In other election news this week, the Atlanta Regional Commission Board (ARC) elected Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens to serve as the chair of the board on Wednesday, with a two year term beginning in January. Dickens election marks the first time an Atlanta mayor will serve as chair of the board in the more than 75 year history of the ARC.
“Mayor Dickens is a strong leader and fierce advocate for the Atlanta region,” said ARC Executive Director & CEO Anna Roach. “All of us at ARC look forward to working closely with him and the rest of our board to build a better, brighter future for all residents.”
Dickens will succeed citizen member Kerry Armstrong, from Gwinnett County, who has served on the board since 2008 and is in his tenth year as chair. Armstrong is in commercial real estate and himself had succeeded another real estate executive from Cobb County, Tad Leithead. Besides being the first Atlanta mayor to helm the ARC, he is only the second non-white person in its history to be selected chair, something Fulton County Commission Chair Rob Pitts noted in advocating Dickens’ candidacy. Pitts told the Saporta Report, “It’s not that I have anything against white males or Mr. Armstrong, but times have changed.”
The ARC Board is a rather inclusive list, with 41 members – 11 county commission chairs, 12 mayors in those 11 counties, the mayor of Atlanta and 15 citizen members. The board has often been dominated by the suburban areas of the ARC, which covers a wide array of density, demographics and politics. Atlanta mayors have also often taken a somewhat hands-off approach to the organization, something that will no doubt be changing under Dickens.
The district is approximately 40 percent black, 40 percent white, 13 percent Hispanic, 10 percent Asian and “Other” filling out the rest. The district skews younger but just slightly, with more than 25 percent aged 0 to 19 and only 13 percent 65 and over, 20 to 34, 35 to 49, 50 to 64 are all right around 20 percent.
“I am honored by the confidence the Board has put in my leadership as well as the City of Atlanta’s commitment to regional progress and success,” said Chair-elect Dickens. “Atlanta’s interests are best served if the issues that matter most to us—like public safety, transportation, housing, workforce development and so much more—are addressed with a comprehensive, cohesive strategy that involves our regional partners. Our challenges do not stop at city limits. Thank you to Kerry Armstrong for his leadership—especially through a particularly turbulent period when a pandemic forced leaders around the region to rethink how we could keep our residents safe while keeping our businesses healthy. I look forward to working with the entire Board and staff to move not just Atlanta, but the entire region, forward … together.”
