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Massell, former mayor, announces his retirement
BY JOHN RUCH
johnruch@reporternewspafers.net
Former Atlanta mayor Sam Massell is retiring as
president of the Buckhead Coalition - and perhaps
from public life - after 32 years in the position as the
neighborhood’s biggest booster.
Massell, 92, made the surprise announcement at
the coalition’s annual meeting Jan. 29 at the 103 West
event hall, drawing hugs and applause of praise from
the invitation-only guest of prominent business lead
ers and elected officials. The surprise was all the big
ger due to attention on the anticipated keynote speak
er and Buckhead resident, new U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler,
who had to cancel due to the impeachment trial of
President Trump.
Massell announced his retirement in a joking style,
saying he knew journalists would immediately ask
why he is stepping down. “I have no earthly idea why,”
he joked. Responding to heavy applause praising him,
he joked, “If you don’t quit, I may run again.”
After the meeting, he said he is not immediately
stepping down. A “succession committee” of the coalition is working on finding a new
leader, he said. When asked whether he plans to truly settle down or remain active in
some effort, he said, “I haven’t had any offers.”
Despite the humor, it was clearly a personal and emotional moment for the former
mayor, who spoke while embraced by his wife, Sandra Gordy, and was lauded by his rab
bi, Peter Berg of The Temple. Instead of the usual gift bag of items from Buckhead shops,
meeting attendees received what Massell called “something personal to me” - a mezu-
zah, a Jewish religious item consisting of a box containing a prayer scroll, which is af
fixed to doorways. Massell said the mezuzahs were from Israel and had a “written prayer
inside that tries to express our love for you, our history with you, our future... that lies
ahead.”
“You’re the ones who build a wonderful commu
nity like this,” he told the attendees. Noting that he
makes sure the annual meeting has a mingled group
of business leaders, elected officials and journalists,
he said, “You put those three together and you can
build anything.”
Massell, who had successful careers in real estate
brokering and the travel industry, served as mayor in
1970 through 1974. In 1988, he became the founding
president of the coalition, a 100-member, invitation-
only group of community leaders that works on local
advocacy and charitable campaigns.
Joseph Evans, the coalition’s board chairman, told
the attendees that he now knew how the biblical Is
raelites felt when Moses stepped down. He recount
ed some of Massell’s accomplishments. Massell, who
was the city’s first Jewish mayor, worked to diversify
its administration and was a leader on the creation of
MARTA. At the coalition, Evans said, Massell success
fully advocated for the extension of the Ga. 400 high
way through Buckhead and the creation of the Buckhead Community Improvement Dis
trict, a self-taxing group of commercial property owners that works on public safety and
transportation issues.
Garth Peters, the coalition’s executive vice president, presented Massell with a silver
bowl braced on silver deer antlers - a nod to the neighborhood’s name - that was created
by the Charles Willis store on East Paces Ferry Road. “Hail our leader... For a lifetime of
excellence, endurance, dedication and statesmanship,” read a plaque on the bowl’s base.
As for Loeffler, she sent a note that Peters read to the crowd. “Now that I am seeing
our government from the inside, it is even more apparent to me how vital organizations
like the Buckhead Coalition are for our communities and our state,” she said in the mes
sage.
JOHN RUCH
Massell receives a gift bowl from the Buckhead Coalition
at the meeting. Looking on, from left, are coalition board
chairman Joseph Evans; Sandra Gordy; William Pate,
president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors
Bureau; and City Council President Felicia Moore.
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