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Two for Four
UGA STUDENT CHALLENGES INCUMBENT COMMISSIONER
By Blake Aued news@flagpole.com
T he race for Athens-Clarke County
Commission District 4, covering the
University of Georgia/Five Points
area, pits a two-term commissioner against
a 22-year-old UGA graduate student.
Michael Stapor, a Riverbend Parkway
resident and International Affairs stu
dent who has served as vice president of
Students for Sensible Drug Policy, is taking
on incumbent Allison Wright, a Hampton
Court resident and medical illustrator
who, prior to winning the commission seat
in 2012, served two terms on the Clarke
County Board of Education. Both agreed to
answer questions from Flagpole. Local elec
tions are currently scheduled for June 9,
with early voting starting May 18.
Flagpole: How would you rate ACC’s
response to the coronavirus pandemic?
Michael Stapor: I would give Athens-
Clarke County’s response to the coronavirus
pandemic a B+. I commend the commission
on working proactively to solve the prob
lem, rather than wait on state guidance,
which came very late. I also support the
mortgage and rent leniency resolution
passed by the commission. I would like to
see the commission continue this good
trend and pass the Athens Resiliency
Package suggested by County Manager
Blaine Williams to fully ensure Athens’
at-risk citizens and businesses are pro
tected from any economic impact due to the
pandemic.
Allison Wright: We were the first
Georgia community to approve shelter in
place. I say we’d get an A for “ahead of the
curve.” This was evident during the Mar.
16 meeting, when we moved forward in
shutting down what would have been a St.
Patrick’s Day social disaster, in terms of
spreading of coronavirus.
Once we got through the initial
response, we were able to effectively craft
our shelter-in-place ordinance on Mar. 19
after reviewing medical data and hearing
from public health professionals. This ordi
nance has been replicated throughout the
state. When crises arise, solutions must be
found, and they aren’t always comfortable,
nor do they always come swiftly, as we have
to deal with ACC government logistics, legal
and community partnerships, collabora
tions and more. Yet, in this time of crisis,
I along with my fellow commissioners, the
mayor and the manager’s teams, were able
to get things done—and we’re not finished.
FP: What is your plan to reduce Athens’
persistently high poverty rate?
MS: As soon as I am in office, I will
look to have the city commit to solving
the decade-long poverty problem by pro
posing a Poverty Reduction Coalition to
be introduced. Similar to the Athens Civil
Rights Committee, the coalition would
bring city officials and citizens together
to study the poverty situation in Athens,
as well as actively looking for solutions. I
will also look to introduce a Tenants’ Bill of
Rights for the city of Athens to protect the
rights of tenants and, more importantly, to
try and tackle the issue of extremely high
rent hikes in the last few years. Zoning
is another step we can take in addressing
Athens’ poverty, and I will look to eliminate
the single-family ordinance to increase
the renting options of our low-income
residents, as well as ensuring all future res
idential developments or redevelopments
include inclusionary zoning to increase
affordable housing in Athens.
AW: Poverty is an issue that continues to
impact Athenians and people in District 4.1
will work hard to continue to improve con
nectivity with those in poverty and those
agencies that provide supportive services
and opportunities for improved livelihood.
The work cannot stop there, though. We
must break the intergenerational cycles of
poverty that plague Athens by ensuring
that our county is investing in our local
workforce, providing jobs that pay a living
wage, and making sure we are giving people
in our community a hand up when it comes
to quality affordable housing, a career path
and outreach initiatives.
Allison Wright
Improvements to our outreach include
our new initiative of neighborhood leaders
and mailing bilingual community informa
tion to each ACC address, as mailing water
bill inserts reaches only a fraction of the
community. Finally, we must work hard to
ensure broadband internet access for the
entire community, as the internet is more
than a luxury, it is an essential tool in the
21st century, both when it comes to educa
tion and employment, particularly in times
of crisis.
When it comes to affordable housing,
particularly in single-family residential
neighborhoods, we will see improvements
as we work to remove the outdated ordi
nance on not allowing more than two unre
lated residents in the same house. We must
make sure that we have more than just
affordable housing here in ACC; we need
quality affordable housing.
FP: What would you do to protect the arts
and music scene and assist the local businesses
that make Athens unique?
MS: If elected, I would like to work
closely with our local businesses to seek
community-led solutions to keeping Athens
unique. I’d also like to see the city increase
its commitment to Athens’ music and
art scene by hosting festivals celebrating
Athens’ unique local scene. I’d like to try
and work with local music venues and
stores to see how we can support the music
scene in Athens. Possibilities for this could
be actively tapping Athens’ music talent for
city events, as well as youth development
programs run through local businesses for
Athens’ K-12 residents that may be inter
ested in music.
AW: As an illustrator myself and an art
professor’s wife, Athens’ creative spirit is
always in my world. Like many, it is what
keeps me here. I’m proud to support the
Athens Cultural Arts Council, Lyndon
House, the historic Morton Theatre and
SPLOST art budgets. Outside of ACC gov
ernment, we need to continue to support
AthFest Educates, Nufi’s Space, Town and
Gown and Cine. I also proudly worked with
leaders of the local LGBTQ community to
help present their request, which is ongo
ing, to have a rainbow crosswalk installed
to bring further beautification to our down
town area.
We should replicate the Athens
Downtown Development Authority for Five
Points and Normaltown by establishing
business districts (other unique business
clusters as well). This would allow for pro
tections, improvements and shared ame
nities for the small businesses within this
designated district scenario. We should also
make clear the legal definitions of what it
means to be a local business so that specific
incentives can be channeled to them. This
will help with Request For Proposal (RFP)
processes to give extra points for local busi
nesses, especially after we get to the recov
ery phase of this pandemic.
Finally, we must also work with our new
economic development director to give
specific attention to our current businesses
for their longevity and prosperity in our
community, so that we will continue to
have the funky music, shopping, eating and
drinking opportunities Athens is famous
for worldwide.
FP: If and when people start driving again,
what would you propose to solve the parking
challenges in Five Points?
MS: The main solution to help solve the
parking issue in Five Points is to increase
access to the area by upgrading our public
transportation system. This means adding
more dedicated bike lanes throughout the
city, especially in the surrounding area of
Five Points, such as on Milledge Avenue.
I would also call for the city to introduce
fare-free public transportation, which will
increase many residents’ access to areas like
Five Points. Similarly, we need to expand
the city’s routes to provide better coverage
to residents. I’d also look to increase park
ing enforcement in the area to make sure
students are not parking there while going
to campus.
AW: Let' 's start with what I can legis
latively accomplish here. ACC does have
direct jurisdiction over the fire station in
Five Points. I have been working hard to
have parking meters there to deter the
all-day parking that occurs as a result of
being so close to campus. Our ADDA meter
readers have an electric vehicle now, so they
could branch out of downtown to enforce
meters in this area.
Michael Stapor
We may have more of a walking problem
than a parking problem. In 2016, we had a
parking study done that charted over 500
business parking spots and their occupancy
for each hour of a Friday and Saturday.
There were a lot of available spots; they just
weren’t necessarily in desirable locations
for patrons. I encourage neighbors to walk
from home more often, carpool, and be
amenable to walking from a further parking
spot. Let’s leave the closest spots for the
elderly and disabled.
A solution that has begun—and can be
expanded through the Five Points Business
Association—is to have “park here” signs at
businesses when they are closed for others
to use their parking spaces. Collaboration
of businesses teaming up to help solve the
problem is something I not only commend,
but am happy to help facilitate.
FP: Please list any other issue(s) you feel
are important and your solution(s).
MS: Poverty and inequity in Athens are
two of our most glaring issues. Many of
the solutions I have proposed in the earlier
questions will work to solve these issues.
To add on, I’d seek an increase in youth
development and job training programs
that work with local businesses and orga
nizations to provide valuable skills to our
K-12 and adult residents, as well as helping
to end the school-to-prison pipeline.
AW: Improved quality of non-stu
dent multifamily residential neighbors in
District 4, like Clarke Gardens, Town View
and Parkview.
Alcohol abuse and substance addictions
have no socio-economic boundaries. I
will continue my support of our diver
sion courts and all available community
resources to help combat this issue by not
only providing treatment, but by making
sure we prepare people to be productive
members of our community.
Anti-discrimination is a pressing issue
that has been prioritized by our Legislative
Review Committee. We still have work to
do, and I am thrilled to be the chair of the
committee that will address discrimination
throughout the county, not just bars, and
improve ways to successfully report these
bad apples. ©
6 FLAGPOLE.COM | APRIL 22, 2020