(ATLANTA, GA.) - Atlanta residents are asking for more time during public comment to address the City Council.
Currently, residents are given two minutes to speak. Michael Collins, director of Playfair ATL, who regularly speaks at the council meetings, said the limit can be difficult for residents trying to address complicated issues before the council.
Photo Credit: YouTube / (Channel 26)
“Sometimes two minutes isn't enough,” Collins said.
Collins spoke in support of a proposed People’s Voice Act, which would change the city’s public comment rules, including how residents can transfer speaking time to others and how speakers are called.
He also pointed to a proclamation during the August 17 meeting that ran about 15 minutes over its allotted time.
“Sometimes flexibility is appropriate,” Collins said. “But if Council can exercise that flexibility for proclamations, why can't there also be flexibility for residents speaking about complex issues?”
Collins said ceded speaking time would also allow organizations to represent residents who cannot spend hours waiting at City Hall.
The public comment discussion came as residents raised concerns about a proposed data center development in Atlanta.
Tyrone Clemens, an activist and resident of Southwest Atlanta’s Pittsburgh neighborhood, said the city should prioritize development that brings jobs and investment without creating long-term impacts for residents.
Photo Credit: YouTube / (Channel 26)
“We don’t need more industrial waste, we don’t need data centers,” said Tyrone Clemens, an activist and resident of Southwest Atlanta’s Pittsburgh neighborhood. “We need positive incremental development that empowers the community.”
Clemens said Southwest Atlanta needs jobs, investment, and affordable housing, while warning that large industrial developments could create long-term negative impacts for surrounding neighborhoods.
“What we need are jobs, what we need are dollars, and what we need are space for people to thrive generationally,” said Tyrone Clemens, an activist and resident of Southwest Atlanta’s Pittsburgh neighborhood. “We don’t need data centers. We need positive incremental development that empowers the community.”
Emmett Lumpy, a Capitol View resident who said he has worked as a transmission line engineer for more than 13 years, said data centers are putting more pressure on Georgia’s power system.
“It's been a huge resource constraint,” Lumpy said. “Capital maintenance projects have been falling by the wayside.”
Photo Credit: YouTube / (Channel 26)
Lumpy said the equipment needed for the power system can take years to obtain. Our material lead times have gone through the roof,” he said. “Large substation equipment can take two to three years.”
He also talked about who ultimately pays for the infrastructure needed to support data centers.
“From my experience, data centers pay about 60% of the project costs,” Lumpy said. “So that leaves another 40% on the utility company, power companies, and I wonder who they're going to pass those rates along to.”
The council is already considering some of the concerns raised by residents. A resolution sponsored by Councilmember Kelsea Bond would create a 23-member Data Center Task Force to study the effects of data centers on the electric grid, water supply, taxes, and ratepayer costs.
But on August 17, the council sent the resolution back to committee for one cycle after members raised concerns about duplicating a data-center strategy group being developed by Mayor Andre Dickens’ administration.
Councilmember Alex Wan said he supports the task force but wants the council and administration to first reconcile the two efforts, including their membership and goals.
Photo Credit: YouTube / (Channel 26)
“I fully support this effort. I really do think we need a group to look and review,” Wan said. “But I think we should kind of hit the pause button for a little bit just for a chance for the administration and the author to sit down and reconcile both the membership, the objectives.”
To add to or correct information in this report, please contact me at mia.s@lead4earth.org.
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