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MEETINGS
The Atlanta City Council meets March 6
and March 20 at City Hall, 55 Trinity Ave.
For agendas and more information, visit
citycouncil.atlantaga.gov.
The Midtown Review Committee meets
the second Tuesday of each month at 5:30
p.m. in the fifth floor conference room at
999 Peachtree. For more information and
to see agendas, visit midtownatl.com.
NPU-B, which covers the neighborhoods
of Brookhaven, Buckhead Forest,
Buckhead Heights, Chastain Park East,
Garden Hills, North Buckhead, Peachtree
Heights East, Peachtree Heights
West, Peachtree Hills, Peachtree Park,
Ridgedale Park, Pine Hills and South
Tuxedo Park, meets the first Tuesday of
every month at 7 p.m. at Cathedral of St.
Philip, 2744 Peachtree Road.
NEWS
Two contractors, Elvin "E.R." Mitchell and
Charles P. Richards, have pled guilty for
bribing unnamed City of Atlanta officials
to receive lucrative building contracts. A
federal investigation was still ongoing at
press time.
The City of Atlanta will allocate $3 million
in TSPLOST revenue this yearto build
the first segment of the ProctorCreek
Greenway, a seven-mile bicycle and
pedestrian trail spanning from Maddox
Park to the Chattahoochee River.
Mayor Kasim Reed announced during
his Feb. 2 State of
the City address
that Atlanta
will pursue a
referendum for I
a one-tenth of
a penny sales
tax fora dedicated
source of funding for
the arts.
Thirty-five new security cameras have
been installed at Atlanta University
Center (AUC) as part of the Westside
Security Plan, a collaborative effort
between the Atlanta Police Foundation
and Atlanta Police Department.
Leadership Roles
Nonprofit Elect Her wants women to run for office
By Clare S. Richie
Above: From left, Jina Sanone, Jenny White, Renitta Shannon, and Armina Velarde at the first meeting
of women involved with Elect Her. (Photo by Colleen Lynott)
Bottom Left: Jina Sanone (Photo by Robin Davis)
to partners that offer training, like Georgia’s
Win list and Vote Run Lead.
Simultaneously, Elect Her is building
a list of districts using election results and
new research to map out opportunities
where women can win at the city, county,
state or federal level.
Women’s leadership and politics has
always been in Sanone’s blood. During her
17 years at Delta, she founded She Leads,
an organization that brings awareness to
barriers women leaders face in their careers.
Prior to that she worked for a polling firm
that specialized in candidate and issue
strategy.
Through Elect Her, Sanone will focus
on the 2018 elections but recognizes this
effort is a marathon not a sprint.
“Targeted recruiting can move the
needle, drive results and elect more
women,” Sanone said.
For more details, visit electher.org. QD
such as alumni of leadership trainings
or referrals from advocacy groups. Since
the presidential election more women are
starting to raise their hands.
“Women are coming to us — motivated
right now by national politics but wanting
to also have a local impact,” Sanone
said.
Sanone and her growing team,
which includes newly elected state
representative Rennitta Shannon
(District 84), are ready to provide
guidance to help women decide
whether or not to throw their hat
into the ring.
Elect Her will help each
potential candidate think
through, “What does she want to
accomplish? What interests her —
local, state or federal office? What
does she have to run on?” Sanone
explained. When applicable,
Her will refer these women
Before the outcome of the 2016
presidential election and the 2017 women’s
marches that followed, Jina Sanone put
her corporate career on hold to pursue her
lifelong interest in women’s leadership.
After a year of researching national and
local efforts, finding her niche and forming
partnerships, she’s ready to launch Elect
Her. It’s a nonprofit focused on the targeted
recruitment of progressive women in viable
districts to run for elected positions in
Georgia.
“We don’t have enough women
representing us in government,” Sanone
explained.
Georgia ranks near the bottom on that
score. No woman currently serves in an
elected statewide office in Georgia, and the
state has never elected a woman governor or
woman senator. At the state level, women
comprise just a quarter of the General
Assembly.
“It’s really about building a pipeline,”
Sanone said. “Women need to be asked
and often aren’t.”
Elect her will recruit accomplished
women active in their communities,
City Council votes to return deeds on 10 schools
By Collin Kelley
The Atlanta City Council voted
unanimously last month to turn over deeds
it has held on nine vacant school properties
to Atlanta Public Schools. The vote came
after January’s agreement to hand over
the deed to George W. Adair Elementary
School in southwest Atlanta.
APS wants to sell off the property for
redevelopment. The city and APS have been
wrangling over the school properties for
years, with the issue eventually winding up
in court. Last year, Mayor Kasim Reed said
he would not turn over the properties until
APS adopted the affordable housing policy
similar to the city’s own.
The issue of ownership dates back to
1973, when the city created the Atlanta
Board of Education to maintain and
operate its public schools.
The properties approved for quick
claim deed include Adair, Anderson Park
Elementary, Preston Arkwright Elementary,
Milton Elementary, West Atlanta
Elementary, Rosalie H. Wright Elementary,
Claire Drive Facility, Daleview Drive
Facility, Adamsville Primary School and
Frederick Wilson Benteen Elementary.
“I am pleased that we are coming to
a resolution on the future ownership of
these properties, most of which are vacant
properties,” said City Councilmember
Joyce Sheperd, sponsor of the authorizing
legislation. “If we can develop a viable
economic development plan for these
properties in conjunction with the
surrounding communities, APS and
potential buyers, it will certainly be a win-
win outcome for all of us.”
Last May, the Atlanta City Council
adopted an affordable housing policy for
the purpose of promoting opportunities
for mixed-income housing developments
throughout the city and promoting housing
affordability to minimize the number
of households that must pay more than
30 percent of their income in rent or
mortgage payments and to encourage the
development and preservation of mixed-
income residential areas.
A developer has already released plans
to redevelop the historic Adair property in
the Adair Park neighborhood. The school
has been closed since the early 1970s.
The developer is proposing to convert the
circa-1911 school building into a mixed-use
facility that will include artist studios and
retail on the ground floor with housing for
artists on the top floors.
Shepherd said the developer is
committed to “restoration” in addition to
renovation, concentrating on preserving
the historical character and context of the
building and affordable housing. 03
8 MARCH 2017 | [d
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