Tag: Cop City

Just 12 Percent of Georgia Voters Support ‘Stop Cop City’ Petition to Block Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, Poll Shows

Tom Pappert

Polling released on Friday reveals the majority of Georgia voters support the new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, with only 12 percent of poll respondents expressing support for the controversial “Stop Cop City” petition to force a public referendum on the project.

60 percent of Georgia voters back the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, agreeing with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, according to polling by 20-20 Insight. An additional 28 percent of Georgia voters are not sure, and just 12 percent support the “Stop Cop City” petition.

Read More

Atlanta to Scan Petitions to Stop Public Safety Training Center, Post Online

Tom Pappert

The City of Atlanta has approved legislation to scan more than 115,000 petition signatures calling for a referendum on the Atlanta Public Safety Safety Training Center on Monday. After scanning the petitions, Atlanta will make them available to the public, but will not determine the validity of the signatures at this time.

Activists claimed to deliver 116,000 petition signatures on September 11, nearly doubling the 58,232 required to force a public vote on the future of the training center for law enforcement and first responders. However, a legal ruling briefly extended the petition deadline from August 21 to late October, before it was stayed by a higher court. Atlanta ultimately accepted the petitions, but said it would not begin processing them until it received guidance from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Read More

Senator Raphael Warnock Asks Atlanta to be Lenient on Petitions to Stop Public Safety Training Center

Tom Pappert

Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) wrote a letter to the City of Atlanta on Friday asking officials to be lenient when examining the petitions gathered to force a public referendum on the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

In his letter, Warnock reportedly advised Atlanta he is “closely monitoring” the petition, and claimed to be “concerned” the city’s signature matching and verification process “led to discrimination” and potential “disenfranchisement of eligible voters” during previous ballot initiatives. Warnock urged Atlanta “to err on the side of giving the people the ability to express their views” and to establish “clear and transparent timelines and requirements” going forward.

Read More

Activists Turn in Petition to Force Vote on Atlanta Public Safety Training Center Just Days after RICO Case Unveiled

Tom Pappert

Activists seeking to challenge the construction of the new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center claim to have turned in more than 115,000 petition signatures on Monday, three weeks after the City of Atlanta required signature gathering to conclude. The city has accepted the signatures, but will not examine them without a ruling from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Originally given until August 21 to return at least 58,232 valid signatures, a legal ruling on July 26 gave the activists an additional 60 days, and stripped a requirement for those gathering the signatures to be residents of Atlanta. However, a stay was issued freezing that ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on September 1, meaning the additional time granted to activists may have disappeared.

Read More

Activists Decry Plan to Check Every Signature on Petition to ‘Stop Cop City’

Kaitlin Housler

Activist groups across Georgia have denounced the City of Atlanta’s decision to use signature matching in order to verify signatures on a petition that would allow voters to decide on the fate of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.

Read More