Lauren Welsh

Lauren Welsh

Education

Bachelor's

University of Richmond

Graduate

University of Virginia

Personal

Profession

Marketing consultant

Contact

Personal website

Lauren Welsh was a candidate for District 2 representative on the Atlanta City Council in Georgia. Welsh was defeated in the general election on November 7, 2017. Click here to read Welsh's response to Ballotpedia's 2017 municipal candidate survey.

Biography

Welsh received her B.A. in English and education from the University of Richmond. She later received her M.Ed. from the University of Virginia. Welsh is the owner of Mixte Marketing, a marketing consulting firm.

Elections

2017

See also: Municipal elections in Atlanta, Georgia (2017)

The city of Atlanta, Georgia, held a general election for mayor, city council president, three at large council members, 13 by district council members, and two city judges on November 7, 2017. Amir Farokhi defeated Lauren Welsh, Zelda Jackson, Stephon Ferguson, and Nicholas Mulkey in the general election for District 2 seat on the city council.

Atlanta City Council District 2, General Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Amir Farokhi	55.30%	5,356
Lauren Welsh	30.29%	2,934
Zelda Jackson	7.82%	757
Stephon Ferguson	3.76%	364
Nicholas Mulkey	2.81%	272
Write-in votes	0.02%	2
Total Votes		9,685
Source: DeKalb County, Georgia, "Election Summary Report, November 7, 2017, Unofficial and Incomplete," November 7, 2017 and Fulton County, Georgia, "November 7, 2017 Municipal General and Special Elections," accessed November 7, 2017 These election results are unofficial and will be updated after official vote totals are made available.

Campaign themes

2017

See also: Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey

Welsh participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of municipal government candidates. The following sections display her responses to the survey questions. When asked what her top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

“	I’ll push to create zoning that allows a mixture of housing for a variety of people at all stages in life as well as all socioeconomic levels – not just single family or large multi-family, but “missing middle.” I will fight to create a Department of Transportation for comprehensive thinking about future projects and make sure all transportation decisions are connected to land use. I will also revitalize the NPU system so we have a truly robust civic engagement model that strengthens connections between neighborhoods and the city.	”
—Lauren Welsh (October 13, 2017)

Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important: city services (trash, utilities, etc.), civil rights, crime reduction/prevention, environment, government transparency, homelessness, housing, K-12 education, public pensions/retirement funds, recreational opportunities, transportation, and unemployment. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important.

Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking	Issue	Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	Government transparency	7	Unemployment
2	Transportation	8	Homelessness
3	Housing	9	City services
4	K-12 education	10	Public pensions/retirement funds
5	Civil rights	11	Environment
6	Crime reduction/prevention	12	Recreational opportunities

Nationwide municipal issues

The candidate was asked to answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions.

Question	Response
Is it important for the city’s budget to be balanced?Answer options: Not important; Not important, but required by state law; A little important; A little important, but required by state law; Important; Very important	Very important
Which level of government do you feel should set a minimum wage?Answer options: None, Local, State, Federal	State
What do you think is the best way to improve a city’s public safety? Candidates could write their own answer or choose from the following options: Increased economic opportunities, Increased police presence/activity, Harsher penalties for offenders, Public outreach/education programs	I’m incredibly proud to be endorsed by the International Brotherhood of Police Officers as the candidate most qualified for City Council and most likely to improve Atlanta’s safety. As our next City Councilmember, I will fight every day to make our neighborhoods safer by filling vacant police officer positions, raising salaries so our best-trained officers don’t leave the city, and working to decrease the size of police zones to reduce response times. I’ll also fight to expand programs that help police officers move into the city — something that’s good for all of us.
How do you think your city should emphasize economic development? Candidates could write their own answer or choose from the following options: Changing zoning restrictions, Create a more competitive business climate, Focusing on small business development, Instituting a citywide minimum wage, Recruiting new businesses to your city, Regulatory and licensing reforms, and tax reform	Focusing on small business development
What is the one thing you’re most proud of about your city?	I’m most proud of our history as the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement and Dr. King. Now we need to live up to his vision of “the beloved community” by investing in our people and thriving neighborhoods.
What is the one thing you’d most like to change about your city?	I would remove the highways that cut through the heart of Atlanta and find a place outside the city center for them. These highways have both figuratively and literally divided our historic neighborhoods and created massive racial and economic divisions.

Welsh provided the following additional comments with her survey response:

“	The City of Atlanta has been focused for too long on building the brand of Atlanta for those outside of our city to view us as “world-class” and competitive. We need to turn that focus inward and instead invest in what creates thriving, healthy neighborhoods for our people.	”
—Lauren Welsh (2017)

Additional themes

Welsh's campaign website included the following themes for 2017:

“	Prioritize local growth Support community-based, incremental development woven into the urban fabric of our neighborhood Create zoning that allows a mixture of housing that allows for a variety of people at all stages in life – not just single family or large multi-family, but “missing middle” Strengthen our independent and small business owners by cutting through the red tape of permitting and providing public investments to help them thrive Invest in transportation options that work Build up the infrastructure that allows people to reduce car trips and choose multiple options for moving around the city Create a comprehensive parking management system that works for both local businesses and residents and serves as a dedicated funding source for sidewalks Develop a Department of Transportation at the City that allows for strategic and comprehensive thinking about how we move around the city Require that all new transportation options be directly linked to land use so modes are not developed in isolation Strengthen our neighborhoods Increase transparency and effective communication and engagement from the city Update the NPU system to serve as a true voice for residents and strengthen its connection to the Department of City Planning Partner with and support our Atlanta Public Schools’ ability to think long-term about growth as our population soars Improve our safety by filling the 2000 police officer positions for which we budgeted; reduce attrition by raising salaries; support community policing by creating more zones and beats so officers have less to cover	”
—Lauren Welsh (2017)

Endorsements

2017

Welsh reported the following endorsements with her candidate survey response:

• International Brotherhood of Police Officers - Atlanta
• Professional Association of City Employees (PACE)
• Atlanta Realtor Association

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Lauren Welsh Atlanta City Council. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Lauren Welsh - Google News

See also

Atlanta, Georgia	Georgia	Municipal government	Other local coverage

External links

Suggest a link

• Atlanta City Council
• Campaign website