Five candidates are vying Tuesday to become the next mayor of College Park, where crime, lack of affordable housing, and the need for higher-paying jobs are key issues residents want addressed.
It’s been four years since voters made Bianca Motley Broom the city’s first Black mayor. Some of her political challengers contend she’s done little since then to improve the lives of the city’s Black majority, where racial and economic dividing lines are often intertwined.
Black people constitute 81% of College Park’s population of just under 14,000 people. The city is divided into four wards, where 75% of residents are renters.
Mayoral candidate Demetris “Big Meach” Taylor says Motley Broom and the College Park City Council have done more to serve residents in the city’s disproportionately white and more-affluent 1st Ward than for Black folks living in the other three.
“The constituency feels as though because many of our Caucasian residents live in Ward 1, they’re the ones who pull her ear,” Taylor told Capital B Atlanta of Motley Broom during a recent phone interview.
Taylor and others say the city’s current elected leaders primarily work to benefit its wealthier white minority, which tends to vote at higher rates than the disproportionately poorer Black majority. And some Black folks have become cynical about the ability of elected officials to affect change after decades of neglect.
Motley Broom said it has been “an honor” to serve as the first Black and first female mayor of College Park. She also said she has a track record of making the city a better place for all its residents, particularly those who are Black.
“I’ve leveraged my relationships and resources to ensure equity, opportunity and access,” Broom said via email. “I’m committed to continuing this if re-elected.”
Below is a breakdown of all the candidates in the race and what they plan to do if elected.
Bianca Motley…
Read the full article here
