ATLANTA — Dozens of Democratic mayors from across the United States arrived in Atlanta to share ideas for their cities, and how to handle upcoming elections.
Channel 2’s Richard Elliot was in downtown Atlanta, where the city’s Beltline was on full display for the visiting mayors.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens told Elliot that plenty of visiting mayors were interested in the Beltline, and he was happy to tell them all about it.
“The Democratic Mayors Association is just a powerful organization for us to get together to learn best practices from one another,” Dickens said.
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The mayor spoke exclusively with Channel 2 Action News, telling Elliot that while the mayors were talking politics, it is an election year, the group was also there to talk about what was working for the cities, and what wasn’t.
According to Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, Atlanta’s Beltline works for her.
“I was really inspired by the Beltline tour,” Gallego told Elliot. “In the city of Phoenix, we have more miles of canals than Venice, and we’re trying to really develop them and make them an exciting, vibrant place to be.”
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Gallego said some of the things Atlanta has done with the Beltline were inspiring.
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin was also at the conference and mayors took the chance to exert more influence over national politics since, they say, they interact more directly with voters.
On the other side of the aisle, Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon said in a statement that at the mayors conference in Atlanta, they “are free to declare themselves the true face of their party. Georgians already know what that face looks like: Soft on crime policies, chronic homelessness, unaffordable housing and progressive experience that leave working families behind.”
The mayors at the gathering in Atlanta told Channel 2 Action News they think Democratic Party success goes through their cities.
“So the Democratic Party not only is just who can get to the White House or to Congress or the Senate,” Dickens said. “It’s also how do we make sure that we have more Democratic mayors, because that’s who get things done.”
The 2028 Democratic National Convention is still in the planning stages and Dickens wants Atlanta to host.
A decision on which city that will host the election year event is expected by the end of the year.
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