A group of concerned Atlanta activists traveled to Joe Biden’s campaign stop in South Carolina last weekend to ask Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms why she is not doing enough to stop gentrification in her city.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, one of the activists created a Facebook flyer featuring the mayor’s face with the words “HELP FIND ME!”
“Last seen campaigning with Joe Biden. We need her back to do some work in Atlanta,” read the caption.
Mayor Bottoms frequently travels out of town to support Biden at campaign events. The AJC reports Mayor Bottoms attended Biden campaign events in Iowa, Alabama and Tennessee in February alone.
Atlanta activists say they are concerned that Bottoms isn’t doing enough to halt the progression of gentrification or stop low-income Black people from being displaced from their homes.
The mayor’s spokesperson said in February Bottoms halted gentrification construction on the Westside, committed $100 million for affordable housing and signed legislation to create the city’s first Inspector General — all while juggling her duties as wife and mom and campaigning for her potential running mate, Biden.
“The mayor can walk and chew gum at the same time,” her spokesperson told AJC.com, before adding that all of her campaign trips were on the weekends.
At a Biden campaign event in South Carolina last weekend, Bertha Darden, a longtime Peoplestown resident, scored face time with Biden after unsuccessfully trying to locate Mayor Bottoms.
Darden asked Biden to “please tell her to stop evicting and displacing Black families in Atlanta.”
Biden, who is showing signs of dementia, called Bottoms a great mayor and began describing problems with gentrification — in North Carolina.
When Darden told Biden that the city of Atlanta used eminent domain to steal her house, Biden promised to have a conversation with her at a later date.
