Is “Cop City” a Common Cause or a Special Interest
Related to the anniversary of the delayed “Cop City” referendum, in August, Common Cause Georgia released a little-noticed report titled “The Atlanta Way: Examining Pay-to-Play” highlighting how campaign contributions, particularly from real estate and construction companies, influence policy decisions.
“For decades, the city of Atlanta has faced institutionalized corruption, hindering its potential as a cultural, business, and international hub. Often referred to as “the Atlanta way,” politicians prioritize the interests of wealthy donors and major industries over the needs of everyday constituents.
“This pay-to-play model distorts the fundamentals of democracy, allowing a few wealthy interests to influence major city decisions. Decades of bribes and favoritism have normalized the pay-to-play model, resulting in a biased city council, a privileged elite, and a neglected majority.”
The report revisits past pay-to-play scandals, like those surrounding Hartsfield-Jackson airport, to draw parallels. Whether directly related or not, when council members who vote in favor of controversial projects receive significant donations from industries that benefit it undermines public confidence.
“Our research found that real estate and construction companies donated the largest contributions to the 2021 –2025 Atlanta City Council members during the campaign period. These real estate and construction companies represent the largest industry donors at 35% totaling more than $510K. Many of these businesses gained city contracts or experienced increased revenue from their pre-existing contracts after their contributions. The data was collected through the review of city council member’s 2021 campaign disclosure documents available through The City of Atlanta’s Easy Campaign Finance Portal.”
Pay-to-play usually brings up images of a local contractor getting a sweetheart deal, but the Common Cause report criticizes Atlanta’s major companies in a section on “Corporate Pay-to-Play.”
“The construction of Cop City has required millions in funding for its proposed opening. About 80 percent of that funding has come from private donations to the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF). We saw the same private companies, board members of the APF, and sponsors donating to the city council in 2021 when the Cop City legislation was introduced. Some major corporate sponsors — like Bank of America, Truist, AT&T, and UPS — have employees who are involved with the Atlanta Police Foundation and serve on the APF Board of Trustees.”
The report has plenty of fodder for my interest in Cox-owned media outlets’ unchecked dominanceover local media:
“Cox Enterprises (Cox Communications, Cox Automotives) employees and chairman donated over $5,800 in the 2021 election cycle to city council member Mary Norwood who voted in support of the Cop City construction vote and a total of $16,050 in donations to city council members and Mayor Dickens. The following year, Cox solidified their support for Cop City with a $10 million donation to the Atlanta Police Foundation. It is also reported that the company’s CEO Alex Taylor spearheads the APF Cop City fundraising campaign. It is unclear what responsibilities this position holds but so far, they are leading the initiative through large donations directly to the APF, city council members and calculated editorial pieces in support of Cop City in their major daily newspaper The Atlanta-Journal Constitution.”
And later:
“Mayor Andre Dickens received nearly 30% of his donations of over $250 from consulting firms and the tech industry during his 2021 mayoral campaign. Mayor Dickens’ relationships with his donors often involve lucrative, long-standing contracts that suggest a pay-to-play dynamic, potentially compromising equal access to city contracts. For instance, Cox Enterprises, a long-time contractor for the city of Atlanta, made 21 donations, amounting in over $14,500, to the Mayor during the 2021 election cycle. In 2022, Dickens appointed Donald Beamer, Jr., a former senior manager at Cox, as the City’s first-ever Senior Tech Advisor.
“These patterns of donations raise concerns about conflicts of interest and the unregulated impact on Atlanta residents which prioritizes corporate and private interests over community interests. Additionally, pay-to-play makes it difficult for new candidates to compete, win, and change the status quo because of incumbents’ strong fundraising advantage. The continuation of pay-to-play encourages city council members to build relationships with donors that support their interests in city contracts and weakens our democracy by diluting constituents’ voices for profit.”
Atlanta does have a special election for an at-large council seat this Nov. and next year the mayor and council seats will be up for re-election.
Common Cause is a good government group and includes two policy recommendations: the simple, if hard to implement, barring of political contributions from entities doing or seeking business with the city and the big picture goal of “citizen-funded elections.”
In addition to funding, any challengers to incumbents may need press coverage to get their names and ideas out. Moreover, the “Atlanta Way” of using corporate philanthropy to fund public goods likely has a muzzling effect on elected officials’ ability to criticize corporations and the city’s 1%.
You could run for office criticizing “Cop City” and its philanthropic and corporate backers but risk losing Big Philanthropy’s support for affordable housing, bike trails, the arts and even, increasingly, local journalism.
