Atlanta BeltLine, Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Fulton County Commissioner Lee Morris to its Board of Directors. Commissioner Morris will fill the vacancy left due to the passing of Commissioner Joan P. Garner as the Fulton County Board of Commissioners Representative.  Commissioner Morris brings to the Atlanta BeltLine Board a wealth of experience and knowledge.

Lee Morris is the Fulton County Commissioner representing District 3, which encompasses the southern part of Sandy Springs, all of Buckhead and parts of midtown. A graduate of Duke University and Emory University School of Law, Mr. Morris began his career practicing tax, corporate and pension law in Atlanta. For 32 years, he served as General Counsel and Chief Financial Officer for an Atlanta-based architectural-engineering firm until retiring in March 2017.

Commissioner Morris was also elected to the District 7 seat on the Atlanta City Council in 1993, and re-elected in 1997. During his tenure on the Atlanta City Council, Mr. Morris chaired the Utilities and Zoning committee and the Finance-Executive Committee. His many accomplishments as a City Councilman include helping to initiate the City’s sidewalk building program; introducing traffic calming to the City; sponsorship of what many consider the first transit-oriented zoning in the region around the Buckhead MARTA Station and; introducing legislation which strengthened the neighborhoods in the City. In August of 2003, Governor Sonny Perdue appointed Commissioner Morris to the Board of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, where he served until 2006. In June of 2007, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle appointed Mr. Morris to the Georgia Public Defenders Standards Council.

Commissioner Morris has had active leadership roles in the community spanning nearly 45 years including but not limited to organizations such as the Atlanta Council of Younger Lawyers, the Atlanta Bar Association, the Southeastern Consortium for Minorities in Engineering Atlanta Business Alliance, the Civic League for Regional Atlanta, the Midtown Alliance, the Atlanta Urban League, Common Cause Georgia, the Piedmont Park Conservancy, the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, the Buckhead Community Improvement District, the Midtown Improvement District, the Buckhead Neighborhood Alliance, and the Emory University Board of Visitors.

“We are pleased to have Commissioner Lee Morris join the Atlanta BeltLine Board to continue the legacy of Commissioner Joan Garner”, stated Atlanta BeltLine President and CEO, Paul Morris. “Like Commissioner Garner, he has a great deal of leadership experience in the community as well as direct experience with planning and zoning, transportation, and urban revitalization which will be an immense asset to the Atlanta BeltLine”.

Commissioner Morris began his service at the ABI Board meeting on May 10.