Sandy Springs mayoral candidates Paul and Carter discuss political endorsements, jabs

Key Points Candidates for Sandy Springs mayor Rusty Paul and Dontaye Carter answered questions in a forum hosted by Rough Draft that can be viewed on YouTube Voters can vote early starting Saturday Nov that ends Wednesday Nov Incumbent Rusty Paul and challenger Dontaye Carter took part in a candidates forum sponsored by Rough Draft Photos provided by candidates Rusty Paul and Dontaye Carter addressed social media exchanges that sparked conflict as they took part in a candidates forum sponsored by Rough Draft Atlanta on Nov Rough Draft hosted the community mayoral candidates forum on Zoom on Thursday Nov A recording of the forum and another between the City Council District candidates have been posted on YouTube The campaign heated up when State Rep Esther Feuer Panitch D-Sandy Springs posted an endorsement for Paul on social media She announced the city s Jewish residents need a mayor who will specifically name specific threats and stand up for the Jewish locality In a reply to the endorsement post that included those comments Paul declared he was humbled by her words Carter responded on social media by sharing a report he made on June after the anti-Semitic attack made in Boulder CO in which he stated Sandy Springs has seen a rise in anti-Semitic and anti-Arab hate He explained Jewish residents in the city have every right to be concerned Hate doesn t stop at one door it spreads and tears at the society that connects us all Carter explained in his post During the forum Paul mentioned that the campaign and the resulting vitriol have been challenging I ve had three candidates throwing javelins at me throughout the whole thing So it gets a little challenging sometimes and you have to have a thick skin to be able to do this Paul declared In response Carter announced that endorsements don t dictate the results of an referendum the voters do Nearly a million dollars went into this race nearly a million dollars and the guy that rolls the least because he got outside and knocked on doors and had real conversations with people is still here Carter commented And we know these folks are going to still keep showing up Carter opened up the forum by saying he believes enhancement should keep in mind the families who at this time live in the city Lack of group buy-in has stalled redevelopment progress not high interest rates Carter noted Paul mentioned he s proud of the progress made during his time in office As the city grows he noted protecting the quality of life that brought people to Sandy Springs will be accomplished by managing rise improving mobility and supporting the neighborhoods Carter mentioned he plans to form housing and transportation advisory councils to bring all residents voices into discussions and disclosed the city s code enforcement staff could have done a better job at locating owners of run-down apartment buildings But at this stage of the match I think it s fundamental to make sure that in these conversations about where we re going to rebuild what we re going to tear down it has to be led through the voice of the people and the people are speaking right now he declared Paul stated the Tax Allocation District he advocates would fund the tools needed to convince developers to redevelop aging shopping centers and apartments He reported rise is happening in the city now with owners of three vacant lots about three blocks north of city hall on Roswell Road seeking permits to begin construction The city developed plans to show developers what they could build at North End shopping centers by using zoning incentives adopted by the council Paul noted the city has brought major employers into the city and helped retain other employers such as when Newell Rubbermaid moved from one office building into another within the city Asbury Automotive then declared plans to fill the former Newell space Carter countered by saying these companies aren t bringing jobs to the locality instead bringing employees who don t live in the city These commuters add to traffic congestion Given the chance to ask each other questions Paul solicited Carter how he would rebuild trust he lost when he made tough statements about the police department Carter declared if politicians are held to a higher standard then so should officers He mentioned he intended to ensure the highest standards are set so that laws that are enforced match the neighborhood s values Paul was sought by Carter why he didn t this instant start addressing the housing affordability issue when Fulton County School personnel brought up the issue of low enrollment forcing the closing of schools like Spalding Drive Elementary The enrollment challenge goes beyond Sandy Springs with Atlanta getting ready to close schools for the same reasons Paul reported He stated he met with school district executives urging them to be creative and competitive with private schools but they failed to do that He plans to push legislators to pass a bill that gives parents the right of first refusal to buy an unused school in order to establish a masses charter school Carter pressed Paul on affordable housing Paul responded that housing is being built including a condominium project near city hall A tax allocation district will give the city information when aging shopping centers are torn down offering the opportunity for affordable housing But you can t put a house on a piece of property that costs a million dollars Paul noted Carter appealed if the mayor knows the definition of affordable housing Teachers custodial crews and other city residents communicated him that a one-bedroom apartment starting at more than a month becomes unaffordable because they can t save up for a home We ve got to tear particular of these older complexes down and be able to use the incentives like tax rebates and our TAD that I m talking about reducing the impact fees that we have to be able to make to allow these developers to come in They ve got to develop what we want Paul mentioned So far it s been tough getting the developers to build anything except for high-rise apartments which Paul commented are already in abundance The post Sandy Springs mayoral candidates Paul and Carter discuss political endorsements jabs appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta