Malcolm Gideons

1. What experiences or other qualifications make you the best candidate for this position?

I have worked as a community activist since moving to Grant Park. I have served as Grant Park Neighborhood Association president 4 of the last 5 years, NPU-W board member, board member of St. Paul Golden Age Center, member of Zone 3 Citizens' Advisory Board and a member of St. Paul United Methodist Church. It is imperative that our next council person understand the issues and concerns throughout this community. I understand our specific needs and will continue to work hard to make Grant Park a great place to call home.

I believe this position requires a person who is independent and has the ability to make decisions for the benefit of District One regardless of the political consequences. I do not owe any political favors to anyone. I will also use my legal background to fashion strong and specific legislation to solve the dilemmas facing both Atlanta and District 1. I believe the combination of my community involvement, political independence and education make me the best candidate for District 1.

2. What are three of the most important issues facing the city of Atlanta?

Top three issues facing District 1:

1. Public Safety - Atlanta must make public safety our number one priority. We need to hire the necessary police officers to make our streets safe again. We must increase the visibility of our police force by not only having more officers on duty but allowing officers who live in our neighborhoods to bring their patrol cars home. In order to retain our officers, we must offer salary and benefit packages superior to those of competing jurisdictions.
2. Integrity and Accountability - We must regain the trust of the public in our elected officials. Citizens are tired of politics as usual. Elected officials have the fiduciary duty to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. I will sponsor legislation requiring the independent contracting process with the city to be totally transparent. Any contracts awarded by the city should go to the lowest qualified bidder with all documentation available showing all parties who receive any compensation, including any paid consultants. I will also work to strengthen our ethics laws to require mandatory consequences for violations. Elected officials must be held accountable for their actions.
3. Parks / Greenspace - We should re-invest in our public parks and increase the overall greenspace within the city of Atlanta. We need to ensure that all of our children grow up within a short walk of a city park, nature trail or greenspace; triple our park acres per resident; make all parks safe crime free areas; increase the number of ballparks and recreational venues for children, seniors and people with disabilities. We must focus on the objective to live up to our reputation as the "city of trees".

3. What specific actions would you take in your first year in office to begin dealing with these issues?

The first item on the agenda as councilperson will be to order a full audit of the City of Atlanta. We must identify all fraud, waste and duplication of services in the budgetary process. This is the first step in prioritizing the needs of our city. In order to ensure better public safety and better parks and greenspace we must find the necessary funding to achieve these goals.

Secondly, I will sponsor specific legislation requiring mandatory hiring of vacant police positions with better pay and other incentives to retain these recruits. We must do more than merely appropriate the funds for police officer salaries (as opposed to creating a discretionary trust fund). I would also ask for an investigation into the operational efficiency of our current 911 emergency response system. The taxpayers must feel safe in their homes, on their streets and in our City.

Next, I will work to overhaul the bidding process for businesses contracting with the City of Atlanta. We must eliminate the possibility of sloppy bid specifications, lack of oversight and the lack of experience of the particular bidders. The City of Atlanta executes thousands of contracts each year. We must make sure bid requirements are accurate, explicit and the bidder has a verifiable track record we can depend on. I will work to eliminate all waste and corruption.

I will provide leadership in appropriating the funding to save Atlanta's parks from years of neglect. I will lead the fight to make our parks cleaner, safer and more accessible for all our residents. The City must take a leading role in protecting our parks from abuse. I will also initiate legislation creating incentives for developers to provide more greenspace for both residential and commercial developments.

The citizens of District One deserve a representative they can count on. You can count on me.