WEBVTT - Episode 322 "Mayor Andre Dickens" 0:00:08.520 --> 0:00:09.320 Word with me here. 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:11.560 You know, BT know how it goes, shout out oct 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:13.880 no real color what we see whole game? 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:14.880 Wait the baller blot something. 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:16.919 Oh you can't stand on their own sole see I 0:00:16.960 --> 0:00:19.279 already know you can't bold with me because up with 0:00:19.320 --> 0:00:21.720 the squad of me, they get a little They called me. 0:00:24.320 --> 0:00:29.280 Love Love Baller Alert. 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:31.760 Welcome to the ball Up Show podcasts everywhere you get 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:32.320 your podcast. 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:34.520 Please to t to like, subscribe and share our YouTube 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:37.240 page at baller alert TV. One tip of revoultd TV. 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:39.159 I go by the name of Ferrari siblings o ce T. 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:41.880 With that, you have the mayor, mister Andre Thickens of 0:00:41.960 --> 0:00:42.400 the building. 0:00:44.640 --> 0:00:46.239 What's up, sir, Hey, what's up? 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:46.400 Man? 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:47.120 I'm glad to be here. 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:48.760 This is a complete honor man. 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:50.840 Yeah, honors are all mine to be here on baller Alert. 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:51.800 This is this is what's up. 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:54.040 And we're missing BT because he's the one who actually 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:54.880 put this all together. 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:57.560 Yeah that's it. Yeah god. 0:00:58.080 --> 0:01:00.840 Yeah, So you know, welcome to the All Alert Show. 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:04.080 And just for everybody who doesn't know we're unfamiliar, can 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:05.320 you tell us a little bit about yourself. 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:07.000 I know you're from Atlanta, but what part of. 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:07.760 Atlanta, Atlanta. 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:11.319 Yeah, I'm born and raised in Atlanta in Adamsville. That's 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:14.840 the West Adamsville, right, that's right, is a couple of 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:16.679 years younger than me. And me and him, you know, 0:01:16.720 --> 0:01:19.199 grew up in the same general area, man, like west 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:21.400 side of Atlanta. And I still live in coll Your Heights, 0:01:21.440 --> 0:01:23.680 which is not far from like really where he lived, 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:24.320 like really close. 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:25.679 You still live there? 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:28.360 Yeah, I lived about two neighborhoods from the neighborhood I 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:28.800 was born in. 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:29.320 Wow. 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:31.360 So I've been all over the city and I come 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:34.360 back to my roots on the west side. So yeah, man, 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:38.440 I'm from Atlanta. I went to May's High School, Benjamin 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:40.399 and Elijah May. I went to Atlanta Public schools the 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:43.080 whole way. My mama went to Atlanta Public schools. My 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:45.720 all my aunts and family. I'm like a fourth or 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:48.840 fifth generation Atlanta and so we like deep in this thing. 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:52.480 And you know, I went to Georgia Tech for college 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:56.280 as an engineer, a chemical engineering major, graduated and you know, 0:01:56.440 --> 0:02:00.000 did engineering things, ran businesses, and then went to Georgia 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:03.440 State to get a master's in public administration later in life, 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:05.080 and then ran for office. 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:06.560 Is that what it was? 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:08.600 The public administration part that took you to. 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.079 Well, really, when I was sixteen years old, I said 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:13.240 I wanted to be mayor of Atlanta. So since I 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:15.160 was sixteen, I've been talking about this job. 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:16.880 Why did you say that at sixteen? 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:19.760 So a little bit before that, I met Ambassador Andrew 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:21.960 Young when he was mayor, and I was like, wow, 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:25.520 this is the dude that you see in the school. 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:27.360 So and when you walk in the school building, you 0:02:27.360 --> 0:02:30.839 would see the president, the governor, and the mayor. Those 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:32.240 were the pictures that were on the wall, and there 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:33.880 was two white dudes and one black dude. All of 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:35.560 them had on suits, and I was like, that black 0:02:35.639 --> 0:02:37.640 dude is important. He don't own a suit. And then 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:40.040 after school programs I see him. And then at the 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:42.320 Parks and Recreation you walk in the building. It's the 0:02:42.360 --> 0:02:46.320 same three people, the mayor, the governor, and the president 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:48.120 and they were two white dudes and one black dude. 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:49.760 And I was like, I resonated with him. 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:50.040 What is he? 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:52.520 He's always on TV talking about things he's doing. And 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:54.440 so I said, man, Atlanta's great. I want to be 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:56.360 the mayor of Atlanta. I want to be him. That 0:02:56.480 --> 0:02:58.280 was literally how it started. I didn't know what a 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:00.480 city council was. I didn't know what a commisson was. 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:02.200 I didn't know what none of these things were. I 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:05.520 just knew that the individual that was big enough to 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:07.840 be up there on pictures with the governor and the 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:11.000 president and that was always talking positive, like I'm about 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.640 to do this in the city. He was always, you know, 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:15.960 in my line of sight that somebody I might want 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:18.720 to be. And I knew that Atlanta was special, even 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:21.240 though back then it was not like what it is now. 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.200 But I knew Atlanta was special. And I you know, 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:26.640 I mean, I was born and raised here, so I 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:29.840 knew Doctor King, I knew of Benjamin Benjamin Elijah Mains 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:31.720 Correta Scott, et cetera, et cetera. 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:31.919 Et cetera. 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:33.600 And I was like, this ain't no place like this. 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:35.960 So way back then I said I want to be married. 0:03:36.000 --> 0:03:39.280 So I kept moving my life towards that, even though 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:42.880 I had to make money because I didn't know nobody 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:45.360 in my life that was a mayor or in politics 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:48.120 and stuff. So I was the first in my family 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:50.040 to go to college. And when I went to college, 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:51.960 I was like, let me do something that's going to 0:03:52.280 --> 0:03:54.920 you know, work out for me financially. So I went 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:58.160 down this path of engineering and business, but I never 0:03:58.240 --> 0:04:00.800 lost sight of, you know, what I wanted ultimately be. 0:04:00.920 --> 0:04:04.560 So I was doing neighborhood you know, president vice president stuff, 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:08.240 and community leader and nonprofits and church stuff, always serving, 0:04:08.760 --> 0:04:11.360 and then eventually I just ran for city counciling one. 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:14.600 Was there a particular person in your life that was 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:19.000 guiding you to you know, through all that. You know, 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:21.000 like you said, you never lost sight of that. You 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:23.359 went to college the first out of your family. You know, 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:25.800 who was inspiring you this whole time? 0:04:25.839 --> 0:04:27.880 I would say my mom, even though she didn't go 0:04:27.920 --> 0:04:30.919 to college, she would have wanted to. She would have 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:33.760 wanted to go to Spelman. She always sees Spelman as 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:36.880 you know, being from here. Why she well, she had 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:40.760 my sister, my sister in high school or just as 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.520 she was graduating high school, and so that disrupted certain 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:47.200 plans that she had. But she was like, Andre, no 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:50.480 matter what, You're going to succeed. I had a cheerleader 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.039 from the day hours born. My mom and my older sister. 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:56.880 These two I could move mountains. I mean, nothing was 0:04:56.960 --> 0:05:00.560 ever impossible for them through you know, for me through them. 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:04.320 I always felt supported, and she put me in so 0:05:04.360 --> 0:05:06.840 many after school programs. Now, back in the day, stuff 0:05:06.880 --> 0:05:09.719 was five dollars, thirty five dollars for a whole summer 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:10.360 or whatever. 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:11.000 It was cheap. 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:14.200 Now, you know, I thank god my daughter's nineteen now 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:17.239 because them five hundred dollars summer bills and three hundred 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.000 dollars programs. You know, back then, my mama she scrounged 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.200 up thirty five dollars. Put me in baseball, put me 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.760 in karate, put me in whatever. So she would hand 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:29.040 me off to qualify people after school, and then they 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:31.440 would instruct me even further, be like, hey, are you 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:35.080 interested in business? I was in a youth business program 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:36.240 at eight years old, and. 0:05:36.200 --> 0:05:38.440 That probably was rare at that particular timeframe too. 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:40.680 Yeah, it was rare. It was rare to have all 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:42.039 that knowledge. 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.440 Like I was young enough knowing what a profit and 0:05:44.480 --> 0:05:48.440 loss was, what a revenue and sales and all those things. 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:50.479 Had a bank account at eight years old, even though 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:53.840 you know, I lived in Adamsville. But my mom put 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:56.920 me in programs that were like, you are going to succeed. 0:05:57.040 --> 0:05:59.679 And I remember when I went to Maids because May's 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.560 had fancy kids, right, Mais was preachers kids, pat you know, 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:07.320 all kinds of political kids and you know, business owners. 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:09.760 This has been amazing. Way back to Maize was brand 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:11.520 new when I started going. I was maybe like the 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:13.520 ninth or tenth class out of Maze because Maize was 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:17.320 the elite, brand new school for all the fancy Cascade kids. Well, 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:20.520 I tested into Mays. My mom was like that new 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:22.680 school needs some more kids. So I was able to 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.360 get enough grades to go from middle school. 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:27.680 And was there mixed race kids there or No? 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:28.760 It was all black, elite. 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:31.160 This is Atlanta, so it was Atlanta. This was probably 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:33.280 the whole time at May's. Out of four years, I 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:36.400 might have been around one or two non black kids 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:39.280 in any class I was in at most, but they 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:41.640 were elite. They were kids that are, you know, very 0:06:41.680 --> 0:06:45.440 prosperous parents and so they had I remember my first 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:48.960 friday of being in school, my class made through a 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:49.599 pool party. 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:51.200 I was like, what rec center we going to? 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:53.080 He was like, nah, in my backyard, man, And we 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:55.320 went to a pool at this dude's backyard. I had 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:58.200 not seen that. Now it sounds like crazy, but that's 0:06:58.360 --> 0:07:01.159 back then. And well, my mom when I went to 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:03.440 that pool party. My mom said, you know, just because 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:06.120 they got more money than you, dad, they won't always 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:08.560 have more impact than you are more classing. 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:13.680 So you're bringing up mom, Yeah, where's that? Where was that? 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:16.120 Yeah? I grew up without a father in my household, 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:17.560 so you know that was. 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:19.679 And you were the only boy in the house. 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:21.280 Yeah, I was the only boy in the house. But 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:23.920 I had a neighborhood full of boys. We had like 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:26.800 thirty or forty boys in this neighborhood. So I walk 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:28.640 out the door and it was a game of football 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:30.440 going on, game of baseball, basketball. 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:33.520 I here, basketball, what you need? I got what I needed. 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:37.040 Mean, I know you had to ask mom, yes eventually. 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:39.760 Yeah, and then the church had lots of you know, deacons, 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:43.720 and then baseball you know, and basketball coaches. I have 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:46.040 an uncle that was crazy, you know. He would come 0:07:46.120 --> 0:07:46.680 around all. 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:49.000 The time and he'd. 0:07:48.080 --> 0:07:50.760 Shoot like, you know, one hour worth of game to you, 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:53.840 that'll last year, whole month. You know, don't take no wood, Nichols, 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:56.040 or put your knuckles up it. Somebody hit you hit 0:07:56.080 --> 0:07:56.400 them back. 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:56.680 You know. 0:07:56.760 --> 0:07:59.040 I'd be like, all right, that's that's enough skills for 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:04.360 the week, for a month, you know, but I was 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:08.560 blessed to be honest man that my mother like, she didn't. 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:15.120 She didn't let lack be her mode of operanda. She 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:17.960 didn't go around saying, I don't have so my kid 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:20.360 won't be able to be what he wants to be. 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:22.160 She would find the resources. 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:23.240 Nobody you wantn't you want? 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:25.120 You're not from a side of town where you can 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:29.080 kind of be. Uh, you gotta be smart, you gotta 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:31.240 be tough. Yeah, to be from that side of town 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:34.160 as well. So how did you maneuver through all of this? 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:35.240 Did were there any fight? 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:39.600 Did mister Andre into some fights sometime back in the day. 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:42.120 Luckily mister Andre Dickens has not been in the fights, 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.480 but dre. 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:44.400 Young and growing up? 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:48.680 Yeah, yeah, yeah, th We had so many fights over 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:51.400 stuff like basketball fights in the middle of the game, 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:55.440 or just you know, you know, neighborhood versus neighborhood fights. 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.800 Luckily this was before people were shooting and stabbing and 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:01.320 stuff like that. The most was, you know, you just 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:05.320 got beat up and you come home with a bloody lift. No, man, 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:07.040 I ain't never get beat up. I might have you know, 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:09.720 somebody I might have lost on the scorecard. It once 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:13.000 or twice, but not not not no KOs in my 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:14.800 You know, I got long arms and I can run 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:16.960 real fast, but he gets on you know, I know 0:09:17.920 --> 0:09:20.640 I know where to go, but I mean I probably have. 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:22.760 I used to grow up. We would fight in an 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:24.840 instant and then people would break it up. But that 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:27.440 was just boys. It was a neighborhood full of boys 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:29.520 and we were outside all the time, so it was 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:29.960 just hot. 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:31.640 And I like today. I like today. 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:33.760 You know, you might be fighting over a Sega game 0:09:33.840 --> 0:09:35.679 or Nintendo or whatever they play in PlayStation. 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:36.800 They fighting online? Now? 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:38.280 Are they fighting online now? Yeah? 0:09:38.320 --> 0:09:42.480 And then and then that's you know, that is why 0:09:42.559 --> 0:09:45.520 I'm so heavily involved now in trying to support our 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:48.079 youth and trying to you know, bring down violence in 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.360 those things. Because I had a rich childhood, even though 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:54.840 I wasn't rich, right, I have a full gamut. 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:56.360 Yeah, I just came up with that. I might use 0:09:56.360 --> 0:10:01.040 that again, y'all record, but it was valuable. 0:10:01.080 --> 0:10:03.960 It was very rich, and I had individuals that you know, 0:10:04.000 --> 0:10:07.160 would steer me the right way, you know. But growing 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:10.360 up in Adamsville. I'll give you an example, so you know, 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:13.400 crack was around back then. I saw somebody smoke crack. 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:15.760 When I was like, appreciate you saying this, Yeah. 0:10:15.760 --> 0:10:17.679 I saw it. I was like, what are you doing? 0:10:18.040 --> 0:10:19.680 And he got high right in front of us and 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:22.760 started acting crazy, and I'm like, this is interesting, you know, 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:26.280 like why would you do this? And I never dealt 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:28.680 with it, never stayed away from it, even though Dylan 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:31.880 might have been around, and you know, people doing drugs 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:34.080 or selling drugs and stuff like that. It never interested 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:36.719 me because I witnessed it firsthand. I'm like, okay, I'm 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:38.120 not doing that. And my mother was like, don't you 0:10:38.200 --> 0:10:41.240 ever touch it? And so, like I had other things 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:43.040 to do. I was going to school, I was going 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:46.760 to baseball, basketball, football, or programs that were you know, 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:50.680 very fun for me. And this lady would drive me around. 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:52.280 My mom would get off work and drive me to 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:55.760 wherever I needed to go. So parental support was crucial 0:10:55.840 --> 0:11:01.080 for me. But there was an example when my bike 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:04.720 got stolen. So me and my best friend Chris, we 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:08.040 ride our bikes up to McDonald's with our grass cutting money. 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:10.880 You know, he cut grass, you get five ten dollars. 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:14.280 You go up to McDonald's with it, knowing full well 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:18.280 that we're not supposed to leave our bikes like unchained 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:20.680 or whatever. But we were like just going in for 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:22.400 a minute. Get this McDonald. 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.079 Five minutes later, gone, bike's gone. 0:11:26.280 --> 0:11:27.199 Both of them are just you. 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:30.760 Just mine because because I was this is also don't 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:32.680 leave your bike to be the last bike. Because we 0:11:32.720 --> 0:11:35.080 just leaned them up against the store. I should have 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:37.040 been the bike up against the store. His bike would 0:11:37.080 --> 0:11:38.679 have got stolen and his mama would have been the 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.400 one man. But no, I had to He had to 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:43.840 ride me back on his seat and handlehbars and all 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:46.120 that to get back home, wait on my mama to 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:46.640 get all work. 0:11:47.040 --> 0:11:49.000 Man. When my mom got our work, I had. 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:51.720 To tell her that my bike was stolen and this 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:54.680 is a bike she paid for two Christmases before. 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:57.520 Man, she went knocking. 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:01.160 We went knocking on doors near that McDonald and I 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:05.080 am no lie. We like come outside, everybody, everybody out 0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:06.440 who got Dre's bike? 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:07.880 And she lined to. 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:10.600 People with my husband's police officer, he gonna come up in. 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:13.520 She's doing whatever she can for that's the situation. Still 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:15.640 didn't get my bike. But I didn't learned she was. 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:21.160 I learned right there a line pushing She ain't she 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:22.559 ain't scared of nobody. 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:25.800 We'll be right back with more of The Baller Alert Show. 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:31.640 You're listening to a special edition of The Baller Alert Show. 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:34.160 Hey, what's up, y'all? This is Mayor Andre Dickens. You 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:36.280 are now tuned in to the Baller Alert Show. 0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:36.760 Yeah. 0:12:36.800 --> 0:12:38.720 So I knew one day I was gonna run for mayor. 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:41.200 So I was city council member. And then eight years 0:12:41.360 --> 0:12:43.640 of that, I was like, okay, I want to be mayor. 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:45.880 But Keisha lance Botams was the mayor. I'm a friend 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:47.520 of her hers, and I thought she was gonna run 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:50.280 for her second term. Well, she decided she wasn't gonna 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:52.360 run for a second term. She said, I'm gonna, you know, 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:55.320 you know, go do some other things. And so that 0:12:55.559 --> 0:12:57.520 night when she you know, when the word kind of 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:00.160 whisper came out, I was like, yo, I'm running. So 0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:02.080 I called my daughter, who was I mean, I was 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:04.360 out at dinner. Now on my way home. I called 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:05.920 my daughter like, yo, let me talk to you about 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.000 to do a thing. I'm gonna make sure I got 0:13:08.040 --> 0:13:10.800 your support. And then she was like, yeah, okay, let's 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:12.640 do it. And then you know, I called my team, 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:14.880 which was my city council team, cause I was running 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:16.400 for city council again, running for. 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:17.360 My third term. 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:20.680 We were you know, we we we stopped that and 0:13:20.920 --> 0:13:24.280 immediately turned towards mayor. And I knew that there was 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:26.360 two people already in the race that was running against 0:13:26.400 --> 0:13:28.760 Mayor Bottoms, and I was like, okay, but I'm running 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:31.160 against them. I can beat them. And then I knew 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:33.200 other people were gonna get in. Folks start whispering about 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:34.800 certain other folks were gonna get in. I was like, 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:37.640 I ain't scared of that, and so and eventually it 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:40.480 was fourteen of us in the race, and I won 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:42.040 by sixty four percent of the vote. 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:43.480 But it was not easy. MM. 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:46.600 So you gotta you know, you think you're a city 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:49.679 council people, and people know you. Man ain't nothing like 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:51.120 the name recognition of the mayor. 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:52.040 Okay, you know, you. 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:54.880 Gotta get the whole city support to be pumped up 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.400 about what you're gonna do. People say the mayor name 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:00.719 all the time. They think, do something for me. This 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:03.040 is what you've done for others helped me out. So 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:05.480 no matter if city council, you might can rattle off 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:07.000 one or two of them names. But you don't know 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:09.000 them until you know, like the mayor's like for real, 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:11.400 everybody's like okay. So I had to get my name up. 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:13.280 I had to come up, you know, with my slogans, 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:16.520 my ideas, get my team together, and then you have 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:18.240 to go to all these debates. We went to forty 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:22.440 two different forums and debates. It was just NonStop, and 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:24.120 you got to raise a bunch of money and you 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:25.960 got to ask a bunch of people for their support. 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.120 You got to build a team, you got to get volunteers. 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:31.400 I had to quit my job because my job, you 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:32.960 can't do all that at the same time. 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:34.760 So I quit my judge, you had a job when 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:35.480 you was counseling. 0:14:35.760 --> 0:14:37.280 Yeah, as a council person, you can have it with 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.480 your job. I was the chief development officer for tech Bridge, 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:44.560 a technology company, so I had a job that was 0:14:45.360 --> 0:14:47.760 degree to work STEM career. I was making money, but 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:49.720 I had to stop that. Took a leave of absence 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:51.520 and I said, you know, they said, if this don't 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:52.920 work out as mayor, you can come on back. I 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:56.240 was like, all, but this is God's plan, this is destiny. 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:58.960 I prayed about this. So we won and now serve 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:02.760 on their board as you know, a support of chech Bridge, 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:05.200 but not you know, I work as the mayor. 0:15:05.280 --> 0:15:06.360 So it all worked out. 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:08.600 I know I'm making it sound easy because it but 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:11.560 it's a lot of days and nights to planning. And 0:15:11.920 --> 0:15:14.680 I lost twenty five pounds during the process of running 0:15:14.680 --> 0:15:17.360 from mayor, just the anxiety just to being going all 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:18.080 the day time. 0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:21.880 And I was gonna ask you that because mental health 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:25.400 is a big thing, and how did you stay you know, 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:30.600 on point or focused to finishing the job? Yeah, to 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:33.600 get into the finish line map and for better. 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:35.680 Terms, you gotta you gotta do a few things. 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:36.720 Everybody's pulling at you. 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:40.080 Everybody's pulling at you, and everybody's saying, you know, if 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:41.840 you don't do this, you're gonna lose, or you better 0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:43.920 do this so you can win, or I got an idea. 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:45.800 You got to go over here to these people and 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:48.320 that and talk to these people. And you're like, this 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:50.960 is Thursday at three o'clock, and y'all want everybody to 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:52.960 you know, you want me to be in five places 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:54.560 at the same time. 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:55.080 I can't be. 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:56.960 I gotta choose and I gotta try to make things 0:15:57.000 --> 0:16:01.240 work for this campaign. Everybody's on you all the time, 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:04.840 and now as mayor, everybody's pulling on you. So you 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:08.920 you learn how to manage competing interests. Like there's a 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:11.080 various interest. Somebody wants to stop sign somebody wants a 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.760 traffic light, and they all got a pitchfork and a 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:16.400 and a you know, in a megaphone saying do what 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:18.440 I tell you. And so you have to learn to 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.280 balance that. And I'm just talking about stop signing traffic lights, right, 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:27.000 I'm talking about other yeah, or powholes or policing or 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:30.680 fire stations or you know anything. You know, you know, 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:34.320 park swings or park slides. You know, a baseball, basketball court, 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:37.720 or soccer court, soccer field. You know, it's you got 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:40.120 to manage these competing interests. And so what I do 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:42.600 is I pray. I'm I'm a Christian man, I'm a believer. 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:45.240 I'm a deacon of a church. So I you know, 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:47.760 I go into my own, you know, conversation with God 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:50.200 about decisions that I make, and in the morning and 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:52.040 the night, you know, wrap up with that and try 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:55.200 to make sure that I'm grounded too. I sleep. You know, 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:57.280 people know that I'm up all the time. I work 0:16:57.360 --> 0:16:59.240 from can't see morning to kn't c night. But once 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:01.520 I get into my bed, I am out. 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:03.280 I don't. I don't do all. 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:05.280 That sitting in the bed thinking about the next day, 0:17:05.359 --> 0:17:08.360 what I'm gonna wear. You know, I wish I want 0:17:08.359 --> 0:17:10.040 to said that. I wish I would have used this 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:11.160 term instead of that term. 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:11.520 I don't. 0:17:11.720 --> 0:17:14.920 I don't go down the litany of you know, things 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:16.400 that are just keep you up. 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:17.960 You know, No, they. 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:19.640 Probably won't get you probably won't get no sleep. 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:22.639 Oh, I never get any sleep. I'm like out, and 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:24.880 then it's tomorrow hours. 0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:25.920 Do you get eight hours? 0:17:26.119 --> 0:17:26.320 No? 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:28.359 I don't get eight hours yet. I mean I'm a 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.040 solid six and a half, six and a half. 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:31.680 I hit the gym. 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:33.760 That's the other thing is I go to the gym three, four, 0:17:34.000 --> 0:17:36.680 sometimes five days a week, some kind of physical activity, 0:17:37.560 --> 0:17:39.600 you know. I work out in Atlanta, had a nice 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:42.240 gym Union Fit, and also do a little running on 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:45.160 the track in my house just to kind of stay 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:48.720 you know, physically ready. You know, you can't do all 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:52.240 this work if you you know, eating fried food and 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:55.000 you know, never get any exercise. 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:57.000 Not gonna get there soon. I don't know ready for that. 0:17:57.200 --> 0:17:59.400 Yeah, I do eat some fried food. I don't don't 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:01.600 get me wrong, I'm from Atlanta. I teased something up, 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:04.199 but you got to mix it up to put a 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:04.920 salad in there. 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:07.880 Please, let's get into some of the things that you 0:18:07.920 --> 0:18:10.520 have done. You've done so many things throughout your career, 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:12.600 but you know, as mayor, you have done a lot, 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:15.159 and one of them was the for a lot of 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:17.199 people who love to go to the belt Line and 0:18:17.240 --> 0:18:21.320 you know, enjoyed that space. You did the inclusionary zoning 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:25.760 policy where you did fifteen percent apartments built around the 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:28.000 belt Line will be for affordable housing. 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:28.440 Yeah. 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:31.600 So, and you know when I got on city Council 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:35.280 in twenty thirteen, was the election twenty fourteen started. I 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:37.679 started noticing things, being that I'm from Atlanta. Back then, 0:18:37.720 --> 0:18:40.720 people weren't talking about the need for affordable housing. It 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:43.600 was actually like taboo, like affordable housing for those people 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:46.680 that don't work. It's section eight in the housing is bad. 0:18:47.040 --> 0:18:49.840 But I was like, yo, I'm noticing, like people that 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:52.879 have you know, salaries and in the good quality of 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:55.640 life are now struggling because it's harder and harder to live. 0:18:55.800 --> 0:18:58.320 Atlanta's becoming more and more expensive. I started saying that 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:01.399 in twenty thirteen, just because I know my city, but 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:03.639 it wasn't talked about in political circles. And then casual 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:06.400 conversation like we need more affordable housing. But I'm like, yo, 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:09.920 that rent is not supposed to be that much. And 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:13.280 so then then we started building out the beltline. As 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:15.360 it was being built, developers was like, yeah, people would 0:19:15.400 --> 0:19:17.960 want to live near this. This is beachfront property. It 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:21.120 will be beachfront property essentially. So people was like, yeah, 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:22.480 I'll live there. I'll live in that. And it was 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:24.600 putting nice amenuties in there. But when I started noticing 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:28.080 that only the you know, well to do, only those 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:29.960 that had nice jobs were able to live in there, 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:31.840 And I was like, Yo, what's going to happen for 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:34.600 the teacher? What about the firefighter, police officer, the nurse, 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:37.479 the person that works at Macy's, at Starbucks, at the bank. 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:39.000 How are they going to live in this city? This 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:39.920 is gonna be a problem. 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:40.120 Now. 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:42.679 I used to live on the West Coast for three years. 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:44.639 I lived in LA and I knew San Francisco in 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:49.280 LA and I knew, Wow, these places have problems with affordability, 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:51.480 And I was like, this can happen in Atlanta. So 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:54.840 I created this policy that said that every new apartment 0:19:54.880 --> 0:19:56.920 that goes up around the belt line has to set 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:01.280 aside fifteen percent of its units for affordabilit meaning you know, 0:20:01.359 --> 0:20:03.560 you can set aside ten percent at sixty percent of 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:07.000 the area meeting income or fifteen percent of the units 0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:09.560 at eighty percent of the area median income. This allows 0:20:09.600 --> 0:20:12.639 for people, like I said, nurses, you know, teachers, firefighters, 0:20:12.680 --> 0:20:15.720 police officers, those people that in today's number, in that 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:18.560 fifty to sixty five seventy thousand dollars rain. 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:20.719 These people go to work every day, they work very, 0:20:20.880 --> 0:20:21.520 very hard. 0:20:21.840 --> 0:20:25.680 But if fifty five thousand there can't come out here 0:20:25.720 --> 0:20:27.800 and get a house in Atlanta, they're going to drive 0:20:27.800 --> 0:20:30.480 an hour to get to their job. But we want 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:32.760 our police officers, fire fighters, and teachers to live in 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:35.400 the community that they serve. It makes them more knowledgeable 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:37.560 about the people they're affecting or supporting. 0:20:37.840 --> 0:20:39.119 And so that passed. 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:42.560 It was a hard lift because the state of Georgia 0:20:43.200 --> 0:20:47.560 has a policy that prohibits rent control. Unlike a New 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:51.399 York ors Chicago, or Maryland, they have rent control that 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:54.240 there are certain properties that are capped. Atlanta can't do 0:20:54.280 --> 0:20:56.119 that because the state of Georgia prohibits it. So I 0:20:56.119 --> 0:20:59.320 got around it through some technicalities around what we use 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:02.120 to build the outline that said this is we actually 0:21:02.359 --> 0:21:05.960 by building out this beltline, we created a new economic 0:21:06.040 --> 0:21:09.200 opportunity for those developers and they have to give something 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:12.240 back in return, which is affordable housing. So to this 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:15.399 day it exists and over a thousand units of affordable housing. 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:18.240 Or when you look at these nice new apartments actually 0:21:18.280 --> 0:21:21.159 mixed in those units, are people standing right next to 0:21:21.160 --> 0:21:24.000 each other unit one twelve versus unit one thirteen, They 0:21:24.000 --> 0:21:26.240 may be paying different amounts and you wouldn't even know it, 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:29.119 because that is the quality of the policy that we 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:29.639 put together. 0:21:29.840 --> 0:21:32.399 And Atlanta's filling up fast. They had come here because 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:34.040 it's more affordable to live. 0:21:33.960 --> 0:21:37.479 Than those other places. Yeah, we are growing. 0:21:38.080 --> 0:21:40.240 I just it was a report I just saw. We 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:42.040 went from number seven to number six. 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:44.920 Yeah, we actually went from eight to six. We skipped seven. 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:47.880 We went from the eighth largest city in the metro 0:21:47.960 --> 0:21:52.320 area to six that fast. And now one point eight 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:55.440 million more people are slated to come to Atlanta between 0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:56.520 now and twenty fifty. 0:21:57.240 --> 0:21:58.880 So you think that'll make us in the top five. 0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:01.680 Yeah, to make us in the top five. People are 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:02.960 moving more towards the South. 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:05.040 I think they're in a pandemic too. They moved here 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:09.640 a lot. In Resolvant, we've seen uprising crime as well. 0:22:10.240 --> 0:22:11.800 So let's talk about public safety. 0:22:11.880 --> 0:22:16.200 Yeah, you are absolutely right. During the pandemic, nationwide crime spiked. 0:22:16.200 --> 0:22:19.320 It picked up because of people being in isolation, people 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:24.280 feeling depressed, a little bit of anxiety, uncertainty. You think 0:22:24.320 --> 0:22:27.399 that we were all locked in. But once the pandemic 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:29.920 started coming out of it in twenty twenty one, crime 0:22:30.040 --> 0:22:32.159 was high. We were at an all time high or 0:22:32.160 --> 0:22:34.200 at least near all time high in twenty twenty one 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:37.480 from the last couple of decades. And so that was 0:22:37.560 --> 0:22:40.119 literally what most of the campaigns were about when I 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:42.280 was running for mayor in twenty twenty one, was how 0:22:42.280 --> 0:22:45.360 were you going to bring down crime? People from you know, 0:22:45.560 --> 0:22:49.520 all parts of Atlanta south to the Bucket to the 0:22:49.640 --> 0:22:50.440 east side, west side. 0:22:50.440 --> 0:22:52.200 Everybody was the Bucket, one of their own police. 0:22:52.359 --> 0:22:54.760 Bucket won their own police. Some people in Bucket wanted 0:22:54.760 --> 0:22:57.200 their own city, like to break away from Atlanta because 0:22:57.200 --> 0:22:59.960 they were like Linux, you know, they were very well publicized. 0:23:00.080 --> 0:23:02.280 Money to live there. They want to keep it safe. 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:05.320 Yeah they do, and so do everybody else. 0:23:05.440 --> 0:23:07.959 Yeah, so people, but you know, everybody thinks what they 0:23:08.000 --> 0:23:10.600 are is the worst effected right. But oh my god, 0:23:10.880 --> 0:23:12.919 somebody got shot at Lenox and I'm like, yeah, that 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:15.440 should not happen. But somebody got shot at greenbro That 0:23:15.480 --> 0:23:18.280 should not happen either in southwest Atlanta. That should not 0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:21.239 happen anywhere. Life is precious. So I come into this 0:23:21.280 --> 0:23:24.800 thing saying all of us deserve to live. And you know, 0:23:25.000 --> 0:23:28.240 people were, you know, taking various political angles, whether it 0:23:28.280 --> 0:23:31.760 was Democrat, Republican, whether it's black, white. I believe that, 0:23:32.040 --> 0:23:34.760 you know, all of us actually care about public safety. 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:37.760 I'm a father, I have a daughter. I want her 0:23:37.760 --> 0:23:38.280 to be safe. 0:23:38.359 --> 0:23:41.120 You know, Black folks want safety, White folks want everybody, 0:23:41.119 --> 0:23:44.200 everybody in between, young people, middle people, you know, all 0:23:44.200 --> 0:23:46.399 of the above. So I said we had to be 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:50.720 smart on crime though, and so one the methodology is important. 0:23:50.920 --> 0:23:52.880 We don't want to come out here and just police 0:23:52.920 --> 0:23:55.600 our way out of this problem. Police you don't want 0:23:55.600 --> 0:23:58.600 to turn into a police state where you got you know, 0:23:59.080 --> 0:24:03.359 all like over policing, because that's just historically leads to 0:24:03.840 --> 0:24:06.400 the other challenges that you have, which is excessive use 0:24:06.440 --> 0:24:08.919 of force, or people feeling like they're going to be 0:24:08.960 --> 0:24:11.760 victimized by the people that are supposed to protect them, 0:24:12.200 --> 0:24:14.600 or that you will end up in a situation where 0:24:14.840 --> 0:24:18.080 you feel like you can't move because somebody's always on 0:24:18.160 --> 0:24:21.360 your back. No, we want to use non policing and 0:24:21.440 --> 0:24:26.000 policing actions. Yes, we need police because something's a violent crime, 0:24:26.359 --> 0:24:29.680 but there's also we needed more street lights because crime 0:24:29.800 --> 0:24:32.320 was happening, you know. Being an engineer, I said, do 0:24:32.359 --> 0:24:35.359 an overlay of where the crime is and then do 0:24:35.480 --> 0:24:38.080 our street light you know map, and you would see 0:24:38.119 --> 0:24:41.119 like where it's darker and with less light, it was 0:24:41.160 --> 0:24:45.120 a propensity for more crime and crashes, car crashes, bicycle crashes, 0:24:45.160 --> 0:24:47.240 et cetera. So came in with the Light of the 0:24:47.359 --> 0:24:50.280 Night campaign, where we added eleven thousand street lights in 0:24:50.320 --> 0:24:53.000 the first year and another ten thousand in my second year. 0:24:53.200 --> 0:24:55.520 Now it's brighter in these areas that were darker, so 0:24:55.560 --> 0:24:57.720 you can't get away with more dirt in the dark, 0:24:57.800 --> 0:24:59.280 you know, I mean when it was dark you could 0:24:59.280 --> 0:25:02.000 and the light you can't. Then we saw night life 0:25:02.000 --> 0:25:04.440 crimes was our problem. If you were called back in 0:25:05.040 --> 0:25:07.800 twenty twenty twenty twenty one, they were shooting up the club. 0:25:08.040 --> 0:25:10.600 Part of that was people coming from other places because 0:25:10.600 --> 0:25:11.560 Atlanta was open. 0:25:12.000 --> 0:25:13.399 So when their city. 0:25:13.200 --> 0:25:14.680 Was closing, DJs I was there. 0:25:14.840 --> 0:25:17.400 Yeah, east side in Atlanta, No, west side in Atlanta. 0:25:17.520 --> 0:25:19.119 We ain't got to beef because we know what the 0:25:19.280 --> 0:25:21.480 understandings are. But if you come out here from Saint 0:25:21.480 --> 0:25:23.840 Louis or Chicago or whoever, and you're trying to and 0:25:23.880 --> 0:25:26.560 you're trying to get in, be started to cook. So 0:25:26.680 --> 0:25:28.399 what we started to do was say, hey, how do 0:25:28.480 --> 0:25:30.760 we make sure the night life is safer? So we 0:25:30.880 --> 0:25:35.080 train right now, we train nightlife operators on how to 0:25:35.200 --> 0:25:39.520 de escalate, you know, fights. So just because you take 0:25:39.560 --> 0:25:41.760 people's guns and don't let them bring guns into the club, 0:25:41.800 --> 0:25:43.600 don't mean that when you kick them both out that 0:25:43.640 --> 0:25:45.400 they're not going straight to the trunk and shooting each 0:25:45.400 --> 0:25:47.560 other in the parking lot. So we taught them how 0:25:47.640 --> 0:25:51.400 to one keep the aggressor inside of the building, let 0:25:51.440 --> 0:25:55.120 the lesser leave, get thirty minutes gone, and then by 0:25:55.160 --> 0:25:57.240 that time the aggressor is going to chill out and 0:25:57.280 --> 0:25:59.360 he don't know where the other one is. And then 0:25:59.440 --> 0:26:01.639 now they can all go home safely, and then we 0:26:01.680 --> 0:26:04.600 talked them about you know, alcoholism, how to make sure 0:26:04.600 --> 0:26:07.000 that these bartenders don't over you know, don't keep pouring 0:26:07.040 --> 0:26:10.399 for somebody who's clearly drunk, this and that and lighting 0:26:10.400 --> 0:26:12.879 in the parking lot and these other things. I'm harping 0:26:12.920 --> 0:26:15.720 on that to say that I get very granular about 0:26:15.720 --> 0:26:19.200 how we make, you know, decisions in the city. So 0:26:19.560 --> 0:26:22.280 police is one thing, non policing, and then the last 0:26:22.280 --> 0:26:24.560 thing is to really we saw that a lot of 0:26:24.600 --> 0:26:27.320 crime was happening with our young people. So if we 0:26:27.359 --> 0:26:30.000 bring down youth crime, we bring down all crime, because 0:26:30.000 --> 0:26:32.639 it's so many things that they were doing. It was 0:26:32.640 --> 0:26:35.639 fourteen fifteen, sixteen year olds shooting at each other. And 0:26:35.720 --> 0:26:38.520 so we did the Year of the Youth, which was 0:26:38.640 --> 0:26:41.960 hugely successful last year, which gave them so many things 0:26:41.960 --> 0:26:43.679 to do, the very things that I did when I 0:26:43.760 --> 0:26:46.440 was younger, all of the after school programs, all of 0:26:46.440 --> 0:26:49.960 the summer jobs, all of the training. Kids were making money. 0:26:50.280 --> 0:26:53.960 They were having fun, they were in art school, they 0:26:53.960 --> 0:26:56.879 were getting internships. They were at you know, Tyler Perry 0:26:56.880 --> 0:26:59.760 Studios or Coca Cola or working in the Mayor's office. 0:27:00.080 --> 0:27:05.399 Five thousand teenagers worked last year and made seventeen dollars 0:27:05.440 --> 0:27:08.520 in our minimum way, I mean a average wage. They 0:27:08.560 --> 0:27:10.600 had money, they were having fun, they weren't trying to 0:27:10.600 --> 0:27:13.439 do crime. And so we had forty six percent reduction 0:27:13.520 --> 0:27:14.800 in youth homicide last year. 0:27:15.560 --> 0:27:16.960 So that is a non. 0:27:16.760 --> 0:27:20.160 Policing action that made it better for young people, which 0:27:20.160 --> 0:27:22.840 brought down crime. So they weren't doing, you know, the 0:27:22.840 --> 0:27:25.000 things that were leading to the challenges that we saw, 0:27:25.160 --> 0:27:27.600 and that's how we brought down homicide twenty one percent 0:27:27.680 --> 0:27:28.160 last year. 0:27:28.480 --> 0:27:31.600 Speaking of Ada Towner's, do you feel like Atlanta's or 0:27:31.680 --> 0:27:35.679 is Atlanta being affected by their legal immigration crisis? 0:27:36.240 --> 0:27:40.080 Not yet in a not in a huge way yet. 0:27:40.160 --> 0:27:44.119 Atlanta, right now, we have a few individuals that have 0:27:44.320 --> 0:27:49.280 migrated here. These these individuals are coming through various points, 0:27:49.280 --> 0:27:52.200 either through Texas or they go to Texas and then 0:27:52.240 --> 0:27:54.359 go to like a Denver and then they end up 0:27:54.359 --> 0:27:59.240 in Atlanta. But so far we have not had the 0:27:59.400 --> 0:28:03.200 large amount of immigrants as a New York has had 0:28:03.400 --> 0:28:07.240 or some other places. They say, we are poyised at 0:28:07.280 --> 0:28:10.320 some point get them if the border continues going as 0:28:10.480 --> 0:28:14.239 is going right now. In Atlanta, we're still under you know, 0:28:14.320 --> 0:28:18.359 somewhere in that you know, mid hundreds and not thousands 0:28:18.720 --> 0:28:19.720 of individuals, and. 0:28:19.720 --> 0:28:21.880 So how can we prepare for something like that. 0:28:22.359 --> 0:28:25.120 Yeah, we have gone to the federal government and for 0:28:25.240 --> 0:28:28.960 the number that we have, we have asked for financial support. 0:28:29.280 --> 0:28:33.040 And we are applying as financial support to housing so 0:28:33.160 --> 0:28:37.000 like hotels, and to some of the you know, clothing 0:28:37.119 --> 0:28:40.280 and food and and some of these folks have skills. 0:28:40.960 --> 0:28:44.000 They may not have the language, but they have skills. 0:28:44.000 --> 0:28:47.160 They know how to do construction or culinary et cetera. 0:28:46.920 --> 0:28:47.360 Et cetera. 0:28:47.400 --> 0:28:49.640 So some of this has been like, well, let's help 0:28:49.680 --> 0:28:52.880 them find a pathway towards a job or a business. 0:28:52.920 --> 0:28:55.480 And you know, some of that's moving forward. These folks 0:28:55.520 --> 0:28:58.720 are actually no longer in need of government support because 0:28:58.720 --> 0:29:01.520 they are they're working, they're are I mean, our economy 0:29:01.560 --> 0:29:04.920 is booming. We're in Atlanta, we're below three percent unemployment. 0:29:05.000 --> 0:29:07.200 So you want a job, you pretty much can find 0:29:07.200 --> 0:29:10.840 one that means, you know, Atlanta or a newcomer to 0:29:10.920 --> 0:29:14.240 this country or this city. So some of them, we've 0:29:14.640 --> 0:29:17.360 you know, pretty rapidly in a short amount of time, 0:29:17.400 --> 0:29:22.320 got them to self sufficiency. And then others we're just 0:29:22.360 --> 0:29:24.760 taking it one day at a time and helping them. 0:29:25.000 --> 0:29:27.960 I'm still concerned, but we're dealing with it the best 0:29:27.960 --> 0:29:31.080 as best we can. I have a hotline directly to 0:29:31.240 --> 0:29:33.840 the White House because you know, we made routine visits 0:29:33.840 --> 0:29:38.360 and we are consequential to this upcoming year election. So 0:29:39.520 --> 0:29:42.280 if I if I need to yell for help, I can't. 0:29:42.400 --> 0:29:44.760 We'll be right back. Stay tuned with more of the 0:29:44.840 --> 0:29:50.640 Baller Alert Show. You're listening to a special edition of 0:29:50.680 --> 0:29:51.640 The Baller Alert Show. 0:29:51.760 --> 0:29:54.080 Hey, what's up, y'all? This is Mayor Andre Dickens. You 0:29:54.120 --> 0:29:56.360 are now tuned in to the Baller Alert Show. 0:29:56.520 --> 0:29:59.200 How could we get more young people? Have five kids 0:30:00.040 --> 0:30:02.920 on my babies, but how can we get young young 0:30:02.960 --> 0:30:05.320 people more involved in their neighborhoods? 0:30:05.560 --> 0:30:08.120 Yeah, I would love that. I want a city where 0:30:08.160 --> 0:30:11.200 everybody participates. Man, Like, these young folks got a lot 0:30:11.200 --> 0:30:14.320 of energy and they got a lot of you know, ideas, 0:30:14.360 --> 0:30:17.440 and they are the future. Why not train them now? So, 0:30:17.720 --> 0:30:20.200 whether that's if you want to work and come through 0:30:20.200 --> 0:30:22.480 the at L Year of the Youth program, we have 0:30:22.840 --> 0:30:25.360 opportunities for them depending on their ages. 0:30:25.360 --> 0:30:25.880 Speak about that. 0:30:27.000 --> 0:30:29.280 Yeah, so you can anybody can go to at L 0:30:29.480 --> 0:30:32.480 yearofthe Youth dot com. So While we started the Year 0:30:32.480 --> 0:30:34.680 of the Youth last year, we're keeping it going every year. 0:30:34.720 --> 0:30:36.280 I'm going to call it the Year of the Youth, 0:30:36.400 --> 0:30:38.800 right because I think they're just so vital and so important. 0:30:39.120 --> 0:30:45.080 So in that program are various other programs that we support. 0:30:45.160 --> 0:30:48.960 We financially support nonprofits that are either doing you know, 0:30:49.000 --> 0:30:51.600 whether that's sports, but some are doing stems, some are 0:30:51.600 --> 0:30:54.960 doing arts and dance, some are doing you know, chess 0:30:55.000 --> 0:30:59.720 and chess and other skills games, and some are doing entrepreneurship. 0:30:59.760 --> 0:31:01.600 So I mean, like it depends on how old your 0:31:01.680 --> 0:31:05.040 kid is. Some programs are for middle school and some 0:31:05.080 --> 0:31:08.240 are for high school, some are for younger and some 0:31:08.320 --> 0:31:10.880 of them for college. And in internships, you can also 0:31:11.120 --> 0:31:14.440 you know, contact us again this summer, we are going 0:31:14.480 --> 0:31:17.160 to have jobs for young people. Some of them are 0:31:17.160 --> 0:31:19.600 in the government, some of them are in your neighborhood. 0:31:19.640 --> 0:31:26.400 So we actually we help fund nonprofits to pay for 0:31:27.080 --> 0:31:29.800 internships for kids. So let's say it's a nonprofit that 0:31:29.880 --> 0:31:35.040 just does community gardening. You know, there's some nonprofits that 0:31:35.440 --> 0:31:38.040 are in the area that are serving our food deserts, 0:31:38.080 --> 0:31:40.600 and they don't have enough money to pay an intern 0:31:40.760 --> 0:31:41.680 seventeen dollars an hour. 0:31:41.760 --> 0:31:42.240 That's fine. 0:31:42.320 --> 0:31:45.680 We'll pay a portion or all of that young person 0:31:45.760 --> 0:31:47.600 to come work for you because we want them to 0:31:47.680 --> 0:31:51.080 learn about urban gardening and urban farming. So that's you know, 0:31:51.120 --> 0:31:53.400 So it just depends on your kids interests well. 0:31:53.400 --> 0:31:55.360 Also talk about economics for a minute. 0:31:55.880 --> 0:32:01.200 You fieled over twenty three thousand potholes. 0:32:00.160 --> 0:32:02.120 Low and we got more to go it y call 0:32:02.240 --> 0:32:04.040 three one one if you see a powerhole, we don't 0:32:04.080 --> 0:32:07.600 feel it again. Three one one. If you have a 0:32:07.640 --> 0:32:09.560 powerhole and we try to fill it within a week. 0:32:09.640 --> 0:32:09.840 Man. 0:32:10.120 --> 0:32:10.320 Yeah. 0:32:10.480 --> 0:32:13.960 Man, you're also part of invest Atlanta. Yeah, can you 0:32:14.120 --> 0:32:15.719 let us know a little bit about that and all 0:32:15.760 --> 0:32:17.120 the great things that you guys done. 0:32:17.360 --> 0:32:17.560 Yeah. 0:32:17.680 --> 0:32:20.200 Invest Atlanta is one of the man, it's one of 0:32:20.240 --> 0:32:24.640 the best organizations that a city could form. It is 0:32:24.720 --> 0:32:27.560 our economic development tool. I'm the chairman of it. The 0:32:27.600 --> 0:32:31.239 mayor is always the chair of Invest Atlanta. And I 0:32:31.240 --> 0:32:33.080 was going to Invest Atlanta when I was a council 0:32:33.120 --> 0:32:35.640 member as well. And the goal of Investing Atlanta is 0:32:35.680 --> 0:32:40.200 to help small businesses start and for businesses that are 0:32:40.200 --> 0:32:43.480 started to grow, and then to attract new businesses here 0:32:43.480 --> 0:32:46.520 to Atlanta. So it's all about you know, so you 0:32:46.640 --> 0:32:49.000 might got an idea and you don't know what to 0:32:49.040 --> 0:32:52.280 do with it. Well, invest Atlanta can help you get started. 0:32:52.480 --> 0:32:54.120 And then if you are started, Let's say you are 0:32:54.200 --> 0:32:56.800 in business in this you and your you know, just 0:32:56.880 --> 0:32:59.600 one employee, and you want to grow, but you need 0:32:59.640 --> 0:33:02.360 a loan or you need a grant, or you need 0:33:02.600 --> 0:33:04.560 you know to help you know, expand you need to 0:33:04.560 --> 0:33:06.560 buy a piece of equipment. Let's say you a pizza 0:33:07.400 --> 0:33:09.960 parlor and one of your you know, ovens goes down 0:33:10.080 --> 0:33:11.720 or let's not go in the negative. Now you want 0:33:11.720 --> 0:33:14.440 to open up have another oven. Well, these ovens might 0:33:14.440 --> 0:33:16.880 be hundreds of thousands of dollars, So we help you 0:33:16.960 --> 0:33:20.640 finance that because you want your business to thrive, because 0:33:20.680 --> 0:33:23.360 we know that you will hire more employees, which then 0:33:23.680 --> 0:33:27.400 helps our local economy. It's you know, it's a it's 0:33:27.400 --> 0:33:30.280 a great cycle. We have grants that we give out, 0:33:30.320 --> 0:33:32.040 which are grants are free, I mean you don't have 0:33:32.080 --> 0:33:33.680 to pay them back. So we have some of those 0:33:33.760 --> 0:33:36.680 and we did about nine million dollars or so last 0:33:36.720 --> 0:33:39.320 year and grants, and most of them went to women 0:33:39.760 --> 0:33:42.440 and minorities, particularly on the South and the West side. 0:33:42.480 --> 0:33:45.440 So it was a big you know, a big turnarout 0:33:45.520 --> 0:33:49.840 turnout of these grants went to communities in need. But 0:33:49.880 --> 0:33:53.040 then you know, sometimes it's people that used to in 0:33:53.040 --> 0:33:54.560 the past was like, Hey, I don't want one of 0:33:54.640 --> 0:33:56.360 them loans. I can get a loan from the bank. 0:33:56.440 --> 0:33:58.720 I don't want to invest that landloan, give me a grant, 0:33:58.800 --> 0:34:01.560 you know. And so now now with bank loans being 0:34:01.640 --> 0:34:05.280 seven eight percent invested, Atlanta's loans off between one and 0:34:05.320 --> 0:34:07.960 three percent. So and everybody's like, young, mas, let me 0:34:07.960 --> 0:34:09.879 get one of them loans, because a one percent loan 0:34:09.960 --> 0:34:11.040 is almost like free money. 0:34:11.239 --> 0:34:13.840 And Atlanta's like the home of an entrepreneur. Like everybody 0:34:14.000 --> 0:34:15.640 is an entrepreneur, no doubt. 0:34:15.760 --> 0:34:18.279 Did you see Black Enterprise two weeks ago or maybe 0:34:18.360 --> 0:34:21.520 last week said that Atlanta is the best place to 0:34:21.640 --> 0:34:25.400 start a business. That's what Black Enterprise said, that Atlanta 0:34:25.480 --> 0:34:27.640 is the best place for you to start a business. 0:34:27.680 --> 0:34:30.239 And that's why everybody here has got at least a 0:34:30.280 --> 0:34:33.240 business on them. They might be working at a regular 0:34:33.320 --> 0:34:35.759 nine to five, but they also got another business. And we, 0:34:36.040 --> 0:34:38.480 you know, we applaud that we support that. 0:34:38.520 --> 0:34:39.040 In Atlanta. 0:34:39.120 --> 0:34:41.799 You know, we want to help you succeed because we 0:34:41.880 --> 0:34:45.799 know that your success means family success and community success. 0:34:46.000 --> 0:34:49.279 Do you feel any weight on your shoulders when you know, 0:34:49.320 --> 0:34:51.640 looking at other mayors that come before you, like the 0:34:52.840 --> 0:34:56.400 Maynor Jackson's, Andrew Young's and people like that, do you 0:34:56.400 --> 0:34:57.800 feel any weight on your shoulders? 0:34:58.040 --> 0:35:01.360 Absolutely, But I think it's that's a good thing. I 0:35:01.360 --> 0:35:02.239 think it's a good thing. 0:35:02.520 --> 0:35:07.399 I wouldn't want to not be challenged in that way. 0:35:07.520 --> 0:35:12.279 The people deserve us to level up, to do even more, 0:35:12.320 --> 0:35:16.000 to stand on those shoulders, to not collapse under the pressure. 0:35:16.840 --> 0:35:23.160 It's hard being after Maynor Jackson, this huge legend, Mayor Jackson, and. 0:35:23.080 --> 0:35:26.759 A lot of people don't know Harsville Jackson is the 0:35:26.800 --> 0:35:32.960 airport and they are two mayors, William Hartsville and Mayor Jackson. 0:35:33.080 --> 0:35:34.640 So that's just a fun fact. 0:35:34.440 --> 0:35:36.239 For the people. That's right. That's right. 0:35:36.400 --> 0:35:40.160 So maybe about fifteen years ago it was just Hartsville, 0:35:40.400 --> 0:35:44.600 but then Mayor Jackson we added his name, and you know, 0:35:44.640 --> 0:35:46.560 he was the first black mayor of the Deep South, 0:35:46.880 --> 0:35:49.640 and fifty years ago we're celebrating this whole year, the 0:35:49.680 --> 0:35:51.440 fiftieth anniversary of his inauguration. 0:35:51.560 --> 0:35:54.400 Imagine being the mayor when a legendary. 0:35:53.880 --> 0:35:57.399 Mayor's hit his fiftieth anniversary, like right now, All day, 0:35:57.400 --> 0:35:59.880 every day it is like, well Maynor was doing this, 0:36:00.160 --> 0:36:02.400 doing that, and I'm like, yeah, I know, got to 0:36:02.440 --> 0:36:03.080 catch up the mayor. 0:36:03.160 --> 0:36:04.920 I've only been at this two years. I'm catching up. 0:36:05.160 --> 0:36:05.400 You know. 0:36:05.760 --> 0:36:09.960 It's not really a competition. This is more of an inspiration. 0:36:10.400 --> 0:36:13.480 It's looking at a man who you know. I'm going 0:36:13.520 --> 0:36:15.320 to maybe go a little long, but I want to 0:36:15.360 --> 0:36:17.600 tell a quick story since we're talking to young people. 0:36:17.960 --> 0:36:23.640 Maynard became mayor at thirty five. This dude, but wait, 0:36:23.680 --> 0:36:26.439 there's more. As they say in Late night TV, this 0:36:26.520 --> 0:36:31.480 dude ran for US senator at thirty In nineteen sixty eight. 0:36:31.520 --> 0:36:33.759 He ran for US senator. They don't only get two 0:36:33.760 --> 0:36:36.440 of them per state. He ran against an incumbent, a 0:36:36.440 --> 0:36:41.120 white man named Talmage. He Now, remember this is nineteen 0:36:41.120 --> 0:36:43.360 sixty eight. We had just got the voters rights active 0:36:43.400 --> 0:36:45.680 in sixty four. So this black man runs in the 0:36:45.719 --> 0:36:48.200 state of Georgia to be the US Senator. He didn't win, 0:36:48.719 --> 0:36:53.080 but what he saw was I won Atlanta. He won Atlanta, 0:36:53.600 --> 0:36:55.160 and so he was like, well, you know what, I 0:36:55.160 --> 0:36:58.280 ain't winning US Senator, I'm going to run for vice 0:36:58.320 --> 0:36:59.520 mayor at the time. We used to have that, we 0:36:59.520 --> 0:37:02.720 won't have that now vice mayor. He won vice mayor 0:37:02.840 --> 0:37:05.640 by a big, huge amount, so he became the vice 0:37:05.680 --> 0:37:09.960 mayor of the City of Atlanta, and Samsel was the mayor. 0:37:10.400 --> 0:37:12.880 So then when the next election came around, he ran 0:37:12.920 --> 0:37:15.520 against his the mayor. Sam Sel was running for his 0:37:15.560 --> 0:37:16.040 second term. 0:37:16.080 --> 0:37:16.279 Maynor. 0:37:16.360 --> 0:37:19.600 Jackson then ran for mayor. So mayor ran for senator, 0:37:20.040 --> 0:37:22.239 then ran for vice mayor and one, then ran for 0:37:22.320 --> 0:37:22.920 mayor and one. 0:37:23.000 --> 0:37:24.839 This dude was relentless. 0:37:24.239 --> 0:37:27.000 About getting to the goal, and the goal was to 0:37:27.080 --> 0:37:31.319 make sure that Atlanta was economically inclusive. He said, when 0:37:31.640 --> 0:37:34.319 that airport was we were building the fifth runway. We 0:37:34.320 --> 0:37:36.480 were building this airport out to make it the world's 0:37:36.480 --> 0:37:40.600 business airport. And he said, stop all construction, and I 0:37:40.640 --> 0:37:43.839 need twenty five percent of all that construction to go 0:37:44.000 --> 0:37:48.000 to black on firms. Minority on firms. Stopped the construction, 0:37:48.080 --> 0:37:50.440 and then all these folks started going crazy, saying, what 0:37:50.520 --> 0:37:51.000 is he doing. 0:37:51.040 --> 0:37:52.960 He can't do that, He doesn't have the right to death. No, 0:37:53.040 --> 0:37:54.320 we're in control of the airport. 0:37:54.920 --> 0:37:57.480 He said, y'all can have seventy five percent of this 0:37:57.560 --> 0:37:59.600 great thing, or you can have one hundred percent of 0:37:59.640 --> 0:38:02.879 nothing because I will stop all construction right now. And 0:38:03.040 --> 0:38:05.560 the business folks and everybody got together and chopped up 0:38:05.560 --> 0:38:07.680 twenty five percent and let it go to the minority 0:38:07.680 --> 0:38:10.880 businesses that to this day still exists. We're at thirty 0:38:10.920 --> 0:38:13.960 seven percent now, But had he not started it, where 0:38:14.000 --> 0:38:16.560 would we be. So yes, I live on you know, 0:38:16.600 --> 0:38:19.360 It's not weight on my shoulders. It's inspiration. So whenever 0:38:19.400 --> 0:38:21.400 I got to make a tough decision, I think about 0:38:21.400 --> 0:38:22.719 what would Shirley Franklin do? 0:38:23.040 --> 0:38:24.920 What did the ambassador Andrew Young? Do we have the 0:38:24.920 --> 0:38:26.400 World Cup coming? Well? 0:38:26.480 --> 0:38:29.759 The Olympics was these guys were doing the Olympics and 0:38:30.400 --> 0:38:33.799 Bill Campbell and Ambassador Young were setting up the play 0:38:33.880 --> 0:38:36.640 to win the Olympics and along with Maynor Jackson and 0:38:36.680 --> 0:38:38.640 then Shirley Franklin was a part of that committee. So 0:38:38.640 --> 0:38:42.799 I'm looking at leaders as role models and inspiration. I 0:38:42.880 --> 0:38:45.400 talked to them. I call I can't you know, unfortunately 0:38:45.400 --> 0:38:47.200 I can't call manor Jackson, but I call his wife, 0:38:47.239 --> 0:38:50.040 Valerie Jackson, and we talk and she tells me stories 0:38:50.040 --> 0:38:52.920 and they give me ideas and I feel supported. 0:38:53.080 --> 0:38:57.759 I wouldn't. I can't ask for more than what I 0:38:57.800 --> 0:38:59.480 have I'd hate to do this job if I didn't 0:38:59.480 --> 0:39:02.160 feel support it and have you know. 0:39:02.160 --> 0:39:05.439 Examples some of the things that you are doing now. 0:39:05.600 --> 0:39:07.799 Is coming this year of just run down real quick 0:39:08.040 --> 0:39:12.719 Murphy's Crossing with that a new Marta station at that location, 0:39:13.080 --> 0:39:15.640 and that is pretty big for the city. 0:39:15.760 --> 0:39:16.399 Yeah, that's big. 0:39:16.440 --> 0:39:18.439 We haven't added a new Marta station in a long time, 0:39:18.480 --> 0:39:20.080 so we're going to bring a new Marta station and 0:39:20.080 --> 0:39:22.640 that would be the first mortar station on the belt line, 0:39:22.840 --> 0:39:25.240 so you can, you know, get off at Murphy Crossing 0:39:25.320 --> 0:39:27.799 station once we build it, and Murphy Crossing is going 0:39:27.840 --> 0:39:30.719 to have affordable apartments as well as market rate apartments, 0:39:30.920 --> 0:39:32.600 some retail and all that stuff. 0:39:32.640 --> 0:39:34.160 But it'll be right there on the belt line. 0:39:34.160 --> 0:39:36.400 So then you can take a walk, you can scoot, 0:39:36.480 --> 0:39:37.760 you can jog, you can do whatever. 0:39:38.360 --> 0:39:40.000 You can ride to the belt line. 0:39:40.160 --> 0:39:42.040 You can come straight from the airport straight to the 0:39:42.040 --> 0:39:44.279 belt line at Murphy Crossing and then going the way 0:39:44.320 --> 0:39:44.759 you need to go. 0:39:44.800 --> 0:39:46.960 And you got three more Marta stations coming too. 0:39:46.920 --> 0:39:47.359 That's right. 0:39:47.440 --> 0:39:49.840 We are proposing three more and hopefully we'll get support 0:39:49.880 --> 0:39:52.360 from the city from everybody to do so. But we 0:39:52.400 --> 0:39:54.640 think everybody's excited about it because I announced it and 0:39:54.640 --> 0:39:57.759 folks like, yes, the one at Crog where everybody right 0:39:57.800 --> 0:39:59.719 now goes to that Crog. 0:39:59.560 --> 0:40:00.760 Area the belt line. 0:40:01.040 --> 0:40:03.600 And then one at Armory Yards, which is like northeast 0:40:03.680 --> 0:40:06.200 up there where the breweries are and in that area 0:40:06.280 --> 0:40:09.000 near where I eighty five the belt line and BEU 0:40:09.040 --> 0:40:09.840 for Highway area. 0:40:10.120 --> 0:40:10.879 And then one on. 0:40:11.200 --> 0:40:14.200 Joseph Boone which is on the west side not far 0:40:14.200 --> 0:40:17.719 from the Au Center and Martin Luther King area and 0:40:17.280 --> 0:40:20.719 uh you know, going towards you know, Grove Park in 0:40:20.760 --> 0:40:23.719 that area. So I think it's going to be phenomenal 0:40:23.760 --> 0:40:25.719 that people and all four of these are on the 0:40:25.719 --> 0:40:27.840 belt line, so you can take Marta to the belt 0:40:27.840 --> 0:40:30.319 line in four different places, get out on wall or 0:40:30.719 --> 0:40:33.120 eventually you know, we can have some transportation on it. 0:40:33.200 --> 0:40:35.400 So I'm trying to make sure that we grow the 0:40:35.440 --> 0:40:37.279 city out in the right way. 0:40:38.280 --> 0:40:39.680 Connect Us is the town. 0:40:40.080 --> 0:40:46.360 Yes, Can you give us five of the best wings 0:40:46.360 --> 0:40:46.920 in Atlanta? 0:40:48.400 --> 0:40:49.360 The best wings spot? 0:40:50.520 --> 0:40:50.759 Man? 0:40:51.160 --> 0:40:55.400 Well, I'm a lemon pepper head, right, love lemon pepper 0:40:56.160 --> 0:40:59.240 So you know I like JR. 0:40:59.320 --> 0:41:04.480 Crickets. I love wings. Stop. I know Rick Ross, you said, yeah, crickets. 0:41:04.480 --> 0:41:07.760 See they was getting on me by jail crickets go ahead, contain. 0:41:07.840 --> 0:41:12.560 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, jail crickets wings stop. I even 0:41:12.680 --> 0:41:15.400 you know, we got atl wings that far from my house. 0:41:15.719 --> 0:41:18.080 We got JJ's. I don't know if y'all like j 0:41:19.320 --> 0:41:20.879 So how many is that? That's four or five? 0:41:21.360 --> 0:41:22.440 Put the little stuff on the. 0:41:22.440 --> 0:41:25.160 Top of what is that stuff? I don't know what 0:41:25.200 --> 0:41:25.520 it is. 0:41:25.920 --> 0:41:27.440 You can't say it, but you know they call it 0:41:27.440 --> 0:41:29.960 the cracks. 0:41:28.880 --> 0:41:35.480 Like, yeah, it is the one. Oh man, what is 0:41:35.600 --> 0:41:38.160 said American Deli? I said American Deli. That's what I thought. 0:41:38.160 --> 0:41:41.399 I hit five. I thought that American americ. 0:41:41.680 --> 0:41:44.919 Yeah, all right, So one more thing. Keith Lee came here. 0:41:44.920 --> 0:41:47.600 He gave, you know, kind of gave Atlanta a satisfactory 0:41:47.600 --> 0:41:50.239 brother's coming back though, but he's coming back. 0:41:50.280 --> 0:41:52.560 So where do you suggest that he go this time? Yeah? 0:41:52.680 --> 0:41:55.160 Man, Keith Lee. Man, that was a bad week in 0:41:55.200 --> 0:41:59.239 Atlanta history. Man when he came out told everybody our 0:41:59.280 --> 0:42:02.919 food wasn't good. Yeah, well something went wrong that day. 0:42:03.400 --> 0:42:03.880 Should go. 0:42:05.440 --> 0:42:08.160 So he tends to like grabpable food that he could 0:42:08.160 --> 0:42:10.440 eat in this car and talk about. So I wouldn't 0:42:10.440 --> 0:42:12.200 you know, there's some fine dining that I don't think 0:42:12.200 --> 0:42:13.000 he's interested in. 0:42:13.160 --> 0:42:14.239 That's not his thing. 0:42:14.400 --> 0:42:17.279 So I would say, like Local Green, y'all ever been 0:42:17.280 --> 0:42:21.000 in Local Green over there, Joseph Lowry was Zach Zach. 0:42:21.960 --> 0:42:24.360 He got this new I mean, now it's they got salmon. 0:42:24.400 --> 0:42:26.920 They don't do beef and chicken, but got salmon. And 0:42:26.960 --> 0:42:30.440 this cauliflower burger is to die for. It is so good. 0:42:30.640 --> 0:42:32.640 And I know people will be like, wow, cauliflower, but no, 0:42:32.680 --> 0:42:36.440 it's delicious to sea LEAs you ever had to see Lee, 0:42:37.040 --> 0:42:39.359 which is these great. These are kind of on the 0:42:39.400 --> 0:42:44.120 healthy side of they're delicious. But then also, you. 0:42:44.120 --> 0:42:47.120 Know, I mean selectly bigger. 0:42:46.880 --> 0:42:49.840 Ain't bad, but they're now everywhere so in Atlanta, you know, 0:42:53.120 --> 0:42:55.600 but but but okay. The other side of the game 0:42:56.280 --> 0:43:00.640 is if he was to go to busy Bee, he 0:43:00.680 --> 0:43:02.920 can get some good busy beef fried chicken. 0:43:04.400 --> 0:43:05.280 And I love. 0:43:07.480 --> 0:43:09.640 The Baltimore Seafood. I don't know if you've ever been 0:43:09.680 --> 0:43:14.919 to like it's called Baltimore Seafood, but it's in Atlanta. Listen, 0:43:15.280 --> 0:43:17.200 let's let's not do that because it's called Baltimore. Maybe 0:43:17.200 --> 0:43:19.040 they got the ingredients in Baltimore. I want to get 0:43:19.280 --> 0:43:20.760 Atlanta at. 0:43:20.719 --> 0:43:24.640 Atlanta, Atlanta and do y'all like spice House. 0:43:25.000 --> 0:43:25.759 Spice House is good. 0:43:25.800 --> 0:43:27.880 I love spice House because I like I like Jamaican 0:43:27.880 --> 0:43:29.560 food and I like Haitian food and stuff. 0:43:30.239 --> 0:43:32.239 Yeah, like Mangoes is good. 0:43:32.400 --> 0:43:35.640 Mangoes is good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:43:35.840 --> 0:43:37.480 What he got to one on Auburn and one right 0:43:37.520 --> 0:43:42.680 there that Ralph David Abernathy. And now it's so I 0:43:42.719 --> 0:43:45.560 eat everywhere. I mean he he could have gone to 0:43:46.320 --> 0:43:48.680 a number of spots like I mean, I eat everywhere, 0:43:48.680 --> 0:43:50.879 by the way, So I'm thinking I'm trying to stay 0:43:50.920 --> 0:43:52.760 away from too fancy. 0:43:52.560 --> 0:43:54.719 Like the places that you know he's gonna go to. 0:43:55.080 --> 0:43:57.359 Yeah, yeah, places that he's just gonna grab. 0:43:57.760 --> 0:44:00.680 But see, another thing that he had was he was 0:44:00.680 --> 0:44:03.799 talking about the he was talking about the customer service too. 0:44:04.360 --> 0:44:06.919 Yeah, so that was the thing that he was yeah. 0:44:07.640 --> 0:44:09.640 Yeah, See he went to some of the tourist spots 0:44:09.680 --> 0:44:12.799 on the weekend, and it's just long lines. And that's 0:44:12.840 --> 0:44:15.080 a challenge. I mean, I mean, you definitely have to 0:44:15.120 --> 0:44:17.960 be honest about that. You know, I like the food 0:44:17.960 --> 0:44:21.040 at those places, but you can't go there on a 0:44:21.080 --> 0:44:23.759 Saturday if you you know, locals don't do that because 0:44:23.800 --> 0:44:25.320 they they He'll find. 0:44:25.160 --> 0:44:26.880 Some look at one of the places that you said 0:44:27.560 --> 0:44:30.960 one quick last question, where can I find a peach tree? 0:44:32.680 --> 0:44:34.120 Yeah? See, so that's the deal. 0:44:34.400 --> 0:44:36.799 We we talk about peaches a lot, but we don't 0:44:36.840 --> 0:44:39.120 really have a lot of peach trees in Atlanta. 0:44:39.120 --> 0:44:40.840 You have to grow your own in your backyard. 0:44:41.719 --> 0:44:44.160 But now you go North Georgia you can get to 0:44:44.200 --> 0:44:46.480 some peaches, or south you can get to some peach trees. 0:44:46.520 --> 0:44:48.920 But in the city of Atlanta, now we just we 0:44:49.360 --> 0:44:52.759 ain't got that many street signs called we got oh 0:44:52.840 --> 0:44:54.680 my god, we got all the P Street got. 0:44:54.840 --> 0:44:59.960 Peach tree, Industrial, Pea Street, Center, West Street Circle. 0:45:00.280 --> 0:45:04.360 Yeah, P Street Street Downewoody P Street Street. 0:45:04.360 --> 0:45:06.480 Dickens, we appreciate us on the bottle. 0:45:07.640 --> 0:45:11.040 Yeah, no, that one bad. I'm sitting up thinking all 0:45:11.040 --> 0:45:13.120 the places I eat. I eat everywhere, and I'm like, 0:45:13.160 --> 0:45:15.319 why am I freezing up? And why do I sound 0:45:15.400 --> 0:45:16.120 so that ain't healthy. 0:45:16.200 --> 0:45:17.319 I'm like, you're here. 0:45:20.600 --> 0:45:22.040 Before we get out of here, though, we do have 0:45:22.080 --> 0:45:22.680 a pep talk. 0:45:23.080 --> 0:45:26.160 Hey, this is Andre Dickens, the mayor of the City 0:45:26.200 --> 0:45:29.600 of Atlanta, and my word of advice for you is 0:45:29.719 --> 0:45:33.239 to always aim high, reach for your goals because you 0:45:33.440 --> 0:45:34.160 just might hit them. 0:45:35.880 --> 0:45:37.920 You can't get enough of baller Alert. Follow us on 0:45:37.960 --> 0:45:41.120 all social media platforms at baller alert. Log on to 0:45:41.200 --> 0:45:42.480 baller alert dot com