The four Sandy Springs mayoral candidates shared their ideas for the city in an often-contentious forum sponsored by Rough Draft Atlanta and WSB-TV that was televised on Oct. 9.
Click here to watch the debate on WSBTV.com.
Dontaye Carter, Jody Reichel, Andy Bauman, and incumbent Mayor Rusty Paul took questions from WSB moderator Linda Stouffer, Rough Draft reporters, and those submitted by Sandy Springs voters.
The hour-long candidate forum is available to stream on WSBTV.com.
Questions centered on topics that included redevelopment, public safety, immigration, hate crimes, and affordable housing.
Redevelopment
Every candidate said they want to see redevelopment in downtown Sandy Springs and the North End, but had different ideas on how to accomplish it.
“One of the things that I plan on doing is creating a redevelopment accelerator office to finish all projects with public input and public score cards,” Carter said.
He’d also put in place anti-displacement protection for residents living in housing that could be redeveloped.
Paul said a developer’s plans for a North End shopping center stalled because of high interest rates.
“We’ve got to change tactics to get the North End redeveloped,” Paul said. “One of the things that I’m proposing that we do now is a tax allocation district, where we take the extra growth of the commercial districts and we put that money into a fund so we can build parks and infrastructure and work with developers to get the things that people want.”
Reichel said Sandy Springs needs mixed-use developments and more owner-occupied housing. As mayor, she said she would start development downtown and in the North End.
“I’ve already started working with developers and taking them into some of the apartment complexes that I think need to be redeveloped because they’re sitting on hundreds of acres of our land,” Reichel said.
Bauman criticized the lack of progress in downtown Sandy Springs since the completion of City Hall and the City Green. He said his experience with redevelopment projects would serve him well to get projects on track. Bauman promised community involvement would be a key component of his efforts as mayor.
Immigration
Voters wanted to know the candidates’ views on how the federal crackdown on illegal immigrants was affecting the community.
Reichel said a lot of people in the community are worried about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents coming into schools. She said she understood from speaking with city police officers that they will uphold the law, but they don’t call ICE when they conduct traffic stops.
Bauman said in District 6, where a great number of the Hispanic community members live, there is real fear. He said there is a need to be mindful of the community they represent.
Carter said the mayor and city council need to stand up and take action because they know residents’ rights are being violated.
“I would take the additional step of signing an executive order making Sandy Springs an ICE-free zone,” Carter said.
Paul said the city has not been asked by ICE to be involved in any official operations, and that there has only been a single raid in the city so far. He said he hoped people who are living in the city legally can continue to live and work without being under duress. The city, he said, will cooperate with enforcement if necessary.
Commitment to the job
Bauman said he doubted Paul’s commitment to be mayor, questioning him about comments he made in 2021, indicating that he wouldn’t seek another term because “I’m a tired puppy – mentally, emotionally, and physically.”
Paul rejected the notion, saying, “Anybody who’s seen my performance and my workload over the last four years would know that that is not an apt description of how we’ve performed.” He also mentioned he made those comments during a “very low point in my life,” and that he was now reenergized.
On Thursday, Carter called out Bauman’s comments as inappropriate, writing in a post on Facebook that while he disagrees with Paul’s policy, “we should never weaponize someone’s grief.” In a statement to Rough Draft, Bauman said he “simply asked the question many residents are asking.”
Read more about the candidates’ exchange here.
Other topics:
- Traffic: including priorities for improved traffic-calming measures, and focusing on where transportation sales tax dollars should be directed.
- 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. He asked, “How are you going to pay for those schools?”
- Reichel was critical of Paul’s support of a $55 million low-income housing tax credit deal for a development to be called the Reserve at Ridgewood, claiming it “was never a good deal for Sandy Springs.”
Early voting starts Oct. 14, with regular voting scheduled for Nov. 4. If a runoff is necessary, it will be held Dec. 2. Find your voting location and check your registration status here.
Click here for Rough Draft’s Sandy Springs Election Guide, including candidate forums for each of the six City Council districts.
The post Candidates for Sandy Springs mayor present contrasting visions for city’s future appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta.
Leave a Reply