Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition and their Support for Immigrant Families in Crisis fund. Your donation will go to Support for Immigrant Families in Crisis (SIFIC) due to Covid illness and/or job loss. SIFIC’s Fondo Solidario has been distributing funds weekly since April 1 2020. Your donation will pay vitally needed rent and utilities. Three ways TO DONATE –
VIA WEBSITE: https://www.athensimmigrantrights.org/community-support/
MAIL CHECK: to SIFIC (memo, ACC CARES), 452 N. Billups St, Athens GA 30606
VENMO: @SIFIC

Bigger Vision Homeless Shelter provides a safe place to sleep and food for people experiencing homelessness.
https://biggervisionofathens.org/guest#wintershelterprogram

Food Bank of NE GA  With more than 25 years of experience serving the community, the Food Bank distributed more than 13 million pounds of food last year to our fourteen county service area, through more than 225 partner organizations. For every $1 the Food Bank receives, they are able to distribute 4 meals.
https://foodbanknega.org/contact/donate/

Athens Community Council on Aging “ACCA Emergency Food Relief – By the Numbers
• 325,861 emergency food relief meals provided since March 16th
• 9,457 people served including ACCA’s existing clients, older adults within the community and Athens Eats Together recipients
• 11,500 safety checks, driveway visits and buddy calls made
We are concentrating ACCA’s resources into the meals-on-wheels model of service delivery, focusing on three areas: food and basic needs, security checks and virtual social connections for all we serve.”
https://www.accaging.org/support/donate/

Athens Area Homeless Shelter housed local families and provides many additional resources to help them get back on their feet. In addition, they help local families with food, grocery & school supplies, rent & utility assistance, and childcare. https://www.helpathenshomeless.org/donate

Mercy Health Center: Provides free healthcare for uninsured, low-income people in our community. https://mercyhealthcenter.net/donate.html

Family Connections of Athens -Communities in Schools: “We are in the field, interacting with kids, students and families, building vital relationships and serving their needs on a day-to-day basis. Our Neighborhood Leaders to work with residents in 16 different neighborhoods to help them access services and resources.”
http://fc-cis.org/donate/

Athens Mutual Aid provides funds, food and other needed things directly to people affected by COVID, without the hassles or restrictions of a nonprofit.
Venmo @mutualaidathens to have your money go directly towards helping an individual struggling during this time meet their needs (rent, groceries, etc.)
You can find out more about them here: https://www.athensmutualaid.net/

Those are strong words, but you know what? They’re warranted. We’re now in the part of the yearly legislative session when the text of bills that have already passed one chamber starts being swapped out with the text of other bills that didn’t or that everyone already knows exist and are bad. The newest examples are SB 202, yet another voter suppression omnibus bill, and HB 289, which now contains the language of HB 171, essentially prohibiting legal protest.

Barry Fleming tacked on 50 new sections to SB 202, prohibiting things like giving food and water to people in line to vote, and didn’t even give anyone time to review it before it came before committee. It would let Georgians challenge the qualifications unlimited times of any person trying to register to vote, gumming up our electoral system. Voting rights groups are angry at this transparent attempt to stop the people from exercising their power to choose their leaders, and so are we. HB 531 and SB 241, which are similarly awful, are also still alive. Call the members of the House Special Committee on Election Integrity and let them know you’re outraged at the latest attempts to stop us from voting. Want to contact big Georgia corporations like Coca-cola and Delta, too? Go for it. The legislators trying to pass these bills have proved that they don’t want to listen to the people, so maybe they’ll listen to money? You can read more about SB 202 here, in the AJC.

HB 289 infringes on our First Amendment rights to gather peaceably and protest, which is exactly the route we’ll have to take if our votes no longer count. The ACLU’s Chris Bruce said, “What makes House Bill 289 even more concerning is the fact that we know from history that the people who will suffer the most if this legislation were to become law are people of color, as they are most often the targets of drastic law enforcement responses.” While the bill’s sponsor is now acting like the Capitol Riots have anything at all to do with his legislation, it would make blocking a highway during an “unlawful assembly” a felony, carrying a punishment of one to five years in prison and/or a fine of $1,000 to $5,000, and require people seeking to hold a protest, rally or other “assembly” to apply to their local government and receive approval before they could hold the event. Let your senators know you oppose this unconstitutional legislation.

There’s more, too! HB 286, Houston Gaines’ attempt to put Athens, which didn’t vote for him, under the thumb of the Georgia general assembly by taking away our power to make our own budget, is likely to pass the Senate as well as the house. Let your senators know you won’t stand for it.

A reminder: bills labeled HB started in the house but are now in the senate. Bills labeled SB started in the senate and are now in the house. You can see our full guide to the legislative session here.

HB 479 is something that actually has Brian Kemp’s blessing AND is bipartisan AND is a decent piece of legislation that might actually do something other than create yet another commemorative license plate. Inspired by the murder of Ahmaud Arbery by three white men who claimed they were pursuing a citizens’ arrest (insert eyeroll), it’s not as good a law as it could be, but it is a step in the right direction. It does still allow off-duty police offers to make arrests, and it allows some folks who own retail stores or other kinds of businesses to detain people on suspicion of shoplifting and the like, for a limited time, but it directs them not to use “force which is intended or likely to cause great bodily harm or death.”

One of the bill’s sponsors, Bert Reeves, said, “This balanced approach achieves meaningful reform to prevent acts of vigilantism.” The original law dates from the Civil War era and was written by T. R. R. Cobb (yes, the guy who lived in the pink house in Athens that’s currently near the Captain D’s), so you can guess that it was racist in its intentions, designed to give even more power to white people to terrorize Black people. Lynchings come directly out of citizens’ arrest. You can read more about that ugly history here.

So even if the current bill is being promoted by folks who talk a lot about “keeping our communities safe” and how much they adore police officers, it’s still a good thing and a step in the direction of criminal justice reform of the kind Kemp’s predecessor, Nathan Deal, pursued while in office.

Please contact your state legislator today and ask them to vote YES on HB 479. Don’t know who your legislator is? You can use this tool to find out. If you’re in the Athens area, it’s either Houston Gaines (R), Spencer Frye (D) or Marcus Wiedower (R).

Two of the bill’s other four co-sponsors also represent counties that have their own police force, which makes this bill a transparent attempt by the general assembly to assert control over local jurisdictions when they don’t like what those communities are doing with their budgets. Whether or not you agree with calls to defund the police (we do!), this kind of overreach should be concerning. Gaines and Wiedower are supposed to represent their constituents, not overrule them. Whether or not this bill is likely to pass, it is dangerously antidemocratic, and you should let them hear about it. You can reach Gaines’ office at (404) 656-0298 or via email at houston.gaines@house.ga.gov. Wiedower is at (404) 656-0325 and marcus.wiedower@house.ga.gov.

Here’s a suggested script:

Dear Rep. Gaines/Wiedower:

I am deeply concerned by your sponsoring HB286, which attempts to strip control over local budgets from their governing bodies. Whether or not you agree with calls to defund the police, this bill is a dangerous precedent because it removes control over an important aspect of city/county governance from duly elected officials in those communities. Please think about how you would feel were the shoe on the other foot and redirect your attention to legislation that your constituents have requested.

Sincerely,

Your name
Your address

You can find your representative here. The bill is in the Governmental Affairs committee, the members of which are listed here.

MORE INFO: https://www.aadmovement.org/calendar/mlk-day-parade-and-music-fest/

To honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, and to promote unity and justice, the Athens Anti-Discrimination MovementAthens Anti-Discrimination Movement and the United Group of Artists Music Association are proud to host the 5th annual MLK Day Caravan Parade and Music Fest5th annual MLK Day Caravan Parade and Music Fest!

The parade will begin at 3 PM in front of the Morton Theatre, on the corner of Hull and Washington Street. After the parade, stick around for the Honoree Ceremony at 4 PM, featuring African American elders and pioneers of Athens, Georgia! Social distancing will be encouraged – don’t forget your masks. Free and open to public spectators!

If you are interested in entering a vehicle in the parade, please visit:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/5th-athens-mlk-day-parade-and-music-fest-2021-tickets-92606585791

Athens for Everyone has chosen to end its relationship with Ben & Jerry’s which had previously helped us raise funds through percentage nights. Despite Ben & Jerry’s strong progressive track-record on other issues, their Israeli franchise conducts business in Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Not only are these settlements created as a result of an Israeli occupation that is a blatant violation of international law, but they are also a part of a larger system of apartheid that exists in Israel today. With their selling of ice cream in these settlements and their silence on issues relating to Palestine, Ben & Jerry’s is complicit in this occupation and apartheid.

We regard the rights and dignity of Palestinians as equivalent to that of the rest of humanity. Currently, Palestinian land is being occupied and colonized by Israel. Palestinians face discrimination in Israel, and Palestinian refugees are not given the right to return to the homes from which they were expelled. We stand with Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS), a Palestinian-led movement, in their struggle for justice in Palestine. This movement uses nonviolent means to pressure the state of Israel to comply with international law. Their three main demands are as follows:

1. Ending Israel’s occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall.
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality.
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.

In accordance with this movement, Athens for Everyone plans on boycotting not just Ben and Jerry’s, but all firms that are complicit or actively engaged in the violation of Palestinian human rights. Athens for Everyone also calls for all entities, including the University of Georgia and the Athens-Clarke County Government, to withdraw any investments from the state of Israel or any entities sustaining Israeli apartheid.

Finally, we demand that the United States end all military support for and institute sanctions against the state of Israel so as to not aid in the perpetuation of Israeli apartheid. When making any future decisions as an organization, we intend on considering these positions especially when evaluating candidates for public office and deciding with which organizations we partner.

• Official George Floyd Memorial Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/georgefloyd
• Black Visions Collective in Minnesota: https://www.blackvisionsmn.org/
• Southerners on New Ground: https://database.southernersonnewground.org/donate

Bail Funds

• ATHENS: Give to AADM’S Athens Freedom Fund for protest bail
• Louisville: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/louisville-community-bail-fund/
• Minnesota Freedom Fund, for posting bond/bail: https://minnesotafreedomfund.org/
• Bail funds nationwide
• Atlanta Solidarity Fund: https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/support-justiceforgeorgefloyd-protesters-in-atlanta?

Educate Yourself

• Anti-racist resources (articles, books, films, other media)

Act Locally, Too

• Watch Mariah Parker’s video
• Sign up for abolition organizing in Athens
• Give to AADM’S Athens Freedom Fund for protest bail
• Join AADM’s Justice for Black Lives event on June 6 at City Hall
• Vote for, work for and donate to local candidates who center people of color and endorse Black Lives Matter’s platform

The impact of COVID-19

Many undocumented workers are being cast into unemployment due to the recent outbreak of the coronavirus, but they don’t have the same privileges and protections that other Americans have. It’s commonplace for undocumented people to work in industries – like construction, restaurants and other service-based jobs – that are processing mass layoffs. Not only that, but most don’t have access to healthcare or paid sick leave. Unfortunately, they cannot apply for unemployment or receive benefits from a government stimulus plan, despite the fact that they are taxpayers too.

According to research of 2018 Census data by the New American Economy Research Fund, there are seven million immigrants unauthorized to work that make up just over 4% of the work force in the United States. However, undocumented immigrants account for around 12% of workers in construction, 10% in hotels, and 8% in restaurants and food service.

There is good news: you absolutely can help. As we begin to focus on adapting to the aftermath of the pandemic, here are some ways to best serve the needs of our community.

Best practices for getting directly involved

Across the city, there are plenty of organizations that are active in the community and are always looking to grow their involvement network. Such as:

• The Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition
• Dignidad Inmigrante en Athens
• Oasis Tutors

If being unable to donate is holding you back, that’s no problem. These organizations will benefit from much more than a check. They need people to attend their events; they need people to help tutor; they need people to help drive. But honestly, they just need people to reach out and ask, “How can I help your organization?”

There are also plenty of ways to be helpful by simply being a good neighbor. Building a community with those who live around you and being a known resource to them not only allows you to meet new people, but it gives you the opportunity to potentially change lives. Because, there are plenty of people out there that legitimately take advantage of immigrants – regardless of legal status. For example: tricking someone into signing a once-in-a-lifetime deal on health insurance that resulted in a $1,000 loss, plus the disappointment and fear of reverting back to not actually having insurance (true story).

Speaking from experience, my mother would constantly lend the extra room in our house to all of my friends and their families if they needed it. We also speak Spanish, so she would actually sit down with parents and help them learn English. Or, she would help them complete their taxes; or negotiate a better price on getting their car fixed. There is always something you can help with, but you have to build that community and those relationships first.

Considering all angles

Immigrants’ struggle for rights has historically been a prominent issue in America. Imagine living in a country where you have no legal protection plus the government is actively trying to take you away from your home, your family, your life. Being undocumented can easily strip someone of living a life that they worked so hard for, all at a moment’s notice.

A friend, who preferred to remain anonymous, shared some of her experiences growing up saying: “You live your life in perpetual fear that you could get deported. If you’re in trouble, you are living afraid to seek help. There is a complete distrust of the police force, yet they’re supposed to provide a feeling of safety and security. You have to just keep your mouth shut and your head down.” Living undocumented is living a different world. She explained that the language barrier alone can make it impossible to even know your own rights. So, being a resource for someone truly can change their life.

Vote!

As our mission suggests, Athens for Everyone’s goals are to progress social justice, promote equal representation and counteract the economic imbalances in the Athens, Georgia, community. Again, as the world begins to be put back together, undocumented citizens continue to face these hardships that have only been intensified.

While there are many opportunities to get involved and serve the community, the most important thing you can do is vote. (And bring your friends!)

Information on registering to vote, how to vote, where to vote, and so much more can all be found at this link.

Please also visit our Athens for Everyone voter guide for more information about the candidates and positions in the upcoming local and state election.

Author: Ben Kirk, UGA Student

References:

Jan, Tracy. “Undocumented Workers among Those Hit First – and Worst – by the Coronavirus Shutdown.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 4 Apr. 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/04/05/undocumented-immigrants-coronavirus/.

The next Mayor & Commission voting meeting is Tuesday, December 3, at 6 p.m. You can either show up at City Hall, in downtown Athens, to speak on item #18 (the prosperity package) or fill out a comment form ahead of time saying that you support Broderick Flanigan’s proposal for baby bonds. You can also find contact information for the commissioners here.

“You get into a dangerous space when you calibrate uplift by charity because you’re giving from a place of your comfort, from your excess, and that’s not always sufficient.”

–Broderick Flanigan

According to the Urban Institute, the median wealth for young white Americans is $46,000, while that for African Americans is only $2,900. This disparity is even greater when you consider that, again in median terms, the former ends up in retirement with $157,884, while the latter, if they’re even able to leave the workforce at retirement age, might have $25,212.

Living in poverty, of course, consists of much more than numbers. When people are uncertain about where their next meal might come from, most likely they are not continually fixated on a statistic that shows another group of people making 15 times more money than they do or the best method to determine the size of that wealth gap. 

History is full of instances in which government initiated solutions to reduce the size of the wealth gap in order to provide people with the resources they need. In this country, the Great Depression made it impossible for usually reliable local support groups to continue to serve those in need, necessitating federal relief in the form of New Deal programs and eventually through Social Security. The 1960s brought President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society Program, which was responsible for even more targeted poverty reduction programs. Present-day programs like Medicaid and Medicare, Head Start, SNAP and Job Corps all have their roots in government efforts started in the 1960s.

But even that most recent war on poverty–although it arguably has made a difference in so many peoples’ lives–is still far from enough. Many have argued that extending government resources has only made many people more dependent on government. Others have championed the value it brings in the form of a safety net for millions of Americans in need. These arguments hardly do justice to the harsh realities many people face; instead, they focus mainly on what is rather than what ought to be. As a result, the call for alternatives has risen and given way to numerous practical ideas that attempt to concentrate holistically, or, in other words, on the lifetime of the individual.

One such idea is that of baby bonds. In effect, a baby bond is a trust account that starts when a baby is born into poverty and stays with them while the account grows over time so that at a certain age they have access to financial assets, which they can use for education, housing or to start a business. By some calculations, baby bonds can dramatically reduce the wealth gap, from a ratio of 15:1 down to as much as 4:1. That’s a start.

Baby bonds have suddenly become a serious topic that has spawned a national conversation, encouraged most recently by Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker’s platform, which calls for $1,000 to be used to open the account when a child is born into a family whose income is below the poverty level, and possibly even more depending on how far below $25,750 (the 2019 “guideline” for a family of four) they find themselves.

Senator Booker’s idea is nothing new. The idea surfaced most memorably in 2001 during English Prime Minister Tony Blair’s campaign. Since then, other U.S. presidential candidates have put forth their own version. For example, Hillary Clinton floated the idea of providing $5,000 at birth at the beginning of her failed 2008 presidential bid.

But baby bonds are not just an idea used as platform material for political candidates. It’s a concept actually grounded in serious economic research, most notably by the work of economists William A. Darity, Jr. (Duke University) and Darrick Hamilton (Ohio State University). Both have spent their careers studying poverty issues and are recognized as field leaders exploring policy solutions to problems of inequality, including those contributing to the wealth gap.

The idea of baby bonds is also gathering momentum in Athens, too, due largely to the efforts of local artist and activist Broderick Flanigan. 

Broderick Flanigan, who encourages people to “Spread Love,” has been making a contribution in Athens for some time. A native Athenian, Flanigan has worked in the past as a mentor for the Clarke County Mentor Program. Today, he works out of his East Athens art studio, Flanigan’s Portrait Studio, where he invites students in after school to make art. His efforts to provide young people an opportunity to develop the artistic side of themselves offers them personal developmental experiences they may not customarily receive.

What follows are highlights from a recent interview with Flanigan in his studio, where he answered questions about his lead in the effort to work with the Athens community and government officials to establish trust funds using the baby bonds concept for children and families in need. 

Q. Is your proposal for baby bonds independent of Cory’ Booker’s proposal?

A. Yes, it will be independent of what Cory Booker proposes for his presidential platform. It is similar in some ways, though. It will close that wealth gap that you see in America between the haves and the have nots. 

Q. Are you facilitating this independently, or are you working with a local group?

A. I’m working with a small group of people from Oconee Street United Methodist Church; they have a racial justice task force there to support some of the initiatives that I bring to them. There’s one other organization that I can mention: the Georgia Institute for Transitional Justice. They’ve been key in getting some other data and doing that portion of the research. Another group that we’re seeking potential partnership with is the East Athens Development Corporation. 

Q. Will you be seeking private donations?

A. We will eventually be seeking money outside of our local government. We want to get a pilot project started with some prosperity funds that they’ve put aside, about $4 million. We want to petition our local government to use it to start us off, and then potentially work with the grant coordinators that they hire to seek outside funds or even do a campaign of private donors to make the fund more robust, a public-private partnership type thing.

Q. Have you seen other communities doing this with some sort of success, or is this something new and influenced more by what’s been getting a lot of attention in the national news lately?

A. Darrick Hamilton and William Darity, two professors, have come up with their own ideas about baby bonds. According to how they propose it, it will be completely new. The only thing that it is likened to it are child savings accounts or IDAs (Individual Development Accounts). In one of the videos I watched recently, Hamilton rejects the notion by some critics that baby bonds are child savings accounts on steroids. Child savings accounts encourage families to save and then they usually do a match and it grows over time. But this is just a straight cash injection for the family to use to build assets. The money never goes directly to the individual. So they can use the funds for a home down payment, to start a business if they have a reliable plan that they can produce and show they have the capacity to carry out that plan, or for potentially furthering their education so that they can better their position for a job, whether it would be a welding class or a truck driving school. But it doesn’t have to be vocational. If somebody wanted to go to school like at Athens Tech or something like that, some of the funds could be used for that. If they want to pursue a certified nursing assistant or one of those types of programs, they could use the funds to put toward that. It will give people autonomy that best fits their situation. 

Q. So the cash flow would then go through the organizations rather than the individuals?

A. Exactly. The cash flow would go through what’s held in the trust by the institution on behalf of the individual they were trying to grow the asset for. 

Q. And that could change over time if the individual’s goals or priorities change by they’re time they’re, say, 18?

A. 18 or 21. We haven’t yet nailed down that language yet. Of course, 18 if they wanted to do the schooling, but we’re having a discussion on whether a 21-year-old will be ready to start a business or whether a 21-year-old is ready to handle putting a down payment on a house. While we’re working on this program, there are different variations that we are wanting to explore to make sure it is viable. So instead of looking at it from children who are at birth, maybe looking at it as a tiered type program. We’re working with high school students living in poverty because it would have more of an impact and you can track them more readily because they’re already at that age. Maybe starting with some of those students who are at that age and then in subsequent years putting aside money for birth to 5-year-olds who are living in public housing, for instance. 

High school students would start with a smaller amount. So if we look at our pilot program, we’re looking at District 2 and District 9. We put the income restrictions on there for a small subset of people, and looking at the high school students using those parameters we will see each one graduating will get, say, $2,000 or $5,000 or however much money we get allocated. You know, we will try to stretch the pilot as far as possible. I want it to be a substantial amount. At least $5,000 for each graduating senior to be able to use those funds to further their education or maybe they can find a match. Perhaps somebody else might want to put up another $5,000 to help them get a down payment on a home or something like that.

So, their amount might not be as much as someone coming in the program in that 0-to-5-years-old age group because that would be able to grow over the years while they are maturing. They would have the benefit of having part of the program when they reach a certain age, though they would have to take financial literacy courses. Financial literacy, though, is not the same when you don’t have the finances to try some type of opportunity. We can couple this program with some programs already happening in the community, like the Great Promise Partnership at the Career Academy, where they pair high school students with local institutions that offer them job experience and job training. It just might get them to thinking instead of saying that my life is hopeless, I don’t have anything for me, I can’t save money, my family doesn’t have any money, or where are opportunities for me. It kind of gives them a different outlook.

Q. There seems to be a debate about how you measure the wealth gap. What data would you use to determine the area of need?

A. For me, I would take two approaches. I would look at historical data. But not just from one lens. I would look at programs under things like the New Deal and how they instituted new programs that created new institutions that allowed people to get home loans and what they did for families over time. But then also look at who is excluded from participating in those programs. Then we also look at markers like unemployment across the city. Even breaking it down by race again, unemployment is usually higher, and for that same population, incarceration rates are higher. We also look at wage stagnation. Wages across the board are abysmal here in Athens, and that’s why we have such a high poverty rate because we have a lot of people working in a low unemployment rate but they’re not taking home much money. 

Q. What happens to your program if Cory Booker becomes president and puts his baby bonds program in place nationally? Would this plan be an addition to it, or would it be replaced?

A. I haven’t really been paying attention to that level of politics as of late, to be honest. If Booker does have a shot and is able to get some sort of a program like this started at the federal level, if done correctly, then we won’t need our program because then it would just be a duplication of services. Even if he does a whole blanket like every child born in America gets something, tiered or stratified for poor families so they get substantially more, it’s not really a concern. I would love to see that happen. Love to see a federal program laid out speak to what we’re talking about today. The chances of that happening in my mind are kind of slim, so that’s why it’s important that I think that we set the tone here in Athens to start a program like this and pilot it and do it right to show the impact it can have. Who knows? Maybe they will take our model and scale it up.

Q. Right now you’re going around educating and getting commitments for support. What is your next step?

A. We have already had conversations with a few of the commissioners. We’ve already gone to the November voting meeting, expressed our interest in submitting a proposal, and we’ve emailed them. Right now we’re doing that educational campaign telling people what baby bonds are, what the potentials a program like this can be, potentials on impact. We also need to reach out to some other stakeholders: institutions like banks. We need to bring a bank to the table, a community-minded bank that wants to take something like this on. Not necessarily for the revenue we can bring in for the bank, but just as a community benefit.

So that’s what we’re looking for, the community benefit partnership through a banking institution, as well as some lawyers who will help us set up the legal language. I spoke to a professor over at the [UGA] law school who’s supposed to be putting out some feelers if anybody at the law school has any trust law experience and can do some pro bono work, like setting up some language of the trust could look like for the nonprofit institution that we work with. All those conversations are forthcoming, but we need people to keep on raising awareness and we need people to email commissioners saying that they support something like this, that they want to see a pilot with some of this prosperity money. And also to petition private donors challenging them to help out with this, showing good stewardship in Athens with charitable contributions.

Q. There seems to be a lot of work that has to be done. What kind of timeline are you looking at?

A. The commission has a retreat coming up in early December to talk about a prosperity package and what some of the plans are. So ideally I would love to get a proposal in front of them by that first week in December so that they can have something to look over and discuss more at length when they’re at the retreat.

Q. Is there a final thought or message you’d like to get out there?

A. Yes. We need people to reach out and show up. It could be whatever you are comfortable with. It doesn’t have to be a public mass demonstration or anything like that, but we need some kind of support, either emailing commissioners or people with deeper pockets or connections to organizations that they feel would be in line with supporting this proposal or program from a grant perspective. Also, we need people to show up at the mayor and commission meetings on behalf of this. We want to try and fill the room in December to get people out to say they support baby bonds. There is a meeting coming up on December 3, just before the retreat. There is an item dealing with baby bonds.

And also tell people to educate themselves. Look up information on the economists William Darity and Darrick Hamilton. They can see that information is not being pulled from nowhere but from these two economic scholars who are doing research in this area. It’s important that we remind people that when we say we want to help people get out of poverty, being very intentional about what that looks like and making sure that it’s just not calibrated by a person’s charity. You get into a dangerous space when you calibrate uplift by charity because you’re giving from a place of your comfort, from your excess, and that’s not always sufficient

We’ve seen how many nonprofits we have operating in this community and it’s not a slight against them; it’s just been proven to be inadequate in getting people out of that situation. We want people to survive, but I want people to be in a position where they can thrive and not have to worry about their bills, food and transportation, simple things that people who are comfortable and stable don’t necessarily have to worry about. I want people to have different worries: how are we going to invest this money to make it grow, how are we going to take care of our families and future generations of our families, how are we going to set aside money for our kids if they want to go to college? Those are the kind of worries I want people to have, not how we are going to eat tomorrow, not what are we going to wear when it gets cold, not where are we going to sleep. Those are legitimate worries, and people have those worries today: but what are we doing to make sure that people don’t continue to have those worries? 

That is the message that I want to put out there, and to ask people to fight against the idea that people are undeserving, that poor people don’t know how to manage money or that poor people don’t know what to do when they have an opportunity. Some may fall, but that’s why we are there to help them, to teach them, to guide them, to show them that, hey, this is a better way to go about doing this. What does your family need? Is this the option you want to choose? Let’s help you reach that goal.

I also want to thank everybody who has been supporting this thus far. Just a huge shout out to the people who’re doing the research, doing the work, meeting with myself and others regularly. I just want to show a deep appreciation for them.

For further information, contact Broderick Flanigan at blflaniga@gmail.com.

Judge Hope and the Municipal Court handle local-level ordinance violations, which include violations like disorderly conduct and public intoxication.

Solicitor General C.R. Chisholm serves as the prosecuting attorney for State Court and for Athens-Clarke and Winterville municipal courts. As such, he has the power and discretion to decide if and how to prosecute misdemeanor offenses that occur within ACC.

The group talked about possible criminal justice reforms in Athens, including marijuana decriminalization, pre-arrest diversion programs, ending cash bail, ending arrests for driving without a license and wages for inmate labor. Here are some highlights:

Ending Cash Bail

Thanks to the diligent work of advocacy groups like Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement, Georgia ACLU and Athens for Everyone, dedicated commissioners and other elected officials, Athens is on its way to eliminating cash bail and reducing arrests! The Freedom Act of Athens-Clarke County will be voted on at the June 3 Mayor & Commission (M&C) meeting and appears to have the unanimous support of the M&C.

This act would eliminate cash bail for all offenses detailed in the Athens-Clarke County Code (i.e., municipal offenses), including public intoxication; disorderly conduct; hindering or obstructing Athens-Clarke County officials, employees or agents; having junked vehicles on private property; trespassing; theft and diversion of Athens-Clarke County and public utility services; public urination; obstructing public sidewalks and streets; prowling; violating the noise ordinance; interference with property of Athens-Clarke County and the ACC Housing Authority; failure to obey a notice; and panhandling.

The act also means that Athens-Clarke County would move to a citation-in-lieu of arrest model for for all nonviolent county-level ordinance violations. In cases of violent offenses or if an individual has failed to identify themselves or has failed to sign the citation, the individual might still be arrested and come before a judge, but if released, would be granted “own-recognizance” (i.e., non-cash) bail. In cases of public intoxication, officers are allowed to detain offenders temporarily but not to arrest them for the offense. We would prefer that the place of detention not be the jail. Some cities, including Austin, Texas, have elected to create “sobering facilities” instead. We also believe there is too much discretion granted to police officers with regard to what constitutes “violent” offenses and that this much needed reform needs to be coupled with a Community Police Advisory Board to ensure that it does not target black and brown populations.

You can learn more about the problem with cash bail here.

Marijuana Decriminalization

Athens for Everyone, Reform Georgia and other community groups have been advocating for a “parallel ordinance” similar to that in effect in Clarkston, Georgia. This ordinance would create a local-level policy that would allow police officers to issue a lesser civil penalty (rather than arrest) for misdemeanor marijuana possession up to one ounce.

At the May 22 meeting, the solicitor general said that a parallel ordinance is not possible because state law prohibits it. But municipalities like Clarkston, Savannah and Atlanta interpret the law as saying there is flexibility for a parallel ordinance. Chisholm proposed something called a “pre-arrest diversion program.” Such a diversion initiative exists in Atlanta and seeks to reduce arrests by connecting people to social services and providing a care network instead of arresting them for some offenses. It targets offenders in specific neighborhoods and prioritizes people impacted by racial disparities in arrests, people with unmet mental health needs, people who have had multiple contacts with the criminal legal system and more. Chisholm presented this as an option that could apply even more broadly in Athens, beyond the limited geographic scope and targeted populations prioritized in Atlanta, meaning that it could have an even larger impact in reducing arrests.

Under this model, each police officer can decide whether or not to offer the “diversion program” as an option to a perceived “offender.” In other words, the police officer still has the discretion to arrest for something like marijuana possession instead of offering the option of pre-arrest diversion. Chisholm acknowledged that the details are not worked out for what such a program would look like here in Athens, and he noted the importance of community input in crafting one.

A pre-arrest diversion program, in the absence of an accompanying local government policy, means that if and when a new solicitor general or police chief comes in, they could choose to end the program. A modification to the local code that a parallel ordinance would create would ensure a more sustained implementation of no arrests for misdemeanor marijuana possession. Given that Chisholm’s position is an elected one, we urge him to listen to the people of Athens-Clarke County, who clearly favor decriminalization of marijuana at a minimum.

Inmate Labor

Commissioner Denson and Commissioner Parker reported that they are working on a proposal to pay inmates $4/day as part of the FY 2020 budget, set to be passed on June 4. This is not a lot (we would prefer $15 an hour), but they maintain that it is something that can be done immediately within the proposed budget. There is even some deep opposition to this meager amount! The county has relied for a long time on unpaid inmate labor and assumes it as a given “revenue source.”

Arrests for Driving Without a License

Beto Mendoza of the Athens Immigrant Rights Coalition asked if this offense could be covered under the pre-arrest diversion program, too. Commissioner Denson said that he was not sure. Mendoza mentioned that Cobb County is not making arrests for driving without a license, and Denson said that Attorney Berryman is looking into how Cobb is doing it but does not have answers yet. Driving without a license is not covered under the ACC Code of Ordinances and would not be covered by the shift to citations.