The Atlanta City Council approved legislation on Monday urging the General Manager of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to implement a plan to aid and provide support services for unhoused individuals seeking shelter at the airport, including entering an emergency procurement agreement with a qualified service provider to provide outreach and identify the need for specific services.
Under the former administration of Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Hartsfield Jackson officials estimated that on any given night 150 to on colder nights 300 of Atlanta’s unhoused were taking up overnight residence at the world’s busiest airport. estimate that a minimum of 150 to 300 unhoused persons sleep at the world’s busiest airport.
Atlanta City Councilman Michael Julian Bond has taken up the cause and is leading the charge, imploring airport officials to take immediate measures to address the problem.
Bond stated the situation there has gotten out of hand as business owners and travelers continue to be subjected to unimaginable circumstances.
“How do you break into a bank, defecate, urinate, spend the night and no one knows you have done it until the next morning?” Bond told the council.
A resolution establishing a Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport atrium policy task force to review all procedures, policies, and laws and to provide recommendations to improve operations and enhance the safety of the airport’s atrium and the adjacent terminals has been forwarded to Atlanta Mayor Andre Dicken’s office post-haste for immediate review and an expedited decision on how to best address the issue of homeless citizens at Hartsfield Jackson as the holiday travel season swings into full force, with more than three million passengers expected to pass through the airport in the coming weeks.
An ordinance for the issuance and sale by the City of Atlanta of its tax allocation variable rate bonds in the aggregate principal…
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