaing witnesses
  • Collecting evidence
  • Preparing for trial
  • Negotiating pleas
  • Trying cases in court

Places to learn about the ballot and the candidates:

• mvp.sos.ga.gov
• www.ballotpedia.org
• www.branch.vote

This role was created in 1937 by the GA to protect the state's soil and water resources following the Dust Bowl of the 1930's. Each county is represented by at least two district supervisors, one appointed and one elected. District supervisors are unpaid state officials who work hand-in-hand with the Georgia Soil & Water Conservation Commission and the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Tell me something delightful

The Fulton County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor has held the position for the past 25 years and just really loves turtles. Frankly, it's adorable.

“I love nature. I think nature sort of makes us who we are.” - Alan Toney (Source)

Above: Alan Toney collects a water sample at Sandy Springs’ Lost Corner Preserve. Photo by Joe Earle. (Source)