City Council president withdraws request for car, driver after public backlash
City Council President Marci Collier Overstreet has formally withdrawn her request for a car and driver amid scrutiny over whether it is the best use of taxpayer dollars.
Overstreet took several minutes to address her constituents at Monday’s City Council meeting, telling the audience she would not be pursuing a “chauffeur.”
“Just first of all want Atlanta to know that I did hear you,” Overstreet said from the dais. “I heard you, I heard the internet crashing.”
The council president said last week she would prefer to be driven to and from meetings and other events in which she represents the city in her official capacity.
She never felt the need for a car and driver during her eight years representing southwest Atlanta’s District 11, Overstreet told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But since becoming Council President this year, she said she has a much busier schedule and is expected to attend an increasing number of back-to-back events.
Having a car and driver would help ensure she gets from one place to the next smoothly without having to worry about Atlanta parking or potential safety concerns, she said.
At Monday’s council meeting, one woman speaking during public comment told Overstreet that tax money could be put to better use. If the council president gets a car and driver, what’s to keep other elected officials from wanting one too, Marjorie McCloud asked.
“Take MARTA and do Uber,” she said. “Save the tax dollars, unless it’s going to come out of your pay.”
In her remarks, Overstreet vowed to “lead with transparency” and said she’s always open to having discussions.
“At the end of the day, this is always going to be about what’s best for our city,” Overstreet said. “It has never been just about me. It’s about me wanting to make sure that I’m everywhere for everyone, and I’m listening. And I hear you loud and clear.”
The move comes after her request for “portal-to-portal transportation” was unanimously tabled at last week’s finance committee meeting.
‘Affordable’ for whom?
Can a first-time teacher afford to live alone in the city of Atlanta? What about a barista, a server or someone making minimum wage?
Could they swing an estimated $1,600 a month for “affordable housing?”
The topic came up at a work session last week to review a commission’s recommendations for Mayor Andre Dickens’ Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative plan.
Dickens hopes to revitalize historically underserved communities and rewrite what he says is Atlanta’s “tale of two cities.”
His proposal hinges on extending all eight of the city’s tax allocation districts, also known as TADs, in which property tax revenue growth is allocated to pay for infrastructure improvements within the district’s boundaries.
Building more affordable housing is a major component of his goal. But even with subsidies for those making less than the area median income, Council member Kelsea Bond argued it’s unrealistic to think baristas and other service workers could afford to live on their own.
“One of the major criticisms of the TAD is that new development does spur gentrification and displacement,” Bond said at the work session, noting the soaring living costs near the Beltline.
Bond said the city’s rent calculations don’t always reflect what’s actually “affordable” for Atlanta’s working class.
“What I’m concerned about is that we’re using words like ‘affordable’ and saying we’re building a lot of affordable housing, and really we’re just subsidizing market-rate housing,” Bond said.
Eloisa Klementich, president and CEO of Invest Atlanta, the city’s economic development authority, said an individual making at least 60% of the AMI could benefit.
“That could be your first-time teachers, that could be your minimum wage workers, that could be someone who works at a Starbucks Coffee,” she said.
An individual making 80% AMI, about $64,000 annually, could qualify for $1,600 in rent, she said.
But Bond said there are few baristas making that kind of money.
“I think we need to be very clear about who we’re providing housing for — because 80% AMI, that is not service workers. I don’t even think that’s teachers,” said Bond, who was the lone City Council member to vote against accepting the recommendations.
Budget season is upon us
Speaking of finances, the mayor’s office recently unveiled Dickens’ nearly $995 million proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The proposed 2027 budget is nearly $20 million more than this year’s, which was the largest in Atlanta’s history.
In a news release, the mayor’s office said the proposed budget represents a 2% increase from the one approved last year, “reflecting rising retirement contributions and healthcare costs while continuing to invest in the priorities Atlantans care about most.”
“Atlanta is a group project,” Dickens said. “That has always been true, and it is especially true now as we build on the progress of the last four years and look ahead to the work still before us.”
Budget briefings begin Tuesday morning at City Hall.
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