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Dunn runs for ARC top slot

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@TheCitizenNews.com

Fayette County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn has at least a 50-50 chance of being elected the next chairman of the powerful Atlanta Regional Commission when the planning agency’s Board of Directors meets today.

Dunn and Cobb County Commission Chairman Sam Olens are the only members of the current ARC board who have expressed a desire to chair the metro planning agency for 2005.

The 39-member board, which also includes Fayetteville Mayor Ken Steele, will elect a new chairman when it meets at 1:30 p.m. today at ARC offices in downtown Atlanta.

“I have a good chance,” Dunn confessed when reached at home on Monday. “Sam (Olens) and I are good friends; we have no personal animosity toward one another. I would just like to bring a little of my personality and drive to the process, but if he were to be elected I would support him.”

The new leadership will replace Clayton County Commission Chairman Crandle Bray, who held the seat for two years. Bray, who is leaving local politics after choosing not to seek reelection in Clayton this year, spent nearly a decade at the county’s helm.

Bray’s departure is among several this year that will change the senior makeup of the ARC board, putting Dunn in better position to assume the chairmanship.

Longtime Gwinnett County Commission Chairman F. Wayne Hill, considered one of the state’s most powerful political figures, lost his re-election bid in the summer’s primary and is also stepping down from the ARC at the end of the year.

Like Bray, outgoing Henry County Commission Chairman Leland Maddox chose not to seek reelection as well and will leave the ARC board. Rita Rainwater, Douglas County chair, and Norman Wheeler, Rockdale County chair, are also leaving this year.

Dunn was first elected to the County Commission in 1998 and was reelected in 2002. He has been chairman for the past four years, appointed to the post each January by his fellow commissioners.

Among the 10 county government chiefs who sit on the ARC board, Dunn and DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones now share the longest tenure, four years each.

Dunn said Monday he thought his seniority on the ARC would work in his favor in today’s vote.

He said he was ready to assume the high-profile job, if elected.

Being from Cobb County, Olens might win favor because he represents the “other side” of Atlanta after two years of Clayton County’s Bray at the helm.

With a population six times that of Fayette, Cobb’s standing in the metro area is greater as well.

But Dunn said the fact Fayette is a smaller fringe county could also work in his favor. If he is elected, Fayette County will surely play a greater role in metro affairs, though he couldn’t say exactly how.

“The ARC sometimes services the bigger, more congested counties better than it does the smaller, outlying counties,” Dunn said. “Quite frankly, we don’t get much attention now, but if I was up there I’d be able to focus some of that down here.

“There are so many very important issues that we have to deal with,” he said. “The growth in the Atlanta area is going to continue, the traffic congestion is going to continue.”

And while being named ARC chair might require him to attend more meetings downtown, that won’t distract from his duties as a commissioner, Dunn insisted.

“My job up there is to look after the Fayette County taxpayer,” he said. “But sometimes you have to take off that hat and look at the region. It’s a symbiotic relationship, one that affects the health of the entire region.”

Choosing a chairman is just one of several big items on today’s ARC agenda.

Topping the list is final adoption of Mobility 2030, the ARC’s long-range regional transportation plan that has been in the works for nearly three years.

The lengthy document, which addresses projected transportation issues through the year 2030, will cost $75 billion to fully implement, Dunn said. But only $50 billion in potential funding, from federal and state sources, has been identified so far.

“We’re $25 billion short on our plans as they exist today,” he said. “We’re going to have to get into some tough prioritizing in order to make this happen.”

What is the ARC?

What is the Atlanta Regional Commission?

• Each county in the nation is assigned to a regional planning agency to address common concerns that cross jurisdictional lines, like quality growth, water and the environment, transportation and air quality issues, workforce issues, etc. The Atlanta Regional Commission is the planning agency for greater Atlanta.

• The ARC serves the 10 immediate counties of metro Atlanta, including Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, Clayton, Cherokee, Douglas, Rockdale and Henry. Fayette County joined the ARC in the early 1990s.

• The ARC board is composed of officials of political subdivisions and private citizens representing districts of approximately the same population within the 10-county, 63-city Atlanta Region.

• Thirty-nine members comprise the ARC Board: 23 local elected officials, 15 private citizens and a representative of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

• Each December, the ARC board elects a chair for the coming year. Fayette County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn is one of two members up for consideration this year.

• The ARC board works closely with federal, state and local authorities in setting an agenda for the region, and planning for the future. Most large-scale developments proposed anywhere within the 10 member counties must get ARC approval. Because of these responsibilities, the chairman can be a powerful position.

• The ARC Board meets monthly, and various committees comprised of ARC board members and other appointees meet as needed. Meetings are open to the public and are held at ARC headquarters, 40 Courtland St., downtown Atlanta.