Steve Peters, a volunteer, advocate, and community builder, was honored by the City of Brookhaven for his dedication to the environment.
“Thank you to Steve Peters, who’s very quietly served this community, both through his organizational skills and hard physical labor,” Mayor John Park said at the May 13 Brookhaven City Council meeting. “You literally have sweat equity in the city, Steve, and it has not gone unnoticed.”
Peters is a self-employed consultant who has lived in Brookhaven since 1992.
“In the late 90s, I got involved with saving the Murphey Candler Park pool with DeKalb County,” said Peters, who lived across the street at that time. “Rather than rebuilding for what DeKalb estimated as $2.6 million, they built a pool within the pool for $750,000. We didn’t miss a beat. The pool opened on time.”
It’s the way government and its constituents should cooperate, he said.
In 2015, he joined the Friends of Murphey Candler Park, which eventually became Murphey Candler Park Conservancy. He brought in Trees Atlanta and National Wildlife Federation to teach Brookhaven residents how to identify invasive species.
“We built a team for everyone to meet on Saturdays at 8 a.m. We picked up trash and invasive plants for two years,” he said.
When he made the connection that Scouts and students needed volunteer hours, a lightbulb went off.
“Over time, we tracked the number of events and volunteers, how many pounds of trash and recycling removed, the number of tires removed, and the number the of trees planted — and this is just in Murphey Candler Park.”
Peters built grassroots support for park improvements and sustainable stewardship, according to the city’s proclamation. It recognized Peters’ consistent volunteerism, and his time and advocacy to strengthening Brookhaven’s commitment to green space, sustainability and community recreation.
Peters is the chair of Parks and Recreation Coalition of Brookhaven (PARC), a grassroots group that was formed before Brookhaven became a municipality.
Park Pride recognized Peters in 2022 as having “a relentless drive to make our parks better” and “the glue that brings all the efforts concerning parks in Brookhaven together.”
Peters is the brains and braun behind events at Murphey Candler like Earth Day and Fishing 4 Fun. He coordinated Brookhaven’s effort in the 15th annual Sweep the Hooch, an annual trash cleanup that brings together hundreds of volunteers at tributaries and access points along the Chattahoochee River.
He was “instrumental in bringing the community together to further beautify Brookhaven’s Nancy Creek in Murphy Candler Park” the proclamation states.
Brookhaven is on its way to becoming a community wildlife habitat certified by the National Wildlife Federation. Peters has a role in that, too.
Peters said being recognized by the city is “exhilarating.”
“I will continue to do this because I love it,” he said. “All I have ever wanted to do is leave things better than I found them. And it’s easy to teach that to kids and adults.”
