Amir Farokhi
believes that Atlanta deserves.....
Best-in-class services:
Atlanta's residents deserve higher quality and more responsive delivery of city services. Too often, getting a pothole fixed or a code enforced is frustratingly inefficient. If we are going to be an extraordinary, livable city, our city must provide responsive, top-quality services both in its customer service and in its delivery.
Strong Ethics Rules and a Balanced Budget:
Atlanta cannot become a remarkable city unless city government is well run, financially sound and ethically strong. Our city must manage our tax dollars transparently and responsibly. We must adopt best-in-class accounting practices to minimize waste and restore the public's trust in City Hall. We must demand that the Mayor open the City's books for the public to see because good government is transparent. We must strengthen our ethics and lobbying rules in order to ensure public policy decisions are made in the best interests of taxpayers.
A Strong, Stable Police and Fire Force:
Public safety is the most important service government can provide. If our streets are not safe and our city is not approachable, we will lose residents, tourists, revenue and the opportunity to be a truly livable city.
Too often our police department trains officers only to see them leave for other departments several years later. This talent-drain inflicts a significant cost on police morale and on our quality of life. We must find innovative ways to keep officers in the city, from offering educational grants to providing mortgage assistance for buying a home in the City's limits. We must also make sure that our police and fire departments are properly staffed for a city of Atlanta's size. Not only do we need more police officers on foot, bike and car patrol today, we need to find a long-term solution to maintaing strong, stable public safety services.
Vibrant Neighborhoods:
One of Atlanta's greatest assets is its vibrant, varied neighborhoods. Our city's future as a great place to live, rests not on its skyscrapers or tourist attractions but on the strength of its neighborhoods. We must make sure that our neighborhoods flourish by protecting the tree canopy, increasing green-space, promoting community-driven economic development in under-served areas, limiting out-of-scale infill development and protecting long-time residents. Also, if we are going to be livable city fifty years from today, we have to effectively connect our neighborhoods to public transportation.
A Street Life to match our Skyline :
We all want our street life to match our skyline. To achieve that we must continue to push for a dynamic, well rounded urban core. The Peachtree Street Corridor can be walkable, safe, and culturally vibrant if we continue to attract residences, retail, and schools to our high-density core. The development of our high-density core must continue to be a priority for the city.
Affordable Housing:
We cannot allow our successes to make Atlanta prohibitively expensive for long-time residents or those that make our city run. Great cities are inclusive, diverse and accessible for everyone. If we have ample affordable housing across the city, we take cars off the road, make it easier to run a business, and improve everyone's quality of life.
Sustainability:
Green is smart. Atlanta can become a leader in environmental sustainability by embracing our natural environment and promoting efficient use of natural resources in city departments and in homes and businesses. Our high density areas are ripe for greenroofs. Our recycling program needs to be more expansive and innovative. We can reduce the costs of providing city services by reexamining our practices and use of materials.
Our quality of life depends on more green-space, bigger sidewalks and more bicycle lanes. And we must begin to explore bold initiatives, such as an urban agriculture as a way to transform Atlanta into a model green city that is economically and environmentally sustainable. The Mayor's Sustainable Atlanta initiative is a excellent start to improving our city, but the next mayor and next city council must continue these efforts and proactively push Atlanta into a new culture of sustainability.
Arts:
Our creative class and community can drive our economy and create an inspiring city. Atlanta must create space and incentives for arts to flourish at the neighborhood level driven by neighborhood residents. Atlanta must also look for ways to combine forces with Fulton County to find consistent economic support for the arts.