By Paul Bolster
Grant Park resident Rohit Malhotra has launched a campaign to succeed Doug Shipman as President of the Atlanta City Council in the November 4 municipal election. Shipman is not running for re-election due to serious family medical challenges. One other candidate is in the race – Council Member Marci Collier Overstreet (District 11, in southwest Atlanta) – but has not yet responded to a request for an interview.
In 2014, Malhotra founded the Center for Civic Engagement, which he describes as a group of “nerds” trying to “dig deep into Atlanta public policy.” He claims he is “a policy nerd and not a politician” and believes the city needs greater public engagement because its residents “have lost trust in government.” He plans to run a neighborhood-based campaign which engages the 70% of voters who usually don’t show up on Election Day when it’s for municipal offices. Campaigns usually focus on the every-time voter, but Malhotra hopes his campaign can energize the voters the political system ignores.
His campaign is focused on two issues:
1. Stem the growing income inequality and offer mobility to people in the city who are being left behind. “We are the worst city in the country for mobility from one income category to another,” Malhotra said. Studies show that only 4% of people living in poverty in Atlanta move up in the next generation.
2. Investment in small business. For every dollar of subsidy that we put into a large business, we need to put one dollar into a small business. We need public policy that keeps us from becoming a “big-box city.” We must find new ways to help small businesses prosper. If there are parts of the city needing a grocery store, the city must take direct action; the market is not creating what the neighborhoods need.
So what are his views on other issues in this election?
City Council Budget: “I don’t like across-the-board cutting. The city’s budget should be closely connected to the city’s strategic plan. We need to go back to having a Department of Planning and Budget with a zero-based budget connected directly to the plan. Right now we should be working on the fiscal year 2027 and ‘28 budgets. The plan priorities should dictate the budget. There needs to be greater public engagement in the budget process which should go on year round. The NPU’s [Atlanta’s Neighborhood Planning Units] used to review the budget and we need to go back to that. Reviewing the budget will let you see what kind of government you are getting for your tax dollars.”
Affordable Housing: He believes the subsidy making housing affordable needs to be in the hands of the buyer or the renter and not the supplier (developer) of the housing. The goal of the program should be to build the wealth of the buyer and not the developer. The direct payments under the Biden Administration’s Child Tax Credit is an example of how we should help people living in poverty.
Zoning Reform: The zoning changes need to follow the goals of the comprehensive plan. The plan needs a focus on the people who are already living here “so they can stay here” and not just the people we expect to come here. He sees the need for greater density, but the goal of any reform “should be a preservation plan for the people who are already here.”
Sidewalks: Yes. People with wheelchairs need to be able to get around their own neighborhood. Improve what we have and connect what we have to destinations.
Rail on the Beltline: Keep your promises. If the East Side Trail is ready to go, start there and put some real planning and fund allocation to get the Southside Trail ready for development earlier than has been predicted. Prove the city can build things in a timely and efficient fashion.
Transportation: Voters are hungry to see MARTA accomplish what it said it would do when voters gave them more sales-tax money.
Tree Ordinance: Too often there is a false dichotomy on issues. The tree ordinance needs to find the sweet spot where the canopy gets protected and land is also available for affordable housing. It is not “one or the other” — both are aspirations for most Atlantans.
Malhotra hopes to connect to neighborhood leaders and offer policy positions that meet neighborhood needs.
