Last year, just one person spoke at Atlanta’s one and only budget hearing dedicated to public comment. This year, almost 30 Atlantans braved a torrential downpour to speak out against cuts to the parks and recreation budget, while the city’s police budget increases — but only three Atlanta City Council members were there to hear what they had to say
Of 15 council members, only Jason Winston, who is chairing all city budget hearings, Kelsea Bond, Matt Westmoreland and Council President Marci Collier Overstreet attended the May 20 community budget session at City Hall. The 6:15 pm meeting took place despite an emergency weather alert telling people to stay off the roads and flash flooding that paralyzed downtown freeways.
“Thank you to the four of you who showed up today. I know that most of us didn’t come here to speak to a bunch of empty chairs,” said Steven Imle, before criticizing a $16.5 million increase in police spending.
The Atlanta Police Department is set to receive $324.4 million, making up almost one-third (32.7%) of Mayor Andre Dickens’ proposed $995 million general fund budget for FY 2027.
Other Atlantans voiced concerns about a $2.7 million cut to the city’s Parks and Recreation Department budget, while the police budget continues to grow every year. The $54.7 million for parks and recreation comprises just 5.5% of the general fund budget.
“A budget cut to parks is a budget cut to full community transformation,” said Coreen Dent, the president of the Southside Concerned Citizens Community Association – one of several speakers wearing a green ‘I *heart* Parks’ t-shirt.
Dent said she takes pride in citizen-led improvements to Atlanta parks where there were once car burnings and shootings. But, she added, more budget dollars are needed to maintain that progress.
Several Atlantans said they wanted more funding for the city’s Policing Alternatives and Diversion (PAD) program, instead of an increase to the police budget.
“We do not need to raise the city policing budget. I would much rather see us invest in sidewalks, bike lanes, and infrastructure, or even additional support systems for people to prevent crime, rather than just respond once it’s happened,” said Westview resident Ruth Dana in an email read out to the council members.
Five Atlantans, including Dana, emailed comments before the public meeting, up from just one last year.
Make-up session?
Several Atlantans at the community budget session sharply criticized the absent council members. “To look and see that 12 out of 15 councilmembers didn’t show up is incredibly disheartening, disrespectful, and [shows] disregard for the public” said Clara Green of the Center for Civic Innovation.
Green asked the residents and advocates who came to comment to stand up. “This is what community engagement looks like,” she said, then gestured toward the empty chairs behind the council dais. “This is not.”
An Instagram post panning past the mostly empty council chairs attracted over 4,400 likes. “This is disrespectful to the people, especially those who trekked through the rain and hail to be here,” wrote the poster, Center for Civic Innovation founder Rohit Malhotra, who is vying for the Fulton County Commission District 4 seat in a special election on Nov. 3.
None of the 12 absent council members responded to an email from Atlanta Civic Circle.
Atlanta Civic Circle asked all of the council members and Overstreet whether there should be a make-up community budget session, due to the emergency weather alert and absences at the May 20 meeting.
“I wouldn’t be opposed to it,” said Westmoreland, adding that he’d defer to Winston’s judgement as chair of the budget hearings.
“That back-and-forth is an important part of building a thoughtful, balanced budget,” said Winston in an email. “While Wednesday’s weather was challenging, public input isn’t limited to a single hearing,” he added.
Atlantans can still comment on the proposed budget through calls, emails, social media and upcoming council meetings, Winston said. There will also be time for public comment at the council’s Finance/Executive Committee meeting scheduled for 1:30 pm on May 27.
The city council is set to vote on the budget on June 1.
Bond said they’d be in favor of a makeup session. The District 2 council member had encouraged Atlantans to turn out for the community budget session in their newsletter, along with local civic groups.
During the meeting, Bond criticized Atlanta’s budget process for a lack of transparency and public input. “Quite frankly, I wish these public hearings were before we started the budget drafting process,” they said.
Atlanta Civic Circle also asked the council members whether there should be public engagement earlier in the budget process.
“As far as timing, if it happens too early, residents are reacting to a moving target. If it’s too late, positions are already largely set,” Winston said.
Westmoreland suggested possibly using the city’s Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) system to engage the public sooner in the budget process. It’s an idea that has been raised before: The city charter actually requires NPU input in the budget, but there’s no funding to make that a reality for the all-volunteer groups.
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