August 25, 2025 • 44 mins
Meet Jayden Williams, the 22-year-old mayoral candidate whose resume might just make you question what you've accomplished in your life. With eight years of public service already behind him, this Clark Atlanta University political science graduate is mounting a serious challenge for leadership in Stockbridge, Georgia—and bringing fresh perspective, boundless energy, and surprising depth to the race.
The conversation reveals Williams' journey from community service at age 13 to becoming Youth Mayor in high school, then the youngest Planning Commission Chair in Georgia. But what truly stands out is his methodical preparation for executive leadership—interning in every city department from public works to economic development to understand municipal operations from the ground up.
Williams doesn't shy away from addressing Stockbridge's challenges, particularly the troubling mismanagement of $32.9 million in city funds. His commitment to transparency shines through as he promises a full forensic audit within his first 30 days in office and regular town halls to share findings directly with residents. "We have to find out what's broken before we can fix it," Williams explains with the clarity of someone twice his age.
His vision for Stockbridge blends pragmatism with ambition: rebalancing the tax burden from residential to commercial properties, implementing an "80-20 rule" for housing development to ensure affordable single-family homes remain available, and modernizing city operations that currently operate "in 2016 while we're in 2025." Perhaps most impressive is Williams' approach to engaging young people—meeting them "where they are" rather than expecting them to come to city hall.
When you hear Williams say, "If they don't give you a seat at the table, you take their seat," you'll understand why this young leader represents a new generation in politics—one that's prepared, purposeful, and unwilling to wait their turn. To learn more about this rising political talent who's truly "all in for Stockbridge."
Follow his campaign on social media @JaydenForStockbridge
Call campaign cell at (470) 219-8679
Visit www.jaydenforstockbridge.com
Email us at manhoodmatterspodcast@gmail.com
Follow us on all Socials: Manhood Matters Podcast
Host: StéphaneAlexandre
IG: @stephanealexandreofficial
Music by Liam Weisner
Sponsored by www.OnsiteLabs.net
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And I'll be honest with you I know you said 90 days
my first 30 days.
I'm going to call for a fullforensic audit.
I want to know how much land wegot, how many trucks we got,
how many trucks is inactive, howmany trucks are active, what
our budget looks like, what isthe clerk's office doing?
What does our procurement lookslike?
What is economic developmentdoing?
What are they doing to oureconomic mobility in the city?
I want to see everything.
(00:22):
And that's just the first 30days.
I got my first hundred andninety days kind of still draft.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yo, I'm not sure if you're ready for this one,
stockbridge.
Are you ready?
Because Jaden Williams sure is.
At an age when most people arejust trying to find out how to
keep their houseplants alive ordetermining what they're going
to do with their lives, jason isfired up and running for mayor
(00:48):
of Stockbridge.
That's right.
Do not let his youth fool you.
This brother brings a breadthof experience, sharp focus and
the kind of energy that makesyou wonder if he's running on
caffeine or just puredetermination.
So we chop it up today abouthis vision for leadership, what
drives him, what frustrates himabout the current state of his
(01:09):
city and why he believes thetime is now for fresh leadership
, new perspective in Stockbridge.
This guy just turned 22 yearsold and he has a resume that's
heavier than most 35-year-olds.
I'm certain you'll be noddingin appreciation as you hear and
speak.
Before we get into that, though, the only way we grow because,
(01:30):
honestly, we bring you the bestconversations and I'm only
asking for one thing Go aheadand click that follow button.
That is the only way we cangrow.
We ask for nothing else.
So let's get into this killerconversation and be ready to be
impressed.
Welcome to Manhood Matters.
Let's get to it.
Jaden Williams, welcome to thepod.
(01:50):
I appreciate you being here,man, so I want to start from the
(02:16):
very beginning.
Tell me about who you are, tellme about your background.
We cannot avoid the subject ofyour age.
It's going to come up.
I'm sure you're so sick ofhearing it.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah, first, thank you for having me.
And I'm just a young guy fromMetro Atlanta who grew up with
both my parents aroundgrandparents, but one of the
things that we always knew waswe love community service.
So, starting at the age of 13,I would say, we started giving
back our big baskets to thehomeless, going back and helping
community centers, kids centers, just to give back and pour
(02:50):
back into our community.
Whether it's with my parents ormy grandmother, one of the
things we always can kind ofcome back to is service to our
community.
So that's really where itstarted.
And then, at the age of 16, mygrandmother decided to run
against an incumbent.
And here we are.
What, seven or eight yearslater?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
in the political world.
Yeah, I understand she kind ofmade history a little bit right.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yeah, my grandmother is the first black and first
female to serve as District 4Commissioner in Henry County.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Commissioner, Vivian Thomas All right, awesome, she
still in office.
No, okay, and so that inspiredyou.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
It definitely inspired me that we can take
seats and we can actually make adifference in our community.
But I think what reallyinspired me the most is my
education at Clark Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Just going into the political sphere, getting that
experience, learning politicalscience from different aspects
in every portion of politicalscience that kind of gave me my
drive to want to do more.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
What exactly does political science entail that
the layman would not be able tofigure out for themselves?
Why four years is cool to learnabout politics.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Two things, and this is what Clark Atlanta will teach
you.
Politics is centered ineverything.
You can't do anything in ourworld today without politics.
That's the first thing.
The second thing is politics isthe study of who, what and why
something happens or thingschange.
So we don't just look atpolitics, it's a social science.
So we're looking at the socialeconomic growth, we're looking
(04:13):
at demographics, backgrounds,history, and we have to combine
all of that to make what we calltoday politics.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Obviously, one of the things that is very common and
rather rampant in our owncommunity is we hear so much I'm
not interested in politics.
The only time that I see ourpeople galvanize to do anything
when it comes to politics iswhen there's a big movement ie
Obama, 2008.
And when you ask around as towhy that is, why aren't you more
involved?
(04:42):
I hear one of two things EitherI'm just simply not interested
in politics, or why bother?
It's not going to make adifference, they're going to do
what they're going to do anyway.
How do you respond to that?
Speaker 1 (04:52):
One we can't change unless we get out to vote.
How our legislative, how ourcountry is made up of, is for
the people, and while sometimesit may not look like it because
we allow people to take ourrights and strip our rights away
, it's because we're not doingour part of the Constitution and
making sure we're getting outto vote.
We're putting elected officialsin, we're keeping our
(05:12):
population census orders.
In fact, if you have fivepeople living in your house but
you tell the people that come toyour door the volunteers, not
the government officials youonly have two you're cutting
your census.
So what does that mean?
You're cutting your House ofRepresentatives, You're cutting
your state senators and so thatdoesn't allow you to have that
same representation that someonewho has a different state, that
(05:33):
has a different population fromyou get more than what you have
.
So we really have to get outand do our constitutional rights
.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
That makes sense.
Why would someone do that,though?
Why would someone lie?
What advantage do they?
Speaker 1 (05:43):
think they have.
It's because our community isnot educated on everything to
the format as which it needs tobe and we also don't take or do
our due diligence to make surewe know what's happening, or we
don't go and search it now.
We'll go and search up who'sthe new housewife on rural
housewives of atlanta, but wewon't go search up who's?
our 2028 presidential pick orpotential, and so that's an
(06:05):
issue for me, because we look atthe drama but we don't look at
stuff that could change ourlives, especially in local
government.
We really don't do that untilit's a presidential election or
we got somebody running forSenate.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I don't really see too many people caring one way
or another, like who votes for asheriff.
I don't think about it.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Nobody does, to be honest with you, but some people
do right, Right, but you havethat.
If we want to really put it ona small margin, it's what 15% of
that community or that countythat really thinks about it and
really galvanizes?
And unfortunately it all comesback to money.
Who has the most money to puttheir name and their face out?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, I want to jump into what you're currently doing
.
Right now You're graduatingfrom Clark Atlanta, Clark
Atlanta.
Tell us about your experiencefrom there.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Yeah, experience of a lifetime.
When we say there's no placelike CAU, we mean it.
We literally bleed that red,black and gray to the T because
it's truly an experience of whatyou make.
And some people say yourcollege experience is how you
make it.
But Clark Atlanta, I think, isset up to where you can make
your college experience, but theway they set a path for you
it's just unmatched, like a lotof the rooms that I've been in
today.
It's because of me just saying,oh, I'm a Clark Atlanta student,
and then here's an alum in thecorner.
(07:19):
Oh, yeah, come meet the CEO.
It's because of most of ourpeople.
Not to mention, we have a UScongressman, but we won't talk
about that.
But we have state senators,state representatives, attorneys
, lawyers, and we may not alwayshave the heaviest hitter in the
room, but we have the peoplethat have the most impact.
And the most important thingfor Clark Atlanta, which is one
of our mottos culture forservice.
(07:40):
We do impact, we don't do thecloud and have to take pictures
and put you on banners to knowthat you're making a real
difference in the community.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
What are two things that you're taking away from
Clark Atlanta that, in youropinion, you could not have
gotten anywhere else?
Speaker 1 (07:54):
The education when I chose my school.
The political science MattHenry Jones Political Science
Department is unmatched becausewe don't just learn one specific
portion of political science,we learn all four aspects of it.
That is what I wanted to learn,and I've said I wanted to learn
it in an HBCU, and not manyHBCUs teach you all four.
They'll teach one or maybe two,but I wanted all four.
(08:16):
Clark Atlanta was the only one,because we have people from
Ghana coming to teach us, wehave people from the UK, from
America.
They all come back and combineall four of the political
science aspects and they teachus that.
And then the second thing isreally it's leadership grooming.
I really can't tell you muchabout it because it's kind of
like you just have to be there,you have to be able to
(08:39):
experience and talk and youreally want to talk to people,
learn people.
And I have to give a shout outto my president.
But what president at HBCU doyou know can walk around and sit
with you in the cafe justbecause they're on lunch and
you're on lunch at the same time.
So it's that homey experiencethat you really get at Clark
Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
That's pretty awesome .
So you're 21 years old, 22.
22.
You just turned 22 then.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Yeah, I just turned 22 Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Man happy belated.
Thank you.
You're currently running formayor of Stockbridge.
So before you tell us about whyyou're running for mayor, tell
us a little bit aboutStockbridge.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Yeah, I was basically raised from birth shoot before
birth to now in Stockbridge.
When my family first came toHenry County we started in
Stockbridge.
We started at Red Oak UnitedMethodist Church.
That was our church, that wasour home before we kind of
started to branch out.
So, starting at Red Oak with myfamily, with my grandmother and
(09:32):
grandfather, my mom, her twosisters, this was kind of our
community Kind of pushing up alittle bit, went to Stockbridge
Elementary, a little bit at RedOak Elementary before I went to
Stockbridge.
I left and came back and went toDutchtown High School, and
still living in Stockbridge atthe same time, and that's kind
of where my service careerstarted in Stockbridge.
(09:52):
I've been serving now inStockbridge for eight years in
an official capacity.
In my sophomore year in highschool I joined as the second
guy, the second male to be onthe Stockbridge Youth Council
Junior year, senior year.
I was elected youth mayor.
So I served as youth mayor fortwo years back to back and so
then immediately after thatgoing to Clark Atlanta attending
(10:13):
, you know, the number one HBCUin Georgia.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
That's just my personal opinion.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
But also doing that.
I'm coming back and I'm servingmy community.
So I'm back for communitymeetings.
I'm back supporting the youthcouncil.
Even I'm coming back and I'mserving my community.
So I'm back for communitymeetings, I'm back supporting
the youth council, even thoughI'm not in official capacity.
But also over the summer Iinterned, even some of the
semesters, in every singledepartment in the city because I
wanted to learn what is thebackground and the backing and
the inner works of our localgovernment.
(10:39):
So I went from events toeconomic development, to
shadowing the clerk, toshadowing the mayor, who is the
current mayor, to shadowingalmost every department of
public works.
I went up there maybe a week.
I told I say, look, I give youa week but I don't know how long
I'll be out here picking updirt and stuff for y'all.
But I did it.
And then my last one was withthe community development
(11:09):
department where ultimately Iwent from becoming an intern to
becoming the youngest chair inGeorgia for a planning
commission.
So I've been serving there fortwo years and eight months.
I just resigned to run formayor and so now we're here in a
community of 36,000 people,predominantly black, but still
growing in its diversity andbuilding its own character.
And so, since now until then,I'm running for mayor to really
bring that extra push to takeStockbridge to where it needs to
be.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
When you were shadowing everyone, which is
very commendable because youunderstood the inner workings or
at least you now understand theinner workings of all the
different departments anddifferent faces of the political
spectrum and so on and so forth.
So I know PE firms that beforethey take over a company, what
they'll do is they'll go andinterview every single person
that works there, at least everydepartment head.
I got a question.
(11:48):
So when you were shadowing theincumbent mayor and now you're
running for mayor, is he lookingat you like et tu brute?
Speaker 1 (11:56):
He's not too happy with you.
He is not.
He has stopped speaking to meand everything.
But the number one thing we dois we move in purpose and we
move in a positive direction.
So, while he is probablysoaking in a soapbox talking
about, why is this young boyrunning against me?
He has no experience.
At the end of the day, I'vedone the work, I've done what I
had to do in the background.
I've given you eight years.
Clearly, I'm not happy with howour city's going.
(12:18):
Clearly, community.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
So he's been there eight years.
Yeah, he's been serving.
Can he keep going?
I mean there's no term limit.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
We don't have term limits.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
No way.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, he's been serving in the city for now 15
years, being a councilman, thenthe mayor, so now it's time to
give the reins to somebody else.
Let's bring some freshperspective, some fresh energy.
And I'm not going to pay thehe's I'm young, he's old but we
do need some fresh energy.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
So okay.
So what does that mean?
Are we bringing freshperspective because we need to
bring fresh perspective orbecause there's something that
you want to fix that is specific?
And if so, what is that?
Speaker 1 (12:59):
When I say energy and fresh perspective to the
community, I'm speaking morespecifically to what we can
offer to our constituents and tonew residents that want to come
into the city.
We have an amphitheater.
It's beautiful, but what is itgiving back to our community?
What is it doing for our smallbusinesses in the community,
which is the heartbeat of ourcity?
We're not thinking in a waythat goes into technology, that
goes into AI.
(13:20):
We're in 2025, but the city'sin 2016.
That's what I want the peopleto understand.
We're far behind whatStockbridge really can be.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Can you give me a couple examples?
What do you mean by that?
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah.
So I'll give you a smallexample right now.
Some people will say, yeah, thecity's broken.
Some people will say it's notbroken, we're fine, but that's
because they do want that homeyfeel of Stockbridge.
I agree I don't want just amini Atlanta to pop out of
nowhere, but we have to bestrategic and smart in how we're
building our infrastructure andour economic development At the
current moment and it has beenfor the last few years, which is
(13:54):
why we've been through threecity managers and we've been
through almost four financialtreasurers in the city we have
been stuck and that's becausenobody wants to come into the
community to actually bringquality.
Even if we try to enforce thequality, they'll deny us and say
we can find something better,you have nothing to offer us.
That's what business owners aresaying.
So the taxpayers are nowunderstanding we're taking the
(14:16):
harder shaft of the stickbecause the taxpayers are paying
60% of our taxes whilecommercial is paying 40.
Anybody know local governmentor just finance?
That's opposite Right, why thetaxpayer is paying for an
amphitheater concert when theycould be paying more, so for
streets and infrastructure.
We have to flip that.
So when I say fresh energy andfresh perspective, I'm really
(14:36):
talking about those key areas tobringing our tax dollars down,
making sure they're not payingmore in their fees and then
making sure that we have goodoversight and structure, because
clearly our structure iscrumbling, which is why we're
going through economicdevelopment and our city
managers just like that.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Gotcha, and I know you talked about affordable
housing, yeah, so can you tellme a little bit about that and
what your plans are for that?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, actually that's a little iffy.
I can't say I'm just going toinstantly bring affordable
housing right.
But one of the things I can doand that's going back to me
talking about oversight ismaking sure we're bringing
affordable housing with qualityhousing, building and
developments.
So one of the things I want todo is something I call an 80-20
rule, where the city's going toput in an ordinance saying we're
going to do 80% affordablehousing, 20% townhomes,
(15:19):
apartments, condominiums.
A lot of people are upset toinclude some council members,
because the city keeps approvingtownhomes, townhomes, townhomes
, apartments.
That's good, and their numberone reason is that my generation
does not want to buy a house.
That's not true.
My generation just can't afforda house.
Okay, I was gonna say really wecan't afford that.
Not only do we want a house forourselves and we want a house
(15:39):
for our family, but who's to saythe young brother that went to
Stockbridge high school Justmight come up on some money and
don't want to buy his mama ahouse because that's his number
one dream, Right?
So we can't say that youngpeople don't want to buy houses
so we're not going to build them.
We still want to bring in thoseolder residents.
We want to bring in thoseresidents that are newlyweds,
those new families trying tostart their life, not just
(16:01):
saying, well, we're going tobuild a townhouse.
One district, which is sixsquare miles, in the city of
Stockbridge District 4, just gotapproved for nine townhouse
complexes.
Nine Nine, yeah, in six squaremiles.
That's ridiculous compared tohow much space we have across
the entire city.
So we got to fix stuff likethat.
And so when I'm talking aboutaffordable housing, that's
(16:22):
really what I'm talking aboutMaking sure we're bringing
quality affordable.
Our median in Stockbridge is$309,000.
That's our median 2025.
You can check it in the HenryCounty fact sheet.
Why are we doing townhouses for$450,000?
Why is a townhouse moreexpensive than a house?
We've got to talk about thosethings, and if it's because of
(16:44):
the quality that they're tryingto bring, you can still have
that quality with a differentdeveloper.
You can have that same qualitywith a different interest or a
different layout of your plan,but we can't just keep giving in
to people because they want tobuild into our city, and that's
something I'm going to stopimmediately.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Gotcha and not to jump all over the place, but you
did mention AI a little bit ago.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
And I'd be remiss not to ask, especially with your
generation.
You understand technology a lotbetter than the incumbent, I'm
sure.
I'm sure you understand betterthan me.
How do you see that impactingStockbridge specifically and
what are you prepared to do touse it to your constituents
advantage, so that it benefitsyou as a mayor and it benefits
(17:22):
your citizens?
Speaker 1 (17:24):
One of the things I want to do with tech, with AI,
and one of the things that we'relearning today is AI can
literally put a city on a mapand it can be the most rundown
city in all of hillbillyvilleright your city can be made up
of 50 tractor trailer parks anda railroad and it will make your
city look good for me.
I want ai to make our city lookmore advanced.
I want it to lay out certainthings that we don't see.
(17:46):
How can we communicate more toour residents?
How can we bring more residentsinto our city?
But the number one thing is, ifI'm trying to bring in and of
course I'll be a young mayor, soit's going to have to happen
anyway a multi-generational city, how can I make sure I use AI
to attract those young people,to attract the older residents
and making sure that we'rebuilding a good blend to make
Stockbridge what it is?
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So can you talk about maybe a couple of quick wins or
long-term wins for localbusinesses, things that you will
implement so that they can seeit as a big win for them?
Speaker 1 (18:21):
local businesses but also to attract other businesses
coming into Stockbridge.
I can say commitments.
I don't really like big winsbecause that's sort of similar
to a promise.
In politics we got to be veryspecific with our words.
But my commitments to localbusinesses would really be
making sure the city does morethan just the ribbon cutting.
Making sure that we're tellingpeople to patronize with you.
Making sure we're patronizingwith you.
Making sure that, while you'rethere, how can we keep you there
(18:41):
?
What's different?
What do you need fixed?
Do you need the lawn outside tobe beautified?
Do you need a sidewalk?
Are people having issues withparking in your area?
How can we make it look likeyou are a premier local
restaurant or local business?
I just went to a beauty shop theother day and she's in the cut.
I kid you not.
She is in the cut inStockbridge.
I drove past it four timesbefore I realized that I was
(19:03):
driving past it.
She and I was talking and wewere just looking around.
I said we need something thatattracts your area.
She's by, it's a plaza, butshe's by a apartment complex,
and then she has a big wall onthe side of her building and
then it's another apartmentcomplex.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
No, one could find her Nobody.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Really, truthfully, I drove past it, not
intentionally, I just didn'trealize it was there.
I knew it was there but Ididn't realize that's where she
would be.
And I'm like, literally me andher, we walked outside and I
said we need to clean up outhere.
The trees are dying, we need tobring some more greenery, bring
some flowers, maybe powerwasher building.
How can we as the city makesure we're accommodating you and
(19:41):
not just draining you of yourdollars?
And to our new businesses come,please, come.
Come, because we want that newexperience, we want that new
opportunity and we want to givepeople the opportunity to say
hey, well, I'm not in Atlanta,but I'm in Stockbridge.
We're 25 miles south of Atlanta, but we're in an area where the
city's booming.
We get that traction, there'sconstant traffic through our
(20:03):
local business, and so let'sbring those businesses and try
them out.
Like a lot of those, theseboutiques out here are literally
just because local residentsare attending daily.
Boutiques out here areliterally just because local
residents are attending daily.
She said it's the lady thatcomes to see her once a week to
get a new outfit, either forchurch or just because she's
going out with her own girls.
She's 80 years old, ok, and soyou know we have to keep the
trend of making sure ourbusinesses are getting that
(20:24):
patronism, but also we as a citywe're doing it as well and not
just trying to take advantageno-transcript.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
And if you're elected in the first 90 days, what are
you going to do about it?
What kind of audit are yougoing to conduct and how are you
going to ensure that somethinglike this never happens again?
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Yeah, let me correct something you said.
It's not alleged.
It is actually something thatwas brought to the mayor and
council after the money was gone.
Gotcha, the treasurer broughtit up and they so-called
corrected it you can't correctmoney without putting money back
in but they corrected it bysaying we're going to take $32.9
million from our 2025 budgetand push it back to the 2024
(21:25):
budget, which is where thatmoney was gone.
Now the thing is and they'regoing to tell you this, and this
is false the only reason thatit was mismanaged was because
nobody ever brought the millionsof dollars before the council
to approve, at which the mayorwould have had to sign off on it
.
They just did it.
Head of a district for our city, how do we allow them a limit
(21:56):
to go over a certain amount ofdollars?
It's no way somebody shouldhave been able to spend $32.9
million on their own.
It's no way.
It's insane for a cityespecially what I just tell you
where the 60% of our money comesfrom taxpayers.
So they're trying to say thatit was a mishap.
Our amphitheater budget isbelow what it should be, and so
that's why that $32 million wasgone.
But if it's below, why don't wehave a transparency within our
(22:17):
budget?
Why are you all redacting weput almost $200,000 in open
records requests a localorganization out here.
Why are they redacting certainstrips of the budget so that
they can't see where thatmoney's gone?
They've been trying to play aploy, saying no, we haven't lost
it, it's been corrected.
When you mismanaged $32.9million, you simply coming back
(22:38):
to taxpayers and telling uswe've corrected it is not enough
.
That's right.
I want to know answers.
I want you to have a town hall,and the number one thing I want
you to talk about is I want youto show me the breakdown of the
budget.
I want you to break it down tothe city, because it's my money.
Yeah, I could get $500,000,which we've had in the past but
(22:59):
one of the things that's reallyinteresting to me about that is
typically, when money's missingfrom the city and it's never
been this large of an amount.
The mayor is always the actingcity manager, and so I'm curious
to know really where thatmoney's going, who's signing off
on it and what's happeningbehind the scenes.
As a community member not evenas a candidate what's going on
behind the scenes in City Hallwith our elected officials that
(23:20):
you all can't be transparentenough to let us know in advance
?
$32 million is missing, yet youdecided to hide it and try to
cram it in a meeting when youknew people weren't going to
show up.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yeah, transparency, it fixes a lot.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Yeah, and I'll be honest with you.
I know you said 90 daysno-transcript.
(24:03):
Within our budget to ourcommunity is going to be that
full forensic audit andimmediately after that I'm going
to do a mayor's town hall, onceelected, after that audit is
done, to show and present to thecommunity members what happened
, what's going on in our city,so that they are abreast of
what's happening with theirmoney.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Has something like that ever been done before?
So you're about to hit thathornet's nest like a piñata?
Absolutely, man.
Okay, let's go.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Only way we can fix what was broken is if we find
out and see what's actuallybroken, acknowledging it is big
right To say, okay, here's whatit is.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
We missed not we you weren't in office at the time
but taking accountability for it, saying this is what I've
discovered, uncovered, rather,and, from this point on, this is
how it's going to go.
How often do you plan on doingthese town halls?
Because, honestly, they'rehiring you right, so you work
for them, absolutely so howoften do they get to audit your
work?
Speaker 1 (24:55):
I implore anyone.
I'm going to set office hoursthroughout the week to at any
moment, not just one specificday, and set an appointment.
You come see me.
Open door to the residents ofStockbridge.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
That's just going to be my number one, but I'm going
to man, listen, I've had 15employees and that was a
headache.
Don't do that.
You got 36,000 people.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
But that's where you come in with transparency.
Yeah, and if I'm going to be themayor for the city and for the
people, I have to stand with thepeople.
I can't just say, oh well, Idon't want to talk to him
because he owns this.
No, I really have to be directand since we haven't had that in
years, we have to kind of showthat transparency back before we
start to put back ourappointments and our blockage
(25:35):
and kind of holding ourselves toour own standard before we
start to push it forward.
One of the biggest things wouldbe is to make sure that when we
do those town halls I want todo at least three for the
forensic audit so that peoplecan have ample time to see what
the findings and research is.
But for me, I'm going to dotown halls regularly.
I'm not going to say monthly orbi-monthly right now, let me
(25:59):
get an office and get situatedbut I plan on doing a lot of
events socially, just alone asthe mayor, to make sure that the
community knows who I am, whatwe're doing and how we can
better serve them.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
And you know the reality is, once it's that open,
almost nobody wants to look.
That's not the plan.
You know what I mean.
But if you're just like, if I'mone of your constituents, and
you go hey, Stefan, we're doinga town hall.
Man, you got it.
Man, I believe you at thispoint it's just because you're
so open and so willing to showhere.
Look, I'm going to pull backthe curtain so you guys can look
behind here and see what'sgoing on.
(26:25):
Absolutely I don't have toworry, knowing that it's that
open of a book.
The youth guys, your age guys,a little younger, you know these
YNs.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
They call them out here.
How do you reach those?
Speaker 2 (26:42):
guys, man.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
My generation is unique, but I love it.
Yes, they are, I absolutelylove it.
It's not really more soreaching them to me, because I'm
kind of with them and around alot, but I can say that you got
to reach to where they are.
So if they're at the basketballcourt, go to the basketball
court.
If they're at the food spotAmerican Deli, we get in a 10
piece smile and pepper.
Meet them at American Deli.
But we can't just say, oh,we're not going to talk to them
because they're YNs, or insteadof judging and talking about
(27:07):
them from a distance, you comeand help them up close.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Do you have any plans to work with that group?
And the reason I asked thisbecause one of my aspirations is
something I'm going to beworking on is mentorship
reaching out, talking to theseguys.
I want to catch them as earlyas middle school and just put
them on a certain path, becauseso much of our youth is thinking
, music or sports, but there'sso many other things that they
(27:32):
can be doing.
You know, entrepreneurship isbig.
Do you have any plans to reachthem in that aspect?
And what are you thinking aboutwhen it comes to showing them
something a little bit differentand getting those guys to be
more involved in the community?
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah, so, um, like I said, number one thing is
reaching them where they are.
So I'm going to the basketballcourts.
Currently I'm like, hey, I needy'all to vote.
They're like we got you, we gotyou, we got you.
You made this point, we got you.
So you know, just kind ofgetting engaged in what they
like to do rather than justtrying to show them and shove
down politics.
Right, that's my number onefocal point, but I'm happy to
also tell you to come out in thenext few months.
(28:05):
I've been endorsed by both ofthe school of school board
members that represent the cityof Stockbridge, district 2 and
District 5.
That's how we start to buildrelationships with our school
board.
A lot of the school boardmembers and I hate to say this
aren't too fond of theleadership in Stockbridge right
now.
How can we bring that trustback, since they've trusted us
to build one of the most premierand up-to-date STEM schools in
(28:26):
the state?
They're building in Stockbridgeas we speak?
So we need to build thatconnection back and I want to
bring those mentorshipopportunities, but again
reaching them where they are, ifwe got to reach them in the
school.
I'm partnering with the schoolboard, me and your education,
your board education and we'recoming to your school.
We're going to do a pep rallyto let you know this.
We're going to do a boy's lunchto let you know this to let me
(28:46):
know hey, this is what we'redoing, this is how we're going
to educate them, because that'show they get that experience.
And so when they leaveStockbridge or they go on about
their day, they're like, hey,somebody loves me, somebody
trusts me, somebody knows I cando something in the world.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
One of my core values and something that I'm really
really big on, is just seeingyoung black men thrive and grow,
because I've seen so many liveswasted, so much potential
talent just go by the wayside.
So that's why I had to cometalk to you.
I'm really impressed by whatyou're doing and anytime I see
someone like this at such ayoung age doing.
(29:21):
You know, when I was 22, Iwasn't doing this, you know.
You know there was a differentmindset, but watching this is
very, very impressive.
So I had to come talk to you,but I'm not super familiar with
Stockbridge itself as a city,you know, so I don't know the
community.
Do you have any issues withcrime, safety or anything like
that?
It seems like you wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
We have potential in crime but we have a plethora of
programs that kind of combat,that um, and so a lot of the
crime that you I guess you wouldsee are not really germane to
stockbridge, but it may be asurrounding around.
Of course you're going toalways have your crime.
Burglary, uh, that's theregular, because anybody can
come from anywhere and make yourtown, your town can have zero
(30:00):
days of crime and the next thingyou know, somebody from out of
town shoots and then it'sStockbridge.
You're going to always havethat small, minor daily crime.
But it's not, I would not sayit's a crime issue, but ways
that we can kind of start in themoving forward in the future to
prevent crime it's not really athing out here.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
I guess you know it's rather a safe city relatively.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
I served as state president for the Georgia NAACP,
youth and college for two yearsmaybe three.
I visited all 159 counties inthis state with my position and
having to go meet my membershipsand delegations.
It is fairly in the middle.
Stockbridge is in the middle of, I can say, one of the safest
communities I've been in out ofall 159 counties in the state.
(30:42):
It's always ways to do better.
One of the number one thingsthat I've learned is community
policing and enforcement issomething that you have to be
strict on.
One of the plans that I want todo is, while we engage in
community policing with ourpolice department, let's make
sure that we're engaging withcitizens as well.
And I'm not going to give youthe Disney the officer is
throwing the ball outside withyour son in your yard type of
(31:03):
fantasy.
But at least you can say, hey,I know that officer, I know that
patrol car, that's officerso-and-so.
We're you know we're 36,000people.
It's not super big, but we'rejust enough for you to at least
know what's happening in yourcommunity.
So just some local, smallcommunity initiatives from our
police and our academy, thatreally will take us over the top
.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
And not to beat this to death, but skeptics I'm sure
you've ran into them already.
A lot of them will say well,you're too young, you don't have
the experience.
Just from talking to you and alittle bit of what I've read
about you even what you justmentioned going through all
hundred and how many counties 59.
159 counties who else has donethat?
(31:43):
Very few people even have aworking knowledge of their local
government, let alone justthroughout the entire state.
So I would disagree with thatstatement personally.
But what do you say to skepticsand point to maybe two or three
decisions you've already madeto prove that you have that
experience?
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Yeah, I'm blessed to see 22, because a lot of black
men like me don't have that sameprivilege, and so for me to run
for mayor is a little differentfor me.
I look at the skeptics whenthey say, oh, he's too young.
I'm blessed to have peoplearound that response for me.
I don't typically try torespond to those type of
statements because I want mywork to speak for itself.
And so the skeptics of, oh,he's just 21.
(32:26):
Oh, that's young.
I've actually not gotten thatmany.
I don't think I will vote forhim.
I've actually gotten good luck,god bless you.
I've gotten well wishes, butthe number one thing is what is
your experience?
And then when I tell you theexperience you're like and how
old are you?
You 21?
.
Henry Hero did an article on me,or it may have been the AJC, I
can't remember.
And the number one thing at thetop and it kind of like boosted
everywhere and that's kind ofwhen the skeptic died down with
(32:46):
my age.
It was one statement and Iforgot.
My mom showed it to me.
It was a 21-year-old runningfor mayor and his resume beats
him twice his age.
And so then people started togo to my website read about me,
look for my resume.
I kid you not.
I had my advisor at the time atClark Atlanta call me and it's
(33:07):
like Jaden, people are callingthe university asking for your
resume and so with that, thatskeptic kind of died down.
But you do have those few thatare like eh, I can't respond to
that.
But what I can say is look atwhat I've done in the community,
look at what I'm still doing inthe community, whether a
candidate or just a communityservant, and know that I truly
mean what I say.
I'm not going to say somethingand I don't mean it in regards
to making sure that I'mrepresenting the people, but a
(33:28):
few wins that I can tell you Ihave done, serving as the
youngest planning commissionchairman in state I think the
country, but I'm going to letthem have the state is.
I made sure that we did qualityassurance to all of the hotels
that want to come to ourcommunity and so when anybody
came and said we want to build ahotel, I required them to have
(33:48):
a three-star or higher to comeinto the city of Stockbridge.
The second thing is I work withthe community development
department, going back totechnology and AI to build more,
easier accesses and avenues towhat we're doing in the
community.
So we have the onlineinteractive map.
If you go to the Stock Bridgewebsite under community
development, that allows peopleto literally look up their
address.
(34:09):
All right, am I in the citylimits?
Am I out?
What does the future land usemap look like?
What does the zoning map looklike?
Can I build this here?
They don't have to call usanymore, nor do they have to
print.
They can literally go on theiriPad, share their screen to the
TV if they're meeting with theteam and literally go through it
, and it's interactive.
That's the second one.
And third one, I think for meand this is going to be the most
important is I've worked on aplethora of budgets.
(34:30):
My highest budget that I'veworked on was $11 million and
that was a student at ClarkAtlanta, working between certain
projects and campaigns to makesure that we can actually
actively run our campaigns forthe business, run through our
initiatives and still pay staffat the same time.
So my highest is 11 millionthat I paid and I look forward
to working and reading andseeing what our current city
(34:53):
budget is so we can make sureit's working on behalf of the
people.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yeah, and I'm pretty sure you know where every dollar
of a million dollars went.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Yeah, I can tell you exactly where every dollar went,
because we zeroed out when wewere done.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Nice, nice, nice, nice Name.
One issue you've changed yourmind about.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
None, really None.
Every single initiative thatI've put out addresses an issue
and if the issue was changed orshifted from now, I would have
taken it out completely.
But every single thing thatI've put out has been consistent
and I've been campaigning for ayear now.
The 20th marked a year thatI've been campaigning and no
issue that I've addressed in mycampaign to the community has
(35:31):
been addressed or changed.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Interesting, so you're running against Mr Ford.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Your former friend not so much anymore, former
friend, former mentor,everything.
I think that it's sad that hesees it as a threat.
I think it'd be a welcomechallenge.
If I have someone that I'vementored.
Maybe you're pushing me to beeven better, because now, if I
beat you, it's because I'mreally focused on certain issues
, right, as opposed to justbeing upset about the fact that
(35:58):
how dare you run against me?
I mean, that's the society welive in.
It's designed that way for areason, but you're running
against them.
So what's one thing?
I mean you did at some pointlook at that person and say, hey
, I want to shadow you, right?
So what's one thing that he'sgot right and what's another
that you're like?
No, he's dead wrong on this andI'm changing it immediately.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
I'm going to say this Now Mayor Ford is a great guy,
great black man.
However, I'm running for theoffice of the mayor of
Stockbridge.
I'm not running against MayorFord.
If he sees it in thatperspective, then that's just a
perspective.
He's going to have to see it.
But ultimately, a seat is aseat.
Whoever sits in the seat atthat time, you lead that city
and you lead it in the way thatyou see fit.
(36:38):
But I'm not running against him.
I'm running for a seat, I'mrunning for a seat.
I make that very clear.
I don't do negative campaigns,I don't do negative politics and
so whatever they have going on,let them do that.
I'm going to keep focusing onthe people in my initiatives.
He did a great job in makingsure, as the first black mayor
of the city, black people wererepresented.
We were.
We finally had an opportunityto fully show and embrace what
(37:01):
we are in our culture and ourhistory.
However, in that same doing, wedeflected and pushed back on
the others and while we are themajority in our city, we still
want to show that diverse lookof what Stockbridge is, because
that welcomes new residents.
If I had to pull something that,I would personally believe that
Mayor Ford is not the best atit's really delegation when it
(37:23):
came to leading the people onthe DS.
Any council meeting it's alwaysa council member, maybe two,
that are leading the meetingmore than the mayor or is
speaking out a term when themayor has not acknowledged him,
and that's something that we gotto get back on track, because
it looks like confusion from thefloor.
When the community member looksat it, they're like what is
happening?
And that's because there's noorder and no structure.
(37:46):
And so, while he's a great guyand he's done a great job in
building diversity in ourcommunity, there's stuff that we
still have to do to makeStockbridge a premier community,
and that's what I plan to do.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
Quick lighting round Jaden.
Okay, you ready.
First hundred days it's goingto be different, completely Okay
.
Days it's going to be different, completely Okay.
So I want to break that down alittle bit.
I do I do Because it's one ofthose things that you hear In
fact, I hear it a lot inpolitics.
Right, you hear there needs tobe a change and I go what needs
(38:18):
to be changed?
Why does it need to be?
Speaker 1 (38:19):
changed and how are you going to change it?
How is, because ofrepresentation, the people are
going to see their mayoractively fighting for them?
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
What we're going to change policy.
We're going to change the wayour city is structured.
We're going to change how yousee the city being represented.
Why is because for the lasteight plus years, the city has
been represented in a way thatdoes not represent the city.
We need to keep up in time.
We're 30 years back and weshould be in 2025 with the rest
of the other cities, and so,while we're getting awards for
being premier in some of thelocal individual positions, the
(38:47):
city is not being recognized forthe active work that we're
doing and the good looks thatwe're presenting.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
Describe a Stockbridge family for me in
2030.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
Yeah, a long time ago , when Henry County was first
established, it was establishedto be a retirement community.
It's literally meant to beolder people and vets, people
who are retired from their jobs.
But our leaders in the countylevel has kind of changed the
trajectory on that.
So now our cities have to playcatch up 2030, which is what
five years from now.
That's it.
That's such a short time for meto kind of give you a good
(39:17):
example, but I can say maybe themedium range of price would
probably be about 320,000.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
The reason I picked that number is because, say, you
do four years when you leave,there's a legacy left behind.
Maybe you run again, right, butif you do four years and you
leave, what is your legacy interms of what that looks like
for that family in 2030?
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Yeah, median increase .
For sure that's going to be apriority.
Making sure that we havesustainability within our homes,
making sure our infrastructureis key, because we can't keep
building and we don't have theinfrastructure to accommodate.
And I know the DOT and I don'tknow the next five years is
going to be very weird becausethe DOT and the cities already
have proposals and projects thatare already ongoing.
(39:54):
Currently, that is expandingcertain roads in our community.
So in the next five years I mayexpect just a little bit of
traffic because some of our mainroads will be worked on
consistently, but it'd be a goodflow.
What I'm looking for in thenext five years is those young
professionals to come in andtake some of these townhomes and
these apartments.
What I'm looking for is a minihub for excellence, and when I
(40:15):
define excellence I'm definingit as a community that's safe,
that's thriving.
People know you, know yourneighbor, your neighbor knows
you.
You go out of town.
Your neighbor will watch a dog.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
That hasn't happened in 30 years.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
But it's about the leadership, yeah, and so in a
small city like this and howwe're structured, it can happen.
So that's what I'm kind oflooking for and I'm looking for
a generation where we have moresingle family households and
married kids kind of feel to thecommunity and then we triple
down to young professionals andimmediately after that our
seasoned saints are our oldergeneration.
(40:45):
That kind of just keeps theyoke from cracking right in the
middle.
That'll be what Stockbridgewill look like in the next five
years or so.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
Okay If you're in a room with a very diverse
audience in fact, just forget alarge group just three or four
people, totally from differentbackgrounds.
What is your message to them ifyou only have one or two
minutes to speak to them?
To say, hey, this is who I am,this is why I'm running and this
is why you should vote for me,considering that everyone has a
totally different background anda different ethnicity.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
Yeah, you want me to give you my picture or you want
me to break it down?
Whatever you're comfortable withWell number one thing I applaud
a multitude of diversities inone room because that shows the
character that Stockbridge isbecoming.
But two I tell them up front I'ma country boy, I've served
Stockbridge for eight years now.
I tell them at which thecapacities I've served, which
we've talked about in thispodcast, and then I let them
(41:33):
know this is what I want to seein the community.
I see this specific blend, buthow can we blend all of our
cultures to make Stockbridge'sbeauty?
How can we make sure that ourbusinesses are being boosted?
How can we make sure that ourbusinesses are being boosted?
How can we make sure the numberone thing they want to know
about is where their money going, and how can we talk about our
specific dollars and how they'rebeing allocated?
That's really what I would kindof pitch to the room if I had
(41:54):
maybe three minutes to pitch,and then I'll take some
questions which I know typicallyfor, like officials or
candidates.
We're going to get somequestions, and so I try to leave
most of the space I have forquestions so that they won't
feel like they were unheard inthat moment, got it?
Speaker 2 (42:08):
What message do you have for anyone listening to
this?
Speaker 1 (42:12):
My number one message is, especially for my
Stockbridge residents, that I'mall in for Stockbridge.
When I say I'm all in, I'mtalking about trust,
transparency and building backgood governance in our community
.
Whether you've seen the workI've done in Stockbridge,
whether you've seen the workI've done from DC back to
Georgia or even across the state, you know I'm committed to what
I say I'm going to do.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
That's what I plan to do for Stockbridge as mayor and
that's what we're going tofight for until November 4th.
That's fantastic.
I actually have one morequestion I'm going to say.
This is Jaden 2.0, right, 1.0was from like 13 years old,
service in the community all theway through college.
Now you're.
It's about to get real.
Yeah, right, so that's Jaden2.0.
Tell me about Jaden 3.0.
If you can think about thefuture, tell me what that looks
like.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
The Jaden 3.0 would be.
If I had to put it short, itwould be from the words of
Shirley Chisholm and I'm goingto flip it a little bit, I'm
going to give it 3.0.
She said if they don't give youa chair at the table or a seat
at the table, you bring your ownseat.
Now, when I'm talking to thenext generation, when I'm
talking to my generation andmaking sure we're moving
communities forward, that wasgood for back in the day.
(43:17):
But if it was Jaden 3.0, theywould flip the Honorable
Chisholm's words and If theydon't give you a seat at the
table, you take their seat,Because the fight is going to
start when you take their seat.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
Nice, when can we find you Website, social media
et cetera.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
Yeah, you can find me on all social media platforms
at Jaden for Stockbridge, andthe four is spelled out.
You can also go towwwjadenforstockbridgecom.
Or you can reach out to mebecause I have a campaign sale
and I like to hear from myconstituents directly at
470-219-8679.
Oh, that's real man.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
You're about to give your phone number out.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
Listen, that's my campaign number.
You call me anytime.
If not, I'll call you back.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
And that number will be disconnected up to November
4th.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
No, it's been connected for about four years
now.
You can call me at any time.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
All right.
So we have a tradition on theshow At the end of every episode
, someone has to read the outronotes.
It's just a couple of bulletpoints and you have to do an
impression Now, if you want tokeep it more serious though, I
mean, I mean I so.
Are you Jaden today or Jadenfrom future?
We'll be Jaden today, Jadentoday.
Go ahead and read the outronotes.
Man, let's get it All rightPlease support us by following
(44:21):
the show.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
Leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts.
Thank you so much for listening.
We'll catch you next week whenwe share conversations
surrounding real issues we dealwith every day.
Manhood matters and we're out.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
Jaden Premier, let's do it, let's go man issues that
never end for our perspective,or, true, a podcast for all but
our point of view.
And I'll be honest with you I know you said 90 days
my first 30 days.
I'm going to call for a fullforensic audit.
I want to know how much land wegot, how many trucks we got,
how many trucks is inactive, howmany trucks are active, what
our budget looks like, what isthe clerk's office doing?
What does our procurement lookslike?
What is economic developmentdoing?
What are they doing to oureconomic mobility in the city?
I want to see everything.
(00:22):
And that's just the first 30days.
I got my first hundred andninety days kind of still draft.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yo, I'm not sure if you're ready for this one,
stockbridge.
Are you ready?
Because Jaden Williams sure is.
At an age when most people arejust trying to find out how to
keep their houseplants alive ordetermining what they're going
to do with their lives, jason isfired up and running for mayor
(00:48):
of Stockbridge.
That's right.
Do not let his youth fool you.
This brother brings a breadthof experience, sharp focus and
the kind of energy that makesyou wonder if he's running on
caffeine or just puredetermination.
So we chop it up today abouthis vision for leadership, what
drives him, what frustrates himabout the current state of his
(01:09):
city and why he believes thetime is now for fresh leadership
, new perspective in Stockbridge.
This guy just turned 22 yearsold and he has a resume that's
heavier than most 35-year-olds.
I'm certain you'll be noddingin appreciation as you hear and
speak.
Before we get into that, though, the only way we grow because,
(01:30):
honestly, we bring you the bestconversations and I'm only
asking for one thing Go aheadand click that follow button.
That is the only way we cangrow.
We ask for nothing else.
So let's get into this killerconversation and be ready to be
impressed.
Welcome to Manhood Matters.
Let's get to it.
Jaden Williams, welcome to thepod.
(01:50):
I appreciate you being here,man, so I want to start from the
(02:16):
very beginning.
Tell me about who you are, tellme about your background.
We cannot avoid the subject ofyour age.
It's going to come up.
I'm sure you're so sick ofhearing it.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Yeah, first, thank you for having me.
And I'm just a young guy fromMetro Atlanta who grew up with
both my parents aroundgrandparents, but one of the
things that we always knew waswe love community service.
So, starting at the age of 13,I would say, we started giving
back our big baskets to thehomeless, going back and helping
community centers, kids centers, just to give back and pour
(02:50):
back into our community.
Whether it's with my parents ormy grandmother, one of the
things we always can kind ofcome back to is service to our
community.
So that's really where itstarted.
And then, at the age of 16, mygrandmother decided to run
against an incumbent.
And here we are.
What, seven or eight yearslater?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
in the political world.
Yeah, I understand she kind ofmade history a little bit right.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Yeah, my grandmother is the first black and first
female to serve as District 4Commissioner in Henry County.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Commissioner, Vivian Thomas All right, awesome, she
still in office.
No, okay, and so that inspiredyou.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
It definitely inspired me that we can take
seats and we can actually make adifference in our community.
But I think what reallyinspired me the most is my
education at Clark Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Just going into the political sphere, getting that
experience, learning politicalscience from different aspects
in every portion of politicalscience that kind of gave me my
drive to want to do more.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
What exactly does political science entail that
the layman would not be able tofigure out for themselves?
Why four years is cool to learnabout politics.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Two things, and this is what Clark Atlanta will teach
you.
Politics is centered ineverything.
You can't do anything in ourworld today without politics.
That's the first thing.
The second thing is politics isthe study of who, what and why
something happens or thingschange.
So we don't just look atpolitics, it's a social science.
So we're looking at the socialeconomic growth, we're looking
(04:13):
at demographics, backgrounds,history, and we have to combine
all of that to make what we calltoday politics.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Obviously, one of the things that is very common and
rather rampant in our owncommunity is we hear so much I'm
not interested in politics.
The only time that I see ourpeople galvanize to do anything
when it comes to politics iswhen there's a big movement ie
Obama, 2008.
And when you ask around as towhy that is, why aren't you more
involved?
(04:42):
I hear one of two things EitherI'm just simply not interested
in politics, or why bother?
It's not going to make adifference, they're going to do
what they're going to do anyway.
How do you respond to that?
Speaker 1 (04:52):
One we can't change unless we get out to vote.
How our legislative, how ourcountry is made up of, is for
the people, and while sometimesit may not look like it because
we allow people to take ourrights and strip our rights away
, it's because we're not doingour part of the Constitution and
making sure we're getting outto vote.
We're putting elected officialsin, we're keeping our
(05:12):
population census orders.
In fact, if you have fivepeople living in your house but
you tell the people that come toyour door the volunteers, not
the government officials youonly have two you're cutting
your census.
So what does that mean?
You're cutting your House ofRepresentatives, You're cutting
your state senators and so thatdoesn't allow you to have that
same representation that someonewho has a different state, that
(05:33):
has a different population fromyou get more than what you have
.
So we really have to get outand do our constitutional rights
.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
That makes sense.
Why would someone do that,though?
Why would someone lie?
What advantage do they?
Speaker 1 (05:43):
think they have.
It's because our community isnot educated on everything to
the format as which it needs tobe and we also don't take or do
our due diligence to make surewe know what's happening, or we
don't go and search it now.
We'll go and search up who'sthe new housewife on rural
housewives of atlanta, but wewon't go search up who's?
our 2028 presidential pick orpotential, and so that's an
(06:05):
issue for me, because we look atthe drama but we don't look at
stuff that could change ourlives, especially in local
government.
We really don't do that untilit's a presidential election or
we got somebody running forSenate.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
I don't really see too many people caring one way
or another, like who votes for asheriff.
I don't think about it.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Nobody does, to be honest with you, but some people
do right, Right, but you havethat.
If we want to really put it ona small margin, it's what 15% of
that community or that countythat really thinks about it and
really galvanizes?
And unfortunately it all comesback to money.
Who has the most money to puttheir name and their face out?
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, I want to jump into what you're currently doing
.
Right now You're graduatingfrom Clark Atlanta, Clark
Atlanta.
Tell us about your experiencefrom there.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Yeah, experience of a lifetime.
When we say there's no placelike CAU, we mean it.
We literally bleed that red,black and gray to the T because
it's truly an experience of whatyou make.
And some people say yourcollege experience is how you
make it.
But Clark Atlanta, I think, isset up to where you can make
your college experience, but theway they set a path for you
it's just unmatched, like a lotof the rooms that I've been in
today.
It's because of me just saying,oh, I'm a Clark Atlanta student,
and then here's an alum in thecorner.
(07:19):
Oh, yeah, come meet the CEO.
It's because of most of ourpeople.
Not to mention, we have a UScongressman, but we won't talk
about that.
But we have state senators,state representatives, attorneys
, lawyers, and we may not alwayshave the heaviest hitter in the
room, but we have the peoplethat have the most impact.
And the most important thingfor Clark Atlanta, which is one
of our mottos culture forservice.
(07:40):
We do impact, we don't do thecloud and have to take pictures
and put you on banners to knowthat you're making a real
difference in the community.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
What are two things that you're taking away from
Clark Atlanta that, in youropinion, you could not have
gotten anywhere else?
Speaker 1 (07:54):
The education when I chose my school.
The political science MattHenry Jones Political Science
Department is unmatched becausewe don't just learn one specific
portion of political science,we learn all four aspects of it.
That is what I wanted to learn,and I've said I wanted to learn
it in an HBCU, and not manyHBCUs teach you all four.
They'll teach one or maybe two,but I wanted all four.
(08:16):
Clark Atlanta was the only one,because we have people from
Ghana coming to teach us, wehave people from the UK, from
America.
They all come back and combineall four of the political
science aspects and they teachus that.
And then the second thing isreally it's leadership grooming.
I really can't tell you muchabout it because it's kind of
like you just have to be there,you have to be able to
(08:39):
experience and talk and youreally want to talk to people,
learn people.
And I have to give a shout outto my president.
But what president at HBCU doyou know can walk around and sit
with you in the cafe justbecause they're on lunch and
you're on lunch at the same time.
So it's that homey experiencethat you really get at Clark
Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
That's pretty awesome .
So you're 21 years old, 22.
22.
You just turned 22 then.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Yeah, I just turned 22 Wednesday.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
Man happy belated.
Thank you.
You're currently running formayor of Stockbridge.
So before you tell us about whyyou're running for mayor, tell
us a little bit aboutStockbridge.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Yeah, I was basically raised from birth shoot before
birth to now in Stockbridge.
When my family first came toHenry County we started in
Stockbridge.
We started at Red Oak UnitedMethodist Church.
That was our church, that wasour home before we kind of
started to branch out.
So, starting at Red Oak with myfamily, with my grandmother and
(09:32):
grandfather, my mom, her twosisters, this was kind of our
community Kind of pushing up alittle bit, went to Stockbridge
Elementary, a little bit at RedOak Elementary before I went to
Stockbridge.
I left and came back and went toDutchtown High School, and
still living in Stockbridge atthe same time, and that's kind
of where my service careerstarted in Stockbridge.
(09:52):
I've been serving now inStockbridge for eight years in
an official capacity.
In my sophomore year in highschool I joined as the second
guy, the second male to be onthe Stockbridge Youth Council
Junior year, senior year.
I was elected youth mayor.
So I served as youth mayor fortwo years back to back and so
then immediately after thatgoing to Clark Atlanta attending
(10:13):
, you know, the number one HBCUin Georgia.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
That's just my personal opinion.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
But also doing that.
I'm coming back and I'm servingmy community.
So I'm back for communitymeetings.
I'm back supporting the youthcouncil.
Even I'm coming back and I'mserving my community.
So I'm back for communitymeetings, I'm back supporting
the youth council, even thoughI'm not in official capacity.
But also over the summer Iinterned, even some of the
semesters, in every singledepartment in the city because I
wanted to learn what is thebackground and the backing and
the inner works of our localgovernment.
(10:39):
So I went from events toeconomic development, to
shadowing the clerk, toshadowing the mayor, who is the
current mayor, to shadowingalmost every department of
public works.
I went up there maybe a week.
I told I say, look, I give youa week but I don't know how long
I'll be out here picking updirt and stuff for y'all.
But I did it.
And then my last one was withthe community development
(11:09):
department where ultimately Iwent from becoming an intern to
becoming the youngest chair inGeorgia for a planning
commission.
So I've been serving there fortwo years and eight months.
I just resigned to run formayor and so now we're here in a
community of 36,000 people,predominantly black, but still
growing in its diversity andbuilding its own character.
And so, since now until then,I'm running for mayor to really
bring that extra push to takeStockbridge to where it needs to
be.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
When you were shadowing everyone, which is
very commendable because youunderstood the inner workings or
at least you now understand theinner workings of all the
different departments anddifferent faces of the political
spectrum and so on and so forth.
So I know PE firms that beforethey take over a company, what
they'll do is they'll go andinterview every single person
that works there, at least everydepartment head.
I got a question.
(11:48):
So when you were shadowing theincumbent mayor and now you're
running for mayor, is he lookingat you like et tu brute?
Speaker 1 (11:56):
He's not too happy with you.
He is not.
He has stopped speaking to meand everything.
But the number one thing we dois we move in purpose and we
move in a positive direction.
So, while he is probablysoaking in a soapbox talking
about, why is this young boyrunning against me?
He has no experience.
At the end of the day, I'vedone the work, I've done what I
had to do in the background.
I've given you eight years.
Clearly, I'm not happy with howour city's going.
(12:18):
Clearly, community.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
So he's been there eight years.
Yeah, he's been serving.
Can he keep going?
I mean there's no term limit.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
We don't have term limits.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
No way.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, he's been serving in the city for now 15
years, being a councilman, thenthe mayor, so now it's time to
give the reins to somebody else.
Let's bring some freshperspective, some fresh energy.
And I'm not going to pay thehe's I'm young, he's old but we
do need some fresh energy.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
So okay.
So what does that mean?
Are we bringing freshperspective because we need to
bring fresh perspective orbecause there's something that
you want to fix that is specific?
And if so, what is that?
Speaker 1 (12:59):
When I say energy and fresh perspective to the
community, I'm speaking morespecifically to what we can
offer to our constituents and tonew residents that want to come
into the city.
We have an amphitheater.
It's beautiful, but what is itgiving back to our community?
What is it doing for our smallbusinesses in the community,
which is the heartbeat of ourcity?
We're not thinking in a waythat goes into technology, that
goes into AI.
(13:20):
We're in 2025, but the city'sin 2016.
That's what I want the peopleto understand.
We're far behind whatStockbridge really can be.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Can you give me a couple examples?
What do you mean by that?
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah.
So I'll give you a smallexample right now.
Some people will say, yeah, thecity's broken.
Some people will say it's notbroken, we're fine, but that's
because they do want that homeyfeel of Stockbridge.
I agree I don't want just amini Atlanta to pop out of
nowhere, but we have to bestrategic and smart in how we're
building our infrastructure andour economic development At the
current moment and it has beenfor the last few years, which is
(13:54):
why we've been through threecity managers and we've been
through almost four financialtreasurers in the city we have
been stuck and that's becausenobody wants to come into the
community to actually bringquality.
Even if we try to enforce thequality, they'll deny us and say
we can find something better,you have nothing to offer us.
That's what business owners aresaying.
So the taxpayers are nowunderstanding we're taking the
(14:16):
harder shaft of the stickbecause the taxpayers are paying
60% of our taxes whilecommercial is paying 40.
Anybody know local governmentor just finance?
That's opposite Right, why thetaxpayer is paying for an
amphitheater concert when theycould be paying more, so for
streets and infrastructure.
We have to flip that.
So when I say fresh energy andfresh perspective, I'm really
(14:36):
talking about those key areas tobringing our tax dollars down,
making sure they're not payingmore in their fees and then
making sure that we have goodoversight and structure, because
clearly our structure iscrumbling, which is why we're
going through economicdevelopment and our city
managers just like that.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Gotcha, and I know you talked about affordable
housing, yeah, so can you tellme a little bit about that and
what your plans are for that?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
Yeah, actually that's a little iffy.
I can't say I'm just going toinstantly bring affordable
housing right.
But one of the things I can doand that's going back to me
talking about oversight ismaking sure we're bringing
affordable housing with qualityhousing, building and
developments.
So one of the things I want todo is something I call an 80-20
rule, where the city's going toput in an ordinance saying we're
going to do 80% affordablehousing, 20% townhomes,
(15:19):
apartments, condominiums.
A lot of people are upset toinclude some council members,
because the city keeps approvingtownhomes, townhomes, townhomes
, apartments.
That's good, and their numberone reason is that my generation
does not want to buy a house.
That's not true.
My generation just can't afforda house.
Okay, I was gonna say really wecan't afford that.
Not only do we want a house forourselves and we want a house
(15:39):
for our family, but who's to saythe young brother that went to
Stockbridge high school Justmight come up on some money and
don't want to buy his mama ahouse because that's his number
one dream, Right?
So we can't say that youngpeople don't want to buy houses
so we're not going to build them.
We still want to bring in thoseolder residents.
We want to bring in thoseresidents that are newlyweds,
those new families trying tostart their life, not just
(16:01):
saying, well, we're going tobuild a townhouse.
One district, which is sixsquare miles, in the city of
Stockbridge District 4, just gotapproved for nine townhouse
complexes.
Nine Nine, yeah, in six squaremiles.
That's ridiculous compared tohow much space we have across
the entire city.
So we got to fix stuff likethat.
And so when I'm talking aboutaffordable housing, that's
(16:22):
really what I'm talking aboutMaking sure we're bringing
quality affordable.
Our median in Stockbridge is$309,000.
That's our median 2025.
You can check it in the HenryCounty fact sheet.
Why are we doing townhouses for$450,000?
Why is a townhouse moreexpensive than a house?
We've got to talk about thosethings, and if it's because of
(16:44):
the quality that they're tryingto bring, you can still have
that quality with a differentdeveloper.
You can have that same qualitywith a different interest or a
different layout of your plan,but we can't just keep giving in
to people because they want tobuild into our city, and that's
something I'm going to stopimmediately.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Gotcha and not to jump all over the place, but you
did mention AI a little bit ago.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
And I'd be remiss not to ask, especially with your
generation.
You understand technology a lotbetter than the incumbent, I'm
sure.
I'm sure you understand betterthan me.
How do you see that impactingStockbridge specifically and
what are you prepared to do touse it to your constituents
advantage, so that it benefitsyou as a mayor and it benefits
(17:22):
your citizens?
Speaker 1 (17:24):
One of the things I want to do with tech, with AI,
and one of the things that we'relearning today is AI can
literally put a city on a mapand it can be the most rundown
city in all of hillbillyvilleright your city can be made up
of 50 tractor trailer parks anda railroad and it will make your
city look good for me.
I want ai to make our city lookmore advanced.
I want it to lay out certainthings that we don't see.
(17:46):
How can we communicate more toour residents?
How can we bring more residentsinto our city?
But the number one thing is, ifI'm trying to bring in and of
course I'll be a young mayor, soit's going to have to happen
anyway a multi-generational city, how can I make sure I use AI
to attract those young people,to attract the older residents
and making sure that we'rebuilding a good blend to make
Stockbridge what it is?
Speaker 2 (18:08):
So can you talk about maybe a couple of quick wins or
long-term wins for localbusinesses, things that you will
implement so that they can seeit as a big win for them?
Speaker 1 (18:21):
local businesses but also to attract other businesses
coming into Stockbridge.
I can say commitments.
I don't really like big winsbecause that's sort of similar
to a promise.
In politics we got to be veryspecific with our words.
But my commitments to localbusinesses would really be
making sure the city does morethan just the ribbon cutting.
Making sure that we're tellingpeople to patronize with you.
Making sure we're patronizingwith you.
Making sure that, while you'rethere, how can we keep you there
(18:41):
?
What's different?
What do you need fixed?
Do you need the lawn outside tobe beautified?
Do you need a sidewalk?
Are people having issues withparking in your area?
How can we make it look likeyou are a premier local
restaurant or local business?
I just went to a beauty shop theother day and she's in the cut.
I kid you not.
She is in the cut inStockbridge.
I drove past it four timesbefore I realized that I was
(19:03):
driving past it.
She and I was talking and wewere just looking around.
I said we need something thatattracts your area.
She's by, it's a plaza, butshe's by a apartment complex,
and then she has a big wall onthe side of her building and
then it's another apartmentcomplex.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
No, one could find her Nobody.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Really, truthfully, I drove past it, not
intentionally, I just didn'trealize it was there.
I knew it was there but Ididn't realize that's where she
would be.
And I'm like, literally me andher, we walked outside and I
said we need to clean up outhere.
The trees are dying, we need tobring some more greenery, bring
some flowers, maybe powerwasher building.
How can we as the city makesure we're accommodating you and
(19:41):
not just draining you of yourdollars?
And to our new businesses come,please, come.
Come, because we want that newexperience, we want that new
opportunity and we want to givepeople the opportunity to say
hey, well, I'm not in Atlanta,but I'm in Stockbridge.
We're 25 miles south of Atlanta, but we're in an area where the
city's booming.
We get that traction, there'sconstant traffic through our
(20:03):
local business, and so let'sbring those businesses and try
them out.
Like a lot of those, theseboutiques out here are literally
just because local residentsare attending daily.
Boutiques out here areliterally just because local
residents are attending daily.
She said it's the lady thatcomes to see her once a week to
get a new outfit, either forchurch or just because she's
going out with her own girls.
She's 80 years old, ok, and soyou know we have to keep the
trend of making sure ourbusinesses are getting that
(20:24):
patronism, but also we as a citywe're doing it as well and not
just trying to take advantageno-transcript.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
And if you're elected in the first 90 days, what are
you going to do about it?
What kind of audit are yougoing to conduct and how are you
going to ensure that somethinglike this never happens again?
Speaker 1 (21:04):
Yeah, let me correct something you said.
It's not alleged.
It is actually something thatwas brought to the mayor and
council after the money was gone.
Gotcha, the treasurer broughtit up and they so-called
corrected it you can't correctmoney without putting money back
in but they corrected it bysaying we're going to take $32.9
million from our 2025 budgetand push it back to the 2024
(21:25):
budget, which is where thatmoney was gone.
Now the thing is and they'regoing to tell you this, and this
is false the only reason thatit was mismanaged was because
nobody ever brought the millionsof dollars before the council
to approve, at which the mayorwould have had to sign off on it
.
They just did it.
Head of a district for our city, how do we allow them a limit
(21:56):
to go over a certain amount ofdollars?
It's no way somebody shouldhave been able to spend $32.9
million on their own.
It's no way.
It's insane for a cityespecially what I just tell you
where the 60% of our money comesfrom taxpayers.
So they're trying to say thatit was a mishap.
Our amphitheater budget isbelow what it should be, and so
that's why that $32 million wasgone.
But if it's below, why don't wehave a transparency within our
(22:17):
budget?
Why are you all redacting weput almost $200,000 in open
records requests a localorganization out here.
Why are they redacting certainstrips of the budget so that
they can't see where thatmoney's gone?
They've been trying to play aploy, saying no, we haven't lost
it, it's been corrected.
When you mismanaged $32.9million, you simply coming back
(22:38):
to taxpayers and telling uswe've corrected it is not enough
.
That's right.
I want to know answers.
I want you to have a town hall,and the number one thing I want
you to talk about is I want youto show me the breakdown of the
budget.
I want you to break it down tothe city, because it's my money.
Yeah, I could get $500,000,which we've had in the past but
(22:59):
one of the things that's reallyinteresting to me about that is
typically, when money's missingfrom the city and it's never
been this large of an amount.
The mayor is always the actingcity manager, and so I'm curious
to know really where thatmoney's going, who's signing off
on it and what's happeningbehind the scenes.
As a community member not evenas a candidate what's going on
behind the scenes in City Hallwith our elected officials that
(23:20):
you all can't be transparentenough to let us know in advance
?
$32 million is missing, yet youdecided to hide it and try to
cram it in a meeting when youknew people weren't going to
show up.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yeah, transparency, it fixes a lot.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Yeah, and I'll be honest with you.
I know you said 90 daysno-transcript.
(24:03):
Within our budget to ourcommunity is going to be that
full forensic audit andimmediately after that I'm going
to do a mayor's town hall, onceelected, after that audit is
done, to show and present to thecommunity members what happened
, what's going on in our city,so that they are abreast of
what's happening with theirmoney.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
Has something like that ever been done before?
So you're about to hit thathornet's nest like a piñata?
Absolutely, man.
Okay, let's go.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Only way we can fix what was broken is if we find
out and see what's actuallybroken, acknowledging it is big
right To say, okay, here's whatit is.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
We missed not we you weren't in office at the time
but taking accountability for it, saying this is what I've
discovered, uncovered, rather,and, from this point on, this is
how it's going to go.
How often do you plan on doingthese town halls?
Because, honestly, they'rehiring you right, so you work
for them, absolutely so howoften do they get to audit your
work?
Speaker 1 (24:55):
I implore anyone.
I'm going to set office hoursthroughout the week to at any
moment, not just one specificday, and set an appointment.
You come see me.
Open door to the residents ofStockbridge.
Speaker 2 (25:06):
That's just going to be my number one, but I'm going
to man, listen, I've had 15employees and that was a
headache.
Don't do that.
You got 36,000 people.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
But that's where you come in with transparency.
Yeah, and if I'm going to be themayor for the city and for the
people, I have to stand with thepeople.
I can't just say, oh well, Idon't want to talk to him
because he owns this.
No, I really have to be directand since we haven't had that in
years, we have to kind of showthat transparency back before we
start to put back ourappointments and our blockage
(25:35):
and kind of holding ourselves toour own standard before we
start to push it forward.
One of the biggest things wouldbe is to make sure that when we
do those town halls I want todo at least three for the
forensic audit so that peoplecan have ample time to see what
the findings and research is.
But for me, I'm going to dotown halls regularly.
I'm not going to say monthly orbi-monthly right now, let me
(25:59):
get an office and get situatedbut I plan on doing a lot of
events socially, just alone asthe mayor, to make sure that the
community knows who I am, whatwe're doing and how we can
better serve them.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
And you know the reality is, once it's that open,
almost nobody wants to look.
That's not the plan.
You know what I mean.
But if you're just like, if I'mone of your constituents, and
you go hey, Stefan, we're doinga town hall.
Man, you got it.
Man, I believe you at thispoint it's just because you're
so open and so willing to showhere.
Look, I'm going to pull backthe curtain so you guys can look
behind here and see what'sgoing on.
(26:25):
Absolutely I don't have toworry, knowing that it's that
open of a book.
The youth guys, your age guys,a little younger, you know these
YNs.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
They call them out here.
How do you reach those?
Speaker 2 (26:42):
guys, man.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
My generation is unique, but I love it.
Yes, they are, I absolutelylove it.
It's not really more soreaching them to me, because I'm
kind of with them and around alot, but I can say that you got
to reach to where they are.
So if they're at the basketballcourt, go to the basketball
court.
If they're at the food spotAmerican Deli, we get in a 10
piece smile and pepper.
Meet them at American Deli.
But we can't just say, oh,we're not going to talk to them
because they're YNs, or insteadof judging and talking about
(27:07):
them from a distance, you comeand help them up close.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Do you have any plans to work with that group?
And the reason I asked thisbecause one of my aspirations is
something I'm going to beworking on is mentorship
reaching out, talking to theseguys.
I want to catch them as earlyas middle school and just put
them on a certain path, becauseso much of our youth is thinking
, music or sports, but there'sso many other things that they
(27:32):
can be doing.
You know, entrepreneurship isbig.
Do you have any plans to reachthem in that aspect?
And what are you thinking aboutwhen it comes to showing them
something a little bit differentand getting those guys to be
more involved in the community?
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah, so, um, like I said, number one thing is
reaching them where they are.
So I'm going to the basketballcourts.
Currently I'm like, hey, I needy'all to vote.
They're like we got you, we gotyou, we got you.
You made this point, we got you.
So you know, just kind ofgetting engaged in what they
like to do rather than justtrying to show them and shove
down politics.
Right, that's my number onefocal point, but I'm happy to
also tell you to come out in thenext few months.
(28:05):
I've been endorsed by both ofthe school of school board
members that represent the cityof Stockbridge, district 2 and
District 5.
That's how we start to buildrelationships with our school
board.
A lot of the school boardmembers and I hate to say this
aren't too fond of theleadership in Stockbridge right
now.
How can we bring that trustback, since they've trusted us
to build one of the most premierand up-to-date STEM schools in
(28:26):
the state?
They're building in Stockbridgeas we speak?
So we need to build thatconnection back and I want to
bring those mentorshipopportunities, but again
reaching them where they are, ifwe got to reach them in the
school.
I'm partnering with the schoolboard, me and your education,
your board education and we'recoming to your school.
We're going to do a pep rallyto let you know this.
We're going to do a boy's lunchto let you know this to let me
(28:46):
know hey, this is what we'redoing, this is how we're going
to educate them, because that'show they get that experience.
And so when they leaveStockbridge or they go on about
their day, they're like, hey,somebody loves me, somebody
trusts me, somebody knows I cando something in the world.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
One of my core values and something that I'm really
really big on, is just seeingyoung black men thrive and grow,
because I've seen so many liveswasted, so much potential
talent just go by the wayside.
So that's why I had to cometalk to you.
I'm really impressed by whatyou're doing and anytime I see
someone like this at such ayoung age doing.
(29:21):
You know, when I was 22, Iwasn't doing this, you know.
You know there was a differentmindset, but watching this is
very, very impressive.
So I had to come talk to you,but I'm not super familiar with
Stockbridge itself as a city,you know, so I don't know the
community.
Do you have any issues withcrime, safety or anything like
that?
It seems like you wouldn't.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
We have potential in crime but we have a plethora of
programs that kind of combat,that um, and so a lot of the
crime that you I guess you wouldsee are not really germane to
stockbridge, but it may be asurrounding around.
Of course you're going toalways have your crime.
Burglary, uh, that's theregular, because anybody can
come from anywhere and make yourtown, your town can have zero
(30:00):
days of crime and the next thingyou know, somebody from out of
town shoots and then it'sStockbridge.
You're going to always havethat small, minor daily crime.
But it's not, I would not sayit's a crime issue, but ways
that we can kind of start in themoving forward in the future to
prevent crime it's not really athing out here.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
I guess you know it's rather a safe city relatively.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
I served as state president for the Georgia NAACP,
youth and college for two yearsmaybe three.
I visited all 159 counties inthis state with my position and
having to go meet my membershipsand delegations.
It is fairly in the middle.
Stockbridge is in the middle of, I can say, one of the safest
communities I've been in out ofall 159 counties in the state.
(30:42):
It's always ways to do better.
One of the number one thingsthat I've learned is community
policing and enforcement issomething that you have to be
strict on.
One of the plans that I want todo is, while we engage in
community policing with ourpolice department, let's make
sure that we're engaging withcitizens as well.
And I'm not going to give youthe Disney the officer is
throwing the ball outside withyour son in your yard type of
(31:03):
fantasy.
But at least you can say, hey,I know that officer, I know that
patrol car, that's officerso-and-so.
We're you know we're 36,000people.
It's not super big, but we'rejust enough for you to at least
know what's happening in yourcommunity.
So just some local, smallcommunity initiatives from our
police and our academy, thatreally will take us over the top
.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
And not to beat this to death, but skeptics I'm sure
you've ran into them already.
A lot of them will say well,you're too young, you don't have
the experience.
Just from talking to you and alittle bit of what I've read
about you even what you justmentioned going through all
hundred and how many counties 59.
159 counties who else has donethat?
(31:43):
Very few people even have aworking knowledge of their local
government, let alone justthroughout the entire state.
So I would disagree with thatstatement personally.
But what do you say to skepticsand point to maybe two or three
decisions you've already madeto prove that you have that
experience?
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Yeah, I'm blessed to see 22, because a lot of black
men like me don't have that sameprivilege, and so for me to run
for mayor is a little differentfor me.
I look at the skeptics whenthey say, oh, he's too young.
I'm blessed to have peoplearound that response for me.
I don't typically try torespond to those type of
statements because I want mywork to speak for itself.
And so the skeptics of, oh,he's just 21.
(32:26):
Oh, that's young.
I've actually not gotten thatmany.
I don't think I will vote forhim.
I've actually gotten good luck,god bless you.
I've gotten well wishes, butthe number one thing is what is
your experience?
And then when I tell you theexperience you're like and how
old are you?
You 21?
.
Henry Hero did an article on me,or it may have been the AJC, I
can't remember.
And the number one thing at thetop and it kind of like boosted
everywhere and that's kind ofwhen the skeptic died down with
(32:46):
my age.
It was one statement and Iforgot.
My mom showed it to me.
It was a 21-year-old runningfor mayor and his resume beats
him twice his age.
And so then people started togo to my website read about me,
look for my resume.
I kid you not.
I had my advisor at the time atClark Atlanta call me and it's
(33:07):
like Jaden, people are callingthe university asking for your
resume and so with that, thatskeptic kind of died down.
But you do have those few thatare like eh, I can't respond to
that.
But what I can say is look atwhat I've done in the community,
look at what I'm still doing inthe community, whether a
candidate or just a communityservant, and know that I truly
mean what I say.
I'm not going to say somethingand I don't mean it in regards
to making sure that I'mrepresenting the people, but a
(33:28):
few wins that I can tell you Ihave done, serving as the
youngest planning commissionchairman in state I think the
country, but I'm going to letthem have the state is.
I made sure that we did qualityassurance to all of the hotels
that want to come to ourcommunity and so when anybody
came and said we want to build ahotel, I required them to have
(33:48):
a three-star or higher to comeinto the city of Stockbridge.
The second thing is I work withthe community development
department, going back totechnology and AI to build more,
easier accesses and avenues towhat we're doing in the
community.
So we have the onlineinteractive map.
If you go to the Stock Bridgewebsite under community
development, that allows peopleto literally look up their
address.
(34:09):
All right, am I in the citylimits?
Am I out?
What does the future land usemap look like?
What does the zoning map looklike?
Can I build this here?
They don't have to call usanymore, nor do they have to
print.
They can literally go on theiriPad, share their screen to the
TV if they're meeting with theteam and literally go through it
, and it's interactive.
That's the second one.
And third one, I think for meand this is going to be the most
important is I've worked on aplethora of budgets.
(34:30):
My highest budget that I'veworked on was $11 million and
that was a student at ClarkAtlanta, working between certain
projects and campaigns to makesure that we can actually
actively run our campaigns forthe business, run through our
initiatives and still pay staffat the same time.
So my highest is 11 millionthat I paid and I look forward
to working and reading andseeing what our current city
(34:53):
budget is so we can make sureit's working on behalf of the
people.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Yeah, and I'm pretty sure you know where every dollar
of a million dollars went.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Yeah, I can tell you exactly where every dollar went,
because we zeroed out when wewere done.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
Nice, nice, nice, nice Name.
One issue you've changed yourmind about.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
None, really None.
Every single initiative thatI've put out addresses an issue
and if the issue was changed orshifted from now, I would have
taken it out completely.
But every single thing thatI've put out has been consistent
and I've been campaigning for ayear now.
The 20th marked a year thatI've been campaigning and no
issue that I've addressed in mycampaign to the community has
(35:31):
been addressed or changed.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Interesting, so you're running against Mr Ford.
Speaker 1 (35:36):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Your former friend not so much anymore, former
friend, former mentor,everything.
I think that it's sad that hesees it as a threat.
I think it'd be a welcomechallenge.
If I have someone that I'vementored.
Maybe you're pushing me to beeven better, because now, if I
beat you, it's because I'mreally focused on certain issues
, right, as opposed to justbeing upset about the fact that
(35:58):
how dare you run against me?
I mean, that's the society welive in.
It's designed that way for areason, but you're running
against them.
So what's one thing?
I mean you did at some pointlook at that person and say, hey
, I want to shadow you, right?
So what's one thing that he'sgot right and what's another
that you're like?
No, he's dead wrong on this andI'm changing it immediately.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
I'm going to say this Now Mayor Ford is a great guy,
great black man.
However, I'm running for theoffice of the mayor of
Stockbridge.
I'm not running against MayorFord.
If he sees it in thatperspective, then that's just a
perspective.
He's going to have to see it.
But ultimately, a seat is aseat.
Whoever sits in the seat atthat time, you lead that city
and you lead it in the way thatyou see fit.
(36:38):
But I'm not running against him.
I'm running for a seat, I'mrunning for a seat.
I make that very clear.
I don't do negative campaigns,I don't do negative politics and
so whatever they have going on,let them do that.
I'm going to keep focusing onthe people in my initiatives.
He did a great job in makingsure, as the first black mayor
of the city, black people wererepresented.
We were.
We finally had an opportunityto fully show and embrace what
(37:01):
we are in our culture and ourhistory.
However, in that same doing, wedeflected and pushed back on
the others and while we are themajority in our city, we still
want to show that diverse lookof what Stockbridge is, because
that welcomes new residents.
If I had to pull something that,I would personally believe that
Mayor Ford is not the best atit's really delegation when it
(37:23):
came to leading the people onthe DS.
Any council meeting it's alwaysa council member, maybe two,
that are leading the meetingmore than the mayor or is
speaking out a term when themayor has not acknowledged him,
and that's something that we gotto get back on track, because
it looks like confusion from thefloor.
When the community member looksat it, they're like what is
happening?
And that's because there's noorder and no structure.
(37:46):
And so, while he's a great guyand he's done a great job in
building diversity in ourcommunity, there's stuff that we
still have to do to makeStockbridge a premier community,
and that's what I plan to do.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
Quick lighting round Jaden.
Okay, you ready.
First hundred days it's goingto be different, completely Okay
.
Days it's going to be different, completely Okay.
So I want to break that down alittle bit.
I do I do Because it's one ofthose things that you hear In
fact, I hear it a lot inpolitics.
Right, you hear there needs tobe a change and I go what needs
(38:18):
to be changed?
Why does it need to be?
Speaker 1 (38:19):
changed and how are you going to change it?
How is, because ofrepresentation, the people are
going to see their mayoractively fighting for them?
Speaker 2 (38:24):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
What we're going to change policy.
We're going to change the wayour city is structured.
We're going to change how yousee the city being represented.
Why is because for the lasteight plus years, the city has
been represented in a way thatdoes not represent the city.
We need to keep up in time.
We're 30 years back and weshould be in 2025 with the rest
of the other cities, and so,while we're getting awards for
being premier in some of thelocal individual positions, the
(38:47):
city is not being recognized forthe active work that we're
doing and the good looks thatwe're presenting.
Speaker 2 (38:52):
Describe a Stockbridge family for me in
2030.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
Yeah, a long time ago , when Henry County was first
established, it was establishedto be a retirement community.
It's literally meant to beolder people and vets, people
who are retired from their jobs.
But our leaders in the countylevel has kind of changed the
trajectory on that.
So now our cities have to playcatch up 2030, which is what
five years from now.
That's it.
That's such a short time for meto kind of give you a good
(39:17):
example, but I can say maybe themedium range of price would
probably be about 320,000.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
The reason I picked that number is because, say, you
do four years when you leave,there's a legacy left behind.
Maybe you run again, right, butif you do four years and you
leave, what is your legacy interms of what that looks like
for that family in 2030?
Speaker 1 (39:33):
Yeah, median increase .
For sure that's going to be apriority.
Making sure that we havesustainability within our homes,
making sure our infrastructureis key, because we can't keep
building and we don't have theinfrastructure to accommodate.
And I know the DOT and I don'tknow the next five years is
going to be very weird becausethe DOT and the cities already
have proposals and projects thatare already ongoing.
(39:54):
Currently, that is expandingcertain roads in our community.
So in the next five years I mayexpect just a little bit of
traffic because some of our mainroads will be worked on
consistently, but it'd be a goodflow.
What I'm looking for in thenext five years is those young
professionals to come in andtake some of these townhomes and
these apartments.
What I'm looking for is a minihub for excellence, and when I
(40:15):
define excellence I'm definingit as a community that's safe,
that's thriving.
People know you, know yourneighbor, your neighbor knows
you.
You go out of town.
Your neighbor will watch a dog.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
That hasn't happened in 30 years.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
But it's about the leadership, yeah, and so in a
small city like this and howwe're structured, it can happen.
So that's what I'm kind oflooking for and I'm looking for
a generation where we have moresingle family households and
married kids kind of feel to thecommunity and then we triple
down to young professionals andimmediately after that our
seasoned saints are our oldergeneration.
(40:45):
That kind of just keeps theyoke from cracking right in the
middle.
That'll be what Stockbridgewill look like in the next five
years or so.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
Okay If you're in a room with a very diverse
audience in fact, just forget alarge group just three or four
people, totally from differentbackgrounds.
What is your message to them ifyou only have one or two
minutes to speak to them?
To say, hey, this is who I am,this is why I'm running and this
is why you should vote for me,considering that everyone has a
totally different background anda different ethnicity.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
Yeah, you want me to give you my picture or you want
me to break it down?
Whatever you're comfortable withWell number one thing I applaud
a multitude of diversities inone room because that shows the
character that Stockbridge isbecoming.
But two I tell them up front I'ma country boy, I've served
Stockbridge for eight years now.
I tell them at which thecapacities I've served, which
we've talked about in thispodcast, and then I let them
(41:33):
know this is what I want to seein the community.
I see this specific blend, buthow can we blend all of our
cultures to make Stockbridge'sbeauty?
How can we make sure that ourbusinesses are being boosted?
How can we make sure that ourbusinesses are being boosted?
How can we make sure the numberone thing they want to know
about is where their money going, and how can we talk about our
specific dollars and how they'rebeing allocated?
That's really what I would kindof pitch to the room if I had
(41:54):
maybe three minutes to pitch,and then I'll take some
questions which I know typicallyfor, like officials or
candidates.
We're going to get somequestions, and so I try to leave
most of the space I have forquestions so that they won't
feel like they were unheard inthat moment, got it?
Speaker 2 (42:08):
What message do you have for anyone listening to
this?
Speaker 1 (42:12):
My number one message is, especially for my
Stockbridge residents, that I'mall in for Stockbridge.
When I say I'm all in, I'mtalking about trust,
transparency and building backgood governance in our community
.
Whether you've seen the workI've done in Stockbridge,
whether you've seen the workI've done from DC back to
Georgia or even across the state, you know I'm committed to what
I say I'm going to do.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
That's what I plan to do for Stockbridge as mayor and
that's what we're going tofight for until November 4th.
That's fantastic.
I actually have one morequestion I'm going to say.
This is Jaden 2.0, right, 1.0was from like 13 years old,
service in the community all theway through college.
Now you're.
It's about to get real.
Yeah, right, so that's Jaden2.0.
Tell me about Jaden 3.0.
If you can think about thefuture, tell me what that looks
like.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
The Jaden 3.0 would be.
If I had to put it short, itwould be from the words of
Shirley Chisholm and I'm goingto flip it a little bit, I'm
going to give it 3.0.
She said if they don't give youa chair at the table or a seat
at the table, you bring your ownseat.
Now, when I'm talking to thenext generation, when I'm
talking to my generation andmaking sure we're moving
communities forward, that wasgood for back in the day.
(43:17):
But if it was Jaden 3.0, theywould flip the Honorable
Chisholm's words and If theydon't give you a seat at the
table, you take their seat,Because the fight is going to
start when you take their seat.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
Nice, when can we find you Website, social media
et cetera.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
Yeah, you can find me on all social media platforms
at Jaden for Stockbridge, andthe four is spelled out.
You can also go towwwjadenforstockbridgecom.
Or you can reach out to mebecause I have a campaign sale
and I like to hear from myconstituents directly at
470-219-8679.
Oh, that's real man.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
You're about to give your phone number out.
Speaker 1 (43:50):
Listen, that's my campaign number.
You call me anytime.
If not, I'll call you back.
Speaker 2 (43:54):
And that number will be disconnected up to November
4th.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
No, it's been connected for about four years
now.
You can call me at any time.
Speaker 2 (44:00):
All right.
So we have a tradition on theshow At the end of every episode
, someone has to read the outronotes.
It's just a couple of bulletpoints and you have to do an
impression Now, if you want tokeep it more serious though, I
mean, I mean I so.
Are you Jaden today or Jadenfrom future?
We'll be Jaden today, Jadentoday.
Go ahead and read the outronotes.
Man, let's get it All rightPlease support us by following
(44:21):
the show.
Speaker 1 (44:21):
Leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts.
Thank you so much for listening.
We'll catch you next week whenwe share conversations
surrounding real issues we dealwith every day.
Manhood matters and we're out.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
Jaden Premier, let's do it, let's go man issues that
never end for our perspective,or, true, a podcast for all but
our point of view.
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