Mayor Dickens touts past four years to justify four more

What they're saying: "I've got more fight in me," Dickens said Tuesday night. "I love this city, and I'll never stop fighting for it."

• "Not today, not tomorrow, and not when I leave City Hall in 2030."

Between the lines: In a speech big on past accomplishments but short on major announcements, Dickens told the Woodruff Arts Center crowd how his administration guided the city through turbulence brought on by a bribery scandal, the COVID-19 pandemic, a spike in crime and the threat of Buckhead cityhood.

Here are the highlights of Dickens' speech:

☀️ Clean energy: City Hall's doubled the size of the city's solar energy portfolio and has built one of the largest green vehicle fleets in the country

🌳 Parks: Atlanta acquired about 600 acres of green space — more than the dozen previous years combined, he said. Dickens said the city would complete the final segment of the Proctor Creek Greenway before the World Cup.

⚽️ World Cup: The city is working with South Downtown, Centennial Yards and other developers to prepare the city center for the hundreds of thousands of expected visitors.

👮 Public safety: After spiking in 2020 and 2021, Dickens said homicides have dropped by 26% since 2022.

• Last year, Atlanta E-911 operators cut their response time in half, the mayor said.
• Despite a campaign led by progressive activists to "stop Cop City," Dickens said Atlanta forged ahead to build the public safety training center that's set to open in the spring.

🚈 Food deserts: Dickens' team worked with Invest Atlanta to incentivize small grocers to open in areas with poor access to healthy food. Savi Provisions is slated to open two new stores later this year.

🚰 Water woes: After last year's massive water main break that left thousands of residents with dry taps for days, Atlanta's Department of Watershed Management is exploring new tech to detect breaks and seeking federal funding to help improve the system.

🚧 Roads: Nearly 30,000 feet of sidewalks and street resurfacing have been completed, and with a partnership with Georgia Power, the city has installed more than 30,000 streetlights.

🏡 Affordable housing: Coming off the heels of the opening of The Melody and 729 Bonaventure, Atlanta is gearing up to open The Waterworks, its third rapid-housing project on the northwest corner of Northside Drive and 17th Street.

• Dickens also said the city is on track to exceed his goal of creating or preserving 20,000 affordable housing units by the end of his second term.

• Atlanta is either building or families have moved into more than 11,000 units since he took office.
• The city has also committed to building new housing in Thomasville Heights, which he said will be the first residences that will be constructed in the neighborhood in a generation.

🧒 Youth programs: About 14,000 youngsters got jobs through its Summer Youth Employment Program, with his administration awarding more than $10 million in scholarships to students going to college.

• It also invested $22 million in early childhood education programs.

💸 Finances: The city now has a AAA bond rating, the highest it's ever been.

What wasn't mentioned: Atlanta Beltline rail, the recent overhaul of the Office of Inspector General or Cornelius Taylor, the man who was killed when city crews cleared a homeless encampment.

Zoom out: Without naming President Trump, Dickens clapped back at recent efforts to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

• "When they try to tell us that diversity and inclusion are something to run away from, we will fight back and show them that our diversity is what makes us strongest."

Best line of the night: "Look around this room and tell me what you see," Dickens said, urging attendees to acknowledge the diversity.

• "Besides T.I. and Killer Mike," he added, acknowledging the presence of some of the two local celebrities who were in the audience.