Paul Morris is 24 days into his job as the president and CEO of Atlanta Beltline Inc., the nonprofit charged with building out the city’s most ambitious greenway and transit project to date, and he’s already found the cool in-town spots for lunch.
On a recent the weekday, the AJC interviewed Morris as he grabbed a bite at ParkGrounds in Reynoldstown and gabbed about the future of the Beltline and the organization itself.
Morris, a former deputy with the North Carolina Department of Transportation and a trained landscape architect, inherited an organization recently tasked with serving as the city’s right hand for executing its transit future. At the same time, he’s expected to help identify new revenue sources as the nonprofit charts its financial path in a post-Recession world.
To that end, it can’t hurt that he comes with an impressive Rolodex of transportation contacts, from Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, the former mayor of Charlotte. And the 53-year-old, Oregon-born urban planner doesn’t shy away from describing some of the challenges ahead.
On why he took the job and moved to Georgia:
“I’ve known about (the Beltline) for a long time, probably a decade,” he said. “I admired its ambition and holistic thinking.”
His intrigue was furthered by friend Alex Garvin, a noted urban planner who was commissioned by the Trust for Public Land to study the Beltline and who added the greenspace element. The men met for lunch in New York several years ago and Garvin shared with him some of his Beltline work, Morris said.
“I’ve never seen him so excited,” he said.
When recruiters approached Morris about leading Atlanta Beltline Inc., a position formerly held by Brian Leary who left last summer after an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution revealed questionable use of taxpayer dollars, the job felt like the right challenge at the right time, he said.
“I was reaching a point in my career where the breadth of the things I’ve done gelled to be a good fit for this,” he said.
On challenges ahead:
Fundraising “is an increasing priority because the (tax allocation district) does not expect to produce the same amount of money as when it was formed in 2006,” he said, noting that property tax revenue funding the project took a hit during the Recession.
On his political connections:
“It’s really hard to say yet. It certainly doesn’t hurt that I have working relationships with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit and within the Federal Railroad (Administration),” he said. “And I know the FTA Region IV administration, so it helps the Beltline in that they don’t have to introduce someone new.”
And about that other key connection - Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx:
“We have a good professional working relationship,” he said of Foxx, with whom he worked as a consultant and later during his tenure with the NCDOT. “I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion we are good friends or family friends. It’s strictly a professional relationship.”
On whether the Beltline will be fully developed:
“Analysis has been done to show it can be feasibly connected,” he said, noting 60 percent of the land necessary for the Beltline transit and trail has been secured. “We are going to close the loop.”
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