AHA’s Barney Simms retires due to health-related issues
Longtime civic leader was organization’s second highest-ranking official
- ALISIAS
- Barney Simms joined housing authority in 2002
Atlanta Housing Authority executive Barney Simms resigned today after serving the housing agency for more than 10 years, citing “health challenges and a desire to attend to his health and well-being.” The chief of AHA’s governmental and external affairs first joined the housing authority in Aug. 2002 as a special assistant to longtime CEO Renee Glover, rising through the organization to become its second highest-ranking official.
“Barney was an impact player and made a significant number of important and long-lasting contributions to AHA, especially for the families we serve,” Glover, whose own AHA exit is apparently still being negotiated, said in a statement. “As he tends to his health and spends more time with his family he will be deeply missed by his colleagues at AHA.”
As Atlanta Progressive News notes, Simms played a significant role in the recent demolition of the city’s public housing, working as a liaison amongst “members of the public, resident leaders and government officials.”
In addition to his role with the AHA, Simms has also worked actively as a civil leader for four decades, presiding over a long list of boards including the Fulton County DFCS Advisory Board, Andrew and Walter Young Family YMCA, Foundation Board of Atlanta Metropolitan State College, chairman of Atlanta Victims Assistance Inc., the Atlanta Planning Advisory Board, the Atlanta License and Review Board, and the Atlanta Beltline’s steering committee.
Simms also said in a press release that he will “continue to argue for Atlanta’s children and the vitality of the city’s neighborhoods.” No updates, however, on what the future holds for his distinguished mustache.