Update: The Atlanta City Council’s Committee on Council voted July 1 to hold off on a vote concerning Mayor Andre Dickens appointment of Patrice Perkins-Hooker as the next city attorney.
This is the second time in nearly two months city council committees have held the mayor’s appointment of Perkins-Hooker. On June 11, the Public Safety committee voted to hold her appointment “to allow the appointee to meet with Council individually.”
On June 24, the Public Safety committee changed course and voted to recommend approval of Perkins-Hooker. Her appointment was expected to voted on at July 1 council meeting.
The Committee on Council, which meets a couple hours before the full council to review and approve the agenda, did not explain why the appointment was again being delayed. Members went into a brief executive session to discuss personnel, and returned to pass a motion to wait to vote on a new city attorney until the Aug.5 meeting.
Dickens appointed Perkins-Hooker as interim city attorney on May 8 after the retirement of Nina Hickson, who served in the position for nearly six years. Hickson is now chief of staff at WSSC Water in Laurel, MD, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Before serving as city attorney, Perkins-Hooker was the vice president and general counsel for the Atlanta BeltLine from 2009 to 2016. Prior, Perkins-Hooker was an administrative partner for Johnson and Freeman LLC, and served as chair of the Fulton County Registrations and Elections Board from 2016 to 2021.
Perkins-Hooker made history in 2014 when she was elected the first Black president of the State Bar of Georgia.
In a May 9 letter to the Atlanta City Council, Dickens wrote:
“Ms. Perkins-Hooker is a product of Atlanta Public Schools, a Frederick Douglass High School alumnus, where she was president of the Student Government Association. She graduated with honors from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and she earned a JD and an MBA from the Emory University School of Law and Goizueta Business School respectively.”
“I respectfully urge your confirmation of his appointment,” Dickens added.
Dyana Bagby contributed to this report.
