Georgia Senate Minority Whip Vincent Fort, in formally announcing over the weekend his bid to become mayor of Atlanta, laid out a platform that addresses recreational marijuana use, public schools, the costs of higher education and parking.
Fort said he would pursue the decriminalization of the use of marijuana within Atlanta's city limits.
The No. 2 Democrat in the state Senate also said he wants the city to pay for two years of tuition for community colleges or technical schools.
He also called for an end to “predatory” for-profit parking enforcement – he promised to oust PARKAtlanta and “anything that looks like” it – and said the city government would help launch a “community schools” program offering extended hours, meals and health care for needy children and their families.
“There are some, even some who want to be our mayor, who tell us everything is going in the right direction in Atlanta. And it might be for them,” Fort said Saturday, mentioning a litany of long-blighted areas. “How long do we have to be neglected like this while the resources of government benefit the rich and the well off?”
Fort did not specify how he would pay for the tuition-free program or the schools initiative if elected, but he suggested he would target tax breaks and other incentives for developers, such as the Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Falcons stadium deals, to raise some of the revenue.
“If someone tells you we can’t afford it,” he said, “ask them why we’re spending close to half a billion dollars on subsidizing billionaire businessmen with stadium projects but we can’t make sure our kids have a chance to get the education they’ll need to succeed.”
Fort is leaning on the same insurgency that powered Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who also promised free college tuition and sponsored a measure to end the federal marijuana prohibition.
Fort has joined a race that's already well underway.
Contenders and likely contenders include: Atlanta City Council members Keisha Lance Bottoms, Mary Norwood, Kwanza Hall and Ceasar Mitchell; former City Councilwoman Cathy Woolard; Peter Aman, the city’s former city chief operating officer; and Michael Sterling, an aide to Mayor Kasim Reed.
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