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Andre Dickens

Andre Dickens is running for Atlanta Mayor.

Political background

Andre Dickens is currently an Atlanta city council member. He was elected in 2013, and he represents Post 3 At-Large, meaning that he represents the entire city of Atlanta. He is chairman of the Transportation Committee, which is in charge of city streets, bridges, sidewalks, paths, and the airport. In 2017, he was chair of the Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee.

Professional background

Andre is the Chief Development Officer for nonprofit TechBridge. In 2018, he co-founded the Technology Career Program, to provide technology training to unemployed individuals for free. He previously worked as Assistant Director of Outreach Initiatives for Georgia tech's Office of Institute Diversity and as a sales engineer for DSM Engineering Plastics. He co-founded City Living Home Furnishings, a furniture sales business, in 2002. Andre was on the boards of the Atlanta BeltLine, Invest Atlanta, and the Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Personal background

Andre is from Atlanta, and he attended Atlanta Public Schools. He has a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a master's degree in public administration in Economic Development from Georgia State University. He has a daughter, and he loves Atlanta sports.

ON THE ISSUES

CAMPAIGN FINANCE

TOP PRIORITY

Public Services

  • Wants to address Buckhead's attempts to leave Atlanta through policing. He said, "What we are hearing from Buckhead is that Buckhead wants to feel safe, and they want to feel heard."
  • Plans to improve Atlanta transit. As a city council member, his legislation created the city-wide Atlanta Department of Transportation (ADOT) to oversee all transportation-related activities, planning, and management.
  • Wants to expand programs he co-founded and worked on at Georgia Tech to provide low-income families with training in technology to decrease income inequality.
  • As a city council member, he created the John Lewis Memorial Task Force, which changed Freedom Parkway to "John Lewis Freedom Parkway" and installed the John Lewis "Good Trouble" tribute wall at the airport.

Sources:

Candidate website

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Reporter Newspapers

COVID

  • Plans to follow CDC guidance, including mask mandates, social distancing, quarantine requirements and contact tracing, and promises to reinstate hazard pay for frontline essential workers while encouraging remote work.
  • Wants to focus on inequality in the city's economic recovery. He said, "the southeast and southwest sides of our city need to have job centers, grocery stores, amenities. This is how we overcome this generational wealth gap that we have."
  • As a city council member, he voted for $7 million to help those affected by COVID, including children's food programs, senior food programs, homelessness preparedness, small businesses, emergency technology purchases for telework, and the financial industry.
  • As a city council member, he co-sponsored and passed legislation to raise the minimum wage for city government workers to $15 an hour.

Sources:

Candidate website

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WABE

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City of Atlanta

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Branch questionnaire

City Budget

  • Wants to focus the city's resources on areas that need the most support, prioritizing places that have been underserved.
  • As a city council member, he voted for the current Atlanta city budget.
  • As a city council member, he against a BeltLine budget that would reduce tax revenue for Atlanta Public Schools.

Sources:

Candidate website

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City of Atlanta

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Branch questionnaire

Housing & Urban Development

  • Promises to build and restore 20,000 units of affordable housing.
  • Wants to expand the $100 million Housing Opportunity Bond, partner with MARTA on its use of the $100 million affordable housing TOD fund and enforce laws against predatory tactics designed to get residents to sell their homes under market value.
  • Said, "working folks can't live in Atlanta any more. Since 2010, the cost of housing has increased by 50%, and incomes for working folks have only increased by 10% ... too many working-class people are cost burdened in our city because we have neglected them for over a decade."
  • As a city council member, he established BeltLine Inclusionary Zoning for affordable housing and set aside a $40 million Housing Opportunity Bond.

Sources:

Candidate website

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Reporter Newspapers

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Branch questionnaire

TOP PRIORITY

Public Safety

  • Plans to hire 250 police officers in his first year, and 400 more police officers in his second year. He also wants to increase security cameras and license plate readers in the city.
  • Wants to arrest gang leaders, create a strike force to focus on gun trafficking and illegal guns, and increase community policing efforts.
  • Proposes hiring first responders from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to increase cultural sensitivity.
  • As a city council member, he supported building a $90 million police and firefighter training facility on 85 acres of the Old Atlanta Prison Farm that the city previously set aside as greenspace. The facility, nicknamed "Cop City" by activists, is widely opposed by residents, businesses and environmental nonprofits.
  • As a city council member, h voted to withhold $73 million from the police budget in order to get reforms in 2020 and said he wants to "reimagining policing in Atlanta," but has said he does not support defunding the police.
  • As a city council member, he raised pay for senior police officers and investigators retroactively to 2015.

Sources:

Candidate website

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Reporter Newspapers

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Atlanta Daily World

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Branch questionnaire

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Atlanta Intown Paper

Zoning

  • Said he supports additional housing options and density, but not through "carte blanche" approaches.
  • Supports inclusionary zoning to provide more affordable housing, which requires developers to make a certain percentage of their units in in-demand areas affordable to low-income renters.
  • Supports allowing small apartment buildings or second units in single-family residential districts.
  • As a city council member, he designed the BeltLine's first inclusionary zoning rules that require new rental developments to provide affordable housing.

Sources:

Candidate website

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AJC

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Marketplace

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Saporta Report

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Branch questionnaire

Corruption

  • Said, "there's a cloud of corruption hanging over city hall...we can't have a mayor trying to fight crime in the city of Atlanta when they're facing federal investigation."
  • As a city council member, he created government purchase card regulations to make sure government officials are accountable for how they spend money and established the Independent Procurement Review Office to require requires of all contracts of more than $1 million.

Sources:

Candidate website

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Atlanta Daily World

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Branch questionnaire