The day after Patrise Perkins-Hooker said she was stepping down as chair of the Fulton County Board of Registration & Elections, county commission Chair Robb Pitts has a new, though perhaps temporary, candidate for that job: former election board chair Cathy Woolard.
Pitts said he asked Woolard if she would serve as interim board chair and she agreed. His recommendation of her as interim chair is on the commission agenda for its next meeting, April 17.
On the same agenda, Commissioner Dana Barrett nominates Woolard to fill out the rest of Perkins-Hooker’s full term, which expires June 30, 2025.
“Of course, other commissioners may have their own nominees,” Pitts said Friday.
Perkins-Hooker announced that after less than a year as county election board chair, she would step down to serve as interim city attorney for Atlanta.
Atlanta City Attorney Nina Hickson said early this week she would retire effective May 8. Mayor Andre Dickens appointed Perkins-Hooker, former Fulton County attorney, as Hickson’s temporary replacement.
Pitts said Perkins-Hooker would continue as election board chair until a replacement is found. He is recommending Woolard for the interim, but said she might seek the permanent position again.
Perkins-Hooker’s announcement comes as the county prepares for a major partisan primary on May 21.
There is much work for the election board in the run-up to the primary, and early voting is “just around the corner,” Pitts said. That will begin April 29.
As such, it’s critical to have someone chairing the election board who already knows the job, Pitts said. Woolard became election board chair in September 2021. She stepped down in May 2023, succeeded by Perkins-Hooker.
The Democratic and Republican parties each nominate two members to the five-member elections board, but the chair’s nomination and selection is in the hands of county commissioners.
Perkins-Hooker’s resignation came in the wake of discussion Wednesday between county commissioners on whether her service as city attorney would create an apparent conflict of interest with her role as elections board chair.
Commissioners were divided on the issue. Pitts said Perkins-Hooker had told him there was no prohibition on her serving in both capacities, but he replied he would have to “do some thinking” about it since city and county are occasionally at odds.
Several Fulton commissioners said Perkins-Hooker’s dual service would at least create the appearance of conflict, and got County Attorney Y. Soo Jo to cite the county ethics code, which states that officials should avoid even the appearance of such conflict.
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