Who are we voting for?

To find out on who you'll be voting for, go to Ballotpedia's sample ballot lookup tool to figure out who's on your ballot. Or go to branch.vote

Below are my notes for the candidates who are running in my area of Fulton County. I have chosen not to mention any elections with only one option, and I have filtered out some candidates that I believe don't have a chance of winning.

Referendums

Independent School District Homestead Exemption Referendum
- Renews a property tax exemption for homes valued at more than \$100,000.
- Vote yes to continue giving a $400 yearly discount to wealthier property owners, which costs Atlanta Public Schools $20-25 million in tax revenue. Not to mention a tax increase of $200 yearly to property owners of homes valued less than $100k.
- Vote no to stop this exception and give Atlanta Public Schools \$20-25 million in tax revenue.
- Read more about this on voteatl.org
ESPLOST Referendum
- Do you want to renew the 1% county sales tax to pay for education projects for 5 more years?
- Atlanta would get $618 million and Fulton $1.2 billion which would pay for the plans passed by the school system.
- Read more about this on mdjonline.

Races

Mayor

Kasim Reed (\$2.8 million raised): Previous 2 term mayor who's running again because of Atlanta's rising crime rates. A lot of people in his previous administration have been convicted on corruption charges, but Kasim Reed is not under investigation. Does not believe in increasing neighborhood density. Not endorsed by the NAACP.
Felicia Moore (\$1.2 million raised): Atlanta City Council President for 4 years, and Member for 20. Endorsed by the NAACP.
Andre Dickens (\$1 million raised): Atlanta City Council Member for 8 years. He is chairman of the Transportation Committee, which is in charge of city streets, bridges, sidewalks, paths, and the airport. In 2017, he was chair of the Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee. Endorsed by the NAACP.

City Council President

Doug Shipman (\$545k): CEO of Woodruff Arts Center; Founder and CEO of the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. Top priorities are public safety and community development.
Natalyn Archibong (\$335k): City Council Member for 20 years. As a city council member, she has been President Pro Tempore and Committee Chair of City Utilities and Community Development Human Services. She's also served on committees about utilities, city council, community development, finance, public safety, transportation and zoning.
Courtney English (\$199k): Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education Member for 4 years. Courtney is Chief Education Officer for an education technology company. He was also a founding teacher at BEST Academy, an all-male school in Atlanta, where he taught seventh grade social studies.

City Council Member - Post 1

[Incumbent] Michael Julian Bond (\$146k): Has had his seat for 12 years. He is a member of the Committee on Council, the Community Development and Human Resources Committee, and the Public Safety Committee. From 1994 to 2001, Michael represented District 3 on city council, and he was President Pro Tempore and chair of the Public Safety and Community Development committees.Michael was the Deputy Director and Chief Programs Officer for the Atlanta branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Todd A. Gray (\$104k):
Alfred "Shivy" Brooks (\$52k): High school teacher; History of helping and advocating for disabled individuals; Lobbyist for Working Families Caucus. Marched in Atlanta to protest police killings of Black Americans with his students for 150 consecutive days. Wants to build better public safety partnerships between the community and city leadership.

City Council Member - Post 2

[Incumbent] Matt Westmoreland (\$145k): He's capable, qualified, and going to win no matter what
Sonya Russell-Ofchus (\$5k)

City Council Member - Post 3

Jodi Merriday (\$205k): Jodi is a diversity and inclusion consultant. Wants to hire 250 police officers, build a state of the art training facility for the police, give police officers bonuses if they stay on the force, and repurpose the city jail. Plans to fund de-escalation training for police officers following former President Obama's guidelines for 21st Century Policing and "additional technologies such as Operations Shield Camera Network." Wants to thoughtfully design streets to increase visibility, discourage speeding, separate modes of transportation and protecting pedestrian crossings.
Jacki Labat (\$173k): Sheriff's wife, who believes in supporting officers and holding them accountable are not mutually exclusive. Believes crime is the biggest issue facing Atlanta. Said, "we must explore ways to incentivize youth from partaking in a life of crime." Wants Atlantans to become less dependent on cars for every day use.

City Council Member - District 6

Alex Wan (\$74k): He's had this seat before for 7 years, but then lost it when he ran for City Council President.
Courtney Jenee DeDi (\$21k): Courtney owns a doggie daycare, Club DiOGI.

Board of Education Member - Post 7

Royce Carter Mann (\$37k): 19 year old who's been endorsed by many big names. He's co-founded Students for Ossoff & Warnock to mobilize thousands of young Georgians to elect Georgia's new Senators. He has worked as a Legislative Director for March for Our Lives Georgia. Royce was involved in student government, started a chapter of Amnesty International, and was appointed to be the student member of the GO-Team. He also led the effort to rename Grady High School and interned for the Board of Education.
Tamara Jones (\$30k)
KaCey Venning (\$28k)

Board of Education Member - Post 8

Keedar Whittle (\$24k): Did not take the time to fill out branch.vote's notes.
[Incumbent] Cynthia Briscoe Brown (\$15k): Practicing attorney. But has held many leadership positions for public education. As a board of education member, she founded the LGBTQIA+ Task Force. As a board of education member, she wrote the 2019 Equity Policy to address systemic issues and racial disparities in the school system.

Board of Education Member - Post 9

[Incumbent] Jason Esteves (\$40k): Served for 2 terms and current board chair. Seems to be doing a good job, why rock the boat?
Jason Allen (\$16k)