City Of Atlanta: Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms' Legislative Items Addressing Support For The Arts, Public Safety And Transportation Introdu ...

Press release from the City of Atlanta:

11/01/2021 3:45 PM

Mayor’s Office of Communications
55 Trinity Avenue, Suite 2500 • Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ Legislative Items Addressing Support for the Arts, Public Safety and Transportation Introduced in City Council

ATLANTA- Important items on Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ legislative agenda moved forward today in Atlanta City Council.

Municipal Support for the Arts Program: To further strengthen Atlanta’s non-profit cultural community, Mayor Bottoms put forth legislation that will authorize the Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) to provide a program of municipal support for the arts that streamlines and improves the former Contract for Art Services program.

This program will allow the City to shorten the timeline for disbursing funds, which will significantly reduce the burden on the small non-profit organizations that comprise most of the applicant pool. Streamlined access to funding will reduce challenges for organizations that need City funding to engage artists and purchase supplies for cultural programs. 

Securing the Cities Program Grant Award: Mayor Bottoms’ also put forth legislation to authorize the acceptance of an additional $950,000 in grant funds as part of the Securing the Cities (STC) Program from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The program seeks to reduce the risk of a successful deployment of radiological or nuclear weapons against major metropolitan areas in the United States. Through STC, DHS provides radiological and nuclear detection equipment, training, exercise support, and operational and technical subject matter expertise through cooperative agreement grants.

Community Improvement District Transportation Projects Implementation: To fulfill Mayor Bottoms’ vision of a safer, more equitable and sustainable transportation network, legislation was introduced to amend the cooperative agreements with Community Improvement Districts (CID) and allow them to construct and maintain transportation infrastructure on local and arterial streets. This change will streamline the procurement process for transportation projects, which will allow more transportation infrastructure projects to be completed in a shorter period of time. 

The legislation also outlines the associated qualifications and performance criteria established by the Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT). The legislation is designed to support the goals of the One Atlanta Strategic Transportation Plan and to facilitate the delivery of transportation infrastructure projects as the City of Atlanta anticipates significant future local, state, and federal funding opportunities.

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This press release was produced by the City of Atlanta. The views expressed here are the author’s own.