What Is the Atlanta Regional Commission?

Since 1947, the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) has been tasked with facilitating coordination, planning, and funding across jurisdictions throughout metro Atlanta for the 11-county Atlanta region. The ARC's work portfolio includes regional transportation planning, aging services, community development, water resources management, workforce development, and homeland security. The agency is charged with considering issues from a regional perspective and working with its community partners to plan the investments and programs needed to improve the quality of life for residents from Cherokee to Henry County and from Douglas to Gwinnett County.

The ARC's Board of Directors includes 41 members from the 11-county region and the City of Atlanta. Each county sends its chairman, a citizen appointee, and one mayor elected by the mayors of all the cities in the county to serve on the Board. Since 2022, I've been honored to be elected by our counties' mayors to represent our cities on the Board of Directors. I serve with Cherokee County Chairman Harry Johnston and citizen member Steve Stancil who previously served in the Georgia House of Representatives and 
as a gubernatorially appointed director of several state agencies.

In January 2024, the chairman of the ARC and City of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens appointed me to be the ARC's vice chairman. Cherokee County and Woodstock are extremely well represented in our region, which has shown dividends with continued outsized exposure for our community's wins, historic funding for infrastructure, and fantastic partnerships from across the region and the state.

Since the ARC deals with issues across a wide spectrum from housing to mobility, natural resources to transportation planning, and even homeland security and emergency preparedness, the importance of the agency comes down to its ability to convene leaders from all backgrounds in a mutual planning and service delivery effort. When a metro Atlanta resident wakes up in the morning, they are not concerned with the jurisdictional lines drawn on the map. They aren't considering which water district or planning overlay they're standing in. They care about practical outcomes to questions such as, "Does clean and drinkable water flow when the tap is turned on? Is electricity available when the light switch is flipped? Is it safe to walk around outside? Are the roads passable, and do they flow safely to get people where they need to go?" In essence — does the infrastructure work?

Through research and analytics, community development, transportation planning and funding, and more, the ARC plays a critical role in delivering services to every member jurisdiction and in helping ensure that the answer to the previous questions and many others remains "yes" for decades to come. The ARC exists to foster thriving communities for everyone within the Atlanta region through collaborative, data-informed planning and investments.

If you have questions about the ARC, visit AtlantaRegional.org, or you may contact me directly.