Political Rewind: Abortion, inflation, COVID and decriminalizing marijuana: Georgia mayors weigh in

Caption

Three Georgia mayors talk about their local governments.

Credit: GPB News

The panel

Mayor Julie Smith, @JulieB_Tifton, Tifton

Mayor Deana Holiday Ingraham, @DeanaIngraham, East Point

Mayor Kelly Girtz, @kellygirtz, Athens

Tamar Hallerman, @TamarHallerman, senior reporter, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The breakdown

1. Mayors talk about using funds from the American Rescue plan in the wake of COVID. 

• Mayor Julie Smith encourages more people to get vaccinated. In Tift County more than 50% of residents have at least one dose of the vaccine. 
  • Smith also adds that COVID relief funds helped keep basic services on for residents of Tifton. 
• As the pandemic wears on, Dr. Anthony Fauci announced he would retire in December last year. 

2.  Addressing the mental health crises in their community.

• Mayor Kelly Girtz acknowledges the challenges law enforcement officials face when responding to mental health problems. 
  • A new 988 number is hoped to alleviate some of that stress on the current system by connecting people to trained behavioral health professionals. 
    • You can learn more about that new line and its launch in Georgia by downloading Political Rewind's episode on the subject.
• Athens-Clarke County has also recently decriminalized marijuana.

3. Issues on top of mind less than three months from the midterms. 

• Mayor Deana Holiday Ingraham says striking down Roe v. Wade is top of mind in East Point, where she says the majority of voters are women.
  • The U.S. Census reports more than 76% of East Point's population is Black and more than 54% are women.
• Statewide, school systems are facing unprecedented teaching shortages.
• On the other side of the issues, Mayor Julie Smith speculates that, in her conservative city, many voters may want to reward Kemp's role in pushing Georgia's six-week abortion ban.

Wednesday on Political Rewind: The AJC's Greg Bluestein joins the panel.