ATLANTA — There are rumblings at Atlanta City Hall about leadership positions.

New committee chairs were selected and no African-American women were selected.

“We were really, really shocked that the diversity piece was missing,” council member Andrea Boone told Channel 2 Action News.

Boone is one of the senior members on the council, but doesn’t have a leadership role for 2023.

Council president Doug Shipman, who decides the chairman positions, didn’t select Boone, Keisha Waites or Marci Overstreet to be committee chairs.

Black women make up at 51% of Atlanta’s population.

“Black women should always be represented, especially if we have a seat at the table,” Overstreet said. “And we actually do.”

Channel 2 Action News spoke with council president Shipman, and Tuesday morning he said in a text message, “Given the concerns raised within the council and across the community, I am making a change in the committee chair assignments for 2023. Committee member Overstreet will continue serving as chair of the zoning committee.”

“This is so much bigger than peeling one of us off from the other. This is about Black women, this is about the city, this is about the health, equality and vitality of Atlanta, Georgia,” Boone said.

Council president Shipman did not explain why he removed the women from those positions, but the council president often rotates the chairs of those committees.

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