Georgia Equality has been fighting for the creation of Human Relations Commissions like the Athens Civil Rights Committee throughout the state. The mission of Georgia Equality is to “Advance Fairness, Safety and Opportunity for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Allied Communities in Georgia”.

Click here to sign the petition!

You can learn more about what an Athens Civil Rights Committee would look like here.

Click here for more information on what the Anti-Discrimination Movement is working on to make an ACRC a reality.

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(The complete video is available at: http://athensclarkecounty.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2 )

Athens for Everyone fully endorses this program becoming permanent. A4E believes that services are valuable to residents, especially when they are free and that an exchange of currency is in no way necessary for it to be “valuable”.

Unfortunately, Commissioner Harry Sims has put forward a Commission Defined Option (CDO, which is an alternative option created by a commissioner that can be passed instead of the original proposal) that changed the program from being permanent to being a trial program that would have to be renewed. Sims’ CDO also changed the language from “free” to “fees waived”. Commissioner Kelly Girtz has put forward a CDO that keeps the program permanent and also uses the word “free”. Athens for Everyone supports Commissioner Girtz’s CDO.

“I think it is dangerous for our elected leaders to act like providing services for free is a bad thing”, said Athens for Everyone President Tim Denson, “to assume that residents can’t recognize something as being valuable unless money has been taken from them. What’s next? Our school buses? Our sidewalks?”

The voting meeting will occur on Tuesday, August 2 at 7pm at City Hall. The public is invited to attend and will be given time to speak.

In April, the ACC Commission approved allowing all students under 17 years of age to ride Athens Transit buses free for the summer of 2016. Athens for Everyone fully supported this idea and advocated for it, along with others including Commissioner Harry Sims, to be put in place permanently.

Athens for Everyone is very excited to see an agenda item coming before the Mayor & Commission that will, “request that the Mayor and Commission approve a Youth Ridership program that allows all local youth, ages 5 -17, to ride Athens Transit’s fixed-route services (The Bus) free of charge year round.” The estimated cost in lost revenue would be $40,000.

“(a)  request that the Mayor and Commission approve a Youth Ridership program that allows all local youth, ages 5 -17, to ride Athens Transit’s fixed-route services (The Bus) free of charge year round.

The Mayor & Commission will discuss it at the July 19 Agenda Setting Session and, hopefully, vote for it at the August 2 Voting Session. Athens for Everyone will be organizing a push to make this happen, stay tuned (become a [free] Member of Athens for Everyone so you don’t miss a thing)!

Since the fall of 2015, Athens for Everyone has been fighting for all county employees to be paid a living wage of $10.17/hr (or higher). Progress has been made but much work is still to be done.

The County will take on a wage-study and classification project that should raise the hourly wage for about 100 of the 240 County workers being paid less than a MIT-researched Living Wage for Athens, to $10.17/hr or greater. This classification should be done by January 1.

An unofficial timeline has been created to raise the other 140 jobs to, or above, a living wage eventually also.

“Even though we did not see funds to pay living wages to all ACCUG employees, we are hopeful the commissioners and staff will keep to their word,” said Drew Hooks, Workers Rights Campaign Coordinator for Athens for Everyone. “We will continue to push the mayor and commission until living wages are paid to all part-time, seasonal and temporary employees. It is their moral obligation as employers, and it is their economic responsibility to curb poverty through paying higher wages. If we want an Athens that is affordable for everyone, then the local government needs to set the example and pay their workers living wages.”

Look for a detailed breakdown of the Living Wage story later this week here at athensforeveryone.com