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Clarence Blalock
Clarence Blalock is running for Atlanta City Council Member, District 1.
Personal background
Clarence has lived in District 1 since 2016. He has a bachelor's degree in geography and a master's degree with a concentration in environmental science from Jacksonville State University. He recently worked as a liaison for the Neighborhood Planning Unit of Atlanta project to paint two utility boxes in Grant Park and has helped community members in zoning and other mapping matters.
Professional background
Clarence worked for the Cities of Smyrna and Covington as a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) analyst and for the City of Forest Park as the Deputy Director of Planning Building and Zoning for ten years. He currently runs a GIS mapping contracting business.
Political background
Clarence Blalock's campaign for city council is his first entry into politics.
ON THE ISSUES
CAMPAIGN FINANCE
Public Services
Supports more community involvement in city development projects and the strongest version of the tree ordinance to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Wants to keep Buckhead in the city of Atlanta.
Said, "we must do better and stop polluting our waterways. This is especially relevant for Intrenchment Creek which is in District 1 and feeds into the South River, one of the most polluted waterways in the country."
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COVID
Wants to use federal COVID dollars to mitigate the effects of the pandemic for those who need it the most, including "\[f\]inding ways to soften the blow of mass evictions and protect those at risk of COVID."
Plans to make it easier for small businesses to work with the city with a single point of contact and process FAQs and provide funding to small business owners.
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City Budget
Said, "corporate welfare exists on a grand scale in Atlanta, with the city standing to lose up to 1.9 billion dollars in both subsidies and taxes. While CIM (the Gulch Developer) doesn't have to pay property taxes or sales taxes, you have to pay all your property taxes, which have been going up along with increased assessments ... I will not support more corporate handouts or massive wasteful projects."
Wants to expand the Beltline Tax Allocation District into South Atlanta and Lakewood Heights to reduce "investor-owned derelict houses" and incentivize reusing old industrial buildings for commercial and residential purposes.
Supports growing the industrial and commercial tax base so that the city can improve and fund its services.
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Housing & Urban Development
Supports development around public transportation, building higher densities around MARTA stations.
Wants to use donations to lend money to low-income residents for specific projects in their homes, which would be repaid based on the program's success.
Said, "I am also interested in a special tax district for houses owned by investors who are not utilizing the property and harming the home values and neighborhoods around them."
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Public Safety
Against the building of a police training facility at the Old Atlanta Prison farm, instead wanting to annex the property into Atlanta and develop it into the largest park in the district. Clarence said, "there has been no public input in this process and we can't lose 150 acres of green space. I will continue to make the environment a local issue."
Supports the closing of the Atlanta City Detention Center at 254 Peachtree St SW. He said, "once the jail is closed, we can use those savings to make the jail a site to help those who are most in need of services and to reduce recidivism."
Wants to look at the root cause of crime "which is lack of opportunity and resources."
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Transportation & Infrastructure
Wants to start construction of the Beltline Rail as soon as possible and use dedicated lanes to make bus rapid transit more effective.
Plans to improve both the quality and speed enforcement on Boulevard. He also said, "funding improvements to Boulevard will be a priority."
Wants transit oriented development around existing transit stations.
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Zoning
Said, "we need more citizen input in zoning matters."
Supports more inclusionary zoning and upzoning where possible.
Wants to work better with Neighborhood Planning Units (NPUs) and tailor solutions for each neighborhood.
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