Black. On Purpose. Mayor Kobi's Vision for South Fulton

​I believe that politics is the last, viable means of nonviolent social change for Black people in this country.
Maynard Jackson (Atlanta's first Black Mayor)

South Fulton, Georgia — Atlanta's new twin city -- is 92 percent African American, making it America's Blackest Big City. Like many other majority Black communities, South Fulton is challenged with undervalued homes and business that cannot get access to capital. This is the result of decades of government policies that disenfranchised African American communities. As Mayor, Kobi will use the power and collective wealth of city government to counter systemic racism and:

• INCREASE LOCAL LAND OWNERSHIP
• INCREASE ACCESS TO CAPITAL FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES
• INCREASE EQUITY THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP​

Mayor Kobi is challenging America's Blackest City to be Black. On Purpose — which means a city that is not just unapologetic about its demographics, but moving on purpose to become a laboratory for economic, housing and restorative justice policies aimed at improving the lives of African Americans; and by extension, all people.  

Increasing Land Ownership
Raising Standards for Developers

The majority of commercial real estate in South Fulton is owned by individuals and corporations outside our City Limits. These developers have long undervalued and under-developed our land. 

A prime example of this is Old National Highway. One exit from the world's busiest airport, the city of South Fulton currently does not have a single hotel on Old National (College Park has nearly 40 hotels in the area, filling their 

city's shops and restaurants with visitors who also pay millions in Hotel/Motel taxes.) Though Old National boasts the highest density of people and transit in the city, Yet even decades of leadership, Fulton County's incumbents politicians have yet to even  finish Old National's sidewalks. 

In addition to making infrastructure improvements to Old National's sidewalk & sewers, Mayor Kobi will focus the city's development powers on land sovereignty — owning and controlling our land across all of South Fulton to control the quality and quantity of development in our city. Mayor Kobi has a comprehensive, citywide plan which includes:

Mayor Kobi worked constituents to develop a Masterplan for South Fulton that identifies 10 Economic Development Zones that highlight the unique character of various areas across the city.

• Creating a South Perimeter Development Authority (DDA) that uses Georgia's Redevelopment Powers Act to revitalize Old National as a commercial and entertainment district similar to West Midtown or the north end of the Perimeter, creating an economic engine that decreases the city's current dependence on residential property taxes.
• Preserving the historic and agrarian Cedar Grove area and its 9 working farms, which can help proved food sovereignty for South Fulton.
• Creating public-private partnership with area farmers —marketed under a Grown in South Fulton label — to provide organic, locally grown food to local restaurants and a City Hall cafe designed to showcase our bounty to visiting dignitaries. 
• Creating financial literacy programs that fight gentrification by teaching residents how to properly leverage the increasing home values; and estate planning that teaches South Fulton Seniors how to transfer wealth to future generations​.
• Creating a City Year Program in which the City will retain repossessed properties obtained through the Blighted Property Fund created by then-Councilman khalid, where low-wage city employees — like those in Parks & Cultural Affairs and Public Works — can live rent-free in the communities they serve while building their credit and saving to purchase their own homes. 

In order to increase the amount or quality of city services, we must either increase taxes or density. Mayor Kobi has a Masterplan (below) to increase density in urban areas while preserving our agrarian communities.

• Increasing residential property values by installing sidewalks, crosswalks and speed bumps & tables using his Pedestrian Safety Fund.
• Creating a Green New Deal for South Fulton that preserves our greenspace and prioritizes renewable energy in city projects.

​Increasing Access to Capital through Diaspora-Focused Economic Development 

Throughout American history and to this present day, majority Black neighborhoods and cities have struggled to attract investment from Corporate America. Mayor Kobi will refocus South Fulton's economic development strategy from trying to hide our demographics to seeing them as a unique advantage in the world market.

Marketing ourselves as who we are -- the Blackest Big City in the world's richest country, adjacent to the world's busiest airport — uniquely positions South Fulton to become the economic capital of the African diaspora, decreasing our dependence on domestic companies who have declined investing in "minority" communities for decades.

​Economic globalization now offers us access to a marketplace of 210 million Black people from Britain to Brazil.  Our demographics make us an unmatched test market for companies with Black/urban consumer bases. And our location, next to the World's Busiest Airport, can ship products developed here across the globe. ​

Mayor Kobi's plan to make South Fulton a hub of Black commerce includes:

• ​Marketing ourselves on in social & traditional media as "Atlanta's twin city" and "the Blackest City in America" and focusing our economic development pitches on companies with large Black/urban consumer bases. (Doing business with those ready to do business with us.)
• Refocusing our Small Business Incubators on supporting minority startups, and connecting them with investors & capital. 
• Ensuring minority-owned businesses and  "responsible bidders" that provide living wages and affordable healthcare get priority in city contracts from our $100 million budget.
• Hiring psychologists to support City Council and administrative staff through this paradigm-shifting strategy.

In 2018, then-Councilman khalid brought a $50 million development to Old National along with his proposal of the South Perimeter Development Authority. The development and authority were voted down by City Council.

Increasing Equity Through Entrepreneurial Opportunity

It is well documented that America's public school system routinely disenfranchises African American students. Studies repeatedly show that the greatest predictor of a child's academic success is the educational achievement and economic success of that child's parents and neighbors.

Economist Gary Becker's nobel prize-winning research reveals that income inequality is the greatest predictor of crime. Mayor Kobi understands that we cannot police our way to prosperity. He will reprioritize South Fulton's $100 million budget to invest in young people before they get into trouble by focusing after school activities on 21st century job skills and entrepreneurship. 

Our metro area has the highest income inequality in the nation. We must increase investment in working class communities chronically underinvested in.

Mayor Kobi wants to create careers — not just jobs — for South Fulton's next generation by:

• Partnering with South Fulton's Vocational Career Academy, trade unions to create career pipelines into film production, computer coding, 3-D printing and supply-chain management (logistics) jobs. 
• Funding after-school and summer programs that focus on personal finance, "soft skills"  and entrepreneurship for high school & adult students. 
• Supplementing public school funding of wraparound, social-emotional support services for at-risk families.
• Creating a Civics Education department within City Hall to produce media and year-around programing that educate citizens on municipal government.
• Supplementing S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math)-focused curriculum with a R.I.C.H. (Reading, Inclusive, Civics & History) curriculum that encourages young people to become more engaged in the civic life of their community. 

Over 16 percent of our land is zoned agricultural. With minimal subsidies from the city, our farms can supply city-owned grocery stores with locally grown produce, keeping dollars circulating in our community. 

• Creating a Public Safety & Truancy Departments that respond to calls where social workers, not police, are needed.