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Photo of Keisha Sean Waites

Keisha Sean Waites

Keisha Sean Waites is running for City Council Member - Post 3.

Personal background

Keisha attended Georgia Southern University, Atlanta Metropolitan College and Georgia Perimeter College, and she has degrees in criminal justice and political science.

Professional background

Keisha has worked with the United States Small Business Administration's Disaster Assistance division, providing disaster assistance loans, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), where she coordinated disaster assistance after Hurricane Katrina, helped the response to the earthquake in Haiti and helped coordinate lead water testing in Flint, Michigan. After graduating college, she worked for a major lending institution.

Political background

Keisha Sean Waites served three terms as a Representative in the Georgia General Assembly. She represented District 60, which includes Clayton County and Fulton County. She was on the Public Safety, Transportation and Juvenile Justice Committees.

ON THE ISSUES

CAMPAIGN FINANCE

TOP PRIORITY

Public Services

Said, "I would make it my priority to be an effective conduit between Buckhead residents and the City of Atlanta government."

Wants to develop south Atlanta. She said, "\[h\]ome flippers see the potential and have been buying homes for $200k and selling them for $400k."

Wants to have a consulting firm do a detailed review of every city department, their role in providing services, and how they use technology to find and respond to any service issues.

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COVID

Encourages voters to vote by mail via absentee ballot due to the pandemic.

Wants to form a team to reach out to the owners of businesses that failed during the pandemic that want to reopen to match them up with landlords of underused commercial spaces.

Wants to support landlords who were hurt by the eviction moratorium.

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City Budget

Plans to prioritize policing, infrastructure planning and maintenance, trash collection and code enforcement in budgeting.

Believes that "\[o\]ne of the most important tasks for the Mayor of Atlanta and City Council is to assure residents that their tax dollars are being spent wisely."

Wants to grow the tax base rather than raise taxes or create new taxes.

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TOP PRIORITY

Housing & Urban Development

Sees gentrification as a good thing if property taxes for older or long term residents are frozen as the area develops.

Believes that lack of affordable housing is due to zoning regulations that reduce housing supply.

Wants to expand homeless services to provide access to jobs and wrap around services.

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TOP PRIORITY

Public Safety

Plans to fully staff the police department "as quickly as possible,"

Wants to expand the network of surveillance cameras and license plate readers, as well as the ShotSpotter system, which seeks to allow the police to find the location of gunshots in real time.

Wants to update the Employee Code of Ethics for city government, with strict penalties for violations.

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Transportation & Infrastructure

Plans to get funding from the federal Department of Transportation, the state and the county to fix transit problems.

Wants to expand public transportation to create more affordable housing by making it feasible for people to live in the suburbs and commute to work.

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TOP PRIORITY

Zoning

Supports higher density, smaller minimum footprints and redevelopment of blighted properties.

Wants to change zoning and other policies to create mixed-use spaces that people want to be in and around, such as the brewery scene.

Wants to review zoning plans to rebalance land use designations.

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