.png)
John,
We did it! After a boiling hot summer hitting the streets and talking to every Atlantan we could find — at cookouts, farmers’ markets, dance parties, bars, restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores, school pick-up lines, and even at their very doorsteps — we delivered 116,000+ signatures to the City Clerk at Atlanta’s City Hall last Monday morning.
But our work doesn't stop there. Even though we have far exceeded the number of petitions required to make the ballot, the City Council still refuses to verify our signatures or drop an appeal of the lawsuit they brought against us to keep the Cop City measure off the ballot. However, this week, the Council made one small step forward by voting to digitize the petitions — the first move towards verification.
Will you donate now to help us keep the pressure up on the Atlanta City Council until they put our referendum on the ballot?
Yes, that’s me in the red pants, looking very happy indeed.
Donate to get Cop City on the ballot
Hi, my name is Aimee Castenell, and I’m a long-time resident of Atlanta and a proud member of the Cop City Vote Coalition. This summer, we formed a coalition made up of folks from all over Atlanta as well as organizations — including Working Families Power, the Movement for Black Lives, SONG Power, CASA in Action, GLAHR, and the Black Male Initiative Georgia (to name a few) — to launch a campaign to put a question on the ballot about Cop City to let Atlantans decide how they want to spend public money.
Cop City is a proposed $90 million mock city for police training. If built, Cop City would include weapons and explosion testing, helicopter landings, and controlled building burns, making it an issue of profound importance to everyone, not only in the city of Atlanta but as we’ve seen by the support we’ve gotten from all over — a matter of importance to all of us.
A referendum isn’t just an ordinary vote; it’s a chance for Atlantans to directly shape the future of our city. It’s an opportunity for residents to decide how millions of taxpayer dollars will be spent and how our city invests in public safety. It’s the embodiment of direct democracy on legislative decisions that impact us all.
The referendum includes two crucial aspects: First, whether the City of Atlanta should lease 80+ acres of publicly-owned land in unincorporated Dekalb County to the Atlanta Police Foundation. Second, whether the City should allocate over $60 million to fund the construction of a new police training facility.
All eyes are on Atlanta. Donate to help us help them make the right decision today.
Donate to let the people decide.
Our strength is and has always been in our people. This summer, we had an army of over 500 volunteers who collected signatures in every corner of the City of Atlanta. Those who couldn’t canvass, called voters. Volunteers worked through the night to scan and document each petition. People like you from around the country donated to fuel this work.
And now, we have to come together again to demand the City of Atlanta stop wasting our time and respect the will of the people.
In the cradle of the Civil Rights movement, with a city run by Democrats, it’s especially shocking to see a democratic process be subverted in such a dishonest way. The reality is that over 116,000 Atlantans have signed the petition to put Cop City on the ballot as a referendum. Each signature represents a voice calling for direct democracy and the right to make their voices heard at the ballot box. This groundswell of support cannot be ignored. We must hold our leaders accountable and ensure they respect our democratic principles.
It's time to let the people decide.
In solidarity,
Aimee Castenell
Working Families Power
