Campaign Platforms
Restoring Public Trust: Transparency and Ethics
One of the biggest challenges our city faces is the need to eradicate and CHANGE
the current “Pay to Play, argumentative, and lack of cohesiveness” culture that has
permeated for many years within our current city and council. As a voice to many
of many of our residents, in recent conversations, have expressed that until we put
an end to nepotism, unprofessionalism, lack of accountability and transparency,
and closed ears to constituent’s concerns and voices, city hall and council, will
remain toxic and unable to move the city of South Fulton in forward
progression. Public trust and integrity are essential for our city to thrive, attract
new industries and businesses, new commerce, and new residents. We also need to
review and correct any communication gaps between residents and city services. I
firmly believe in listening to everybody, evaluating, testing small, and scaling up
what works.
As your next City Council representative of District 5, and for the entire City of
South Fulton, I propose the following as my focus and sole responsibilities, once in
office.
Public Safety/Violence Prevention
Increase police response time and police patrolling
The Beat Study
Internal review of the structure of the department to make sure it is meeting
the demands of our residents and the needs of our officers as effectively as
possible.
Collaborating with the department to establish wider and more efficient use
of technology to prevent crime (in real time) and to identify and arrest
perpetrators (More surveillance cameras, automated license plate recognition,
etc.)
Impose fines and surveillance to control illegal dumping
Economic & Workforce Development
Increase the number of Small Businesses/Entrepreneur educational and
business opportunities in COSF, and address economic disparity and the
wealth gap (Review city’s biding process)
Promote growth to current/new businesses within the city to encourage
expansion, to meet the needs of all residents, and to develop a range of employment opportunities for city residents, including professional and
skilled trade occupations.
Host quarterly Career Readiness training, Hiring Events and Career Fairs,
to promote employment within city limits.
(Offering sit-down restaurants, family activities, movie theater, etc.)
Implement programs and increase community engagement that offers a
variety of resources to help the City of South Fulton’s communities prepare
for economic development.
Support and monitor the re-entry of adults from prison, and provide
resources and training for reintegration and employment opportunities.
Affordable and adequate housing (Housing Authority)
Develop homeless services so that we can provide access to jobs and
wraparound services to individuals and families.
Commercial development that serves residents – Encourage current and
future commercial development to include shopping and entertainment
options that meets the needs of the community, are easily accessible from
surrounding neighborhoods and support walking, biking, driving and public
transportation.
Provide amenities that make people want to live, work and play within city
limits. (Includes parks and green space, public transportation, city
beautification projects, culture, and the arts, and revising zoning and other
policies to create mixed-use spaces.)
Senior & Disability Care
Aging in Place –Encourage development that makes access to shopping and
health-related services accessible (Health Fairs and Health Screenings)
Senior housing in close proximity to daily needs to allow senior residents to
participate in the community and meet their needs.
Senior Recreation services (Senior Care facility/Recreation facility)
Disability programs and resources (Mental Health)
Develop public/private funding that provides low or no-interest loans to help
renovate and maintain properties
Education/Youth Services
·Implement a school violence prevention/conflict resolution program for
elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools.
·Implement programs that collaborate with police force that uses
compassionate community policing, to support youth and redirect them
away from crime
Keosha, has a long history of working with local leaders to develop solutions and
create opportunities for communities to succeed in growing jobs, small-business
and Entrepreneur growth. Her goal is to collaborate with local leaders, community
organizations, and government agencies to help the City of South Fulton
reach their growth and development goals, improve quality of life for all residents,
and create a sustainable, livable, thriving place to live, work, and play, across our
state.
We must change the existing culture at City Hall and create a focus on openness,
transparency, accountability, service, and stewardship of public resources. This
must include timely responsiveness to open records requests, audits, and
investigations. Our communities continue to suffer from a lack of housing options
and access to income, mental health services, medical care, and substance use
recovery services.
When elected, I will propose and support legislation that all City of South Fulton
employees abide by a much-needed, updated, and revised Employee Code of
Ethics along with strict, actionable penalties for violating the code. All-City of
South Fulton employees would be required to participate in a range of workshops
and seminars by experts outside of City Hall so that they would clearly understand
that professional and ethical behavior is expected at all times. This mandate must
include the Mayor and City Council.
I also support improving standards for transparency and expand the capacity of our
city Auditing Department to perform routine as well as special audits as requested
by the City Council and the Office of the Mayor. Our Procurement and Building
Permit Departments must be reviewed to ensure state-of-the-art technology isbeing used, best practice policies and procedures are in place, and contracts are
being awarded in a fair and proper manner.
Finally, I fully support any and all measures designed to bring openness, oversight,
and accountability to any use of funds and resources by city employees. Previous
administrations were able to waste taxpayer money on personal expenses precisely
because the use of those funds was not transparent and ethics policies were not
enforced. That lack of transparency and tepid enforcement needs to end
immediately, for our city to advance and move towards growth and progression.
Together, we will WIN! Together, we will CHANGE the City of South Fulton! “Ring the BELL for CHANGE” and VOTE Keosha Bell as your next
Councilwoman for the City of South Fulton-District 5.