Atlanta Civic Circle

Our goal is to educate the community about the key challenges in metro Atlanta. We do this through thorough reporting and by offering potential solutions, along with chances for residents to get involved both online and in their neighborhoods.

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Atlanta, state officials brace for federal Emergency Housing Voucher wipeout

3 days ago | atlantaciviccircle.org | Sean Keenan |Katie Guenthner

As federal Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) funding dries up over the next 18 months, more than 1,000 low-income Georgians could be stripped of the critical housing subsidies that separate some 60,000 Americans from homelessness.
Atlanta City Council unanimously approves Mayor Dickens’ $3 billion budget

5 days ago | atlantaciviccircle.org | Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

Atlanta’s City Council unanimously adopted the city’s fiscal year 2026 budget on Monday, totaling $3 billion, and did so without raising city taxes. The budget passed “on consent” meaning council members made no amendments during the full council meeting —changes had already been finalized in committee. “This truly is a vote of confidence,” Mayor Andre Dickens told council members after the adoption.
Atlanta Police Foundation ordered to release ‘Cop City’ records to journalists

5 days ago | atlantaciviccircle.org | Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

The Atlanta Police Foundation (APF) must turn over records related to the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center — or “Cop City” — within 30 days, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick ordered on Monday. Barwick’s decision follows a closely watched legal battle initiated by journalists and researchers seeking greater transparency about the polarizing project’s construction on city-owned land.
ANALYSIS: How accessible and transparent is Atlanta’s budget process?

1 week ago | atlantaciviccircle.org | Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

The Atlanta City Council will finalize its 2026 budget on Monday. With just a handful of hearings along the way, how accessible was the budget-planning process for everyday Atlantans? Atlanta Civic Circle examined how Boston and Chicago engage the public in budget planning. Though these cities and their budgets are larger than Atlanta’s, they have recently increased resident involvement in their spending decisions.
‘Too much power’: PSC hopefuls across party lines take aim at Georgia Power

1 week ago | atlantaciviccircle.org | Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

All candidates at Tuesday night’s Georgia Public Service Commission forum agreed: Georgia Power has too much power. Five of eight PSC candidates—a Republican and four Democrats—attended the forum to share their vision for the state’s utility regulator. Speaking to the few dozen Georgians who attended—and to hundreds more via live stream—all five roundly criticized Georgia Power and other utilities’ influence over the body tasked with regulating them.
Three ways Atlanta's housing crisis is hitting suburbs

1 week ago | atlantaciviccircle.org | Sean Keenan

The city of Roswell relocated dozens of extended-stay motel residents after deeming the property a public health hazard. College Park officials condemned dilapidated apartments and told renters they must move out by June. A developer in Marietta wants to replace an affordable housing complex with flashy new residences.
INVESTIGATION: Dickens admin uses Housing Trust Fund to pay bonds, employee salaries

1 week ago | atlantaciviccircle.org | Sean Keenan

Editor’s note: Atlanta Civic Circle pursued this story after multiple Atlanta City Council members raised concerns that the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund wasn’t being used as intended. Mayor Andre Dickens’ office supplied a 4,159-row spreadsheet of all the fund’s transactions since its inception in late 2021, which we have analyzed for our readers.
DOGE cuts to AmeriCorps funding imperils programs serving Georgia communities

2 weeks ago | atlantaciviccircle.org | Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

This story is part of Atlanta Civic Circle’s ongoing reporting from our Community Impact Survey, which is gathering firsthand accounts from people across metro Atlanta on how federal actions are affecting them. When Jessica Johnson, executive director of The Scholarship Academy, received an email in late April from Georgia Serves, she didn’t expect to be told to immediately shut down her AmeriCorps program. But that’s exactly what happened.
Early voting starts next week for 2 PSC races - but candidates don’t have to disclose donors until June 2.

2 weeks ago | atlantaciviccircle.org | Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

Early voting begins next week for two long-delayed Public Service Commission elections, but voters won’t know who is donating to the eight candidates until June 2. Early voting is scheduled from May 27 to June 13, and the primary election is June 17. It’s a high-stakes race that will determine two of Georgia’s five PSC commissioners — who regulate utilities, including your power bill rates.
Delayed PSC races heat up as candidates take aim at Georgia Power rate hikes, data center growth

3 weeks ago | atlantaciviccircle.org | Stanley Dunlap

A version of this article originally appeared on Georgia Recorder. Several candidates are vying to defeat a pair of incumbent Republican Georgia Public Service commissioners in an election that challengers say will become a referendum on rising Georgia Power bills.