President Ceasar Mitchell names his Atlanta city council committee chairs

By Maria Saporta

Atlanta City Council President Ceasar Mitchell released his committee assignments today, and it appears as though the legislative body will be undergoing some changes.

Interestingly enough, to of the committee chairs are brand new council members.

Aaron Watson, an at-large councilmember, will chair the zoning committee. He also will serve on city utilities and the finance/executive committee.

Newcomer Yolanda Adrean, who represents the Buckhead area, will chair the finance and executive committee. She also will serve on city utilities and public safety.

Other committee chair appointments include:

Natalyn Mosby Archibong will chair the city utilities committee. She also will serve on the public safety and transportation committees.

Joyce Sheperd will chair the community development and human resources committee. Her other committee assignments include: public safety and the committee on council.

Ivory Lee Young Jr. will chair the public safety committee. He also will serve on the zoning committee and the community development/human resources committee.

Felicia Moore will chair the committee on council. Her other committee assignments are finance/executive and transportation.

And in one of the more surprising appointments — C.T. Martin, who is considered to be a bit of a maverick, will chair the transportation committee. He also will serve on the finance/executive committee and public safety.

As for the other city council members serving on the various committees:

Carla Smith will serve on city utilities, zoning and transportation.

Howard Shook will serve on city utilities, zoning, and the finance/executive committee.

Kwanza Hall is on zoning, community development/human resources and committee on council.

Keisha Lance Bottoms will serve on zoning, public safety and transportation.

Cleta Winslow will serve on zoning, community development/human resources and the committee on council.

Michael Julian Bond will serve on community development/human resources, committee on council and transportation.

Alex Wan will serve on community development/human resources, finance/executive committee, and the committee on council.

H. Lamar Willis is serving on finance/executive committee, public safety and transportation.

In looking at the line up of committee chairs, of the seven city council committees, six will be chaired by African Americans; and four will be chaired by women.

In all, the 16 member council (which includes President Mitchell) has 12 African Americans and four white council members, including Wan who is Asian-American. Nine of the 16 are male and seven are women.

The Atlanta City Council also has a large number of returning members — 11 in all. The newcomers are Watson, Adrean, Bottoms, Bond and Wan.