Business, Civic Leaders Rate Candidates for Atlanta Mayor and Council Races
CBA offers Atlantans Comprehensive Voter Guide for Upcoming City Elections
A nonpartisan business coalition that includes Atlanta’s top business and civic organizations used in-person candidate interviews and written questionnaires to create a comprehensive Voter Guide to the upcoming election for Atlanta’s Mayor, Council President and City Council races.
Committee for a Better Atlanta (CBA) scored candidates based on their positions related to the CBA Policy Platform, which addresses critical issues in the areas of: Public Safety, Economic Development and Recovery, Affordable Housing, Ethics/Transparency, Transportation, City Leadership, and Sustainability, among others.
“These scores will empower Atlanta voters to make informed choices about the next leaders of City of Atlanta,” said Denise Quarles, 2021 CBA Co-Chair and Head of External Affairs for the Southeast Region at Siemens. “As business leaders, our role is not to endorse individual candidates, but rather to provide voters with a thorough evaluation of the candidate’s qualifications and handle on local issues.”
Twelve of the 14 candidates for Atlanta Mayor participated in the CBA process. Five mayoral candidates scored “Excellent” or “Well-Qualified,” as did four of the five candidates for City Council President. Eighty percent of City Council races are contested. Full questionnaires and scores for participating candidates can be seen here.
CBA, founded in 1996, hosted the political season’s first candidate forum in June. The day-long forum featured over 40 candidates including candidates for Mayor, City Council President, and City Council. Candidates that attended included Mayoral candidates Antonio Brown, Andre Dickens, Sharon Gay, and Felicia Moore; plus, Council President candidates Natalyn Archibong, Courtney English, Mike Russell, and Doug Shipman.
“CBA’s mission is to educate voters, and that remains our primary focus,” said Kyle Waide, 2021 CBA Co-Chair and President & CEO of Atlanta Community Food Bank. “In our scoring, each candidate was evaluated on their responses to our questionnaire and in their in-person interviews. With a majority of Atlanta voters still undecided, the CBA evaluation process is a timely tool to inspire voters to get to the polls and drive engagement on these important issues.”
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2, and early voting begins on Tuesday, Oct. 12.
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