'Stop Cop City' activists say they've gathered enough signatures to put referendum on ballot

ATLANTA - Organizers trying to halt construction of Atlanta's controversial planned police and firefighter training center say they have gathered enough signatures to get a referendum about the issue on November's ballot.

Opponents of the planned training center rallied outside the Fulton County Government Center in downtown Atlanta on Monday.

Group spokesperson Kamau Franklin announced they have collected the signatures necessary to get the controversial issue on the ballot.

"We have way more than enough signatures to move forward," said Kamau. "We have over 80,000 signatures."

Franklin told FOX 5 the group needs approximately 58,000 valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot.

He urged city leaders to allow the referendum process to move forward.

"If the city was really interested in protecting democracy or constitutional rights it would stop appealing the decisions of the judge," Kamau said. "It would count the signatures and put this on the ballot so that people could vote whether or not they want cop city to happen or not."

For the past two months, activists with the "Stop Cop City" movement have been trying to gather the signatures of more than 70,000 registered Atlanta voters 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. 

A city spokesperson responded to the group's announcement saying in part:

"We continue to agree with the broader precedent set by the Georgia Supreme Court that holds State Law does not authorize referendums to repeal City ordinances. This referendum seeks to remove the ground lease that was executed by the previous Administration for the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center and would violate the constitutional prohibition on the impairment of contracts. "

Also Monday, a federal court judge ruled in favor of DeKalb County residents who oppose the project.

They filed suit against the city of Atlanta, arguing they should be able to collect signatures in an effort to let Atlanta residents vote whether to move forward with the controversial project.

The city released a written statement following the ruling stating:

"It is important to note the Appeal was not denied. The City filed a motion to stay enforcement of the Order pending an appeal, which, per Court rules, had to be filed first with the trial judge. Now that the trial judge denied the motion, the City can file the same motion with the Eleventh Circuit and move forward with its appeal."

As of Sunday, organizers say they have already collected 80,000 signatures and are working on reaching 100,000 by the time they turn the petition in on Monday, Aug. 21.

Technically, organizers say, they need just 58,203 signatures by Aug. 14 to qualify for the November ballot — the equivalent of 15% of registered voters as of the last city election — but they set the higher goal knowing some will be disqualified. If that’ threshold is not reached until late August or September, the referendum wouldn’t happen until March, when a competitive GOP presidential primary could turn out conservative voters and hurt its chances. The city also could move forward with construction in the meantime, unless a judge intervenes.

Organizers of the drive say Mayor Andre Dickens and the City Council have failed to listen to a groundswell of opposition to the $90 million, 85-acre training center, which they fear will lead to greater militarization of the police and exacerbate environmental damage in the South River Forest in a poor, predominantly Black area.

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Officials counter that the campus would replace outdated, far-flung facilities and boost police morale, which is beset by hiring and retention struggles, especially in the wake of 2020 protests over racial injustice. Dickens has said that the facility will teach the "most progressive training and curriculum in the country" and that officials have repeatedly revised their plans to address concerns about noise pollution and environmental impact.

In June, after hearing about 14 hours of public testimony that was overwhelmingly against the training center, council members voted 11-4 to approve $67 million toward the project. Outraged but not surprised, organizers of the petition drive announced it the next day.

Demonstrator lay out a series of protesting signs (June 24, 2023)

In a recent court filing seeking to quash the Atlanta referendum, attorneys for the city said residents can’t force officials to retroactively revoke the lease agreement, which was made in 2021. They called organizers’ efforts "futile" and "invalid." The state agreed with the city in a separate filing, though that dispute is on hold for now.

Still, activists see the referendum as the best remaining option to block the project. They’ve gotten support from numerous groups, including the Working Families Party and the New Georgia Project Action Fund, which pledged to get thousands of signatures.

The signature drive is the most ambitious in terms of numbers that has ever been launched in a Georgia city, but it has precedent from last year in Camden County, where voters overwhelmingly rejected a planned launchpad for blasting commercial rockets into space. The Georgia Supreme Court in February unanimously upheld the legality of that referendum, though it remains an open question whether citizens can veto decisions of city governments.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.