On Wednesday May 5, 2021 the Committee for a Better Atlanta (CBA), a business coalition focused on advocating a common business and civic agenda and evaluating City of Atlanta candidates, released its 2021 policy platform. The 2021 platform serves to inform candidates and voters on the policies important to Atlanta’s business and civic community. The Council for Quality Growth is a long-term member of the CBA and has played an integral role over the years interviewing and vetting candidates.
CBA board members include representatives from more than 30 Atlanta-area businesses and civic organizations. CBA does not endorse candidates. Rather, it informs voters about their choices by providing candidate information, including general qualifications and an assessment of each candidate’s understanding of, and commitment to key issues facing the City of Atlanta.
Candidates and voters can access CBA’s 2021 platform at cbatl.org/2021-policy-platform, and stay informed through the CBA Twitter account @CBAtlanta.
On November 2, 2021, City of Atlanta voters will go to the polls to elect every city officeholder, including Mayor, City Council President, and all City Councilmembers.
JD Capelouto, with the AJC, wrote an in-depth story on the release of our 2021 platform. AJC/CBA Article
2021 Priorities Highlights
Improving Public Safety Outcomes
- Establish a unified voice on criminal justice and policing reform. Path forward must include actionable and clear prioritization, cross-sector buy-in, and commitment to work alongside interagency judicial partners.
- Thoughtful evaluation of public safety real estate holdings such as the Atlanta City Detention Center
- Establish a clear and fair process for pre-trial detention
- Recommit to a police staffing target to more effectively support daily public safety operations
- Explore public-private partnerships, such as the Institute for Social Justice and Public Safety Training Center, that would strengthen recruitment, leadership development, officer training, and police-community relations within the City of Atlanta
Equitable, Economic Development to Aid Recovery
- Strengthen economic development tools that catalyze private market investment, attract new jobs, and protect local funding for community development
- Support “hardest hit” industries in a post-COVID environment through innovative relief tools, stimulus funding, and improved communication
- Foster Black and Minority-owned business growth through capital investment and technical resources
- Creation of a cross-sector education taskforce to improve public education outcomes, align curriculums with workforce needs, and diversify Atlanta’s talent pipeline
- Explore innovative partnerships with the Atlanta Technical College and the Center for Workforce innovation to promote economic mobility and remove barriers to education and employment
Housing Affordability for All
- New, dedicated funding source for housing
- Prioritize publicly-owned assets for affordable housing and community development
- Support and protect legacy residents through anti-displacement initiatives
- Creation of a Cabinet-level housing position
- Dedicated resources to preventing and ending homelessness
Pragmatic Leadership Tethered to a Collective Vision
- Create a strategic vision for the City that has cross-sector buy-in and a bias for action and which governs all policy decisions
- Focused and intentional collaboration with state and county governmental partners
- Strengthen the City’s customer service function to be reachable, responsive, accountable to its various constituents – particularly around quality of life fundamentals
- Improve Atlanta’s business climate through ethics, transparency, and efficiency
- A focus on Cabinet-level leadership recruitment and retention
Accessible, Connected, and Sustainable City
- Transportation funding as economic stimulus
- Improved transparency, leadership, and prioritization of More MARTA program
- Protection of Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta International Airport
- Commitment to sustainable development