September 2020

Greetings,

On behalf of the Board of Directors of PEDS, I am writing to inform our members, supporters, and stakeholders of the recent resignation of our CEO and President, Cathy Clark Tyler, effective September 11, 2020.  Cathy was hired last September as the CEO of PEDS, after the retirement of Sally Flocks, founder and leader for 23 years. We understand the challenges this year has presented, and we appreciate her focus on equity. The new relationships that she cultivated and alliances that she made helped PEDS' further our goal of placing equity and social justice at the forefront of our work in all aspects of pedestrian safety.  PEDS' Board Members and I extend our thanks and appreciation to Cathy for her service and wish her well in future endeavors.   
 
To our members, sponsors and stakeholders, you can be assured that the PEDS Board, staff and volunteers are joining together to continue our mission, uninterrupted, as we navigate this latest transition. Thank you for your continued support.

We are very excited about our upcoming Georgia Walks Summit, which will be held virtually on October 22 and 23. We hope that you will join us at the summit to hear from our diverse group of 50 speakers.

Please visit www.georgiawalks.org for details about the summit and to register. 

Sincerely,





Carolyn H. Rader, Chair
PEDS Board of Directors
Georgia Walks Summit Update: We are going VIRTUAL!
After careful consideration, we have decided to move this year’s Georgia Walk Summit to a virtual platform. This year's Summit will take place on October 22nd and 23rd.

The Georgia Walks Summit is an annual statewide gathering of transportation and public health professionals, elected officials, and community advocates committed to making our streets and communities great places to walk.
The 2020 Georgia Walks Summit program is packed with exciting plenary talks and includes 24 breakout sessions presented by a diverse group of 50 speakers.

The breakout sessions will be divided into four rooms: (1) health and equity, (2) policy and planning, (3) trails and pedestrian design, and (4) walking audits.


Thanks to a generous donor, a limited number of summit scholarships are available. Apply for a scholarship by October 9th.

View the full schedule and read about all the sessions and presenters now at georgiawalks.org.
City of Atlanta calls for sidewalk funding schedule
Great news for transparency, planning, and sidewalks! At its September 8 meeting, the Atlanta City Council passed a resolution calling on the Atlanta Department of Transportation and the Office of Innovation Delivery and Performance to develop a prioritization model and funding schedule for sidewalk repairs and construction. The report is due in six months.

The resolution calls for multiple scenarios. To achieve the goals by 2040, for example, how much does the City need to invest each year? The same question applies to 2050 and other years.

A big thank you to City Council member Amir Farokhi for introducing the resolution and to all City Council members for voting yes.

The resolution is a great step forward, but as Farokhi put it, "it’s going to take some pushing from residents and from the council to make sure that we follow through on delivering the basics.”
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