Hello to you.

I am Lisa Ram, host of Morning Edition on w a b e in Atlanta.

Welcome to the Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young Debate Series from the studios of Georgia Public Broadcasting.

The 2026 debate series was made possible by grants to the Atlanta Press Club from the Arthur M Blank Family Foundation and the Robert Charles Loudermilk Senior Foundation.

This is the debate for candidates running for Fulton County Commission chair.

We have two journalists who will question the candidates.

Delaney Tarr is a journalist at Supporter Report in Atlanta.

Thomas Wheatley is a reporter at Axios in Atlanta.

Welcome to you both.

I'm going to kick off today's debate, asking each of the candidates to introduce themselves and tell viewers why they should be the next Fulton County Commission chair.

Candidates will have 60s to introduce themselves.

We will go in alphabetical order, starting with Mo Ivory.

Good evening, and thank you to the Atlanta Press Club for hosting this conversation.

My name is Mo Ivory.

I'm a wife, a mother of six and a grandmother of two.

I am a Spelman College graduate, a law professor, and an attorney.

I am a former Fulton County Commissioner.

Today, the question should be, where will Fulton County go next?

Will we work to resolve the decades long problems with fresh new leadership, or continue to manage the problems and avoid the solutions?

Those problems include the jail crisis, underfunded courts, health care disparities, and attacks on our elections.

The chair cannot simply react to those problems.

The chair must set priorities, build consensus, and provide oversight, and make sure county government is delivering results.

For too long, we have had the same leadership, the same excuses and the same unresolved problems.

The jail is still in crisis and the courts are underfunded.

I will bring new leadership to the commission and that is also the leadership that I will bring as chair.

Thank you.

Robb Pitts is next.

Thank you very much.

I've been privileged to serve our community first as a member of the Atlanta City Council, as City Council president, as a member of the Board of Commissioners, and for the past seven years as chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Fulton County.

I've served you with honor and dignity and never, ever embarrassed you under my leadership, Fulton County has become known as one of the top counties in these United States of America, and that's a big deal.

There are some 3,000 plus counties in the United States of America, and by some accounts, we are number four.

We've had our challenges.

We came through Covid, we came through a cyber attack, and we're still fighting to protect our election workers.

But let's be real clear, the number one issue here is raising your taxes.

I will not raise your taxes, as others have indicated that they will.

I will not raise your taxes.

Thank you, Mr.

Pitts.

Now for the full set of debate rules, please visit Atlanta Press club.org.

Our panel will now ask a question to an individual candidate rather.

We'll start with Delaney Tarr, who will ask a question for Rob Pitts.

Once again, you have 60s for your response.

Delaney.

Thank you both so much for being here.

Chairman Pitts, your campaign has focused heavily on consistency and your existing track record beyond the existence of a track record and consistency for the sake of itself.

What specifically do you bring to the table in this election season?

Experience is the key here.

The key difference.

We are in a crisis here in Fulton County.

We're under attack by Washington, and this is not the time for on the job training.

I do have the experience.

I do have the contacts.

You know, you need to note this.

We have all of the cuts that have taken place with other counties and other cities.

Not one penny has been cut from Fulton County from the grants that we received.

Why is that?

Because of contacts?

Because of relationships.

So experience does matter.

This is not the time for on the job training.

In addition to that, there are certain programs that I have spearheaded that we're going to see through to completion during these next four years, including renovations at our jail, including a new health care complex in South Fulton County, including a new botanical gardens in College Park, and including a Texas truck driving and logistics school in South Fulton County.

Projects that I've started, projects that I am going to plead on time and within budget without a tax increase.

Mr.

Pitts, thank you.

Thomas Wheatley, please ask Mo Ivory a question.

Hey, Miss Ivory.

Uh, you you're running on a platform of fresh ideas and new leadership at at the commission.

But you recently served on the commission.

What prevented you from pursuing these policies and proposals while you were there?

Yes.

Thank you so much for that question.

On the job training sounds like a great campaign slogan, although a few months ago, Chairman Pitts praised my experience and actually called me and I quote the future of Fulton County.

The reason it's been hard for me to pass any legislation is because of Chairman Pitts Gang of Four.

Chairman Pitts has four votes on a seven commission that consistently passes legislation that is aligned with Republicans.

Two of his four votes are Republicans, one a Maga Republican.

So every time I've tried to pass legislation, for example, creating a women's commission, creating a task force to study commercial tax appraisals, putting together a task force for Tat assessment in light of Mayor Andre Dickens plans.

I have tried over and over again to provide money for seniors to actually fund the jail crisis, to actually fund the courts, to put money in health care in South Fulton, on the south side of Fulton, and to protect our election workers.

But Chairman Pitts votes consistently with two Republicans, which makes it impossible for us to continue to move forward.

Democratic values.

Thomas, it's your turn to ask Rob Pitts a question.

Uh, Chairman Pitts, you've advocated for more representation on the Marta board for Fulton County.

If if you were able to get more seats or have have a greater voice, how do you see that affecting transit in metro Atlanta?

Well, first and foremost, I think that we need someone on that Marta board who actually uses.

Uses Marta.

Right now we're at a disadvantage on Fulton County because we only have one representative.

North County has two.

City of Atlanta has four.

The other thing that complicates all of this now is the fact that the recent action by the governor and the state to do away with ATL and Greta further complicates the issue.

And I spoke out about that today.

The governor, a good governor, great governor, as a matter of fact, personal friend, but of of his appointees.

Guess what?

I think there are six white males, one white female and one Indian.

No one of color, real color on that board.

No one from South County.

So therefore that's a problem.

Which is which today led me to call the lieutenant governor, who has two appointees, and the speaker of the House, who has two appointees, to plead with them that we need to make sure that there is adequate and equitable representation on this new entity, which will involve funding for Marta.

Thank you.

Delaney, you have the last question of this round for Mo Ivory.

Miss Ivory, the commission has a history of tension and some perceived animosity.

If elected chair, what would you do to handle that animosity?

Create camaraderie and enforce decorum on the commission?

Thank you so much for that question.

I will instill respect amongst all of the commissioners.

It is not a body of four.

As Chairman Pitts likes to command the entire board that it only takes four people.

He's often said, and I quote, I don't need that many cooks in the kitchen.

I don't believe in that.

I believe that seven people are voted by the constituents who vote them into elected office, and their voice matters in the decision making.

So I would include everybody in the decision making.

I will change the culture in Fulton County so that we can respect what we are doing as a body, that the voters can feel like we are handling their issues with respect.

And I think respect starts at the top, and the way that you lead will trickle down to the entire commission.

So I will include a great gang of seven, a great body of seven that were elected together to decide things.

I will reinstitute committees, and I will have everybody to have a voice instead of four people having a voice, two Democrats and two Republicans, which make up Chairman Pitts Gang of Four.

Mr.

Pitts, you were called out for having so-called cooks in the kitchen.

Would you like to respond there?

Thank you for that.

You know, and first of all, you have to be there long enough to understand what the rules are and how the Board of Commissioners works.

You can't get there.

And let me back up.

I brought her there, taught her the rules, raised her money, and what happened?

She quit.

Quit on me and quit on her constituents.

You cannot come into a body like that and think that you're going to take over and not work with people.

This is not a stepping stone to run for mayor of Atlanta, which is what she's using this position for.

It does take four votes to get anything done.

And as chairman, I support good legislation and I absolutely work to defeat bad legislation.

And the most recent bad piece of legislation, which she authored, was to raise property taxes by 14%.

Your time.

Is up against it.

Vote against it again.

Mo Ivory you are awarded a rebuttal there.

Thank you so much.

This is what happens when someone is fighting for their political life, fighting to hold on to the power that they've known for almost 50 years.

I understand how hard this is for you.

I understand that you brought me to this commission, and I thank you, and I thank you for your years of service.

But when I got there and I realized that Chairman Pitts votes with Republicans won a Maga Republican and did not care about what I wanted to pass as legislation, I knew I would not stay there because I did not come there for galas and ribbon cuttings.

I came to do policy.

I came for legislation, and I did not quit.

Chairman Pitts loves.

To.

Do the lie about I quit.

I have to step down by state law to run.

We're going to have to move to the next round, where you two can ask questions of one another.

That concludes our first round.

Each candidate will now ask a question to their opponent.

You'll have 30s to ask the question, 60s to respond.

And the person who asked the question will get a 32nd rebuttal.

We will begin with Mo Ivory.

Thank you so much, Chairman Pitts.

Fulton County has five Democrats on the Fulton County Commission, yet voting records show you voted with Maga Republicans, 96% of the time.

Why do you vote with Maga Republicans?

Nothing could be further from the truth in the first place.

We've.

Over the course of a term, we cast some 4,000 votes, probably 98% of our votes are unanimous votes.

The times that she's talking about our work with anyone to pass legislation that's going to benefit the citizens of Fulton County, if it means stepping across the aisle and getting two people who happen to belong to another party, to vote with me, to defeat, raising property taxes on people who cannot afford it.

Our seniors, our people on fixed incomes, and young families who are just starting out.

I will do it every time.

Ivory Mo Ivory do you have a rebuttal?

Sure.

Check the record, please.

96% of the time, Chairman Pitts has voted with Maga Republicans of those times.

Let me give you some examples of those votes.

Voting to decrease the amount of money in an already agreed upon contract for affordable housing in the city of Atlanta.

We then had to beg him to put that money back in.

He voted no in the beginning to that he voted no to a $1 million for senior services to improve seniors services going to seniors.

He voted no against a women's commission.

He voted no against a task force for tax assessments for commercial properties.

So please do not believe.

That.

We appreciate that.

Rob Pitts.

It's your turn to ask Mo Ivory a question.

I don't have a question for her.

She's going to lie anyway.

But what I will ask her to do is explain to the public, not to me, why she hadn't even found.

She believes in transparency, hasn't even filed her campaign disclosures, why she hasn't talked about her bankruptcies, her personal financial problems, filed suits filed on her by the state of Georgia, by Fulton County, by the city of Atlanta, by American Express, by banks, even her own personal doctor has filed suit against her.

And don't let me start talking about the other financial issues.

If you're going to talk about being the chair of one of the top counties in these United States of America with $1 billion general fund budget, you ought to be able to handle your own personal finances.

Mo Ivory your rebuttal.

Yeah.

I mean, this is what desperation of holding on to power looks like.

It's kind of sad.

This is what the intrinsic relationships that have a lot of contracts in Fulton County with a lot of pressure to keep those going.

Looks like lie upon, lie upon lie.

I have never voted to raise anyone's taxes.

I have never proposed a 15% tax increase.

First it was 12%, then 13%, then 14%.

This is what desperation of a career politician who does not want to pass the baton looks like.

I went to Chairman Pitts and I asked him because he said, speaking of lies in 2022, that that was his final term in office.

Check the record.

AJC article, but here we stand.

This is a man holding on to power, and I respect his service.

But respectfully, sir, it is time for new leadership in Fulton County, and I am here to deliver on that, on that, on that necessity.

Mr.

Pitts, your rebuttal to holding On to power.

Okay.

Thank you.

Your rebuttal, Mr.

Pitts.

Lies.

Check the record.

Lies, lies, lies.

She will do anything, say anything to become the next mayor of Atlanta.

This is not a stepping stone for that job.

We have problems in Fulton County that we're going to address with sound public policy.

It's not the loudest voice in the room.

It's not the flashiest voice in the room.

It's getting the work done.

And do I work with others who may not look like me, who have a different opinion?

Absolutely.

To deliver for the people of Fulton County.

Thank you.

There is still more to come.

You are watching the Democratic runoff debate for Fulton County Commission chair will now go back to the panel, who will ask questions to the candidate of their choice.

Until we run out of time.

Thomas Wheatley, we start with you.

My question is for both of y'all, starting with Chairman Pitts, if we can, the Fulton County has been contending with overcrowding and what DOJ describes as unconstitutional conditions at the Rice Street jail for years, really decades.

What needs to be done to improve conditions there?

Would you support building a new jail?

What's the long term solution?

I do not support building a new jail because if you build a new jail at a cost of 2 billion to $3 billion, what I call a country club facility that will have some four or 5,000 beds, where are you going to put in those beds?

Black and brown men.

That's not the answer.

What I proposed was the only voice at the time, but the full board came around in the final analysis.

Renovating Rice Street and building a separate facility on that same footprint would have 15 beds.

Why 1,500 beds?

Rather that facility, a medical facility will be used to treat those detainees who have either a mental issue or a substance abuse issue.

And that number is about 70% of the men and women in our in our care.

But it is the you got to understand the role of the board.

The board provides the funding.

We do not manage the jail.

The sheriff runs the jail.

We're responsible for the physical plant.

But the management of the jail is the Sheriff's responsibility.

Thank you so much, Delaney.

It's your turn to.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Mo Ivory, please answer the same question.

Can you?

My apologies.

Yes.

What?

What needs to be done to improve the conditions at the jail?

What is a long term solution?

And do you do you, uh, think that we should build a new jail?

Thank you so much for that question.

I absolutely support building a new jail.

If Chairman Pitts had built a new jail 20 years ago when it was also crumbling and overcrowded, we wouldn't be paying 2026 prices right now.

He talks about the prices, but he is the very reason why the price of the jail is what it's going to be now, because he has sat on it and not done anything about it in more than two decades.

I absolutely support building a new jail where there is one crumbling.

I also support funding the courts properly, which Chairman Pitt also.

Chairman Pitts has also never done.

You can keep the population of the jail down by moving cases through quickly.

That is what funding the courts would allow.

So yes, it is time to build a new jail.

Calling it a country club is such a ridiculous disconnection from what we have right now.

If you went to the Fulton County Jail today and saw the conditions, you couldn't even say those words.

Country club.

You would just say, let's make it humanitarian, inhabitable.

And you would say, we are residents deserve more than that.

Thank you, Mr.

Pitts.

That warrants a rebuttal.

You know, it's really interesting.

I have a five point plan that was approved by the board unanimously to reduce the population of the jail, which would not require any additional money.

And that is the issue that the Federal monitor is, is is talked to us about.

We need to reduce the population of that jail before she imposes a cap.

My plan would immediately, within a month or two, reduce the jail population by approximately 1,500 inmates.

So that's leadership.

Thank you very much.

Delaney, it's your turn to ask a question of either candidate.

I'd like to follow up on some of these jail points, because this is a major issue in Fulton County.

Specifically, Chairman Pitts, you say you have a five point plan for immediacy.

I'd like to hear about what some of these immediate actions you plan to take are, and Miss Ivory, same for you.

If you have immediate actions that you'd plan to take to mitigate this jail issue.

Chairman.

The issue is to reduce the jail population.

That is what the monitor suggested.

That is what the board believes needs to be done, and that's what the general public needs to be done.

First and foremost, the simple use of ankle monitors work very well for us during Covid.

Number two, things like we, we, when you go to a doctor's appointment now, you are notified in advance that you have an upcoming appointment.

Well, certain jails across the country are now utilizing that same system to notify people when they have an upcoming court date, because if you do not come, that's a failure to appear.

And that means you're arrested and you go back to jail.

So that's just two of those five points that we're talking about.

And there's been sign off on it by the Justice Department.

So I'm hoping that that will be implemented in totality in the very near future.

The other point that I'd like to make is that we have what's called a detention center, where when officers make an arrest in the field, they have a they have an opportunity to offer the person the opportunity to go to jail or to the detention center.

We're going to utilize that more as we move forward as well.

And that will.

Thank you.

Mr.

Pitts, you are out of time.

Mo Ivory please answer the question.

Thank you so much.

Chairman Pitts.

Five point plan is not new.

I only wish that he would have introduced it 25 years ago, so that we would have been able to implement those very things in its five point plan.

It's great to bring up something that our ideas that people have been talking about for years in an election year, but he hasn't moved on one of them in the last two decades.

So I think the very most important thing that we need to do for the jail is actually fund it properly.

In this year's budget, Chairman Pitts duct cut $3 million in 2026.

Despite having a monitor's report that says we must fund the jail cut $3 million from the consent decree costs, making it impossible for us to meet the consent decree.

Um requirements.

So I would like to first and foremost actually fund the consent decree issues and fund the jail properly to move forward and solve the problems.

Thank you.

Thomas, we go back to you for a question.

Thank you.

Another big issue facing the county.

Um is the decision whether to participate in the city's tax allocation districts and the extension.

Um where do you stand on Fulton County participating in the tax and why?

And this is for both of you.

And please start with Miss Ivory.

Yes, I fully support moving forward and having very good discussions about the extensions of the tax.

I know the good work that the Tadd's do in the area of affordable housing and homelessness.

The tax money that Chairman Pitts cut out of the budget in 2026 for homelessness, which was about $2.1 million, was for permanent supportive housing services for the homeless.

We need to use that money to help the city of Atlanta with those issues.

We need to bring all of the things that our neighborhoods are underserved.

Neighborhoods have not gotten with the tax.

I'd like to get a deep analysis of the data and the performance of the ads, and make the decisions as to which ones should be extended.

But I'm in full support of Mayor Dickens trying to use this money to improve the neighborhoods that have not been served well, because most of Fulton County's money has been invested on the North Side.

Mr.

Pitts.

Thank you for that question.

The the mayor and I are talking about tabs now, whether to extend those tabs and which ones.

He made a great step recently when he removed the Beltline tad from his request.

And one other.

So we're talking about that.

We met last week and talked.

We're going to get together in the next couple of weeks.

My staff and the mayor's staff are already meeting to go over a plan and a framework for doing this.

I'm supportive, not of a blanket extension of all of those tabs, because it does have negative implications for Fulton County, for our budget.

A blanket extension has negative implications for the school board's budget, and I think we're going to be able to work that out.

We're making progress.

So the final act has not been heard on those tabs, but I am supportive of moving forward with some.

But we'll take them on a case by case basis.

There's nobody around that knows more about those tabs than I do.

I was on the city council, the one that's held up as the picture, the poster child for tabs is the Atlantic Station.

That is one that I was intimately involved in and held it up until such time as we had adequate female and minority participation.

Thank you very much, Delaney.

You have one question to one candidate.

So pick your candidate and and ask your question, please.

I would love to ask Chairman Pitts about evictions.

Now, Metro Atlanta has an incredibly high eviction rate.

Previously, you have described this as a state legislature issue.

But I'm curious, how would you like to or how do you plan to get involved with preventing evictions or helping those who've been evicted?

It is a state issue, and you have to understand how the make up of Fulton County, that's where experience comes in Fulton County, unlike surrounding counties, 99% of the land within Fulton County is within one of the 15 cities.

The cities have jurisdiction.

Now.

Where do where do we come in?

I'm working right now with responsible state legislators to come up with legislation that can be approved, not Pollyanna legislation, but legislation that that can be approved, that will have universal support by both Democrats and Republicans to address that issue.

We tried it at the last session.

We made some progress.

It will be at the top of our legislative package.

This this next session as well.

All right.

Thank you to all of you.

That's all the time we have for questions.

The candidates will now have 60s for a closing statement.

We begin with Rob Pitts.

Well, thank you for having us here this afternoon.

I'm delighted.

I'm Fulton County, as I said earlier, we're at war with Washington.

The president has made it crystal clear that Fulton County is his number one target.

And there are two people within Fulton County who are at the top of his list.

Our district attorney and the chair of the Board of Commissioners of Fulton County, Robb Pitts I've even been disinvited, banned from the White House.

So we're aware of what's what's coming with us because of that, because of what's at stake.

This is not the time, as I said earlier, for on the job training, this is not the time for raising taxes, for raising taxes, as she is proposing, has proposed and proposed.

And did I vote against it?

Did I get the votes the voted down?

I absolutely did, and I will do it again, because there are people in Fulton County who cannot afford it.

Our seniors, our people on fixed incomes, and those young families who are just starting out, they cannot afford to live here under a tax and spend chair like this one would be.

Mr.

Pitts.

Thank you.

Mo Ivory it's your turn for closing remarks.

That's what desperation looks like.

Lies to keep you from doing what you know.

Fulton County needs.

Leadership is not about protecting the people in power.

Leadership is about serving the people who put us there.

Every budget, every vote, and every policy decision affects real people.

A family trying to afford housing, a senior trying to age in place, a parent looking for an opportunity for their kid, or a resident who simply wants a county government that they can trust.

If asking hard questions makes me unpopular in some rooms, I am okay with that.

The people of Fulton County did not elect me to make the political establishment comfortable.

They elected me to get results.

The decisions we make over the next four years will shape this county for years to come.

The voters of Fulton County have made something clear throughout this campaign.

They want accountability, they want results, and they are ready for a new generation of leadership.

I believe in Fulton County.

I ask for your vote one more time, and I thank you so much for your support.

Thank you.

Candidates.

Thank you.

Panelists.

Early voting starts Monday, June 8 and runs through Friday, June 12.

Election day is, of course, Tuesday, June 16th.

We again early voting, early voting.

Mr.

Pitts says.

We thank all of the candidates and our panel of journalists.

We also like to thank the Atlanta Press Club and Georgia Public Broadcasting for arranging today's debate.

I'm Lisa Ram, thank you for joining us for the Atlanta Press Club.

Loudermilk-Young Debate Series.

Have a great evening.