Stacey Abrams stops in Athens, praises Mayor Kelly Girtz on affordable housing efforts

Stacey Abrams made a two-day stop on her campaign trail in Athens, meeting with donors Wednesday evening before stopping at coffee shop Bitty and Beau’s on Thursday afternoon.

Just more than 100 days before the midterm elections, the Georgia gubernatorial candidate held an “Athens Evening with Stacey Abrams" event Wednesday.

Listed guests included Athens-Clarke Mayor Kelly Girtz, state Rep. Spencer Frye and Commissioners Patrick Davenport, Tim Denson, Russell Edwards and Jesse Houle. Tickets ranged from $50 to $2,500.

The following day, Abrams stopped at Bitty and Beau’s in Five Points to talk with workers in recognition of Disability Pride Month. The chain coffee shop hires and promotes inclusion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

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Following her conversation with the workers, Abrams met with local media and addressed housing affordability, the economy and the upcoming election.

“We are not in a recession,” Abrams said.

The governor hopeful, challenging Republican incumbent Brian Kemp, re-iterated a stance taken by other Democratic Party leaders in refuting claims the country is in recession. Abrams went on to say that the economic data is concerning, but the situation it is a global phenomenon.

Housing a pressing need

In order to address the current economic challenge, Abrams said Georgia needs to address housing. This comment came days after Abrams released her “Comprehensive Plan to Tackle Georgia’s Housing Crisis.”

In this plan, Abrams outlined the state of Athens compared to other major Georgia cities, including Metro Atlanta, Macon-Bibb County, Savannah and Albany.

Here, Abrams asserts that 47% of Athens residents are paying over 30% of their income in rent — the most of any of the five areas Abrams looked at.

When asked how her plan addresses the phenomenon of student housing in college towns, Abrams instead responded that her plan looks at the comprehensive issue of housing.

“The center of my plan, and this goes back to the issue of our economy, looks at the single largest expense for most families, it's housing and transportation,” said Abrams. “If we solve those challenges, then we make it easier to not only afford to live in Athens, but to stay in Athens and grow in Athens.”

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The University of Georgia is the largest employer in Athens, with more than 10,000 employees. The Clarke County School District has 2,300-plus employees and the local government more than 1,700.

With so many of Athens residents employed in the public sector, Abrams was asked to address wages in Georgia.

Pressure on wages

Abrams said as the next fiscal cycle starts, she wants there to be "rightsizing" of wages. Abrams called pay increases in the university system “modest” and said they are not keeping up with housing costs and the general cost of living.

“My plan is a comprehensive plan that will look at the budget in 2023-24 and make certain that we are paying people their value, and that they are able to not only work but live, work and play in the communities they love,” said Abrams.

Abrams continued on to praise Girtz, saying the mayor has “ been leading the charge” on affordability and making it the center of the conversation.

Abrams said she wants to replicate Girtz’s efforts on affordable housing across the state. She said that part of the efforts include acquiring currently existing properties and rehabbing them and also working with nonprofit organizations,

Abrams also said she wants to give local governments the tools they need and to work with them.

“Mayor Girtz has a very unique challenge of having the flagship university for the state of Georgia in his town. And that means he should have tools that actually respond to … both the issues and the opportunities created by UGA,” said Abrams. “But we need to have a different solution and that's why we should have local control and local government should be able to respond and right now the state takes that power away from them. As governor, I'll give that power back.”

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams makes appearances in Athens