 Runoff voting begins next week |
June 18 is election day for races that were not settled during the May 21 primary election. This Friday, June 7 is the last day to request an absentee ballot. You can check our past coverage for more information on voting absentee. Early voting starts next Monday, June 10 and wraps up on Friday, June 14. Pro tip: Due to potential mail delays, request your ballot now. |
  : Meredith Hobbs |
 Breaking: Atlanta’s water system |
| Large swathes of central Atlanta went without water for nearly three days after major water mains broke, and, as of writing, some areas of the city are still without water or remain under a boil water advisory notice. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has come under fire, and Monday afternoon’s city council meeting drew a number of residents who expressed outrage during the public comment period. Both online and in public comments, many residents are questioning the city’s spending priorities, such as the $67 million of public funds that the Atlanta City Council approved last year to build the controversial Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, a.k.a ‘Cop City.’ The project’s total cost has ballooned from $90 million to almost $110 million. Atlanta voters approved reauthorizing a 1-cent Municipal Options Sales Tax (MOST) on May 21. According to the city, the MOST has generated $2 billion to fund water and sewer infrastructure. At the city council meeting, Devin Barrington-Ward, who is running for the Post 3 at-large City Council seat, proposed establishing a $5 million emergency fund for small businesses impacted by the water outage. Later Monday afternoon, Mayor Andre Dickens announced similar legislation in the city council chamber, which was introduced by councilmember Matt Westmoreland. |
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 : Liz Rymarev |
 Atlanta City Council, Board of Education approve annual budgets |
| The Atlanta City Council has passed Mayor Andre Dickens’ proposed $2.75 billion budget. Simultaneously, the Atlanta Board of Education gave the green light on Monday to its fiscal year 2025 budget. The District allocated $11.8 million for the “superintendent’s ‘Readers are Leaders’ initiative focused on ensuring all students are reading on grade level.”The school board is aiming to wrap up its superintendent search by the fall. |
 ICYMI: Delta unionization and Gen Z’s election night |
| The big story coming out of the May 21 primary was the near clean sweep of wins by younger candidates, including Gabriel Sanchez’s upset win over incumbent Teri Anulewicz for her Smyrna-area state house district in the Democratic primary. Read Atlanta Civic Circle’s coverage, which includes a full round-up of races going to a runoff election in Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Cobb, and Gwinnett Counties. Meanwhile, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock weighed in on Delta workers’ union organizing efforts, joining 175 of his U.S. Senate and House colleagues in calling on Delta’s CEO to remain neutral and not engage in anti-union activities. |
 Note to our readers: Atlanta Civic Circle wants to know what local voters care about in the upcoming elections. Want to share your thoughts? Send us a note. |
| VOTER PROFILE: ALBERTINE RILEY |
 Age: 75 Occupation: Retired Neighborhood: Lawrenceville Political affiliation: Republican |
| What brought you to the polls for the primary?“Because it’s important to have a say in your government.” Are there specific races you’re following? Or specific people you wanted to be sure to vote for?“I was following the House of Representatives nominee for the Republican Party, Andrew Clyde, because he has conservative values, the same as me.” (Clyde, the incumbent, easily beat three challengers in the Republican primary for Georgia’s 9th Congressional district. -Ed.) What’s the most important issue for you in this election?“Right now, inflation and immigration. I think that Andrew Clyde would work to stop illegal immigration that’s out of control.” What would change in your life if more people agreed with your stance on these issues? “We’d have more security. It’d be a safer United States. And without high inflation, we’d have more prosperity.” Would you support an additional sales tax to fund more transit in Gwinnett?“Yes, because I think that people who can’t afford a car have a hard time getting around in the county. So we need public transportation.” Note: Gwinnett County commissioners will vote Tuesday on whether to approve a voter referendum for a 1-cent, 30-year Transit Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) for the Nov. 5 ballot. If they do, it will be the fifth time Gwinnett residents vote on a tax to expand transit; all previous attempts were unsuccessful. The last vote in November 2020 failed by a razor-thin 0.28% margin. |
| Today’s Democracy Digest was written by Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon with contributions from Edward Maille. It was edited by Meredith Hobbs. |
