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Devin "Barrington" Ward
Devin "Barrington" Ward is running for Atlanta City Council Member, District 9.
Personal background
Devin says his "vision is crafted in the lived realities of a Black Queer man of Caribbean descent facing the racial and social traumas like youth homeless while using hope to chart a future where we all survive and thrive."
Professional background
Devin is a senior community organizer with the Movement for Black Lives Atlanta and "has been a public health advocate and community defender in government for the past 15 years." He was chief of staff Georgia Senator Lester Jackson and Georgia State Representative Keisha Waites. He was a campaign staffer for Stacey Abrams' 2006 run for the Georgia House of Representatives.
Political background
Devin "Barrington" Ward ran for District 38's State Senate seat in 2020 but was defeated.
ON THE ISSUES
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
Public Services
Plans to require community benefit agreements for any real estate development project valued at over $5 million.
Wants to create a "job and entrepreneurship program that will guarantee every young person living in Atlanta a job or contract with the city."
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COVID
Supports increasing funding of recreation centers to hire tutoring staff for students affected by the pandemic.
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City Budget
Supports tax breaks for companies who promise to consult and contract with small, minority-owned businesses and "tax breaks that lead to employment of residents from District 9 and across low-income communities across Atlanta."
Plans to increase taxes on corporations to lower housing costs.
Wants to establish an Atlanta Reparations Taskforce to investigate the role of Atlanta corporations and institutions who benefited from slavery and determine appropriate compensation arrangements for descendants of enslaved people.
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Housing & Urban Development
Plans to establish an eviction relief program to assist tenants with rent and to create a "city housing voucher to reduce the 15,000 person waiting list for housing assistance."
Supports converting unused city property into affordable housing units, creating an Office of the Tenant Advocate and increasing funding for more low-barrier emergency and transitional housing for unsheltered families.
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Public Safety
Supports closing the city jail, redirecting funding for the jail to community-based crime intervention prevention centers and opening more substance abuse and mental health clinics in the city.
Wants to create the Dope Boy Dispensary program, a medical cannabis co-op program "to help those impacted by Atlanta’s role in the failed war on drugs to become owners and generate wealth within Georgia’s emerging multi-million \[dollar\] cannabis industry."
Plans to promote community-centered service, increase mental health accessibility for public safety officials and repurpose police funding to build a 24-hour mental health crisis center.
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Transportation & Infrastructure
Supports the construction of the BeltLine Rail and increasing funding for MARTA.
Plans to repurpose old tires to repave roads with economic incentives for community members to participate and starting a lead remediation and removal program to update outdated piping systems.
Supports "hold\[ing\] developers accountable for stormwater runoff."
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Zoning
Plans to create zoning policies that "allow for shelter pod communities to be built on vacant parking lots or city-owned land for unsheltered people featuring onsite services."
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