Interim Parks and Recreation Commissioner Doug Voss will stay on as the permanent head of Atlanta’s park system, the next step in his 15-year career with the city department.
Mayor Andre Dickens announced the permanent appointment on Oct. 19 following a national search to replace former commissioner Justin Cutler, who announced his departure in May 2026 after four years with the city.
Following Cutler’s departure, Voss took on the role as “interim” commissioner. Insiders said he originally had no intentions to stay on permanently – but later joined as a candidate in the nationwide search. He was the only internal candidate in the search.
“Doug (Voss) knows this department, the people who work here, and the communities we serve,” Dickens said via press release.
Voss first joined the city’s Parks and Recreation Department in 2011. He was brought on by then-commissioner George Dusenbury during a hunt for “fresh ideas” and certified parks professionals. He has since held several leadership roles, including Director, Deputy Commissioner, and Interim Commissioner.
Dusenbury, now the Trust for Public Land’s Vice President of the Southern Region and Georgia State Director, called Voss a “really detailed operations person.”
“He’s really always had this strong skill set in understanding the ins and outs of park operations,” Dusenbury said.
According to the city, during his time in other roles across Atlanta parks, Voss helped advance the city’s Park Ranger program, condense maintenance operations, strengthen the Natural Resources team and support greenspace acquisition efforts.
He has also witnessed a changing parks system in Atlanta. In 2021, the city ranked 49th out of 100 park systems in the national comprehensive ParkScore by the Trust for Public Land. By 2026, the city reached 18th in the national rankings.
Today, 85% of all residents in Atlanta live within a 10-minute walk to a park, higher than the national average of 76%.
Park Pride President and CEO Michael Halicki said Voss’ experience in Atlanta helped him beat out the other candidates. As the leader of Atlanta’s nonprofit dedicated to improving local parks, he joined the search committee to find a new commissioner after Cutler’s departure.
The search committee narrowed the national search to a list of finalists and Mayor Dickens made the final appointment.
Park Pride President and CEO Michael Halicki said Voss had experience that helped him beat out other candidates. The parks nonprofit leader was on the national search committee for a new permanent commissioner.
According to Halicki, the committee had a “number of things” in mind for a new commissioner: Someone willing to come on board in the mayor’s second term, somebody with cultural competency of “knowing how to do things” in Georgia, and somebody who wants to push the city higher in its ParkScore.
“He really knows what’s going on, and I think that is something that kind of gave him an edge over the competition that would invariably have a learning curve on how we do things in Atlanta,” Halicki said.
Dickens announced the appointment of Voss hours before the quarterly Greenspace Advisory Council meeting, led by the city and a coalition of local organizations. Voss immediately dove into the role.
“The mayor started the meeting, and Doug went immediately to work,” Halicki said. “Kind of tapping into his vast knowledge of what’s happening right now in parks.”
Halicki and Dusenbury each listed off strengths that Voss would bring to the role: a servant mentality, “even-toned” attitude, adaptivity, strong team relationships and a high level of trust from the department.
Dusenbury said Voss brings years of relationships with park employees, city leaders and Atlanta nonprofits. He added there will be “opportunities to build trust” with the philanthropic community, too – Atlanta outperforms many other cities on philanthropic investment.
But the Trust for Public Land leader is most looking forward to Voss’ vision. He said the new commissioner has a “very good understanding” of the mayor’s priorities, and is great at working operationally.
“As he grows into the role, it would be interesting to see from that vision perspective that there are certain things he is hoping to accomplish,” Dusenbury said.
Voss did not make a public comment on the appointment. In the meantime, Dusenbury and Halicki both expressed optimism about working with the new commissioner.
“LIke a lot of the parks community, I am looking forward to working with Doug (Voss) in the new role,” Dusenbury said. “I wish him the best – we’re here so he can be successful, we can be successful and Atlanta can be successful.”
