Fresh Loaf

Carol Couch

After nearly six years on the job, Georgia Environmental Protection Division Director Carol Couch will step down from her post on Oct. 26 and move into academia.

In an email to colleagues, Couch thanked the men and women of the agency tasked with monitoring and protecting the state’s water, air and land. She also noted the challenges the state has faced — droughts, floods and budget crunches — in her last few years.

“On behalf of the [Georgia Department of Natural Resources board], I want to thank Dr. Couch for her service,” DNR board Chair Bill Carruth said in a statement released by the EPD. “Her technical expertise, professionalism and dedication to environmental stewardship have been an asset to the Department of Natural Resources.”

In December, Couch will join the University of Georgia’s College of Environment and Design. Gov. Sonny Perdue and the DNR board are expected to appoint her successor next week.

(Courtesy EPD)

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Atlanta City Council District 6 candidate Alex Wan has resigned from the Atlanta Development Authority Board to clear up any perception of a conflict of interest and focus his energy on the crowded race to represent the Midtown, Candler Park and Virginia-Highland neighborhoods.

From a Wan campaign press release:

“Before officially qualifying, I wanted to further demonstrate my absolute commitment to the people of District 6 and ensure there was no perception of a conflict between my ADA service and my City Council campaign,” he says. “It has been a privilege and an honor to serve ADA and the city of Atlanta since my appointment by City Council in 2006, working for the economic improvement of the city of Atlanta. I have learned so much from my fellow Board members and the incredible ADA staff, and I intend to put that experience to work for our great city’s future.”

…

Wan’s decision to resign from the ADA’s board was clarified by legislation passed by City Council on August 17, stating that candidates for citywide office cannot serve on the boards of entities such as ADA.

In July, some district residents voiced concerns that Wan and Liz Coyle, one of his opponents in the Nov. 3 election, served on the ADA and Atlanta Beltline Inc. boards while also running for office. Coyle resigned from her post last week.

Wan faces Bahareh Azizi, Steve Brodie, Tad Christian, Liz Coyle and Miguel Gallegos.

(Courtesy Alex Wan For Atlanta)

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Atlanta Beltline Inc. President and CEO Terri Montague told CL Tuesday that no cloakroom antics were behind her announcement that she’ll leave the ambitious public-works project on September 1. Simply put, she says: Now’s a good time for her to find another challenge and ensure the $2.8 billion project doesn’t lose momentum.

“This is about a transition in leadership,” Montague said at last night’s Beltline Quarterly Briefing at the Atlanta Public Schools auditorium. “Now is better than later to think about how that looks like, who that person is, and what’s best for the next stage of [the project's development]…In the grand scheme of things, now is a good time to make that change.”

(more…)

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Atlanta Beltline Inc. President and CEO Terri Montague says she’ll depart the agency tasked with designing the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit on Sept. 1.

“It has been my privilege to serve the City and the BeltLine team in this capacity and to help the project achieve its early milestones and momentum over these nearly three years,” Montague said in a press release. “BeltLine implementation has come a very long way in a very short time—thanks in part to the project’s many partners and supporters.”

Montague joined the Beltline in July 2006. ABI says she’ll assist the organization in a consulting capacity until the end of the year to help with her successor’s transition.

More to come. The full press release is after the jump.

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A Democrat state representative serving the Reynoldstown, Cabbagetown and west DeKalb neighborhoods resigned from office today, citing concerns that her new job as a Fulton County prosecutor presented a conflict of interest under Georgia law.

Robbin Shipp, who’s served one term in the Georgia General Assembly, submitted her resignation to Gov. Sonny Perdue this morning.

Georgia law prohibits lawmakers from also working in state government. The Fulton County district attorney’s office is an arm of the state’s judicial branch.

Shipp joined the DA’s office as a senior assistant district attorney in October 2008 after serving as Grady Health System’s general counsel. At the time, she says, both she and DA Paul Howard inquired with the State Bar of Georgia if her dual roles as prosecutor and state representative posed a conflict of interest. She says the state bar issued unofficial opinions that said she was in the clear.

During the legislative session, however, Attorney General Thurbert Baker’s office raised concerns with Howard about her service in the General Assembly.

(more…)

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The former state legislator is currently involved in a sexual harassment investigation at the transportation agency.

InsiderAdvantage has more details.

Pinholster’s the second boardmember to resign in several months; the first was former Chairman Mike Evans who resigned to pursue a relationship with DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham. State lawmakers from the congressional district Pinholster represents will have to vote for a replacement.

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Oh, yowee.

State Rep. Ron Sailor, D-Invisible Land, is resigning. The legislator pleaded guilty Tuesday to laundering $375,000 of what he believed to be drug money for an undercover agent posing as a drug dealer named “Jay.” He will resign from the General Assembly.

Sailor grabbed headlines earlier this month when it was revealed he missed an astonishing 211 of 233 votes in the Gold Dome. That’s 91 percent.

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