As he gears up for a re-election bid in two months, Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz touted a strong local economy in his annual State of the Community speech last week.
Delivered in an empty City Hall commission chamber, the speech highlighted strong economic growth and low unemployment over the past year, despite the “physical, emotional and economic tsunami” of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Local unemployment fell to 2.5% in December, retail spending is at an all-time high, and a record $315 million worth of business permits were issued in 2021, Girtz said. “Simply put, businesses are expanding, and people are spending money here in Athens,” he said.
In particular, Girtz cited RWDC—a company that makes a replacement for plastic out of vegetable oil using a process invented at UGA—animal vaccine developer Boehringer Ingleheim, online furniture retailer Wayfair’s warehouse in the new General Time development off Chase Street, the Classic Center arena opening in late 2023, Creature Comforts’ second brewery in Boulevard’s Southern Mill development, Publix, Heyward Allen Toyota and outdoor retailer REI, which is set to open fall 2022 in the Beechwood shopping center. (Heyward Allen general manager Steve Middlebrooks has been one of Girtz’s most vocal critics.) Spurred by six newly created tax allocation districts, more development is expected on the Eastside, in Beechwood, near Athens Tech and along Newton Bridge Road, including a half-billion-dollar redevelopment of Georgia Square Mall, he said.
Another development currently underway is the North Downtown Project, which will replace Bethel Midtown Village and nearby public housing with a 1,000-unit mixed income community. Spending $11 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding, along with an inclusionary zoning policy set for an April commission vote, will spur housing redevelopment in “crumbling” locations or in empty parking lots for the 40,000 people who drive into Athens to work, Girtz said. “And as this redevelopment happens, it will include homes that are permanently affordable for the workforce that is so critical to our collective success,” he said.
Girtz also cited infrastructure investments on West Broad Street, Milledge Avenue and Tallassee Road to make them safer after a year in which car crashes killed a record 25 people. Higher frequency Athens Transit service is also coming if local voters extend TSPLOST, the 1% sales tax for transportation, in May. New electric buses are on order and expected to arrive early next year.
The Clayton Street project downtown is near completion, new sidewalks have been installed on Barnett Shoals Road and in the Baxter/Broad area, and new segments of the North Oconee River Greenway and the Firefly trail opened, Girtz added.
In addition, Girtz announced that he’s in talks with The ATL, metro Atlanta’s regional transit agency, about a bus connecting Athens to the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority. “If implemented, this would mean that a student or commuter would no longer need to white-knuckle it behind the wheel to attend a work meeting in Atlanta or go see mom for the weekend,” he said.
Tackling what are likely to be two major campaign issues—crime and homelessness—Girtz touted the creation of the Public Safety Civilian Oversight Board and mental health co-responder teams. He also said he will recommend in the upcoming county budget another raise for police officers, bringing starting salaries up to $50,000 a year, and reintroduced the idea of a cadet program to train Athens youth to be police officers, which the commission rejected last year.
“We are grateful that the dramatic spikes in crime that have afflicted similarly sized communities throughout the state have not been present here, and that overall crime decreased,” he said, while pledging that spikes in aggravated assaults and vehicle thefts will be “swiftly addressed.”
Also as part of the fiscal 2023 budget set to be released in late April, Girtz said he will recommend funding to employ people transitioning out of incarceration, adding to ACC Department of Corrections landscaping and print-shop certification programs already in place.
ACC is working with a coalition of nonprofits to develop a comprehensive homeless services plan, Girtz said. “I anticipate it will include both comprehensive case management needs, so those individuals who have been challenged by circumstance can get back to productive lives, as well as commitment to the rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing options that are in such short supply in this very tight housing market,” he said.
Like what you just read? Support Flagpole by making a donation today. Every dollar you give helps fund our ongoing mission to provide Athens with quality, independent journalism.
