Amid data center pushback, Atlanta council debates new task force

If approved, the task force would hold at least six meetings and two public hearings, then issue a report to the mayor and council within 90 days, Bond said.

The move comes as a Texas data center developer looks to garner support for its controversial $500 million proposal. The developer, Digital Realty, is seeking an exemption from Atlanta’s ban on data centers near MARTA stations and the Beltline.

The data center development proposal was tabled last month by the council’s Zoning Committee, but will likely come back.

Atlanta already has strict restrictions in place for proposed data centers. In addition to geographic bans, obtaining a special-use permit requires applicants to submit information about a project’s proposed water consumption, energy usage, tree impacts, stormwater management and the placement of new power lines.

Without addressing the project by name, several residents spoke against the proposal, raising concerns about potential pollution and the possibility of skyrocketing electric bills if the data center is approved.

Dickens criticized for ‘bullying’ Fulton commission

A local attorney and community advocate blasted Mayor Andre Dickens on Monday, accusing him of acting like a bully and a hypocrite after the mayor’s testy open letter to the Fulton County Commission last week.

Dickens had offered to sell the Atlanta City Detention Center to Fulton County for $80 million in exchange for support for his controversial tax extension plan and other financial commitments.

But the mayor formally withdrew that offer Thursday, saying it’s “no longer on the table” after a majority of commissioners opted out of Atlanta’s plan to extend six of the city’s eight Tax Allocation Districts, or TADs, for 30 years.

TADs are designated areas in which property tax revenue growth is diverted away from the governments and instead used to pay for infrastructure improvements within that district’s boundaries. Dickens hopes to use that revenue to help improve Atlanta’s underserved neighborhoods and bridge the city’s growing wealth divide, though some critics question the effectiveness and even the legality of such financing tools.

County officials say they have their own financial obligations, including a legal agreement with the Department of Justice to improve conditions at the jail, and need the tax growth revenue they would give up with an extension of the taxing districts.

Devin Franklin, senior policy counsel at the Southern Center for Human Rights, took Dickens to task over his scathing letter to commissioners.

“Our actions must match our words,” Franklin said at Monday’s council meeting. “And recently, the actions of Mayor Andre Dickens have not matched his words.”

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

Franklin noted that, as a council member, Dickens supported a plan to convert the city jail into a “center for equity and wellness.”

“However, as mayor, he abandoned that effort,” said Franklin, who is part of a group that has long urged city leaders to repurpose the city’s detention center.

For the past four years, the city has leased space to the county so Fulton can house its detainees at the detention center as it works to improve conditions at the troubled Rice Street jail.

That agreement is set to expire in December, meaning Fulton could see the amount it pays to house detainees triple, from $50 to $150 per day. There are an estimated 400 pretrial detainees housed at Atlanta’s detention center now, according to the city. Keeping that many people there after the contract expires could cost county taxpayers a staggering $60,000 a day.

Franklin said Dickens could do more to keep people out of jail by directing his police department to divert more cases. He also called the mayor’s criticism of the commission “the epitome of hypocrisy” and said the failure to make good on plans to transform the city detention center represents “a betrayal.”

“Ultimately, this moment is not about a single letter,” Franklin said. “It’s about whether promises become policy, because actions speak louder than words.”

Fulton commissioner hits back with her own letter

In a response sent to the mayor Tuesday, Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett said there were “several aspects” of Dickens’ letter she said “do not accurately reflect the proposal that has been under discussion.”

For one, Dickens’ letter said the city offered to sell the Atlanta City Detention Center for $80 million, when it is worth about $144 million, Barrett wrote.

“But that was not the proposal presented to the county,” Barrett said in the letter. “The purchase of (the city detention center) was one component of a much broader package that also included more than $1 billion in proposed (tax district) extensions, a $200 million investment in a hospital, and tens of millions of dollars in additional county commitments.”

In all, Barrett said the city asked for more than $1.4 billion in financial commitments in exchange for an asset worth an estimated $144 million.

She also said the mayor’s letter included “misleading” assumptions about how purchasing the detention center would reduce the need for a planned Special Purpose Facility, which will house inmates with medical and mental health needs at the Rice Street facility.

Although the city’s detention center would provide valuable additional capacity and help address immediate needs, it would not eliminate the need for or lessen the size of the Special Purpose Facility, Barrett wrote.

“What it would do is allow us to eliminate the need for a fiscally irresponsible renovation of the Rice Street jail, which we agree is in deplorable condition,” Barrett said.

Barrett said the mayor’s letter last week also drastically understated what it would cost to renovate the city detention center. Dickens suggested it would cost $40 million, but Barrett said multiple advisers estimate that figure at closer to $75 million.

“What you neglect to mention in your letter is that the sale of (the detention center) to the county also makes good fiscal sense for the city,” Barrett said.

Barrett said not only would the city have $80 million in capital that it could invest, Atlanta could also save taxpayers the estimated $25 million it costs to operate and maintain the detention center annually. If it isn’t sold, Barrett said the city will continue paying for an aging, mostly empty building while losing out on funding it could put toward other projects.

“I appreciate that you have rescinded your ask of $1.4 (billion), as I think it is far better for all stakeholders that we negotiate the purchase of (the detention center) separately from TAD extensions or healthcare solutions,” Barrett wrote

She noted “time is of the essence,” because the current arrangement ends in several months. If an agreement is not reached, Barrett said Fulton County would need to find an alternate provider for the detention center’s 400-plus inmates.