Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Jodi Merriday
Jodi Merriday ran for election to the Atlanta City Council to represent At-large Post 3 in Georgia. She lost in the general election on November 2, 2021.
Merriday completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jodi Merriday was born in Atlanta, Georgia. She received a bachelor's degree from Hampton University in 1992, a graduate degree from London School of Economics and Political Science in 2000, and a Ph.D. from Temple University in 2006. Merriday's professional experience includes being the CEO of Diplomacy, Inc.; an assistant professor at Gordon State College; a lecturer at Spelman College, Community College of Philadelphia, the Art Institute of Philadelphia, and Clark Atlanta University; an adjunct lecturer at Georgia State University; a special assistant to the President of Spelman College; the assistant director of the Georgia University's Neighborhood Collaborative; and a project manager at the Atlanta Committee for Progress.
Merriday has been affiliated with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.; The Links Incorporated; League of Women Voters; the N.A.A.C.P.; The Southwest Atlanta Foundation; the Atlanta Justice Center; Henning Mediation and Arbitration; the International Ombudsman Association; the National Anger Management Association; and Eckerd College.[1]
Elections
2021
See also: City elections in Atlanta, Georgia (2021)
General runoff election
General runoff election for Atlanta City Council At-large Post 3
Keisha Sean Waites defeated Jacqueline Labat in the general runoff election for Atlanta City Council At-large Post 3 on November 30, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Keisha Sean Waites (Nonpartisan)  | 52.4 | 36,742 |
 | Jacqueline Labat (Nonpartisan) | 47.6 | 33,339 | |
| Total votes: 70,081 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
General election
General election for Atlanta City Council At-large Post 3
Keisha Sean Waites and Jacqueline Labat advanced to a runoff. They defeated Jodi Merriday, Ralph Long III, and Sherry Williams in the general election for Atlanta City Council At-large Post 3 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Keisha Sean Waites (Nonpartisan) | 29.3 | 23,898 |
| ✔ | | Jacqueline Labat (Nonpartisan) | 24.5 | 20,019 |
 | Jodi Merriday (Nonpartisan) | 19.6 | 15,960 | |
 | Ralph Long III (Nonpartisan) | 14.4 | 11,739 | |
 | Sherry Williams (Nonpartisan) | 11.5 | 9,403 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 525 | ||
| Total votes: 81,544 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jodi Merriday completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Merriday's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
- Public safety and criminal justice reform are a top priority. Escalating crime and gun violence have necessitated expedient remedy. Recruiting, retaining, promoting, and training community-based public safety responders is required. Redress is further necessary to ameliorate the systemic and institutional causes of crime by providing universal access to early childhood education, youth employment programming, wrap around services in schools, a minimum wage of $18.00 - $22.00, affordable housing, and accessible multi-modal transportation that connects neighborhoods, citizens, and economic opportunity.
- Atlanta's affordable housing crisis can be mitigated. Atlanta needs 20,000+ affordable homes by 2026. This goal can be by accomplished by: 1) dedicating assets to hire a top leader in housing to implement the One Atlanta Housing Affordability Action Plan; 2) funding and cultivating partnerships with nonprofits, the private sector, and housing developers to create land trusts and receive property donations to be used to house low/moderate income families; and 4) using existing city-owned properties to help supply more affordable housing units.
- Municipal services will improve. I am committed to putting constituents first, providing excellent customer service, ensuring that departments deliver exemplary services, and removing incumbrances to doing business in the city or with the city. I am further committed to upgrading technology and strengthening professional acumen. The provision of point of service keypads, exit survey customer service feedback, and conducting service delivery audits will be used to increase transparency and accountability. Cultivating a culture of integrity and positive ethical behavior will be at the core of my vision.
• hiring additional public safety responders officers;
• recruiting, retaining, promoting, and training community based public safety responders;
• providing innovative police training in psychology, de-escalation, and understanding of diverse cultures and populations;
• funding the PADS (Policing Alternatives Division) for 24-hours of service delivery;
• aligning and streamlining our public-private partnerships and intergovernmental relationships, such as strategic partnership with Atlanta Public Schools that involve education and resources for students in conflict resolution;
• piloting community services that engage neighbors and young people in conflict resolution, de-escalation, alternative engagement activities (afterschool and parent support programs, neighborhood clean-ups, active neighborhood watch, and summer jobs for youth);
• funding additional technologies such as Operations Shield Camera Network (license, tracking, street cameras with live monitoring);
• listening tours in communities impacted by gun violence;
• more funding for the City’s CURE Violence Program.
Further, when the ReNew Atlanta bond was approved, Atlantans were given a promise of complete streets. Now, several years later, there is little progress to show in the transformation of our roadways to complete streets. I would expedite the completion of transportation projects intended to provide safe travel options for people who walk, bike, or have a disability.
Areas of public policy interest include social and environmental justice, equity in education, housing affordability, criminal justice reform, and smart transportation.
Clifton’s Strengths Finder identified my core strengths as: 1) Achiever - a hard worker who possesses a great deal of stamina and takes immense satisfaction in being busy and productive; 2) Activator -a person who can make things happen by turning thoughts into action who wants to do things now, rather than simply talk about them; 3) Intellection - a person characterized by a high level of intellectual activity who is introspective and appreciative of intellectual discussions; 4) Relator - a person who enjoys close relationships with others and finds deep satisfaction in working hard to achieve a goal; and 5) Woo - a person who loves the challenge of meeting new people, winning them over and making a connection.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Note: Community Questions were submitted by the public and chosen for inclusion by a volunteer advisory board. The chosen questions were modified by staff to adhere to Ballotpedia’s neutrality standards. To learn more about Ballotpedia’s Candidate Connection Expansion Project, click here.
See also
2021 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Atlanta City Council At-large Post 3 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 4, 2021
| |||||||||
.svg.png){kind=small}
