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khalid kamau
khalid kamau is running for South Fulton Mayor.
Political background
khalid kamau is currently the South Fulton city council member representing District 6. He was first elected in 2017 and has served one term.
Sources:
Candidate website
Professional background
From 2015 to 2017, khalid helped his mother take care of an aunt dying from congestive failure. He previously worked as a bus driver for MARTA, an AT&T wire tech and a financial analyst and operations manager for nonprofits.
Sources:
Candidate website
Personal background
khalid was born and raised in South Fulton. He attended Ithaca College in New York and John Marshall Law School. He was a member of a neighborhood planning unit and volunteered as a labor activist and campaign representative for Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America. He helped organize the Atlanta chapter of BlackLivesMatter and served as a Field Organizer for the Georgia House Democratic Caucus.
Sources:
Candidate website
Public Services
- Proposes creating a South Perimeter Downtown Development Authority to revitalize the area around Old National Highway as a commercial and entertainment district.
- Plans to create a financial literacy program for South Fulton residents, particularly the elderly.
- Plans to ensure minority-owned businesses and "responsible bidders" that provide living wages and affordable healthcare get priority in city contracts.
- Wants to partner with South Fulton's Vocational Career Academy to create career pipelines into film, coding and supply chain management jobs.
- Wants to create a Green New Deal for South Fulton.
Sources:
Candidate website
COVID
- Supported the city council's original mask mandate which was overridden by Gov. Kemp
- Joined with the NAACP to call for race to be included in morbidity and mortality data
- Wants the city to use its $11 million in ARP funding on rental and mortgage assistance because Fulton County currently does not offer mortgage assistance to those impacted by COVID
Sources:
Branch questionnaire
City Budget
- Opposes the city's current spending proportions (30% on the police department, less than 1% on economic development)
Sources:
Branch questionnaire
Housing & Urban Development
- Supports the city using repossessed properties for low-wage employees to live rent-free
- Believes the city needs more rental units
- Wants to change the perception of renters in the city and said that public sentiment is currently anti-affordable housing
Public Safety
- Plans to create a Public Safety and Truancy Department "that responds to calls where social workers, not police, are needed."
- Supports social and emotional support services in public schools for at-risk families.
- Supports more data-driven policing, which "goes beyond keeping crime and arrests stats to tracking metrics of customer service"
- Said that he has already contacted the Center for Policing Equity to begin tracking these outcomes in the city
Transportation & Infrastructure
- Said that only 15% of South Fulton's land is zoned for Commerical use and that nearly 90% of South Fulton residents leave the city for work
- Plans to build infrastructure for commerce to keep more of South Fulton's working residents and their dollars in city limits
- Wants to build heavy rail that connects the end of MARTA’s South Line with Old National Highway
Sources:
Branch questionnaire
Zoning
- Supports unifying the Zoning Code with Subdivision Regulations and raising building standards for developers
- Wants to maintain the integrity of rural communities while further urbanizing high-density neighborhoods
- Currently drafting legislation which will require more transparency and regular reporting of HOA financials
Sources:
Branch questionnaire
