February 2026 General Body Mtg. Minutes

Draft Minutes, Pending Approval

GENERAL BODY MEETING MINUTES
West End Neighborhood Development Inc.
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2025, 7:00 PM
Virtual Meeting

2026 Officers

Marquise “Tony” McNeal, President – president@atlantawestend.com
John Mitchell, 1st Vice President – firstvp@atlantawestend.com
Kimberly Carlisle, 2nd Vice President – secondvp@atlantawestend.com
Troy Farina, Treasurer – treasurer@atlantawestend.com
Dave Mardis, Secretary – secretary@atlantawestend.com
Melba T. Furlow, Recording Secretary recordingsecretary@atlantawestend.com
Kim Scott, Past President – kimscottmanagement@gmail.com
Terry Ross, Parliamentarian – t-ross01@hotmail.com

 

INTRODUCTION (Tony McNeal, President)  

CALL TO ORDER  –  7:03 PM

• Welcome
• Motion to adopt February Agenda properly seconded and approved. (Brooks Payne & Kim Carlisle)
  Favor: 21  Oppose: 0   Abstain: 0
• Motion to approve January 2026 Minutes properly seconded and approved. (Brooks & Kim)
  Favor: 23  Oppose: 0   Abstain: 0

CITY REPRESENTATIVES  & ELECTED OFFICIALS-  7:07 PM

• Mo Ivory – Fulton D4 Commissioner
  • Board of Commissioners meeting tomorrow. At the last mtg, they approved their 2026 budget. CM Ivory did not vote for it, because she felt like it didn’t adequately cover the county’s obligations. The budget took $3M from Fulton County jail and $1M from the election budget.
  • The FBI confiscated 656 boxes of tapes, envelopes on 24 pallets from Fulton County. The County will be motioning for an inventory. The county does not have copies of registration tapes or absentee ballot envelopes.
  • There was a 70,000 gallon flood from 3rd floor at Fulton County jail.  
  • Resident question regarding proposed cuts to magistrate court budget.
    A: Money was not taken from magistrate court, but their budget was not increased. The backlog is why people stay in the jail.
  • Resident question regarding ICE
    A: ICE is not allowed in county facilities.
• Shadé Stokes-Campbell – ATL311
  • ATL311 is going to start including case closure notes. WEND President asked WEND Secretary to start including Shadé on emails regarding open ATL311 tickets.
• DeMisha Luster – Atlanta District 4
  • GDOT is getting close to the community engagement stage of RDA Complete Streets Project.
  • EBike Rebate program is coming back, in coordination with Atlanta Regional Commission (another $1M in funding released). 
  • WEND President communicated with Ms. Luster that he met with Commissioner Cutler with Atlanta Parks – they have the West End Park survey in order to set up a final planning meeting.

PRESENTATIONS  –  7:26PM

• 35th Annual Malcolm X Festival – Watani Tyehimba – May 16th & 17th in West End Park
  • 5 off-duty APD will be provided for security.
  • Oak St. and Dargan will close at 7AM for vendors to set up.
  • The projected number of attendees is 1,900.
• Shona Griffin – Rezoning at 1140 Oglethorpe Ave.
  • Is applying to divide the parcel in two. Off-street parking entrance will be off of Queen St. Applicant has worked to make sure it meets historic regulations.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT  –  7:39 PM

• 2026 Budget – Troy Farina (Treasurer) – $41,500 in anticipated revenue with $21,674 in anticipated expenses. The current budget anticipates a surplus of $19,826. If we would like to have a revenue-generating event (i.e. the Tour of Homes or the Candlelight Concert), any proposed expense of more than $1500 would have to come up for a vote before the General Body. Recommendation from the Executive Committee is to approve this budget.
  • Favor: 23  Oppose: 0   Abstain: 1
• Tour of Homes – Tour of Homes generally costs $5,000 to produce. The Executive Committee is bringing forth a recommendation to put on the Tour of Homes this year. The proposed date for the Tour of Homes will be on June 20th, 2026. 
  • Favor: 23  Oppose: 0   Abstain: 1
• Community Improvement Grant – The PR Committee wants to go for a $1500 grant to do outreach with yard signs and door knockers, so that we can reach more people and get more people aware of WEND and how they can be a part of it.  Executive Committee recommendation is to go after CIG funds in the amount of $1,500. 
  • Favor: 18  Oppose: 0   Abstain: 0

STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION  –  7:48 PM

• Current account balance: $13,623.34

   COMMITTEE REPORTS  –  7:53 PM

• Education Committee – Barbara Mislan and Ayana Dunston, Co-Chair
  (Education does not have a standing meeting, but communicates by text chain. If you’d like to join, email WENDeducation@gmail.com)
  • Thank you to everyone who helped with the school supply drive. Shout-out to the Cusicks for hosting the wrapping party.
    • MAJ wishlist was fulfilled.
    • For HJRWEA, they asked for hygiene items. Shoutout to Westside Dental – donated 50 dental hygiene kits. This is a constant need, so if you’re cleaning out your closet and you have clothes or items to donate, please reach out.
    • BTW – 7 emancipated youths with 3 dependents. Each student created their own wishlist.
    • The schools are constantly asking us to support them in other ways. Please reach out if you have ideas on how we could support, please let us know.
  • 16 schools will close in Fall of 2027. In 2027, APS School Board will have to propose a voter referendum to continue the E-SPLOST from 2027-2032.

• Friends of the Parks Groups – 
  • West End Park – Excited to hopefully be moving forward
  • Howell Park and RCP finished up their Park Pride grants.

• Events – Doug Cain
  (Does not have a standing meeting, but if you’d like to join, email wendevents@gmail.com or call/text 404-934-0583)
  • We’ll have a date solidified for our first porch party by next month’s meeting
  • Easter Egg Hunt in April

• Grants – Looking for a Committee Chair

• Membership – Brooks Payne
  (Meets virtually on second Tuesdays via zoom. More information on committee page
  • Come spraypaint a tote bag for $11.
  • We’re at 178 dues-paying members.  If you haven’t paid your dues, please do!

• PR – Brittney Cain
  (Does not have a standing meeting, but if you’d like to join, email AtlantaWestEndPR@gmail.com)
  • Maintains our presence on FB and Instagram. Join our committee! We have big lofty plans!
• Preservation & Urban Design – Caleb Racicot (Pronounced “Ras ih co”)
  (Meets the first and/or third Wednesdays at 6:30 PM, as needed. If you’d like to join, email WENDPreservation@gmail.com)

• Transportation – Matt Hawkins
  • The bus network redesign is slated to go into effect on April 18th.
  • There will be a series of open houses at MARTA stations to chat with someone who works with MARTA to navigate the new network.
  • Also the updated BREEZE payment system. New system is available on March 28th. On May 2nd, old BREEZE cards will stop working, and they’ve found a way to make it possible to transfer the balance.

• Film Committee – Melba Furlow
  • There is filming at RDA and Holderness for Will Trent. They will be done taping tomorrow.

• Public Safety Committee – We’re looking for a new chair, so if you’re interested in that, please let us know. It’s everything from crime stats to National Night Out. 

• Zoning – Larry Frazer 8:30 pm. Meets last Monday of every month. Advises on new applications as it relates to development, zoning variances. We work hard to make sure that the voices of the community are heard. We also review alcohol licenses and special permits.
  • Z-25-80 – 1140 Oglethorpe Ave rezone R4A to R4B. The committee recommends support.
    • Favor: 25  Oppose: 0   Abstain: 3
  • Zoning Committee Chair brought motion from the floor to support the Malcolm X Festival. Seconded by Dave Mardis.
    • Favor: 26 Oppose: 0   Abstain: 1
  • Shout out to Brian Remler, the newest Zoning Committee member. 
  • TRAP – Tree Removal Assistant Program – Funded by Georgia Arborist Association –  https://www.georgiaarborist.org/trap. $35k/mo budget for COA for tree removal
  • The RFQ for Peeples St. went out on Jan 20th. The submission deadline is Friday March 6th. Property tour on Feb 12th.

WRAP-UP & ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Feb 10th, NPU-T will meet at 7pm at 929 Lee St and on Zoom.
• Payne family will be hosting the second Friday porch party in March.
• Please join a committee. Committees are where the real work of WEND happens.

ADJOURN 8:35 PM

Draft Minutes Completed on 2/12/26