The next Atlanta mayor on the city's future

For the past two newsletters, we’ve asked mayoral candidates Andre Dickens and Felicia Moore how they’d prevent Buckhead cityhood and increase affordable housing. Today we ask the final question: We ask where Atlanta is in its history right now and what kind of mayor the city needs.

Why it matters: A mayor’s ability to discuss their big-picture vision gives voters a sense of where that person wants to guide the city.

Andre Dickens: The council member compared Atlanta at this stage in its life to a young adult: It’s learned to walk and work well with others and come into its own. Now it’s time for Atlanta to decide who it wants to be, he tells Axios.

• “We can stand up and compete,” Dickens says. “Are we going to apply ourselves in a way that is forward-moving? Are we going to explode exceptionally with all these skills that we have, or are we going to take the easy road and say, 'Hey, we’re adults, we’re capable and we’ll keep it as it is?'”
• “I believe we have the ability right now to soar, really blossom, and be an adult,” Dickens says. “Saying something is broken and [you're] fixing it is less than half the [job] of a mayor. Mayors are supposed to do that and move the city forward... We have so much upward potential. The mayor of Atlanta starting in 2022 needs to be a visionary who gets things done.”

Felicia Moore: Atlanta’s council president says the city is at a turning point and needs a mayor who is experienced and can start working once sworn into office.

• Moore tells Axios that she will be a mayor who shows up and communicates and will be responsive to constituents' needs.
• What sets her apart from her opponent, Moore says, is that she hasn’t just operated in the City Hall bubble. Before she was elected to the City Council and later as its president, Moore notes, she honed her leadership skills as president of her neighborhood association and chair of NPU D.
• “This city needs a servant leader who is knowledgeable and wants to get things done on day one,” she says.