Robb Pitts thinks Fulton County is a big deal. But that doesn’t mean the county commission chairman doesn’t also see room for improvement.
He'd like to see more attention paid to HIV, where Fulton has one of the highest rates of new cases in the nation. He thinks there's more that can be done to reduce overdose deaths in the county, and respond to the opioid crisis. And he wants to push back against sex trafficking, which he said is an epidemic that gives Fulton County a black eye.
One of the magnets for sex trafficking is the Super Bowl, Pitts said Thursday in his first State of the County address, at the Georgia World Congress Center. So ahead of Atlanta hosting the 2019 game, he wants to make a push to stop the practice locally.
Pitts debuted a series of ads that will show on the county’s TV station, and said he will ask restaurant inspectors to ensure the businesses they check have signs posted about sex trafficking, and will fine them if they don’t.
“It’s timely,” Pitts said after the speech. “You have to talk about the good and the bad.”
Pitts is running for his first full term as chairman, after winning an election last year that allowed him to complete the unexpired term of his predecessor, John Eaves. His opponent, Keisha Waites, said her politics don't differ from Pitts' — but she thinks there is a better way to respond to the issues that he raises.
“My belief is we cannot solve the challenges we have with 1970s solutions of press releases and photo ops,” she said. “I think you have to get out of the Ivory Tower and be on the ground.”
Waites attended Pitts’ speech, and said while she supports his efforts, she thinks it’s time to go in a different direction.
Pitts said the county has been working to improve its transportation gridlock, renovate its libraries and fix a property tax system that many property owners have complained about in recent years.
He also wants to end jail sentences for people who are in possession of small amounts of marijuana and eliminate the cash bail system.
Pitts said he thinks the future of Fulton County can be defined through opportunities to work with Georgia Tech on the growth of autonomous vehicles, expansion of the digital entertainment industry and connections in Cuba and the Caribbean that could lead to economic development.
He also endorsed casino gambling as a way to better fund education in the state, and said he wants to have two casinos in Fulton County.
Attendees said they appreciated how direct Pitts was in his approach. Sylvester Ford, who works in finance, said he appreciated Pitts’ vision for the future. Marva Bryan, who works for the county, said the speech represented the changes she’s seeing in Fulton.
“I’m excited to be part of it,” she said.
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