On May 10th, 2022, YELLS had the pleasure of hosting its first Marietta Police Department Town Hall in over 2 years! Led by Major Jake King, the town hall was a real opportunity for Franklin Gateway residents to come together and engage with city representatives about the needs and concerns of their community. It was also great to see our Community Action Café teens get involved in the town hall as YELLS hosts, introducing speakers and addressing their community in a formal setting!
Crime Report
After an introduction from our Café teens, Major King began the town hall by lauding the 10 year decline in crime rates in Zone 1 (where Franklin Gateway is located). Of the 7,110 “calls of service” made to the Marietta Police Department in April 2022, only 788 of those came from Zone 1, and only 4 burglaries in Zone 1 were reported to police during that time. When asked what he attributes to declining crime rates in the zone, Major King cited a combination of positive city council decisions coupled with efforts from community programs, schools, and residents to get involved and make their community safer. As the only youth-focused non-profit on Franklin Gateway, YELLS is proud to be one of the community partners impacting the reduction in crime for Franklin Gateway. Since our daily youth programs began in 2011, crime has decreased by 59.42% in our neighborhood. Major King also praised the city’s new Public Safety Ambassador Program as an effective tool in handling the more innocuous and day-to-day issues affecting community members.
“Through the city council, they hired 12 (citizens as Public Safety Ambassadors), and we defer it like this: there’s some calls where you don’t need a gun Toter (police officer). Your tag was taken off your car overnight, you have no idea who took it, you just need a police report. Do you just need a report or do you need me to show up? You just need to report. So we have civilians that drive around in those silver Ford Escapes and they take all the reports for us, and direct traffic and stuff. So they are a force multiplier for us and help us and they also are really good crime scene technicians,” Major King said.
Play this audio to hear Major King’s thoughts on the decrease in crime rates, as well as new employment opportunities through the city’s Public Safety Ambassadors Program.
Community Members Engage With City Council Representatives
The town hall was also attended by City Councilmembers Joseph Goldstein (Ward 7) and Cheryl Richardson (Ward 1), who offered community updates and fielded questions from their constituents. Councilman Goldstein began by saying that overall the city is doing well and is about to enter a new fiscal year on July 1st. The city is looking at decreasing the millage rate slightly, possibly decreasing property taxes as well. He also touched on a new federal program called the Affordable Connectivity Plan, which could reimburse customers up to $30 per month on eligible internet plans (go to https://www.fcc.gov/acp for more information).
Many of the questions the council members received from community members in attendance had to do with the physical development of Franklin Gateway. When asked about the ongoing but slow-moving plan to construct an Ikea in the vacant lot across from Iguala’s Market, Councilman Goldstein said the city has not received updates from Ikea on that development in several years.
Councilwoman Richardson was asked about the possibility of having a community center on Franklin Gateway. FRCA co-president Antoinette Reed shared that YELLS is looking for a larger space that could provide even more opportunities for children and families, and the neighborhood has long been in need of community space that is publicly accessible to Franklin Gateway residents. While she said there were no allocated funds in the current SPLOST for a community center, Councilwoman Richardson did mention the planning and development of the Rottenwood Creek Trail, which will link Franklin Gateway all the way to Kennesaw Mountain via a paved trail, although she mentioned it would be a few years before the trail opens for public use.
Listen to City Council members Joseph Goldstein and Cheryl Richardson elaborate on the development of Rottenwood Creek Trail here:
“Seems like a lot of the questions were around infrastructure and the things that we can do to improve the physical nature of the community,” said candidate for Georgia House District 43 Ben Stahl after the town hall. “Not a lot of people were asking about crime or jobs or things like that, and those are kind of those intangible things that you can’t see. A lot of the questions were about those things you can see. Everyone was asking about the crosswalks, the buses, dilapidated houses, the IKEA spot, the spot on the north side of the road. And those all take time and money to fix those problems. And really, it starts at these kinds of events.”
Opportunities for Community Engagement
The Franklin Road Community Association (FRCA) co-president, Antoinette Reed, also raised a call to action for attendees to get involved and give back to their community. FRCA is a group made up of Franklin Gateway residents, and they are planning their annual Back to School Bash on July 23. Registration for this event is open now, and they are in need of neighbors and volunteers to join the planning committee to make this community-driven event possible! If you’d like to get involved and attend our planning meetings, please reach out to Daneea Badio-McCray at dbadio@mariettaga.gov.
Community Action Café Teens Take The Lead!
It was especially exciting to watch our Community Action Café teens facilitating this town hall as hosts! Two of our teens, Amiyah and Evan, opened the meeting with a strong bilingual introduction of Major King, and Andrew closed us out with a series of YELLS updates and thanked everybody for coming out. We’re proud of the way our teens took the initiative to stand in front of their community and speak with confidence and intent, and this certainly was not lost on the adults in attendance.
“I personally think it went well! It is always, in my mind, great to see the kids not only sitting in and asking questions, but also running it. So I’m always impressed with that.” said Councilwoman Richardson. “And this was a great turnout, attendance wise. I’ve been to places where we’ve had four people. So this is wonderful. It shows the interest in the community.”
All in all, the MPD Town Hall was an evening filled with engaging discussions between city representatives and residents of Franklin Gateway. YELLS is proud to be able to serve as a hub for the Franklin Gateway community, and we look forward to hosting more town halls in the future!
If you’re interested in learning more about the topics discussed at the Marietta Police Department Town Hall, play the audio below for further community updates from Major King and the City Council members representing Franklin Gateway:
