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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

South Fulton City Council Work Session - December 9, 2025

City Council & Public Facilities Authority — Tuesday, December 9, 2025

BodySouth Fulton, Georgia

SessionCity Council & Public Facilities Authority

DateTuesday, December 9, 2025

StatusFILED

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Speaker 1

7:34

You're joining us live from City Hall here in the great city of South Walton.

7:39

Introducing Mayor and Council.

7:43

Mayor Khalid.

7:46

Councilwoman, Dr.

7:48

Catherine Rao, District One.

7:52

Councilwoman, Carmelita Gums, District Two.

7:59

Councilwoman, Helen Zenobia Willis, District Three.

8:05

Councilman JC Sebastian, District Four.

8:13

Councilwoman, Kiosha B.

8:15

Bell, District Five.

8:20

Councilwoman, Natasha Williams Brown, District Six.

8:26

Mayor Pro Tim, Linda Becker Pritchett, District Seven.

8:30

Interim City Attorney, Sarah Kelly.

Speaker 2

9:19

If you would call the role.

Unassigned speaker

10:00

And the

Speaker 3

10:00

Honorable Linda B.

10:01

Pritchett, District 7, Mayor Pro Tim.

Speaker 2

10:05

Here.

Speaker 3

10:06

Madam Mayor Pro Tim, you have a quorum.

Speaker 2

10:09

Thank you very much.

10:10

And if you would please call the first item.

Speaker 3

10:15

First item is the city manager monthly report by our city manager Sharon D.

10:20

Subidan, City Manager.

10:23

We'll be inclusive of introduction of new employees in the city manager's monthly report.

Speaker 4

10:32

Good afternoon, Mayor Pro Tem and Council.

10:36

As is customary, the city manager's report was submitted to you through the agenda process and is available on our website.

10:46

And I am subject to any questions you have before I bring on.

10:51

We have a few new employees that we would like to introduce to you today.

Speaker 2

11:08

Okay.

11:09

Well, um Councilwoman Gums.

Speaker 5

11:13

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tim.

11:15

So I received a text message from a resident in reference to the lifeline for Fulton County.

11:23

The police are you familiar with that?

11:26

It's about for animal control.

11:29

Okay.

11:30

The question says with the Fulton County plan to ensure that the tiered emergency response system for animal control addresses residents' concerns effectively has switched from the Fulton County police, especially for a high priority emergency situations, often seen in our city for within 24 hours is not uh

Speaker 4

11:54

sufficient

Speaker 5

11:55

as far as you know their response times because as you heard, I don't know if well, if you are familiar, it is very hard to get them out for um animals that are loose and uh their response time has been really low.

12:10

Is there any way that we can ensure that a better response time will be provided to the residents here in the city of South Fort?

12:16

It seems like everybody loses their dog every week if you check on next door.

12:20

Um and some of them could be a little scary um and vicious looking.

12:24

So any thoughts around

Unassigned speaker

12:25

that?

Speaker 4

12:27

So the most recent I've learned is they've transitioned animal services to Fulton County police.

12:33

And a part of that, my understanding was to improve and streamline response times.

12:39

So what I can do is circle back with them and perhaps even have them come and speak at one of these work sessions regarding because it is an ongoing problem, and we do pay a lot to Fulton County for the for animal control.

12:55

So it might be an opportunity for you all to hear from them directly in an upcoming work session, maybe in the first quarter.

Speaker 5

13:03

I definitely think that would be a great thing, at least you know, teaching people how to respond, uh, who to call, because a lot of them call the council members as well, um, when they could be calling uh the Fulton County police now.

13:16

And they and they will be South Fulton police will be responding to Fulton County police.

Speaker 4

13:20

Fulton County.

Speaker 5

13:22

Okay, thank

Unassigned speaker

13:23

you.

Speaker 2

13:28

Councilwoman Willis.

Speaker 6

13:31

I definitely think we need to have a work session on how that will work because our dispatch,

Unassigned speaker

13:37

Speaker 6

13:37

mean our jurisdiction is South Fulton PD.

13:40

I don't even know if South if Fulton County PD is on our channel as it relates to dispatch.

13:46

And so we we we need to have an understanding of how that works.

Unassigned speaker

13:52

Speaker 6

13:52

Fulton County PD on our channel?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Economic Development███████████████████████████████████████████43%

Procedural███████████████15%

Public Engagement████████████12%

Tourism Development████████8%

Public Safety██████6%

Arts And Culture█████5%

Animal Welfare████4%

Public Health██2%

Communication██2%

Summary of Proceedings

South Fulton City Council Work Session - December 9, 2025

The South Fulton City Council held a work session on December 9, 2025, at 4:00 PM at City Hall. Although the agenda listed Mayor Khalid Kamau as calling the meeting to order, Mayor Pro Tem Linda Pritchett presided in the absence of the Mayor and Councilmember Natasha Williams-Brown. A quorum of six council members was established. The session concluded at 5:02 PM and focused on the City Manager's report and a major presentation on restructuring the city's Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB).

City Manager's Monthly Report

City Manager Sharon Subadan presented her report and introduced three new employees: Clifford Robinson (Senior Communications Manager), Brent Katz (Theatrical Production Manager), and Trey Sean Wright (Open Records Coordinator).

Councilmember Carmalitha Gumbs relayed a resident's concern about slow response times from Fulton County Animal Control after the service moved under the Fulton County Police Department. The City Manager committed to inviting Fulton County to a work session in Q1 2026 to clarify protocols and improve response.

Councilmember Helen Willis raised the issue of Grady ambulance response times, noting a missed 90-day deadline for recommendations. The City Manager updated the council that Chief Chad now sits on the oversight board and Grady is providing monthly statistics, suggesting a work session to evaluate progress.

Councilmember Jaceey Sebastian requested updates on the Resiliency Planning Grant and the City Grove Community Building schematic; the City Manager provided information on both.

Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) New Model Presentation

Mercedes Miller of the Aerotropolis Atlanta Alliance and Andrea Town of the Georgia Association of CVBs presented a proposal for South Fulton to shift its tourism marketing to the ATL Airport District Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Proposal: The new model offers a unified regional brand, data-driven reporting, and professional sales staff. The Bureau reported generating over 380 sales leads, over 29,000 room nights, and over $57.5 million in economic impact for its member cities from July to November 2025.
Council Concerns:
- Transparency: Councilmembers Willis and Rowell strongly criticized the current CVB arrangement for lacking financial and performance reporting. Councilmember Willis stated the city pays approximately $368,000 annually in hotel-motel taxes with minimal accountability. She demanded standardized reporting for all boards receiving public funds.
- Board Representation: Councilmember Willis objected to a single board seat for South Fulton, the region's largest city with 115,000 residents. She advocated for two or three board seats and that appointees possess hospitality industry experience and be subject to council confirmation.
- Scope of Services: Councilmembers discussed ensuring city-specific assets (Wolf Creek Golf Course, Tennis Center, Southwest Arts Center) are effectively marketed and not subsumed by the regional brand.

Key Outcomes

CVB Restructuring Directive (Approved 6-0): The council voted unanimously to direct the City Manager to negotiate a formal agreement with the ATL Airport District Convention and Visitors Bureau. The motion, made by Councilmember Willis, requires the City Manager to include a council-approved process for board appointments. The finalized agreement must return to the full council for final approval.
Public Safety Work Sessions: The City Manager committed to scheduling work sessions for the council on both Fulton County Animal Control response times and Grady ambulance service performance.

The work session was adjourned at 5:02 PM.

Meeting Transcript

You're joining us live from City Hall here in the great city of South Walton. Introducing Mayor and Council. Mayor Khalid. Councilwoman, Dr. Catherine Rao, District One. Councilwoman, Carmelita Gums, District Two. Councilwoman, Helen Zenobia Willis, District Three. Councilman JC Sebastian, District Four. Councilwoman, Kiosha B. Bell, District Five. Councilwoman, Natasha Williams Brown, District Six. Mayor Pro Tim, Linda Becker Pritchett, District Seven. Interim City Attorney, Sarah Kelly. If you would call the role. And the Honorable Linda B. Pritchett, District 7, Mayor Pro Tim. Here. Madam Mayor Pro Tim, you have a quorum. Thank you very much. And if you would please call the first item. First item is the city manager monthly report by our city manager Sharon D. Subidan, City Manager. We'll be inclusive of introduction of new employees in the city manager's monthly report. Good afternoon, Mayor Pro Tem and Council. As is customary, the city manager's report was submitted to you through the agenda process and is available on our website. And I am subject to any questions you have before I bring on. We have a few new employees that we would like to introduce to you today. Okay. Well, um Councilwoman Gums. Thank you, Mayor Pro Tim. So I received a text message from a resident in reference to the lifeline for Fulton County. The police are you familiar with that? It's about for animal control. Okay. The question says with the Fulton County plan to ensure that the tiered emergency response system for animal control addresses residents' concerns effectively has switched from the Fulton County police, especially for a high priority emergency situations, often seen in our city for within 24 hours is not uh sufficient as far as you know their response times because as you heard, I don't know if well, if you are familiar, it is very hard to get them out for um animals that are loose and uh their response time has been really low. Is there any way that we can ensure that a better response time will be provided to the residents here in the city of South Fort? It seems like everybody loses their dog every week if you check on next door. Um and some of them could be a little scary um and vicious looking. So any thoughts around that? So the most recent I've learned is they've transitioned animal services to Fulton County police. And a part of that, my understanding was to improve and streamline response times. So what I can do is circle back with them and perhaps even have them come and speak at one of these work sessions regarding because it is an ongoing problem, and we do pay a lot to Fulton County for the for animal control. So it might be an opportunity for you all to hear from them directly in an upcoming work session, maybe in the first quarter. I definitely think that would be a great thing, at least you know, teaching people how to respond, uh, who to call, because a lot of them call the council members as well, um, when they could be calling uh the Fulton County police now. And they and they will be South Fulton police will be responding to Fulton County police. Fulton County.

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South Fulton City Council Work Session - December 9, 2025

City Manager's Monthly Report

Councilmember Jaceey Sebastian requested updates on the Resiliency Planning Grant and the City Grove Community Building schematic; the City Manager provided information on both.

Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) New Model Presentation

Proposal: The new model offers a unified regional brand, data-driven reporting, and professional sales staff. The Bureau reported generating over 380 sales leads, over 29,000 room nights, and over $57.5 million in economic impact for its member cities from July to November 2025.

Council Concerns:

Transparency: Councilmembers Willis and Rowell strongly criticized the current CVB arrangement for lacking financial and performance reporting. Councilmember Willis stated the city pays approximately $368,000 annually in hotel-motel taxes with minimal accountability. She demanded standardized reporting for all boards receiving public funds.
Board Representation: Councilmember Willis objected to a single board seat for South Fulton, the region's largest city with 115,000 residents. She advocated for two or three board seats and that appointees possess hospitality industry experience and be subject to council confirmation.
Scope of Services: Councilmembers discussed ensuring city-specific assets (Wolf Creek Golf Course, Tennis Center, Southwest Arts Center) are effectively marketed and not subsumed by the regional brand.

Key Outcomes

CVB Restructuring Directive (Approved 6-0): The council voted unanimously to direct the City Manager to negotiate a formal agreement with the ATL Airport District Convention and Visitors Bureau. The motion, made by Councilmember Willis, requires the City Manager to include a council-approved process for board appointments. The finalized agreement must return to the full council for final approval.

Public Safety Work Sessions: The City Manager committed to scheduling work sessions for the council on both Fulton County Animal Control response times and Grady ambulance service performance.

The work session was adjourned at 5:02 PM.

Meeting Transcript