More than 40 experts and community stakeholders will join the South River Forest and Public Safety Training Center Community Task Force that Mayor Andre Dickens is establishing to provide input on the Training Center and surrounding green space.

Community involvement has been integral to the development of the Training Center over the last year, primarily through the existingCommunity Stakeholder Advisory Committee. Feedback from that group has led to several improvements to the Training Center plan, including adding a 100-foot tree buffer along the residential side of the facility, adding spaces available for community use, building sidewalks, and implementing extensive measures to mitigate sound from training activities at the site.

The new Community Task Force will add more voices and broaden the scope of community input to include the surrounding green space and the nearby site of the former Atlanta Prison Farm, as well as public safety training curriculum.

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in our vital public safety needs and establish the largest park the City of Atlanta would own,” Mayor Dickens said. “I want the community at the head of the table, sharing their expertise and aspirations. I look forward to receiving recommendations which will continue to inform the training center and the parks, trails and community spaces our communities can be proud of.”

The Community Task Force is comprised of four subgroups:

• Parks and green space

• Visioning, memorializing, and repurposing the former Atlanta Prison Farm site

• Sustainability and resilience

• Police, fire and E-911 training curriculum

The Community Task Force will begin meeting in April and provide an initial set of recommendations by July.

Initial members of the Community Task Force are as follows:

Attorney Gerald Griggs, Georgia NAACP

Bishop Kevin Strickland, Clergy

Blake Fortune, Community Member

Bonita Johnson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Christopher Bruce, ACLU of Georgia

Cicely Garrett, Community Member

David Paull, CompostNow

Donna Stephens, Chattahoochee Brick Company

Douglas Blackmon, Author, Slavery by Another Name

Dr. Bryant Marks, AUC Staff, Morehouse College

Dr. Gerald Durley, Retired Pastor and Community Activist

Dr. LaToria Whitehead, LS White Group, LLC and Spelman College

Dr. Rashad Richey, Radio Personality

Dr. Volkan Topalli, Georgia State University

Dr. Yomi Noibi, Eco Action

George Dusenbury, Trust for Public Land

Greta G. deMayo, PATH Foundation Creator

Janese Coleman, Community Member

Jay Bassett, Retired EPA and Master Connector

Jill Savitt, National Center for Civil and Human Rights

Leo Smith, Interfaith Public Policy

Lewis Woodson, Community Leader and Park Advocate

Linda Adams, Community Member

Lisa Tuttle, Arts Exchange

Lynnette Reid, BeltLine, Inc.

Marc Bolden, Community Member

Michael Halicki, Park Pride

Michelle Blackmon, Grant Park Conservancy

Monica Thornton, The Nature Conservancy

Nina Cutler, Community Member

Rabbi Peter Berg, Clergy

Retired GSP John Prevost, Community Member

Rev. Gary Burke, Clergy

Robbie Hunter, Graymont Drive Neighborhood Association

Sabir Khan, Artist

Samyukth Shenbaga, Atlanta Regional Commission

Samuel Bacote, Community Member

Sheffield Hale, Atlanta History Center

Stacy Funderburke, The Conservation Club

Susan Evans, Atlanta Housing

Tsedey Betru, BeTru Consulting

Morieka Johnson, Community Member

For more information on the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center and the South River Forest, visit ATLTrainingCenter.com.