Governor Perdue Announces Executive Appointments

Governor Perdue Announces Executive Appointments

ATLANTA – Governor Sonny Perdue announced today the following executive appointments.

Transit Planning Board

The Transit Planning Board (TPB) will develop a Regional Transit Plan including a comprehensive financial plan, act as an advocate at the federal level for the provision of additional regional transit funding resources, oversee an integration of fares, marketing, and customer information across the region and work with the individual operators and oversee the implementation of transit service to improve regional service coordination.

The TPB is composed of the following 18 members:  Nine County Commission Chairs (Clayton, Cobb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Cherokee, Douglas, Fayette, Henry, and Rockdale); CEO of DeKalb County, Mayor of Atlanta, GRTA Board Chair, GDOT Board Chair, MARTA Board Chair, MARTA General Manager and three appointments by the Governor.

Lara O. Hodgson, 35, Atlanta , GA , Member - Hodgson is the chief operating officer of Dewberry Capital Corporation and the founder of Thought-Capital, which encourages innovative thinking in business. She is also an adjunct lecturer for the Georgia Tech DuPree College of Management. Hodgson is on the board of trustees for the Georgia Tech Athletic Association, Flag Bank and Central Atlanta Progress.  She recently facilitated the Governor's Task Force on Transportation Strategy.  Hodgson is a graduate of Leadership Georgia and served as the 2004 president of the Society of International Business Fellows. She earned a bachelor's degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University . Hodgson and her husband, Casey, have one child.

Pam Sessions, 49, Cumming , GA , Member - Sessions is the president and co-owner of Hedgewood Properties, an Atlanta-based homebuilding company. She also owns and operates several sister companies to Hedgewood that deal in development, real estate sales and commercial construction. Sessions is the chairman of Southface Energy Institute and the Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce. She serves on the boards of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Home Builder's Association of Georgia and the executive committee of the Livable Communities Coalition. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia . Sessions and her husband, Don Donnelly, have two children.

Douglas J. Tollett, 61, Alpharetta , GA , Member - Tollett is the founder and president of Douglas Management Company and the president and chief operating officer of American Resurgens Management Corporation. He has been the principal-in-charge of several real estate development projects, including Resurgens Park in Alpharetta, the International Convention Center in College Park and the Public Safety Complex in College Park . Tollett serves as a member of the Houston Board of Realtors, the National Institute of Real Estate Management and the board of directors of the North Atlanta National Bank. Tollett and his wife, Brenda, have three grown children, survive one child and have two grandchildren.

Members:

• Mayor, City of Atlanta – Shirley Franklin
• CEO, DeKalb County – Vernon Jones
• Chair, Cherokee County Board of Commissioners – Michael Byrd
• Chair, Clayton County Board of Commissioners – Eldrin Bell
• Chair, ARC & Cobb County Board of Commissioners – Sam Olens
• Chair, Douglas County Board of Commissioners – Tom Worthan
• Chair, Fulton County Board of Commissioners – Karen Han del
• Chair, Fayette County Board of Commissioners – Greg Dunn
• Chair, Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners – Charles Bannister
• Chair, Henry County Board of Commissioners – Jason Harper
• Chair, Rockdale County Board of Commissioners – Roy Middlebrooks
• Chair , Georgia Department of Transportation – David Doss
• Chair, Board of Directors of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority –  Sonny Deriso
• Chair MARTA Board –  Edmund Wall
• MARTA Manager – Richard J. McCrillis (Interim)

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