Mark Hammad
Mark Hammad ran for election for Mayor of Atlanta in Georgia. He lost in the general election on November 2, 2021.
Hammad completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Mark Hammad was born in Atlanta, Georgia.[1]
Elections
2021
See also: Mayoral election in Atlanta, Georgia (2021)
General runoff election
General runoff election for Mayor of Atlanta
Andre Dickens defeated Felicia Moore in the general runoff election for Mayor of Atlanta on November 30, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Andre Dickens (Nonpartisan) | 63.4 | 50,709 |
 | Felicia Moore (Nonpartisan) | 36.6 | 29,223 | |
| Total votes: 79,932 | |||
 = 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 Mayor of Atlanta
The following candidates ran in the general election for Mayor of Atlanta on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Felicia Moore (Nonpartisan) | 40.7 | 39,520 |
| ✔ | | Andre Dickens (Nonpartisan) | 23.0 | 22,343 |
 | Kasim Reed (Nonpartisan) | 22.4 | 21,743 | |
| Sharon Gay (Nonpartisan) | 6.8 | 6,652 | ||
 | Antonio Brown (Nonpartisan) | 4.7 | 4,600 | |
 | Kenneth Darnell Hill (Nonpartisan) | 0.6 | 546 | |
 | Rebecca King (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 374 | |
| Mark Hammad (Nonpartisan) | 0.4 | 346 | ||
| Kirsten Dunn (Nonpartisan) | 0.3 | 272 | ||
| Walter Reeves (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 163 | ||
| Glenn Wrightson (Nonpartisan) | 0.2 | 151 | ||
 | Richard N. Wright (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 139 | |
 | Nolan English (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 100 | |
| Roosevelt Searles III (Nonpartisan) | 0.1 | 73 | ||
| Henry Anderson (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | ||
| Brandon Adkins (Nonpartisan) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 0 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 162 | ||
| Total votes: 97,184 | |||
| = 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
Mark Hammad completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Hammad's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
My name is Mark Hammad and I’m running for Mayor of Atlanta. I was born and raised in the Atlanta area and it saddens me to see the state of the city. We have serious issues that have been allowed to manifest due to the inaction of our elected officials. Crime is the most serious issue and much of the crime is preventable, yet no action has been taken.
Growing up, I’ve seen Atlanta grow as well. The city has so much to offer, but opportunity is being squandered.
Rather than flee the city and its problems, I’ve been called to run for Mayor. I choose to stay and fight for Atlanta and a promise of a better future. I’m a husband and a father and I’m fighting to make Atlanta a better city for my child and all of the children in Atlanta.
I will significantly reduce the violent crime in Atlanta. Criminals need to be in jail, not on our streets.
I will bring the basic city services (trash, parks, roads, public housing, etc) up to standards for ALL neighborhoods.
- I will devote resources to help the homeless. I will advance a housing first policy and bring all the resources needed to assist, including mental health, addiction, job training, and job placement.
The spike in crime is solely due to the incompetence of the previous Fulton County District Attorney and the leniency shown to violent criminals by the Judges. It’s the worst kept secret amongst violent criminals that Atlanta is the best place to get caught. Chances are that their case will be dropped, mishandled, or botched in some form by the DA’s office. Even if they do see a judge, the odds are in their favor that they won’t see the inside of a jail cell.
Further, this is not a new issue – the last ‘Atlanta Repeat Offender Commission’ report showed that for violent, repeat offenders that “just 23 percent of City of Atlanta repeat offenders were sentenced to confinement” – that’s a horrifying statistic. This clearly demonstrates that criminals have no accountability, even after they get caught. This puts everyone in harms way.
Specific solutions that I plan to implement to reduce crime:
• Re-open the Atlanta city jail. Fulton county has repeatedly cited overcrowding and COVID as the reason for releasing violent and dangerous criminals into our community. Let’s take this excuse away.
• End the use of signature bonds / joke bond for violent and repeat offenders. Releasing these criminals puts everyone in harms way.
• Provide more support for the Fulton County DA. We have a new DA, Fani Willis, and she does deserve support from the city. She recently asked for additional funding to help reduce the case backlog in her office. The city of Atlanta should provide all the support she asks for, and more.
• Provide better transparency with judicial records and decisions. There is clearly a lack of consistency when it comes to sentencing.
Transportation is my wheelhouse and an area I know very well. I have worked as a transportation consultant and I have experience working on every type of transportation project, including roads, highways, streetcars (light rail), bus rapid transit (BRT), subway (heavy rail), and aviation.
Through my experience, I have become an ardent public transit advocate and supporter. What Atlanta needs is a leader who will champion a real expansion of the MARTA system. The Atlanta region has not done a major expansion of MARTA in more than 20 years. In that same time, the Atlanta region has grown immensely.
Atlanta lacks real transportation options and alternatives for commuters and we all suffer as a result. We see this in the traffic that chokes the connector, I-85, SR400, I-75, I-20, and I-285 on a daily basis. As Mayor, I will advance an expansion of MARTA up to Gwinnett, North Fulton, and Cobb counties. We need a leader who will bring together all the stakeholders to get a real regional expansion completed for MARTA – this includes dozens of local municipalities, the state of Georgia, and our federal partners.
On crime, we need to direct our action appropriately. THE POLICE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE INCREASE IN CRIME! The APD has been doing their job.
The violent crime is out of control as a result of failures with the previous DA’s office and inconsistent judicial outcomes. I will work with the APD, DA’s office, and the courts to bring greater consistency and more accountability to the criminals. The focus would be on the most serious crimes and criminals – repeat and violent offenders. We will work to make sure that criminals are accountable and face jail time, bringing justice and dignity to the victims.
Our basic city services are crumbling or non-existent in nearly every neighborhood across the city. The most stark examples are trash pickup and the state of our infrastructure – with some roads and bridges in desperate need of attention. This will be a priority with the most urgent needs being addressed first.
Ethics, transparency, and accountability are a core personal belief of mine. I truly believe that I am personally accountable for EVERYTHING that happens in the city and in city hall. The last thing I want to do is stand in front of the citizens and press to answer for more fraud or another scandal.
First, it is my responsibility to model and adhere to a code of ethics and transparency. Second, all of my appointees and cabinet members will be selected, in part, based on how they value and exemplify ethics and transparency.
Third, better monitoring and controls of employee timecards, contracts, purchases, p-card use, and other city resources will be set up. My goal is that any employee, office, or contract should be able to fully pass a rigorous audit without any blemishes or question marks.
Lasty, I will set up an independent commission, with unwavering access to investigate any claims of waste, fraud, or abuse in the city of Atlanta government. This commission would be beyond the reach of influence or interference from the Mayor’s office or any other department. While the City currently has an ethics board, the efficacy, true oversight, and work of the board is in question, given the investigations that have transpired over the last few years. This board either needs to be scrapped or we need to bring in the resources to allow them unfettered access to all aspects of city business.
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.
Campaign website
Hammad's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
While other candidates have vague references to policy, or completely ignore it altogether, I offer real solutions below. These are specific, tangible, and actionable. #1 - Voter Turnout #2 - Crime The majority of crime is due to a relatively small number of individuals. These people are the primary drivers of violence in our community. The APD knows who many of these people are and has actually caught many of these criminals. The issue is that a small number of them will actually serve any jail time. This is a failure of the Fulton County District Attorney and the leniency shown to violent criminals by the Judges. The solution to stemming violence in Atlanta is to actually have criminals serve jail time. Violent criminals need to be in jail – not endangering our communities on the streets. The spike in crime is solely due to the incompetence of the Fulton County District Attorney and the leniency shown to violent criminals by the Judges. It’s the worst kept secret amongst violent criminals that Atlanta is the best place to get caught. Chances are that their case will be dropped, mishandled, or botched in some form by the DA’s office. Even if they do see a judge, the odds are in their favor that they won’t see the inside of a jail cell. Don’t believe me? Read the ‘Atlanta Repeat Offender Commission’ report (link here). They studied only violent, repeat offenders and found that “just 23 percent of City of Atlanta repeat offenders were sentenced to confinement” – that’s a horrifying statistic. A broader study of lesser offenses or first time criminals would like show an even lower percentage. This clearly demonstrates that criminals have no accountability, even after they get caught. This puts everyone in harms way.
#3 - Atlanta Police The APD has one of the best departments in the country. They do a fantastic job of investigating, closing cases, and making arrests. The APD is understaffed, overworked, and suffering from low morale, but increasing their ranks alone won’t reduce crime. The police are merely the first step in the criminal justice system, with the DA’s office, courts, and judges comprising the remaining steps.
#4 - Homelessness
#5 - Basic Services
#6 - Accountabilty & Transparency I know its very easy to make platitudes regarding “accountability and transparency” and “building trust”, but I do offer some specifics below that should be implemented, regardless of the outcome of the election. Lastly, I put accountability and transparency as my #6 issue just to give other candidates the opportunity to state “I don’t know about Mr. Hammad, but I put accountability and transparency as my #1 focus.”
#7 - Plagiarizating |
” |
| —Mark Hammad's campaign website (2021)[3] | ||
See also
2021 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on September 14, 2021
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Mark Hammad's campaign website, “Platform,” accessed Sept. 30, 2021
| |||||||||
.svg.png){kind=small}
