By State Representative Mesha Mainor (D-Atlanta)
(769 words)
I recently introduced local legislation, House Bill 388, to help some of the poorest communities in Atlanta, including Hunter Hills, Dixie Hills, Center Hill, Vine City and English Avenue. This legislation is based on data from a Georgia Institute of Technology project to understand and identify potential solutions for energy burdens in Atlanta.
HB 388 would create a micro-authority called the Atlanta Technology and Energy Authority (ATEA), which would bring alternative workforce development solutions in energy and technology. The ATEA would provide opportunities in STEM careers for the least among us. This local bill requires 10 signatures from Atlanta legislative delegation members. Nine members have signed the bill so far in support of my communities in the 30311 and 30314 area codes.
Unfortunately, I have quickly learned the sad side of politics, which is at expense of those that need us most. I’m extremely appreciative of the Atlanta delegation members that support HB 388. I am saddened others make decisions based on the Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms bullying them not to sign the bill. The mayor’s team of lobbyists have leaned hard on some of the other state representatives to not sign the bill. Mayor Bottoms wants all economic development funds to pass through the private organization, Invest Atlanta. The mayor’s representative stated that she is in opposition to helping this marginalized population through ATEA.
Invest Atlanta is an umbrella for all the city’s authorities, including its workforce development programs. The ATEA was designed to complement the work of Invest Atlanta and other organizations but with a much more narrow focus. Its opportunities are solely for those that live in blight and have lived in blight for at least half a century. Residents are outraged that the mayor is trying to block their state representative from helping them.
Mayor Bottoms is using her executive power at the local level to influence state politics. This unfortunately leaves victims in the middle – the residents of 30311 and 30314.
The communities in the 30311 and 30314 area codes that are directly impacted by this bill have the highest energy burden in the entire city. With failing schools, high unemployment, poverty, blight, alarming crime rates, suicides, lack of vaccines and lack of hope, this is just another blow to the forgotten.
I am disappointed that Mayor Bottoms is against this proposed authority as she wants all economic development dollars to be funneled through Invest Atlanta. However, the ATEA could provide additional support for the neediest communities, and the ATEA is intended to work alongside the mayor’s Invest Atlanta program. The ATEA could also support the mayor’s 100 percent clean energy plan that has a goal to be completed by 2035. The ATEA could also partner with MARTA and its rollout of electric buses. Microsoft, Google, Verizon and other technology hubs will also benefit from the ATEA, as well as its transparency of accounting as it is a public agency that requires public input under the Administrative Procedures Act. Invest Atlanta does not have the same accountability and transparency requirements that the ATEA is required by law.
In the last 50 years, not one single investment dollar of significant or functional impact has been put into these communities from the city, county, state or federal level. This is ridiculous. My community elected me because they want to see a change. We cannot even get clean curbs, so it does not surprise me that Mayor Bottoms has taken this position. I am ashamed that my mayor opposes HB 388 to help the poorest people in the city.
Helping people has turned into a power play, but only one person is seeking it at the expense of the very people she wants to vote for her.
I have been working on this bill since I won the general election in November. I have used an abundance of resources from Georgia Tech, the Georgia Public Service Commission, the Lt. Governor’s Office and more to make this bill a win for every single stakeholder and business that needs a diverse workforce, marginalized people who need a job, failing local schools that need corporate funding and veterans that need job opportunities.
People of color are underrepresented in science careers. We need to move past traditional carpentry workforce development to technology and energy workforce development.
It is my opinion that the world knows nothing works without diversity. The mayor’s assumption that Invest Atlanta can be a complete fix for everything is absurd. Additionally, for those corporations that particularly do not want to partner with Invest Atlanta because of the capacity for transparency, ATEA would be a resource for them.
Representative Mesha Mainor represents the citizens on District 56, which includes portions of Fulton County. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2020 and currently serves on the Education, Governmental Affairs and State Planning & Community Affairs committees.
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