The Atlanta City Council race for 6th District is about to get hotter.

Longtime neighborhood leader Elizabeth Coyle is expected to enter the race in a matter of days.

Coyle, who has been serving as a city council appointee on the board of Atlanta Beltline Inc., reportedly told executive committee members at a meeting on Friday that she plans to resign from that position at the next full board meeting on June 16 with the intention of running for City Council.

Anne Fauver, who has served as District 6th’s councilwoman for two terms, annouced in April that she would not be seeking re-election for the district that includes Midtown, Virginia-Highland, Morningside and Druid Hills.

Contacted by email, Coyle responded: “I expect to be making an announcement of my plans soon.”

Coyle will be facing at least two other candidates who have announced their candidacy.

The first person to enter the race was Steve Brodie, a gay business consultant, who ran against Fauver in 2005 and lost by only five votes with about 6,000 people voting in that district.

Fauver, a realtor, was particularly vulnerable because she steadfastly supported a new Atlanta Botanical Garden parking deck in Piedmont Park despite strong neighborhood opposition.

The other candidate in the race is Alex Wan, an Asian-American gay businessman who has been an active community volunteer.

The 6th district has been represented by an openly gay council person since 1998 when Cathy Woolard was elected. She became Georgia’s first openly gay elected officials.

Then, when Woolard decided to run for Atlanta City Council president (a position that she won), Fauver ran for the seat.

If Coyle wins the seat, she will be break that string of gay representation.

Coyle, a mother, is married and has been working as an active neighborhood volunteer for years.

In talking to several city observers, they said that Coyle’s reputation and following likely will mean she will become the frontrunner when she enters the race.