With the City of Atlanta Municipal General Elections coming up, city council members are getting into full campaign mode. One of those candidates, running for Atlanta City Council Post 3 at large, is Andre Dickens, the Assistant Director of Outreach Initiatives in the Office of Minority Development (OMED), at Tech.
Dickens graduated from Tech in 1992, earning a degree in Chemical Engineering and credits his time at Tech for inspiring him to run this year.
“I got my bug to run for anything when I was here at Georgia Tech,” Dickens said in an interview with the Technique. “I was on SGA; I was a president of the African American Student Union; I was the president of the diversity forum; I was on the President’s Council; ODK; ANAK; Kappa Alpha Psi my fraternity, I was president of that. I mean you name it I did it. Wherever I was, I wanted to serve people, and in serving people that’s helping people get whatever they need out of any situation as long as its positive and desirable for us to exist together for the common good.”
Dickens’ campaign for office is focused on three key issues important for Atlanta: good jobs, ethical government and safe neighborhoods.
“Atlanta is a great city, but it has a dark cloud over it at times,” Dickens said.
He went on to state in more detail how he wants to take a look at these key issues and address them individually.
In regards to jobs, Dickens wants to connect innovative people and companies to attract and retain business, increase local hiring opportunities for taxpayer funded projects and strengthen the partnership between the public schools in Atlanta and City Hall.
Dickens is also a firm believer in the sentiment that the problem of ethics in government needs to be addressed by ensuring that everyone abides by the same set of rules at City Hall and that these rules are enforced. He is an advocate of toughening ethics laws and removing corrupt officials from office.
Looking towards creating safer neighborhoods, Dickens wants to increase and expedite funding for high-tech crime prevention programs, but also wants to focus on reducing blight through a comprehensive plan for dilapidated, vacant properties as he views these as a haven for criminals.
“I’m a Techie, so I’m a technician…and ready to take on Atlanta and bring about the change that we wish to see in this city and that we sorely need,” Dickens said.
Dickens will be in attendance at the GT 4 ATL: Meet the Council event sponsored by the Student Government Association and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. on Oct. 8 at 7:30 p.m. Attendees will be able to hear from multiple city council members running in the upcoming election.