Mayor Andre Dickens ticked off a long list of successes during his first three years in office and outlined his vision for the final year of his term at the annual State of the City address to local business leaders.
But Dickens also made clear during the Feb. 26 speech he is seeking another four years as Atlanta’s mayor. The vision he has for the city, what he dubbed “a group project,” extends to 2030, he said.
“This project’s due date is circled for the year 2030, so be ready to get a few more assignments from me for the next four years,” he said at the start of his speech.
“I’ve got more fight in me,” he repeated as he closed out the roughly 30-minute address. “I love this city, and I’ll never stop fighting for it. Not today, not tomorrow, and not when I leave city hall in 2030, baby.”
This year, the mayor, city council president and all 15 members of the council are up for election on Nov. 4.
The State of the City address was delivered to hundreds of CEOs, politicians, and business and community leaders during an evening event at the Woodruff Arts Center. The event was also live-streamed on social media.
Dickens, a former city council member, came from behind to edge former mayor and perceived frontrunner Kasim Reed out of the contest completely in the Nov. 2, 2021, general election.
And although former Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore had a big lead coming out of the Nov. 2, 2021, general election, she lost steam to a resurgent Dickens, who managed to get twice as many votes as Moore during the Nov. 30, 2021, runoff with 64 percent of the vote.
During his State of the City address, Dickens recalled what he inherited when he came into office. The country was in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, infrastructure projects were behind, violent crime was on the rise and there was a movement by some to carve Buckhead off from Atlanta to make it its own city.
“The city was fractured and in need of some course correction,” Dickens said.
The Buckhead cityhood movement was defeated in the Georgia General Assembly after Dickens renewed the city’s relationship with Gov. Brian Kemp.
Homicides are down 26 percent since 2022, and overall crime is down 5 percent. The drop in crime is a credit to the major investments in the city’s first responders but also because of alternative programs such as Midnight Basketball and the Summer Youth Employment Program, the mayor said.
Reviving former Mayor Shirley Franklin’s Pothole Posse has resulted in 30,000 potholes filled, he said. The Atlanta Department of Transportation has upgraded or installed over 160 ADA ramps and nearly 30,000 feet of sidewalks and installed more lighting in the city. Dickens said these kinds of investments have reduced pedestrian and vehicular fatalities by 50 percent.
Dickens said the city is on track to build or retain 20,000 units of affordable housing by 2030 and also investing in grocery stores being located in food deserts to create safe communities for all residents.
When the World Cup comes to the city next year, the mayor said its Showcase Atlanta initiative will ensure all residents and businesses will benefit.
The mayor said he believes in “drawing circles” but is not afraid to back down from a fight while taking an apparent swipe at the Trump administration.
“I love this city and I love its people, and while I may be the drawing circles mayor, sometime love looks like fighting for what you believe in,” he said.
“When they tried to tear our city in two, we fought back and kept our city whole. When they tried to stop Cop City, we fought back and built the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. And when they try … to tell us that diversity and inclusion are something to run away from, we will fight back and show them that our diversity is what makes us strongest,” he said.
Collin Kelley contributed to this report.
