ATLANTA — Mary Hooks put pen to paper, becoming the first person to sign a petition to try and put the construction of a new public safety training center for the City of Atlanta to a vote in the next local election this fall.
"It is essential, particularly for oppressed people, to fight for what it is that we want," Hooks said. "This signature means nothing when you think about what's been given. My signature is an easy ask as it relates to broadly what people have done inside this movement and given to this movement, talking about blood, sweat, tears literally."
Organizers opposed to the training center are backing efforts to get more than 70,000 physical signatures in the next 60 days. The push hit a snag in the last week, when the municipal clerk's office said a key line was missing from the required petition form. However, a revised version was approved Wednesday. Atlanta residents who voted in the last local election in 2021 are eligible to sign the petition.
Atlanta City Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari signed the petition second inside City Hall, a place that had hundreds of people protesting the funding of the $90 million public safety training center in DeKalb County. Bakhtiari recently voted against funding the project.
"It's easy to vote no and then walk away," Bakhtiari said. "I think it's another thing to vote no, and continue to stay and be a resource and do the work. I think it’s why I support democracy. And we encourage this movement, we keep telling them to invest in democratic methods and this is about as democratic as it gets.”
Emory University law professor Fred Smith likened this movement to one last year in Camden County, where voters overrode a county decision and blocked the building of a space port through a referendum. Smith said voters were able to take advantage of the Municipal Home Rule Act of 1965, and the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the voters' wishes earlier this year.
"This law outlines the process for when voters want to repeal or amend an ordinance or charter that has been enacted by their local legislature, in this case city council," Smith said. "I've never seen anything quite like this at the city level."
Smith said even if the referendum petition movement succeeds and the question of continued construction on the public safety training center lands on the ballot this fall, the city and other entities would probably respond with legal action.
"I assume there'd be a lot of pressure on the state legislature to override the voters," Smith said. "I couldn't imagine city council passing another ordinance in that situation, but there might be pressure somewhere else."
Meantime, protesters plan to hit neighborhoods, churches, schools and city events to spread the word and gain support for their cause. A week of action against the public safety training center is planned starting Saturday.
Hooks said as a mother and victim of police violence, this issue is personal for her.
“We’re asking people to vote in the interest of our lives, our values, our children and what we see in how we want this city to be run and what resources and ways in which we want to grapple with public safety," Hooks said. "We know we want something different, so this is an opportunity for us to all weigh in. I’m doing my part, part of a larger movement that’s willing to risk it all and put it on the line. So, yeah, it’s personal.”
The City of Atlanta declined to comment on the petition movement and process of getting the referendum on the ballot.