Brian's Branch Plan

My Immediate Priorities as Branch Coordinator

If elected Branch Coordinator, my first priority will be to redirect my capacity to be an organizer of the Operations Committee and the Membership Committee, because branch success lives or dies on whether these two systems function smoothly and in coordination.

On the operations side, I will focus on removing structural bottlenecks that slow down organizing. Branch coordinators should never be blocked from doing political work because of missing access, unclear processes, or delayed setup. I will ensure that all existing branch coordinators have timely access to the tools, platforms, and resources they need to run meetings, organize campaigns, and communicate with members. When new branches are formed, I will prioritize immediately setting up their operational infrastructure.

On the membership side, I see branch coordination as inseparable from membership development. Branches are where new members will first experience Atlanta DSA, and that experience determines whether someone becomes active, takes leadership, or quietly disengages. I will work closely with the Membership Committee to strengthen onboarding, ensuring that new members are welcomed quickly, oriented clearly, and given real pathways into committee volunteering. The goal is a functional, intentional pipeline, from new member, to volunteer, to organizer.

In terms of branch expansion, my immediate focus will be on launching a SWATS branch and a Gwinnett County branch. Both areas represent critical political terrain with clear organizing opportunities and active member interest, and both would benefit from having localized leadership and infrastructure as soon as possible.

Branches Overview

As Atlanta DSA continues to grow, we need to become more intentional about where and how we organize across Metro Atlanta. To build the kind of deep, sustained base needed to run and win socialist electoral campaigns throughout the region, we should prioritize creating a branch structure that reflects the geographic and political complexity of Metro Atlanta.

Metro Atlanta is one of the most sprawling and decentralized metropolitan areas in the United States, made up of dozens of distinct municipalities spread across multiple counties. Because of the small size and overlapping nature of many of these municipalities, organizing at the county level provides a more practical and scalable way to build power.

By organizing branches by county, we can create a structure that allows for localized base building, leadership development, and campaign infrastructure, while still maintaining a strong, unified chapter-wide strategy.

Purpose of Branches

Organize pressure campaigns to push for changes in the community
Support more local electoral campaigns by building infrastructure where candidates actually live and vote
Develop organizers in areas where chapter leadership may be less present
Create a presence in the community
Hold community events
Build trust and name recognition at the hyperlocal level
Respond more quickly to local issues
Create entry points for new members outside the urban core

The Political Breakup of Atlanta Proper

Metro Atlanta’s political geography is shaped not only by county lines, but by deeply entrenched neighborhood, racial, and class divisions, particularly within the City of Atlanta itself. While organizing by county remains essential for building power across the metro region, the City of Atlanta is large, politically complex, and internally fragmented enough to justify city-based branches that reflect how people actually experience power, displacement, and governance on the ground.

Atlanta’s neighborhoods were historically shaped by racial segregation, redlining, highway construction, annexation, and uneven development. These forces produced distinct political identities and material conditions across different parts of the city. As a result, organizing the city as a single unit risks flattening real differences in political terrain, while smaller, city-based branches allow for deeper base-building and more responsive organizing.

Intown Atlanta

Intown includes much of Atlanta’s urban core: Downtown, Midtown, Old Fourth Ward, Inman Park, Cabbagetown, Grant Park, Reynoldstown, and adjacent neighborhoods.

High renter density and rapid gentrification
A large concentration of young workers, students, and transplants
Proximity to major institutions (Georgia State, Georgia Tech, hospitals, corporate HQs)
Frequent development battles, zoning fights, and transit issues

This area is often the entry point for new members, but also one where displacement is accelerating rapidly. An Intown branch would focus on tenant organizing, transit justice, labor solidarity, and resisting developer-driven growth that excludes working-class residents.

Southeast Atlanta

Southeast Atlanta includes neighborhoods such as East Atlanta, Kirkwood, East Lake, Ormewood Park, Mechanicsville, and surrounding areas.

Historically Black communities
Ongoing gentrification pressures
Environmental justice concerns
Public school and housing struggles

Politically, Southeast Atlanta has seen sharp contradictions: progressive rhetoric paired with material displacement. A Southeast Atlanta branch would be well-positioned to organize long-time residents alongside newer arrivals, centering housing justice, school funding, and environmental health.

SWATS (Southwest Atlanta)

Northwest Atlanta includes neighborhoods such as Vine City, English Avenue, Bolton, Riverside, and areas along the Chattahoochee corridor.

Extreme inequality existing side-by-side
Legacy impacts of urban renewal and highway displacement
Industrial zoning, environmental hazards, and infrastructure neglect

Northwest Atlanta has often been treated as a sacrifice zone for the city’s growth machine. A dedicated branch here would allow organizers to focus on environmental justice, housing stability, and accountability from city agencies and developers.

Northwest Atlanta

Northwest Atlanta includes neighborhoods such as Vine City, English Avenue, Bolton, Riverside, and areas along the Chattahoochee corridor.

Extreme inequality existing side-by-side
Legacy impacts of urban renewal and highway displacement
Industrial zoning, environmental hazards, and infrastructure neglect

Buckhead

Buckhead includes both high-wealth enclaves and pockets of renters and service workers who are often politically invisible.

Concentrated wealth and political influence
Secession movements and conservative backlash
Sharp class divides between residents and workers

While Buckhead is frequently treated as a monolith, organizing here allows Atlanta DSA to confront elite power directly, support workers who labor in the area, and contest right-wing narratives that dominate city politics.

The Political Breakup of Metro Atlanta

Metro Atlanta’s political geography reinforces why organizing ATL DSA branches by county makes the most strategic sense. As shown in the map below, the region is divided not just by municipal boundaries but more significantly by county-level lines, each with distinct demographics, power structures, and political realities.

While the City of Atlanta spans primarily across Fulton and DeKalb, much of our growing working-class base and electoral opportunity lies in the surrounding counties.

Fulton County (Split into North and South Fulton)

Fulton County is the most populous county in Georgia and one of the most politically polarized.

North Fulton, including cities like Alpharetta, Roswell, and Milton, has historically leaned conservative, with strong homeowner associations, business-aligned leadership, and resistance to transit and density. However, demographic shifts and rising housing costs are creating new openings for organizing renters, service workers, and younger residents.

South Fulton, including East Point, College Park, Union City, and the City of South Fulton, is overwhelmingly Black, working class, and reliably Democratic. Despite this, residents often face underinvestment, displacement pressures, and political leadership that does not always deliver materially for constituents.

DeKalb County

DeKalb County is a core stronghold of Black political power in Metro Atlanta and one of the most promising regions for socialist organizing.

Majority Black and heavily Democratic
Home to large numbers of renters and working-class families
A center of organizing around housing, water access, education, and environmental justice

DeKalb has produced movement-aligned elected officials and has a politically engaged base that is often frustrated by bureaucratic dysfunction and elite mismanagement.

Cobb County

Cobb County represents one of the clearest examples of political realignment in the South.

Once a conservative stronghold, Cobb has:

Rapidly diversified racially and economically
Shifted decisively toward Democrats in recent election cycles
Emerged as a battleground for school boards, county commission seats, and municipal races

Despite these shifts, Cobb’s political institutions remain cautious and business-oriented.

Gwinnett County

Gwinnett County is one of the most racially and ethnically diverse counties in the entire Southeast and a critical site for future socialist growth.

Large immigrant and refugee communities
Rapid development and sprawl
Weak tenant protections and transit access
Growing dissatisfaction with unresponsive local government

Politically, Gwinnett has moved from red to purple to blue, but institutional power has not caught up with the needs of its residents.

Clayton County

Clayton County is one of the most consistently overlooked counties in Metro Atlanta, and one of the most important.

Majority Black and Brown
Deeply working class
Impacted by disinvestment, policing, and housing insecurity

Clayton residents face some of the harshest material conditions in the region, yet are frequently excluded from regional planning and political investment.

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