Atlanta

Two Fulton election workers have been fired after they were accused of shredding hundreds of voter registration applications, which prompted Georgia’s secretary of state to call on the federal government to investigate the county's operations. 

Why it matters: The latest saga out of Georgia’s most populous county comes months after the State Board of Elections appointed a panel to review the county’s elections process, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. 

Georgia Republicans over the summer also began pushing for the state to take over Fulton’s elections division, the AJC adds. 

Driving the news: The applications were received by the Registration and Elections Office within the last couple of weeks, and according to the county, the employees possibly checked out the applications for processing. 

However, instead of processing the applications, the employees shredded some of the documents, the county said.

Fulton County spokesperson Jessica Corbitt said about 300 registration applications were destroyed. 

Other employees reported their alleged actions Friday and they were fired the same day, the county said. 

Fulton elections director Richard Barron also referred the employees' actions to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office of Investigations.

What they are saying: Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts also reported the case to District Attorney Fani Willis. 

“Elections are the most important function of our government,” Pitts said in a prepared statement. “We have committed to transparency and integrity.”

The other side: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Monday called on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate Fulton County following news of the employees’ alleged actions.

Raffensperger, who has joined the chorus of Republicans criticizing Fulton County for its handling of the 2020 primary and general election, said the DOJ needs to examine “how their leadership disenfranchises Fulton voters through incompetence and malfeasance.”

“The voters of Georgia are sick of Fulton County’s failures,” he said in a statement.

Election workers fired for allegedly shredding voter registration applications

Fulton County spokesperson Jessica Corbitt said about 300 registration applications were destroyed.

Illustration of a peach with an "I voted" sticker on it

Politics

News

 A new Mayor's Office of Violence Reduction will take the lead on implementing a strategy to push back on rising crime in Atlanta.

Why it matters: The office is one of several recommendations made by the Anti-Violence Advisory Council, which was established in May by Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to address the spike in violent crime since the start of the pandemic.

 As of Sept. 25, homicides in 2021 increased 23% to 121 from 98 in 2020, according to Atlanta Police Department's weekly crime report. 

Aggravated assaults grew 17% to 1,850 from 1,582.

Thefts from vehicles rose 18% to 6,083 from 5,174.

Details: The office, the creation of which was formally adopted this week by the Atlanta City Council, will oversee funding for violence prevention programs and coordinate other money for similar programs.

According to City Council documents, the office would develop strategic plans to reduce violence in the city and coordinate citywide programs designed to reduce and prevent violence.

It will have three employees, a director and two staff members whose position will be funded from the executive office's existing budget and American Rescue Plan dollars.  

The director will work with Atlanta police and other departments that have anti-violence programs in place.

The office will also apply for grant funding to support programs tasked with reducing violence. 

The Advisory Council recommendations released in July call on the city to focus on nine initiatives such as cracking down on nuisance properties; hiring 250 additional officers; adding 250 cameras to the city's Operation Shield network; increasing the use of license plate reader technology; and adding 10,000 new streetlights by Dec. 2022.

The council also wants the city to invest $70 million to pay for the components.

What they're saying: Dorthey Hurst, a member of the Atlanta Citizen Review Board, said the committee is an “important first step” in curbing violence in the city.

The office also allows the director and staff members to tailor their focus only to its mission and could play a role in bringing together Atlanta police, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and the sheriff’s office to address violent crime and recidivism, she said.

According to Hurst, one problem that contributes to community violence is the number of guns stolen during car break-ins across the city.  

“We’re feeding the beast,” she said. “That’s why we have so many youth offenders who have guns. They are getting them out of these cars.”

Even when the Office of Violence Reduction gets up and running, Hurst said it’s up to the public to be more proactive in addressing crime in their neighborhoods.  

“We can’t wait for other people to come in and own our communities,” she said. “We have to own our streets and be participants in it.” 

Atlanta establishes office to reduce violent crime

The office will develop strategic plans to reduce violence in the city and coordinate citywide programs designed to reduce and prevent violence.

Illustration of a downward arrow made out of crime-scene tape.

Tuesday marks the first day of early voting for mayoral and city council races in Atlanta and around Fulton County.

Early voting continues through Oct. 29 — from 9am to 6pm. 

Fulton County will open 24 early voting sites. (Full list here.)

If you prefer to vote by mail, the last day to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 22. 

Reminder: A new law that went into effect this year requires anyone requesting an absentee ballot to include their driver’s license number or another form of identification on the form.

You can deposit your absentee ballot in one of several drop boxes, by mail or at the elections office.

Our thought bubble: We’ll be voting early to avoid long lines on Election Day!

Your guide to early voting in Atlanta and Fulton County

A voter casts a ballot at the Metropolitan Library in November 2020 in Atlanta. Photo: Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

A month after swastikas were found drawn on bathroom walls at two of its high schools, the Cobb County Board of Education approved a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and racism.  

Flashback: Bathrooms at Pope and Lassiter high schools were vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti in September, an act the school district said stemmed from a social media prank, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The other side: The approval of the resolution was not unanimous. Two of the board's Black Democratic members, Jaha Howard and Leroy "Tre" Hutchins, voted against it because they felt the topic of anti-Semitism deserved its own resolution. 

The four white male Republican members of the board approved the resolution without any discussion.

Howard said the original plan was for the board to consider a resolution denouncing anti-Semitism. Adding racism to the resolution "conjures up a lot of hard work and discussion we had back in 2020," he said.

The school board could not come to a consensus over language to include in a resolution denouncing racism. 

"Our Jewish and minority communities deserve thoroughness, thoughtfulness and a comprehensive and unanimous resolution," he said. 

Context: Acts of racism and anti-Semitism been been reported for years in the Cobb County School District, which led community members to criticize the system and board members for not addressing the incidents. 

In October 2017, a Cobb student was captured on Snapchat giving the Nazi salute to a Donald Trump banner.

Another student in March 2017 used Snapchat to make racist comments about Black people. 

In 2019, a group named Stronger Together, made up of parents, students and community members, formed following acts of racism and bias experienced by students of color. 

In 2020, a Black Cobb student said a white student played a whip-cracking sound on his phone as she walked in the hallway. 

Hershel Greenblat, a Holocaust survivor whose entire extended family was murdered by the Nazis, called on the district to reinstate the Anti-Defamation League’s No Place For Hate curriculum "so that students will be educated and acts like this will never happen again." 

That program was eliminated from the district when board members in June passed a resolution banning the teaching of critical race theory. 

The Southeast Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League said on Twitter that the resolution was a good start, but is an empty gesture "unless followed by specific actions."

Critics bash Cobb resolution on anti-Semitism, racism

A month after swastikas were found drawn on bathroom walls at two of its high schools, the Cobb County Board of Education approved a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and racism.

Illustration of standardized test filled out as ≠ with an F grade.

A new, multimillion dollar project would make it easier to walk, bike or ride a self-driving bus from Cumberland Mall to watch the Atlanta Braves play at Truist Park. 

Details: The Cumberland Community Improvement District has unveiled a proposed 3-mile multimodal path that will include dedicated pedestrian and bike lanes as well as an autonomous shuttle system alongside traditional travel lanes. 

Why it matters: The community improvement district has a history of investing in projects that improve car-based travel in the area, making it easy for commuters and visitors to access office parks and popular venues like the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center and Cumberland Mall.

However, now that it’s home to 29,000 residents, the Braves and mixed-use development The Battery Atlanta, “people are looking for other modes of transportation” to get around within the district, said CID executive director Kim Menefee.

What's happening: The Cumberland Sweep project would improve connectivity to the area’s major attractions, including the mall, Battery Atlanta, Truist Park, Cobb Galleria Center and the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, the CID said. 

Quick fact: Community improvement districts are made up of businesses that tax themselves to pay for public infrastructure projects.  

A map provided to Axios by the CID shows the Cumberland Sweep would be constructed in five segments and loop around the area along Windy Ridge Parkway, Galleria Drive, Akers Mill Road, Cumberland Boulevard and Interstate North Parkway.

Map of the proposed 3-mile multi-modal path.

A map showing the segments of Cumberland Sweep, a proposed 3-mile path featuring bike and pedestrian lanes around Truist Park and The Battery Atlanta. Photo courtesy of Cumberland Community Improvement District

Flashback: The Atlanta Braves sent shock waves around the state when in 2013 the team announced it would move from Turner Field — easily accessible by the city’s MARTA system — to the Cumberland area of Cobb County, which has shunned mass transit options. 

The subsequent redevelopment transformed the Cumberland area to a destination point for thousands of people traveling from all across metro Atlanta to catch a Braves game.

The big picture: Cumberland CID would not be the first entity to test out a driverless shuttle. Peachtree Corners has four autonomous shuttles that run on Technology Parkway between Ga. 141 and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Cumberland’s new path would cost about $44 million, Menefee said. 

The CID applied for and received $6.4 million in federal funding to help pay for preliminary engineering and construction on the first segment.

The goal would be to have the multimodal path built in the next 10 years, Menefee said. 

Menefee said the CID also wants to partner with the city of Smyrna and Atlanta Braves to construct a pedestrian bridge over Cobb Parkway, connecting people to The Battery and the stadium from the Smyrna side of the highway.  

What's next: While there’s quite a way to go to get the necessary funding to install the 3-mile loop, Menefee said CID partners are supportive of the project. 

She also said the CID will keep an eye on technology to ensure the autonomous bus shuttle component will be efficient and cost effective over time.  

“There’s been tremendous excitement and energy around this project,” Menefee said. 

Our thought bubble: This seems like a cool project, but we should also think about projects that would get people to and from the Cumberland area without relying on cars.

$44 million project seeks to make Cumberland bike friendly

The Cumberland Community Improvement District has unveiled a proposed 3-mile multi-modal path that will include dedicated pedestrian and bike lanes as well as an autonomous shuttle system.

Cumberland Community Improvement District's proposed multi-modal path.

A rendering showing the proposed multimodal path that would include bike and pedestrian lanes as well as room for an autonomous bus. Photo courtesty of Cumberland Community Improvement District

Kristal Dixon

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