Mayor Andre Dickens and Councilmember Amir Farokhi are partnering to work with City Council to allocate $500,000 of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds on an innovative community-based housing incentive for the City’s public safety officials. The funds—to be administered by the Atlanta Police Foundation with help from the Atlanta Apartment Association—would provide a housing subsidy to Atlanta’s sworn firefighters, police officers and corrections officials as an incentive to live near their stations, offices or in their zones.
“People who work in Atlanta should be able to afford to live in Atlanta,” said Mayor Dickens. “My Administration has prioritized the development of affordable housing for our workforce. This investment will help our public safety personnel live in the communities they serve. Thank you to Councilmember Farokhi for helping move this initiative forward.”
Atlanta City Councilmember Amir Farokhi (District 2) is spearheading the effort in the legislative branch, sponsoring the resolution that funds this first-of-its-kind program in Atlanta that will build community trust, strengthen public safety, address housing affordability, and augment the City’s recruitment and retention efforts.
“Public safety is a top priority for the Mayor and all of City Council,” said Councilmember Farokhi. “We ask our police and fire to do too much with the personnel they have. We must do better at recruitment and retention. I’m excited to partner with the Mayor to launch this innovative housing program. We have been working on it for over a year and I believe it will make for safer neighborhoods and more stable public safety agencies. Everyone deserves to feel safe and secure in Atlanta. This gets us closer to realizing that goal.”
The resolution has been introduced to City Council and has been referred to the Finance Executive Committee.
For more information on Mayor Dickens’ public safety agenda, visit OneSafeCity.com
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