Sandy Springs mayoral candidates have lively exchanges at televised forum

The four Sandy Springs mayoral candidates took part in a wide-ranging and lively candidate forum sponsored by WSB-TV and Rough Draft Atlanta that will air on Oct. 9.

The hour-long forum was hosted by WSB-TV anchor Linda Stouffer.

Council members Andy Bauman and Jody Reichel, incumbent Mayor Rusty Paul, and public relations firm owner Dontaye Carter were given equal time to answer questions that were a mix of submissions by voters, Rough Draft reporters, and from each other.

Election Hub: For more on the Sandy Springs election, visit the Rough Draft Atlanta Election Guide.

Hot topics:

• Traffic: including priorities for improved traffic-calming measures, and focusing on where transportation sales tax dollars should be directed.
• Redevelopment: particularly at North End shopping centers, and progress regarding the City Center 2.0 proposed expansion. Most candidates promised more community involvement while bringing the projects to fruition.
• Public safety and the impact that hate speech, especially antisemitism, has had on the community.
• Bauman and Reichel challenged Paul on why more progress had not been made on pressing city issues during his three terms as mayor. Carter said the blame should be shared by the three of them, and quoted the thousands of days each had served in city government, saying “Forty years of combined experience, 40 years – 40 – and the problems still remain.”
• Paul pressed Reichel for details about her plan to create a municipal school district, something Georgia’s constitution would make challenging.
  “How are you going to pay for those schools? You’ve got to buy those back from Fulton County,” Paul said.
• Bauman questioned Paul’s commitment to do the job for another four years.
  “You said you were a tired puppy, mentally, physically, and emotionally,” Bauman said to Paul.
• Reichel questioned Paul’s support of a $55 million low-income housing tax credit deal for a development to be called the Reserve at Ridgewood. “The fact that they [the developers] were putting $12 million into their own pockets as profit, that was never a good deal for Sandy Springs,” Reichel said.

The forum will stream on WSB Now at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9. It will also be available on demand on WSBTV.com and on Rough Draft Atlanta after the initial broadcast.

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