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We’ve hit the ground running as we start a new decade.

With a 15-0 vote, my Council colleagues and I approved an Inspector General for Atlanta. Some details need to be worked out, but this may be the most important move toward good government in a long time for Atlanta. It’s a commitment that misdeeds and misbehavior will not be tolerated. This was my #1 priority for 2020. Good --- no, great --- government rests on trust AND verification.

Trees are also on my mind. We’ve struggled as we’ve tried to reach a new, clearer, and fairer ordinance to protect Atlanta’s precious green canopy. It’s time for Council to consider and pass legislation.

Safety is always on our mind. We take a look back at 2019 crime statistics for a more detailed analysis of how safe our District 8 residential neighborhoods are. 

Traffic and its impact on District 8 were addressed by Atlanta’s new director of Transportation, Josh Rowan, during a meeting we hosted with the leaders of our 27 neighborhood associations. ‘You are suburban Atlanta with people from outside the perimeter coming through your neighborhoods every day,’ Josh said. The remedy, he said, is found, in part, with mass transportation, such as buses.

Josh’s candid assessment provided few immediate remedies (although there are some) but did offer longer-term solutions that should bring meaningful relief. His experience and ties to federal, state, and regional transportation officials inspire confidence that better days are ahead.  

Speaking of better days, a new headquarters for the Chastain Park Conservancy is underway, and the Garmon Road party house suffered another legal blow. We’ll discuss those two points of interest and provide a status report on plans to replace the Northside Drive bridge as it crosses Peachtree Creek next to the Bobby Jones Golf Course.

We also want to make note of two significant events that deserve special mention. Former Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell announced that he will retire later this year after 30 years as head of the Buckhead Coalition. The Buckhead we know today is a result of the efforts of the ‘Mayor of Buckhead.’ We also remember Anne Cox Chambers, the philanthropist, owner of Cox Enterprises, Inc. and former US ambassador to Belgium, who died January 31 at age 100.  Mrs. Chambers, for whom I once worked at Cox, lived in District 8. Her influence and generosity touched not just Atlanta but the world.   

And finally, remember to call 311 to report potholes, missing street signs, and other needs. If you don’t see results, call or email us. Our contact information can be found at the bottom of this newsletter. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A Vote for Good Government


The 15-0 count said it all, as my fellow Council members and I voted to establish an Inspector General for Atlanta, my highest priority for 2020. If we cannot guarantee trustworthy government, why are we here?

I was pleased to be one of the Council members who spent much of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend forging this unanimous agreement. It sends a powerful message.

The City of Atlanta can and must keep its house in order. Creating the IG post and leaving intact the independent office of the Internal Auditor provide the tools we need to investigate and root out misdeeds.

Under the legislation, the IG would coordinate and oversee the city’s Ethics department: Independent Procurement Officers (who spot check the Department of Procurement’s contracts involving more than $1 million and no longer report to the Internal Auditor) and the city’s Compliance Division, which ‘investigates and takes appropriate action’ regarding, among other things, ‘the performance and financial operations of all departments, offices, boards, activities and agencies of the city’ in which the Auditor determines possible fraud, waste or abuse.” 

The IG will be selected by the current Ethics and Compliance boards, an independent 9-member body. The IG and the Ethics officer will have subpoena powers.  

The legislation resulted from months of collaboration between the City Council and administration. Here is how the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported the 15-0 vote: ‘Although the idea for an IG emerged out of (Mayor) Bottoms’ public trust task force, the council was more of a driving force . . . to ensure the position became a reality.’

Pride of authorship is counterproductive. Pride in good government, however, is always effective. 

A Closer Look at Crime

Beats 203 and 213 have been moved to other zones since this 2016 map was created. In fact, shrinking the size of Zone 2 was one of the public safety goals we achieved in 2019.
In our district, serious crime fell 11% from 2018 to 2019. But beat patrol statistics reflect much more detail.

Atlanta Police Zone 2 covers Buckhead and includes District 8 and District 7. Roswell Road, north of the Buckhead business district, and Peachtree Road to the south form the dividing line between the two  districts. Phipps Plaza and Lenox Mall are in District 7, which is significant because much of Zone 2’s serious crime occurs in retail and business areas. In District 8, that includes the Peachtree corridor, the Howell Mill business strip, and the area around West Paces Ferry Road and Northside Parkway.

Zone 2 has 11 beats. There are three eight-hour shifts, and an officer in a patrol car is on duty all the time. 

Four beats --- 201, 202, 204 and 205 --- cover much of District 8’s residential neighborhoods. According to police records, those beats had 1,081 serious crimes in 2019, down 17.5% from 2018, but virtually unchanged from 2017. The 1,081 crimes were 23% of the roughly 4,700 crimes reported in Zone 2 last year, well below the percentage share for the large geographic area of those four beats.  

Thefts from autos accounted for 524, or 48.5%, of the 1,081 serious crimes in 2019. Thefts declined 17% from 633 in 2018. Citywide, gun thefts occur in about one of every ten car break-ins, according to Zone 2 commander Major Andrew Senzer. Zone 2 accounted for 20%  --- nearly 200 --- of the 988 guns taken from vehicles in Atlanta last year, he said. His message: ‘If drivers want to carry a gun in their car, when they park, the weapon should always be put in a gun lockbox or otherwise secured.’

Larceny (non-vehicle) occurred 287 times in the four beats in 2019, down 27% from the 397 incidents in 2018. Larceny represented 26% of the serious crimes. 

One-hundred eight burglaries occurred in 201, 202, 204 and 205 last year, accounting for 10% of the serious crimes. That number marked a  decrease of six from the 114 reported a year earlier. 

Auto thefts were reported 114 times in 2019, up seven from 107 in 2018. They accounted for 10.5% of serious crime in the residential areas. 265 of the 527 vehicles (50%) stolen in Zone 2 had keys or fobs in the vehicle at the time of theft. Let’s not make it easy for car thieves! Take your keys with you when you park.

The four types of crimes listed above represent 95% of the incidents in the 201, 202, 204 and 205 neighborhoods last year. Numbers, of course, never tell the complete story. Each victim is evidence of one crime too many. Your safety and security are a top priority for me, which is why I have fought for pay raises for police (and firefighters), resulting in more uniformed first responders in Atlanta. 

I believe in the crime-fighting technology security cameras and license-plate readers provide. We need more, and I have promised our 27 neighborhood associations I will match them dollar for dollar in buying them.

I also support the police chief in her directive to end police chases. They’re unnecessarily dangerous. Three innocent citizens have been killed recently in accidents caused by suspects being pursued by police.
 
Like so many of you, I hate the notion of suspects escaping a crime scene. But loss of innocent lives is not a price worth paying for their capture. Technology --- those cameras and license-plate readers --- provides valuable (and safer) crime-fighting tools.

Fighting crime is a never-ending task, and that includes ensuring our jails and courts do their share. That’s another issue I will continue to work to remedy.

Preserving Our Trees --- Wisely

Fly over Atlanta and what do you see?  A modern city in a forest of trees. Fifty percent of Atlanta is trees. We’re at a point, however, where we need to ensure Atlanta’s canopy remains intact.

Atlanta needs a new updated tree ordinance. The old one makes it too easy for a builder to ‘clear cut’ a lot for a new house and too difficult for a homeowner to get permission to remove a tree that poses a danger or impedes modest renovation.

But we’re locked in a standoff. There are those who say no tree should be touched and others who say what they do on their property is their business. My intent is to find a middle-ground.

The City Planning Department has announced a new schedule (below) with the goal of having a draft ordinance to council by July. ‘As the city gets denser and more populated, the natural resources of the city should be enhanced commensurately,’ according to the Planning Department. ‘Getting to a more satisfactory technique for regulating removal, protection, and planting of trees requires careful consideration of all perspectives.’  

Here’s where I stand:

I would outlaw all clear-cutting of trees and make sure that fines are not a ‘cost of doing business’ that lead to our laws being ignored. 

I would find a reasonable path to allowing the removal of some trees on heavily wooded lots or when a tree poses a danger to people and property.

Any new ordinance must be comprehensive, accountable, and proactive. For example, before land is disturbed and trees are cut, a building plan should be reviewed and approved. Development must conform to the land, not the other way around. In addition to its trees, Atlanta’s topography is part of its beauty.

A new ordinance must be properly funded to ensure proper review and enforcement. Inspectors and the people who back them up are key.

Thoughtful development must continue for Atlanta to thrive. But our highest priority needs to be to our neighborhoods and the trees that define them.

Trees purify the air we breathe with their absorption of carbon dioxide. In a sense, they also serve as Atlanta’s ‘lungs,’ making this a health issue as much as a matter of environment and aesthetics.

Getting the New Chastain Conservancy Headquarters Ready

It was 25 degrees as the 80-plus Hands on Atlanta volunteers gathered at the new Chastain Park Conservancy offices, located inside the park at 4001 Powers Ferry Road. They arrived before 9 a.m. on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to honor the fallen civil rights leader with their service.

For three chilly hours they cleared brush, raked and gathered leaves, and cleaned up debris around the former Watershed building that will soon become the Conservancy’s new home. Inside, construction workers in hardhats gutted the building, which replaces the Conservancy’s Quonset hut facility destroyed by fire in 2018.
JP, in baseball cap, joins the Hands On Atlanta volunteers
As a founder of the Conservancy, their efforts touched me. Atlanta is blessed to have Hands on Atlanta and its thousands of volunteers. I’m also pleased that our city was the first to honor Dr. King, a son of Atlanta. The celebration has grown into a national holiday. That it touched our park in this way on this day was special.  

Another Legal Blow to the Party House

When the water was shut off at 4499 Garmon Road last year because of unpaid bills, someone tried to turn it back on. On January 17, Atlanta Municipal Judge Christopher T. Portis fined Olutosin (Tosin) Oduwole $7,600 for that act and ordered that the certificate of occupancy for the house be revoked because it had no water..

Neither Oduwole, who operated the house, nor a legal representative appeared at the hearing, so Judge Portis issued a bench warrant for his arrest. Oduwole has already served 30 days in jail and been fined $7,000. A permanent injunction was issued in Fulton Superior Court in December against using the house for commercial purposes. Oduwole also faces an additional $5,000 in fines for other offenses. 

Northside Drive Bridge Update

This is a rendering of the Northside Drive bridge over Peachtree Creek
Even though we’re several months to a year away from closing and replacing the Northside Drive bridge next to the Bobby Jones Golf Course, work is underway. 

The Georgia Department of Transportation and its contractors announced in December that January would begin removal and replacement of existing water and sewer lines at the bridge. Construction of a new 15-foot-wide pedestrian bridge will also begin. However, it will not open until the entire project is complete.

Some single-lane closures may be required for the safety of work crews, GDOT said. In May or June, double-lane closures may be necessary to perform the waterline work, which is also a part of the project and will be done by GDOT’s contractor. 

The greatest impact, according to GDOT, will be at the corner of Northside and Woodward Way, where grading will occur. The corner will be reconfigured for vehicle access to Woodward. Safety fencing will block normal pedestrian access to Memorial Park, but a temporary route will be installed. Signs will direct pedestrians where to cross the intersection. Under no circumstances should anyone jaywalk across Northside.    

District 8 Contacts

 

J.P. Matzigkeit    

jpmatzigkeit@atlantaga.gov

404.330.6051

 

Katie Howard

jpmatzigkeit@atlantaga.gov

404.330.6051

 

Jim Elgar

jqelgar@atlantaga.gov

404.546.4911

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