ATLANTA — Mayor Andre Dickens faced tough questions, and also got pleas for help, from Atlanta residents fed up with crime and bureaucratic red tape, among other complaints, at a town hall meeting that lasted most of 90 minutes Wednesday night.
A business owner told the mayor that City Hall red tape and permit delays are killing her.
"We've been submitting stuff for months, now," she said. "And we still haven't been able to open."
Dickens responded, "I’m here to help you, and we’re going to make sure that before you leave tonight, you have direct phone numbers for two people" who can resolve the issues immediately
The mayor was ready with answers.
There were questions about affordable housing, especially for young people who want to live in Atlanta but can’t afford the rent.
"We’re about 40 percent over the annual goal for affordable housing this year, we are cranking out housing units," Dickens said.
People asked about Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center closing on Nov. 1. Dickens promised the city is doing all it can to replace the hospital.
There were so many people with questions, the town hall ended with most of the people still in line, unable to ask them.
Swapna Joseph just moved to Atlanta and didn’t get to ask her question about crime.
"You feel like there’s no place you can actually run from the crime," Joseph said after the meeting, "and I think there needs to be more of a police presence, and without that, crime just can’t be controlled on its own."
Chartel Hawkins told 11Alive after the meeting that she wanted to ask the mayor to reverse his support for building the controversial new police training center in the old growth forest in DeKalb County: "Why are you moving forward with building it in a predominantly Black area, that is compounded with environmental racism and community racism?"
The mayor has said in recent months that the city has no other place to build it.
Brian Sumlin of Atlanta knew he couldn’t miss this town hall.
"About to be one year into his term and we wanted to make sure that benchmarks are being made and that we have progress," Sumlin said.
Wednesday's town hall meeting took place at Cascade United Methodist Church in southwest Atlanta.
Dickens has scheduled the next two town hall meetings for next week--
Monday, October 24, at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Buckhead, 3180 Peachtree Road, NE; and Thursday, October 27, at Zoo Atlanta, 800 Cherokee Ave. SE.
Both meetings begin at 5:30 featuring resource tables set up by city departments to provide resources to residents; the town hall portion of the events will take place from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.