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Mayor Girtz Touts Public Safety and Economic Development

Credit: Savannah Cole/file

In his first address to the community since winning a second term in a landslide, Mayor Kelly Girtz said that Athens is a safe and growing community.

“While any episode of violence in the community is one too many, and there were a couple of specific areas of rises in crime in 2021 and 2022, we have maintained a strong handle on community safety,” he said in a speech from City Hall last month. “While similarly situated peer communities saw dramatic spikes in murders over the last three years, we have not had more than half a dozen murders in 2020, 2021 or 2022. Overall, a resident of Athens is less than half as likely to experience a crime today than was true in 1995.”

Four people were murdered in Athens in 2022. Savannah had 31 murders, Macon had 70, and Columbus had more than 100.

To address public safety, Girtz said he wants to expand the medical services provided by firefighters, put more money into youth programs like summer camps, and partner with the Clarke County School District on crime prevention.

Girtz also boasted of economic development projects like the biotech company Meissner, which is bringing 1,700 jobs averaging $82,000 a year to Athens; honeybee vaccine manufacturer Dalan; the opening of Athena Film Studio; the Georgia Square Mall redevelopment; the Classic Center arena and the North Downtown Project at the site of Bethel Homes. 

Girtz said he would use “every tool in the box” to address the housing crisis, including tax allocation districts, inclusionary zoning and federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars. A study coming this summer will highlight more opportunities, he said. Another study will recommend measures to deal with homelessness.

On transportation, Girtz highlighted the new Vision Zero office focused on reducing pedestrian deaths, improvements to the Lexington Road-Loop interchange now underway, an upcoming project on the Loop at Atlanta Highway, the opening of the Firefly Trail bridge, proposed transit hubs on the east and west sides, and a potential bus connection to Atlanta.

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