Atlanta City Council members react to Beltline CEO stepping down

By Charles Edwards

Atlanta, GA – The news the head of Atlanta's Beltline project will step down is settling in at Atlanta City Hall.

Word of Terry Montague's resignation hit council member Caesar Mitchell this morning.

MITCHELL: "Very much a surprise. I'm waiting to get more information on what's happened and hopefully I can even have a conversation with Ms. Montague."

In a statement from Atlanta Beltline Inc., Montague did not give a reason for leaving. But apparently it's been talked about for some time. Other council members like Anne Fauver had been hearing rumors for at least 6 months.

FAUVER: "It may be that she's someone that likes to work with start up things and it's now in a more mature stage."

Montague ran the Beltline for 3 years. She secured some project funding along with right-of-ways and parks and trails. But she and other Beltline leaders didn't always keep city council in the loop says council transportation chair Clair Muller.

MULLER: " because there are a lot of meetings with a lot of different sub areas and a lot of different constituents that go one that we can't possibly attend so we need to make sure that Beltline Inc. keeps us apprised of what the issues are."

Despite issues, most are confident about the Beltline's future.