Dr. Catherine F. Rowell

Welcome to the City of South Fulton District 1 website. It has been my honor and privilege to serve District 1 since 2017. The district covers the historic communities of Cascade and Sandtown, in addition to the Fulton Industrial Boulevard corridor, the largest industrial area east of the Mississippi River.

As your council representative, I look forward to continuing to enhance the retail, dining and recreation options in the area to ensure District 1 is a destination community to live, work, play and pray.

Biography

Dr. Catherine Foster Rowell served as the city’s first mayor pro tem. Since taking office in 2017, she has authored and passed more than 75 pieces of legislation and earned four Georgia Municipal Association professional development certificate at the Recognition, Achievement, Excellence and Distinction levels. She also has completed the prestigious Robert Knox Leadership Program and the Georgia Academy of Economic Development.   

Dr. Rowell possesses more than 15 years of executive non-profit experience as Executive Director of Operation PEACE; Senior Government Grants Manager for Families First; and Senior Program Director with Enterprise Community Partners. Additionally, she has held leadership roles in several consulting firms: Beacon Analytics, The Bronner Group and MAXIMUS in addition to working for Fulton County Schools. 

Dr. Rowell is published and has served on numerous volunteer boards which include but are not limited to the National Forum for Black Public Administrators, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter, and the National Church Residences Southeast Advisory Board. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Conference of Minority Public Administrators and the American Society of Public Administrators Georgia Chapter.  

Dr. Rowell is the recipient of the Georgia Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration’s (ASPA) Distinguished Practitioner Award (2019), Fortitude Educational and Cultural Development Center Pinnacle Leadership Award and the 2022 Fulton County District 6 Environmental Award (2022).  She holds bachelors’ degrees in social work and sociology from Cleveland State University, and a MPA and doctorate in political science from Clark Atlanta University. 

Recently Sponsored Legislation

ORD2022-006 (Rowell D1 and Reeves D5) – The Transparency in Contracting Ordinance calls for the staff to establish and maintain a list of open and forecasted procurement opportunities; publish contract awards and pricing; maintain a contractor sanction list; implement financial and conflict of interest disclosures for elected officials and provide certain information on the city’s website.

ORD2022-008 (Rowell D1) – The Tree Bank Fund was changed to allow funds to be equally allocated to each council district to use for the purchase, planting, installation and maintenance of trees. No more than 25% of the Tree Bank funds can be spent on maintenance and pruning of trees. The remaining 75% of the funds are dedicated to tree purchase, planting and installation.

ORD2022-14 (Rowell D1) – Establishes a decorum policy for Council meetings that is to be enforced by the Mayor to ensure City Council members and the public are treated in a dignified, courteous, and respectful manner and recognizes that inappropriate behavior damages the perception of the city. A variety of penalties can be imposed from censure to fines.

ORD2022-34 (Rowell D1) – It makes it unlawful to fasten bills, advertisements, campaign signs, notices to poles, trees or in the right-of-way. Campaign signs can still be placed on private property in individual yards.  Violators have 24 hours from the time of notification to remove their signs. After that, they face fines of $100 per sign for first and second violations and must appear in court after the third with penalties of $1,000 for each unlawfully place sign, and/or incarceration not to exceed five days.

ORD2022-035 (Rowell D1) – This further regulates transfer stations beyond approval of a special use permit to limit the hours of operation to 6 a.m.- 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, requires submission of an Environmental Impact Report, and a rodent management plan. Sites must include a 200-ft. buffer and 10-ft. improvement setback along all property lines, except public rights-of-way, where a buffer of at least 50 ft. is required. The sites must be graded and drained to minimize runoff and prevent erosion and contamination. Also, the site cannot be located within 1 mile of a groundwater discharge, 500 feet of wetlands, in a 100 year floodplain or a seismic impact zone.  A solid fence or wall must be erected along the property lines.