Author’s Note: This article was published several years ago so it is likely some things have changed. I think it is relevant to this website because it shows the good people, in this case CEOs, have done for other people.
The Buckhead Coalition has been working on behalf of the community for eleven years. It is composed of 75 people. All Buckhead Coalition members must be CEOs of major firms, must have been invited by another member to join, and must pay $5,000 a year in dues.
Sam Massell is the President of the Buckhead Coalition. He describes Buckhead as a unique community: “We are the only community in the state of Georgia with official boundaries set by the Atlanta Regional Commission. Cities and counties all have boundaries, of course, but we are the only community.” Buckhead starts at Peachtree and Interstate 75 and 85, runs north to the city limits at Sandy Springs and east to Dekalb County and west to Cobb County.
“The mission of the Buckhead Coalition,” Mr. Massell relates, “is to nurture the quality of life in Buckhead with care for both residential and commercial interests.”
Right now, their major project is the creation of a community improvement district, which is a self-taxation program that will generate millions of dollars for traffic improvements in Buckhead. “The Board will be created Sept. 1, 1999 by the owners of the business properties that are being taxed,” Mr. Massell says. “We want improvements that will reduce congestion, make it safer for both vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and improve mobility.”
The Buckhead Coalition has several accomplishments to its credit. They had 29 emergency telephones installed primarily in the “Village” of Buckhead, the concentration of bars, nightclubs, and restaurants that extends six blocks on either side of the Peachtree St./West Paces Ferry intersection. When the Atlanta Police Department opened a mini-precinct to deter criminal activity in Buckhead, the Buckhead Coalition brokered a deal that allowed the Department to get a store space in the Peach Shopping Center free of rent!
The Coalition has been active in putting sidewalks in because they believe that sidewalks are a vital part of community life. “As a child, I would have felt imprisoned if there wasn’t a sidewalk to ride my tricycle down,” Mr. Massell says.
However, the city will not pay for sidewalks to be built; homeowners must foot the bill. To enable Buckhead homeowners to have sidewalks built, the Buckhead Coalition has a program that will pay 50% of the cost. “Since we started the program about 4 or 5 sidewalks have been put in with our help,” Mr. Massell continues.
Another Buckhead Coalition project is, quite literally, a matter of life and death. There is a device called a portable automatic defibrillator that is used to shock a person’s heart rhythm back following a sudden cardiac arrest. “Often a police car or ambulance can’t get there in time,” Mr. Massell states, “So we started a program to put them where the people are: in hotels, office buildings, shopping centers, churches, and high-rise condominiums.” These machines usually cost $4,000 but the Buckhead Coalition, together with Piedmont Hospital and the manufacturer, Survivalink, worked out an arrangement to put them in for only $350. “We’ve placed over a dozen so far,” Mr. Massell says.
The Buckhead Coalition responds to local citizen requests. These range from malfunctioning streetlights to the desire of a couple to be married in a Buckhead park. The Coalition helped the couple to cut through red tape and fulfill their dream. “Currently we’re working on a complaint about poison ivy growing next to a school,” Mr. Massell relates.
Each year the Coalition publishes a Buckhead Guide Book. It is sold for $5.00 but the Buckhead Coalition does not keep any of the profits and they require that the publisher give $5,000 to a local non-profit organization chosen by the Coalition; these have included the Atlanta Historical Society, the Atlanta Speech School, and Buckhead Hospice.
To find out more about the Coalition, you may write or call them at:
Buckhead Coalition
Suite 560, Tower Place
3340 Peachtree Rd., NE
Atlanta, GA 30326-1059
404-233-2228
