An ongoing petition drive to halt the construction of a police and firefighter training center is “futile” and “invalid,” attorneys for the city of Atlanta argued in a court filing Monday, as they sought to prevent the proposed referendum from appearing on November’s ballot.
For the past month, activists with the “Stop Cop City” movement have been trying to gather the signatures of more than 70,000 registered Atlanta voters by Aug. 15 to force a referendum. It would allow voters to decide the fate of the project that has seen significant pushback and become a flashpoint in the national debate over policing.
Under the proposed referendum, voters would choose whether they want to repeal the ordinance that authorized the lease of the city-owned land upon which the project is set to be built.
ATLANTA REJECTS PLEAS OF HUNDREDS OF ACTIVISTS, APPROVES POLICE FUNDING PROJECT DECRIED AS ‘COP CITY’
But lawyers for the city argued that the massive canvassing effort has come far too late. The authorization the city obtained in 2021 to sign the lease agreement “has already been used” and cannot be retroactively revoked, they said.
Activists decried that argument, calling it “a shocking and violent assault on the democratic process.”
“From delays to intimidation and now this, it’s clear that the City will go to any lengths to ensure that everyday Atlantans have no recourse when they disagree with city decisions,” Mary Hooks, a lead organizer with the Cop City Vote coalition, said in a statement.
Opponents also noted that the filing came less than two weeks after Mayor Andre Dickens, one of the chief proponents of the training facility, pledged that his administration would not try to halt the petition drive.
“We know (the referendum) is going to be unsuccessful, if it’s done honestly,” Dickens said during a July 5 news conference. “We are making sure we continue monitoring the process. But there is no one in law enforcement or my administration that would ever get in the…
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