Julian Bene
@julianbene.bsky.social
Let's reform the Atlanta Way to use resources for an equitable city. Former 'tax break naysayer' on Invest Atlanta board & Gulch RedLighter, I campaign against wasteful revenue giveaways that favor billionaires at the rest's expense.
I'll be discussing how Atlanta has a half billion dollar plus revenue shortfall.
Electeds refuse to make the richest corporations pay their fair share - then burden regular folks with higher taxes and worse services.
Join us at 1.00pm today at L5P community center.
#GApol.
Electeds refuse to make the richest corporations pay their fair share - then burden regular folks with higher taxes and worse services.
Join us at 1.00pm today at L5P community center.
#GApol.
I'm attending Kelsea Bond for Atlanta's event, “Atlanta for the 99% Town Hall” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/kelseabond/e...
Atlanta for the 99% Town Hall · Kelsea Bond for Atlanta
Join Kelsea Bond, Atlanta City Councilmember-Elect for District 2, for our first town hall where we will discuss key topics like transit, housing, public safety, homelessness, and labor.
There will ...
www.mobilize.us
November 23, 2025 at 4:37 PM
I'll be discussing how Atlanta has a half billion dollar plus revenue shortfall.
Electeds refuse to make the richest corporations pay their fair share - then burden regular folks with higher taxes and worse services.
Join us at 1.00pm today at L5P community center.
#GApol.
Electeds refuse to make the richest corporations pay their fair share - then burden regular folks with higher taxes and worse services.
Join us at 1.00pm today at L5P community center.
#GApol.
@duncanforgeorgia.bsky.social you saw @peterhubbardga.bsky.social & Alicia Johnson romp to PSC victory in #GApol.
What's your position on protecting consumer electric bills, promoting solar, reining in data centers & making them pay taxes?
What's your position on protecting consumer electric bills, promoting solar, reining in data centers & making them pay taxes?
The results are in - a clean, affordable
electricity message was a principle winning message in New Jersey and Virginia. We need to keep it up, all across America. mcusercontent.com/123e2f9179ab...
electricity message was a principle winning message in New Jersey and Virginia. We need to keep it up, all across America. mcusercontent.com/123e2f9179ab...
November 22, 2025 at 2:35 PM
@duncanforgeorgia.bsky.social you saw @peterhubbardga.bsky.social & Alicia Johnson romp to PSC victory in #GApol.
What's your position on protecting consumer electric bills, promoting solar, reining in data centers & making them pay taxes?
What's your position on protecting consumer electric bills, promoting solar, reining in data centers & making them pay taxes?
#GApol
Teusink is absolutely right.
Though interestingly the district's local state senator, Chuck Hufstetler, is very reasonable - e.g., he tried to rein in GA Power on data centers this year and tries to stop unnecessary tax "incentives".
Teusink is absolutely right.
Though interestingly the district's local state senator, Chuck Hufstetler, is very reasonable - e.g., he tried to rein in GA Power on data centers this year and tries to stop unnecessary tax "incentives".
Hello my fellow Americans of good conscience. Longtime Georgia Democrat here.
Marjorie Taylor Greene's district is uber-conservative.
Please don't be sucked in by grifter "Democrats" asking for money and claiming they're going to be able to win that seat.
Marjorie Taylor Greene's district is uber-conservative.
Please don't be sucked in by grifter "Democrats" asking for money and claiming they're going to be able to win that seat.
November 22, 2025 at 3:56 AM
#GApol
Teusink is absolutely right.
Though interestingly the district's local state senator, Chuck Hufstetler, is very reasonable - e.g., he tried to rein in GA Power on data centers this year and tries to stop unnecessary tax "incentives".
Teusink is absolutely right.
Though interestingly the district's local state senator, Chuck Hufstetler, is very reasonable - e.g., he tried to rein in GA Power on data centers this year and tries to stop unnecessary tax "incentives".
The penny drops with more and more people.
The next generation continues to scream to any pollster who will listen: we need transformative changes!
Who will carry this mantle in the 2028 Democratic primary? The opportunity is there.
Who will carry this mantle in the 2028 Democratic primary? The opportunity is there.
November 21, 2025 at 1:15 PM
The penny drops with more and more people.
Heck, this Corporate Welfare Promotion Committee makes a mockery of City Council itself. They've delegated their responsibility - or at least their platform - to representatives of Big Money special interests.
It is immensely disappointing that @rohitforatlanta.bsky.social lost his election, as I was hoping he would be the check on these unaccountable power structures that make a mockery of our entire NPU/neighborhood governance system.
Committee for Corporate Welfare - no oversight at all.
Atlanta Ctee for Progress & MACC never saw a corporate handout they didn't shill for.
Arthur Blank pockets $30M/yr of our hotel-motel tax & has 2 votes!
Invest Atlanta board members rarely look critically at TAD cost-effectiveness.
Just say No!
Atlanta Ctee for Progress & MACC never saw a corporate handout they didn't shill for.
Arthur Blank pockets $30M/yr of our hotel-motel tax & has 2 votes!
Invest Atlanta board members rarely look critically at TAD cost-effectiveness.
Just say No!
November 20, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Heck, this Corporate Welfare Promotion Committee makes a mockery of City Council itself. They've delegated their responsibility - or at least their platform - to representatives of Big Money special interests.
Committee for Corporate Welfare - no oversight at all.
Atlanta Ctee for Progress & MACC never saw a corporate handout they didn't shill for.
Arthur Blank pockets $30M/yr of our hotel-motel tax & has 2 votes!
Invest Atlanta board members rarely look critically at TAD cost-effectiveness.
Just say No!
Atlanta Ctee for Progress & MACC never saw a corporate handout they didn't shill for.
Arthur Blank pockets $30M/yr of our hotel-motel tax & has 2 votes!
Invest Atlanta board members rarely look critically at TAD cost-effectiveness.
Just say No!
Siri, show me an “oversight” committee over a $ multibillion 30-year TAD/TIF extension that is dominated by key participants in #TheAtlantaWay.
Not one of these orgs has been a critic of Atlanta development policies. Only 2 are even neighborhood orgs & one of those was created by large corp’s. 1/2
Not one of these orgs has been a critic of Atlanta development policies. Only 2 are even neighborhood orgs & one of those was created by large corp’s. 1/2
November 20, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Committee for Corporate Welfare - no oversight at all.
Atlanta Ctee for Progress & MACC never saw a corporate handout they didn't shill for.
Arthur Blank pockets $30M/yr of our hotel-motel tax & has 2 votes!
Invest Atlanta board members rarely look critically at TAD cost-effectiveness.
Just say No!
Atlanta Ctee for Progress & MACC never saw a corporate handout they didn't shill for.
Arthur Blank pockets $30M/yr of our hotel-motel tax & has 2 votes!
Invest Atlanta board members rarely look critically at TAD cost-effectiveness.
Just say No!
It was good talking with Rose Scott @wabe.org and her panelists about TAD extension. Rose ensures we air the issue thoroughly. Atlanta needs these debates #GApol. Do listen.
TAD topic starts around minute 20. My main riff starts around minute 37.
www.wabe.org/coffee-conve...
TAD topic starts around minute 20. My main riff starts around minute 37.
www.wabe.org/coffee-conve...
Coffee Conversations: Is Mayor Dickens’ $5B community investment plan what Atlanta needs for affordable housing?
For the November installment of "Closer Look" Coffee Conversations held at Grant Park Coffeehouse, program host Rose Scott talked with a panel of guests about Tax Allocation Districts, pros and cons, ...
www.wabe.org
November 20, 2025 at 2:12 AM
It was good talking with Rose Scott @wabe.org and her panelists about TAD extension. Rose ensures we air the issue thoroughly. Atlanta needs these debates #GApol. Do listen.
TAD topic starts around minute 20. My main riff starts around minute 37.
www.wabe.org/coffee-conve...
TAD topic starts around minute 20. My main riff starts around minute 37.
www.wabe.org/coffee-conve...
I'm attending Kelsea Bond for Atlanta's event, “Atlanta for the 99% Town Hall” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/kelseabond/e...
Atlanta for the 99% Town Hall · Kelsea Bond for Atlanta
Join Kelsea Bond, Atlanta City Councilmember-Elect for District 2, for our first town hall where we will discuss key topics like transit, housing, public safety, homelessness, and labor.
There will ...
www.mobilize.us
November 19, 2025 at 9:35 PM
I'm attending Kelsea Bond for Atlanta's event, “Atlanta for the 99% Town Hall” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/kelseabond/e...
Reposted by Julian Bene
who the fuck does Ezra Klein thinks actually writes the overly convoluted regulations he despises?
It's not progressives or anybody even tangentially related to good faith reform movements, it's unchecked corporate power, you insufferable brunchlord
It's not progressives or anybody even tangentially related to good faith reform movements, it's unchecked corporate power, you insufferable brunchlord
November 19, 2025 at 12:04 PM
who the fuck does Ezra Klein thinks actually writes the overly convoluted regulations he despises?
It's not progressives or anybody even tangentially related to good faith reform movements, it's unchecked corporate power, you insufferable brunchlord
It's not progressives or anybody even tangentially related to good faith reform movements, it's unchecked corporate power, you insufferable brunchlord
Don't tell JC that Fulton Appraisers pretend billion-dollar data centers are "just warehouses" and value them as low as 5% of their construction cost.
That loses us far more than the 27% tax breaks that data centers extract from development authorities.
#GApol
That loses us far more than the 27% tax breaks that data centers extract from development authorities.
#GApol
Your reminder that "economic development" policy in Georgia is totally broken. What's worse is that no one seems to understand this or care.
UPS says $10M tax break needed to retain nearly 1,700 jobs near Atlanta
A DeKalb County board approved a $10.1 million property tax break that UPS said would spare a more than 40-year-old facility near Doraville from the chopping block.
buff.ly
November 17, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Don't tell JC that Fulton Appraisers pretend billion-dollar data centers are "just warehouses" and value them as low as 5% of their construction cost.
That loses us far more than the 27% tax breaks that data centers extract from development authorities.
#GApol
That loses us far more than the 27% tax breaks that data centers extract from development authorities.
#GApol
Hard to read this chart, but it looks as if almost all PSC voters who voted for Hubbard also voted for Johnson. The candidates' vote totals were almost identical.
There are very few dots outside the +/- 1% range. Outliers seem to be offset by opposite outliers in precincts with the same race share.
There are very few dots outside the +/- 1% range. Outliers seem to be offset by opposite outliers in precincts with the same race share.
Evidence of racial polarization in Georgia last week. In one race, a White D ran against a Black R; the inverse was true in the other. So, where did the White D over-perform the Black D? In whiter areas.
November 16, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Hard to read this chart, but it looks as if almost all PSC voters who voted for Hubbard also voted for Johnson. The candidates' vote totals were almost identical.
There are very few dots outside the +/- 1% range. Outliers seem to be offset by opposite outliers in precincts with the same race share.
There are very few dots outside the +/- 1% range. Outliers seem to be offset by opposite outliers in precincts with the same race share.
Damn. I still remember standing with my parents at a poorly attended rally in a windswept field, listening to then Labour Party leader Hugh Gaitskell quote Churchill's original line, "Democracy is the worst form of government, until you look at the others."
How far we've fallen since.
How far we've fallen since.
i believe it was churchill who said ‘senile pedophile hitler is the worst form of government, except for all the others’
They should invent a government that isn’t senile pedophile adolf hitler
November 14, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Damn. I still remember standing with my parents at a poorly attended rally in a windswept field, listening to then Labour Party leader Hugh Gaitskell quote Churchill's original line, "Democracy is the worst form of government, until you look at the others."
How far we've fallen since.
How far we've fallen since.
When I say Atlanta's TADs are boondoggles, I'm not exaggerating.
Diverting $5B from schools and public services for grossly padded contracts with no accountability.
Diverting $5B from schools and public services for grossly padded contracts with no accountability.
Twenty million United States dollars per mile? That’s scandalous
November 14, 2025 at 1:05 AM
When I say Atlanta's TADs are boondoggles, I'm not exaggerating.
Diverting $5B from schools and public services for grossly padded contracts with no accountability.
Diverting $5B from schools and public services for grossly padded contracts with no accountability.
How much did that stretch cost per mile, does anyone know? Timely info as mayor seeks to keep the $$$ for another 25 years.
The Northwest Beltline Trail in Blandtown features some swings. Nice to finally see some seating along the trail.
November 13, 2025 at 5:48 PM
How much did that stretch cost per mile, does anyone know? Timely info as mayor seeks to keep the $$$ for another 25 years.
Georgia’s Public Service Commission is considering approval of several costly new gas plants. SACE and @sierraclub.org request the Commission delay its vote until newly elected and decisively Commissioners Hubbard and Johnson can participate ➡️ ow.ly/Orvn50XqO2l
November 12, 2025 at 10:03 PM
'Lifelong troublemaker' ain't a bad epitaph.
I only knew Tom in his city arborist role. He bravely tried to protect the tree canopy as City leaders bent over backwards to let builders ignore tree protection.
Before Housing activists get mad, you can have both homes & trees if you're smart.
I only knew Tom in his city arborist role. He bravely tried to protect the tree canopy as City leaders bent over backwards to let builders ignore tree protection.
Before Housing activists get mad, you can have both homes & trees if you're smart.
November 12, 2025 at 3:20 PM
'Lifelong troublemaker' ain't a bad epitaph.
I only knew Tom in his city arborist role. He bravely tried to protect the tree canopy as City leaders bent over backwards to let builders ignore tree protection.
Before Housing activists get mad, you can have both homes & trees if you're smart.
I only knew Tom in his city arborist role. He bravely tried to protect the tree canopy as City leaders bent over backwards to let builders ignore tree protection.
Before Housing activists get mad, you can have both homes & trees if you're smart.
I'm attending Kelsea Bond for Atlanta's event, “Atlanta for the 99% Town Hall” - sign up now to join me & chat about how
the 99% would prosper if commercial trophy towers & data centers paid their fair share and if TAD taxes came back to schools & public services. www.mobilize.us/kelseabond/e...
the 99% would prosper if commercial trophy towers & data centers paid their fair share and if TAD taxes came back to schools & public services. www.mobilize.us/kelseabond/e...
Atlanta for the 99% Town Hall · Kelsea Bond for Atlanta
Join Kelsea Bond, Atlanta City Councilmember-Elect for District 2, for our first town hall where we will discuss key topics like transit, housing, public safety, homelessness, and labor.
There will ...
www.mobilize.us
November 12, 2025 at 1:14 PM
I'm attending Kelsea Bond for Atlanta's event, “Atlanta for the 99% Town Hall” - sign up now to join me & chat about how
the 99% would prosper if commercial trophy towers & data centers paid their fair share and if TAD taxes came back to schools & public services. www.mobilize.us/kelseabond/e...
the 99% would prosper if commercial trophy towers & data centers paid their fair share and if TAD taxes came back to schools & public services. www.mobilize.us/kelseabond/e...
In Fulton #GApol, data centers don't even need tax breaks (though most get them).
That's cos County Assessors only value them at 10-20% of what data center developers say they are worth.
Correcting this raises $48M this year. Another ~$140M/yr as $10 Billion more come on line.
That's cos County Assessors only value them at 10-20% of what data center developers say they are worth.
Correcting this raises $48M this year. Another ~$140M/yr as $10 Billion more come on line.
NEW: 36 states lavish tax breaks on data centers. But just 11 of those states reveal the names of the companies getting the tax breaks, fewer disclose the value of the tax breaks, and NO state provides both estimated and actual jobs created. 1-
goodjobsfirst.org/cloudy-data-...
goodjobsfirst.org/cloudy-data-...
November 11, 2025 at 7:45 PM
In Fulton #GApol, data centers don't even need tax breaks (though most get them).
That's cos County Assessors only value them at 10-20% of what data center developers say they are worth.
Correcting this raises $48M this year. Another ~$140M/yr as $10 Billion more come on line.
That's cos County Assessors only value them at 10-20% of what data center developers say they are worth.
Correcting this raises $48M this year. Another ~$140M/yr as $10 Billion more come on line.
Reposted by Julian Bene
We also disproportionally did better in precincts south of Ponce - esp o4w. We won every precinct by majority except for one with 48% of the vote, still a plurality.
November 11, 2025 at 2:48 PM
We also disproportionally did better in precincts south of Ponce - esp o4w. We won every precinct by majority except for one with 48% of the vote, still a plurality.
Reposted by Julian Bene
We won all age groups and demographics, but young voters turned out more than normal. Hard to compare exactly to previous years because of redistricting
November 11, 2025 at 2:45 PM
We won all age groups and demographics, but young voters turned out more than normal. Hard to compare exactly to previous years because of redistricting
Very interesting numbers. Way more under-50s voted than over-50s, despite the elders' usual higher turnout rate. It's a young district.
Probably much higher 18-30 and 31-50 turnout percents than in past D2 elections, too, thanks to the vigorous ground campaign.
Probably much higher 18-30 and 31-50 turnout percents than in past D2 elections, too, thanks to the vigorous ground campaign.
This is young voter turnout district 2 versus citywide 😎
November 11, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Very interesting numbers. Way more under-50s voted than over-50s, despite the elders' usual higher turnout rate. It's a young district.
Probably much higher 18-30 and 31-50 turnout percents than in past D2 elections, too, thanks to the vigorous ground campaign.
Probably much higher 18-30 and 31-50 turnout percents than in past D2 elections, too, thanks to the vigorous ground campaign.
Do we have any age breakdown on voters who gave @kelseabondatl.bsky.social that smash win in Atlanta D2 - or @peterhubbardga.bsky.social statewide? #GApol
Be nice if Atlanta & Georgia Dems woke up to last week's results, quit their cronyism and gave folks more reason to support them.
Be nice if Atlanta & Georgia Dems woke up to last week's results, quit their cronyism and gave folks more reason to support them.
Good article from Edsall on Mamdani and impressed with how he says his thinking was changed by the evidence. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/o...
Opinion | Young Voters Are the Holy Grail. Zohran Mamdani Just Showed Democrats How to Win Them.
www.nytimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Do we have any age breakdown on voters who gave @kelseabondatl.bsky.social that smash win in Atlanta D2 - or @peterhubbardga.bsky.social statewide? #GApol
Be nice if Atlanta & Georgia Dems woke up to last week's results, quit their cronyism and gave folks more reason to support them.
Be nice if Atlanta & Georgia Dems woke up to last week's results, quit their cronyism and gave folks more reason to support them.
Key to note that no rent gets paid to the development authority, no money is ever paid by one party to the other,and the authority's balance sheet shows no asset for the property. Because the entire thing is a sham.
inbox, the simple* explanation of how georgia supplies property tax breaks to companies
* not simple, I felt so gaslit when I learned about this process
* not simple, I felt so gaslit when I learned about this process
November 10, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Key to note that no rent gets paid to the development authority, no money is ever paid by one party to the other,and the authority's balance sheet shows no asset for the property. Because the entire thing is a sham.
More accurate if they'd said "bonds where no money changes hands, 10-year leases with a $10 anytime get-out option for the developer and a govt body holding paper title that never has any ownership of the project."
@joshgreenwriter.bsky.social
@joshgreenwriter.bsky.social
I like this description: "This workaround often involves bonds that aren’t really real, leases that don’t act like typical leases and a government body holding title to a project that they often don’t really own." www.ajc.com/news/rivian-...
Rivian 'bonds' at the center of their Georgia tax breaks caused some confusion
When state and local governments in Georgia woo businesses with property tax breaks, it often takes a bit of financial and legal engineering to make it happen.
www.ajc.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:57 PM
More accurate if they'd said "bonds where no money changes hands, 10-year leases with a $10 anytime get-out option for the developer and a govt body holding paper title that never has any ownership of the project."
@joshgreenwriter.bsky.social
@joshgreenwriter.bsky.social
Rent inflation for low-end apartments is crazy high. Are construction & land costs in working-class burbs too high to add new supply economically?
Cos the lobbyist's line 'Luxury Vacancies Will Filter Down' is let them eat cake .
@danimmergluck.bsky.social #GApol
www.ajc.com/news/2025/11...
Cos the lobbyist's line 'Luxury Vacancies Will Filter Down' is let them eat cake .
@danimmergluck.bsky.social #GApol
www.ajc.com/news/2025/11...
Study: Rents for low-wage Atlantans rose 9 times faster than for high earners
Rents for suburban workforce housing in the metro Atlanta region increased by almost 20%, while rents for luxury units increased by 2%, a study said.
www.ajc.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Rent inflation for low-end apartments is crazy high. Are construction & land costs in working-class burbs too high to add new supply economically?
Cos the lobbyist's line 'Luxury Vacancies Will Filter Down' is let them eat cake .
@danimmergluck.bsky.social #GApol
www.ajc.com/news/2025/11...
Cos the lobbyist's line 'Luxury Vacancies Will Filter Down' is let them eat cake .
@danimmergluck.bsky.social #GApol
www.ajc.com/news/2025/11...