Politic-ATL: Cop City referendum update, plus new clerk and homeless aid

Cop City:

The Atlanta City Council again punted a vote to codify into law and streamline the city's process for putting a referendum on the public training center on the November ballot.

Catch up quick: City Council member Liliana Bakhtiari introduced the legislation after activists pushing for the referendum said the process was unfair.

State of play: Bakhtiari said she plans to reintroduce the measure, according to WABE.

New clerk alert

Council unanimously picked Corrine A. Lindo as the next municipal clerk during Monday's meeting.

Why it matters: The municipal clerk is Atlanta's election superintendent for referendums, candidate qualifying, challenge hearing proceedings and recalls.

• Lindo has to provide open communication, adherence to regulations, and record-keeping management between government and residents.

State of play: Lindo is replacing interim clerk Vanessa Waldron, the previous deputy clerk under clerk Foris Webb III, who retired last April.

• Lindo joined City Hall in 2017 as a legislative research and policy analyst before becoming the council deputy staff director in 2022.

Homeless aid

Atlanta leaders just OK'd two resolutions to donate $3.1 million to local organizations assisting Atlanta's unhoused community.

• Details: Partners for Home will receive $2.4 million to to help identify where people are living underneath bridges and highway overpasses, and to support efforts to put people into permanent housing and assistance programs.
• And $700,000 from the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund will support the Gateway Center's shelters and services for the homeless.

What's next: Atlanta is currently undertaking the annual count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January.

• The Partners for HOME 2023 Point-in-Time Count report found 2,679 homeless people in Atlanta last January, which was up from 2,017 in 2022.