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Antonio Brown
Antonio Brown is running for Atlanta Mayor.
Political background
Antonio Brown is currently an Atlanta city council member representing Atlanta's District 3. He joined city council in 2019 after a special election, when he became the first LGBTQ person of color elected to Atlanta city council.
Professional background
Antonio owns a luxury shoe company called LVL XIII (Level 13) and an education charity called Dream of Humanity. He created the Small business Entrepreneurship Program, which provides training and support in entrepreneurship to underserved college students, in 2018.
Sources:
AJC
Personal background
Antonio grew up in poverty, with his parents in and out of prison. He dropped out of high school when he was 15 years old to bag groceries in order to support his siblings.
ON THE ISSUES
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
TOP PRIORITY
Public Services
- Said he is against Buckhead leaving Atlanta but supports the concerns of Buckhead residents. He said "I believe we should be working with Buckhead. We should be bridging the gap in communication."
- Says generational poverty, mass gentrification and a lack of affordable housing harm the city by causing unemployment, homelessness, and crime.
- Wants to use municipal enterprises to provide high-quality, low-cost goods and services and create sustainable jobs without investing in other social programs.
- Plans to improve public transportation to reduce traffic and parking congestion, create walkable neighborhoods, and promote biking, car-sharing, and carpooling.
- As a city council member, Antonio created a board to address the district's most blighted properties.
TOP PRIORITY
COVID
- Wants to help with economic recovery by making sure entrepreneurs can thrive in Atlanta.
- Said, "we have to continue to pool funds so that we can build programs for startup small businesses in this city and ensure that no business is left behind."
- Plans to provide access to funding for small businesses hit by COVID in order for them to expand and recover.
City Budget
- As a city council member, Antonio voted in favor of the city's 2022 budget.
- Wants to increase the Housing Opportunity Bond by up to $150 million for the construction of affordable housing.
- Plans to establish a workforce training program with a $250 million workforce development bond funded by employee payroll deduction.
- In 2019, he oversaw a city council pilot program to allow residents to have a direct say in which city projects get funded through town hall meetings. He said, "it's a positive step in making sure city policies truly reflect the needs of our community."
TOP PRIORITY
Housing & Urban Development
- Thinks the city needs to do more to help the homeless population in Atlanta by providing wraparound services to support a transition to permanent housing.
- Wants to construct thousands more affordable housing units, develop vacant and dilapidated properties, create a tiny homes development with services for the city's homeless population, and remove barriers for first time homeowners.
- Proposed "creat[ing] an auction in the city of Atlanta to take the vacant land that we own and create opportunities for folks and allow them to build generational wealth."
- As a city council member, Antonio banned discrimination based on income for housing rentals, including Section 8 vouchers, and established a Building Permit Fee Waiver Program for private developers building affordable housing developments.
TOP PRIORITY
Public Safety
- Wants to expand the team of non-emergency responders responsible for all non-emergency and community service functions.
- Plans to establish a restorative justice and equity program to create housing, jobs, and financial opportunities for residents impacted by the judicial system or generational poverty.
- Wants to add more license plate readers in low income communities.
- As a city council member, he voted against 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, he voted to withhold $73 million from the Atlanta Police Department in order to require police reform but has since said he does not support defunding the police.
- As a city council member, he advocated for a "duty to intervene," requiring police officer to intervene if they see another officer breaking the law or department rules.
Zoning
- Supports allowing more density in residential districts but said that increasing density won't necessarily lead to more affordable housing.
- Wants to reform zoning and land-use regulations in favor of small business development.
- Supports allowing small apartment buildings or second units in single-family residential districts.
Corruption
- Was indicted in 2020 on four fraud charges for allegedly trying to defraud several banks by taking out loans and making credit card purchases worth thousands of dollars, then claiming he was the victim of identity theft to avoid making payments. The alleged illegal activity occurred from 2012 to 2017, before Antonio was elected to city council. He plead not guilty to the charges, saying, "I am absolutely innocent."
- Wants to automate city processes and services and streamline city management to reduce waste and redundancies.
- Plans to improve the city's process for entering into contracts by using authentication and algorithms to evaluate applications fairly and equitably.
