Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced on Tuesday the appointment of Richard Cox to the position of Chief Operating Officer for the city.

A press release from the mayor’s office described Cox as a loaned executive from Cox Automotive, a division of Cox Enterprises, a private company whose media properities inlcude The Atlanta Journal-Constition and Channel 2 Action News. The press release said that Cox will serve the city for one year before returning to his company.

The COO oversees the city’s operating departments, including Aviation, fire, police, corrections, parks and recreation, planning, public works, and watershed management.

As vice president of client advising and performance for Dealer.com, Cox currently leads a team that’s focused on client experience. He previously managed business, customer and consumer operations; analytics; and customer experience for Autotrader, Dealer.com and Kelley Blue Book. All three brands are part of Cox Automotive.

About the Author

Keep Reading

Constituent Services Director Vesna Kurspahic helps a student with his service academy application at U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick’s office in Cumming, Ga., on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025. Kurspahic is constituent services director for Congressman Rich McCormick. During the government shutdown, she is handling a caseload of roughly 250 requests without receiving any salary. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com

Featured

Members of the conversion crew take a break as the main scoreboard is lowered to the floor to be worked on as the arena gets ready for the next concert at State Farm Arena, Thursday, October 2, 2025, in Atlanta. The crew was working on creating a stage for the Friday, Oct. 3 Maxwell concert. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com