Startup delays prompt bid to extend Clark Atlanta’s neighborhood-leader training

Atlanta’s Department of City Planning wants to extend Clark Atlanta University’s neighborhood-leadership training contract after unexpected startup delays, rather than replace the provider through a new procurement.⁠[1]

Ordinance 26-O-1624 would waive procurement source-selection requirements and extend the Community Leadership Institute agreement five months, from January 15 through June 14, 2027. It would also give the city two one-year renewal options—not automatically commit it to two additional years.⁠[1][2]

The training is intended to equip residents with skills in civic participation, ethics, conflict resolution and community development; participants earn a university certificate. Its audience matters beyond the classroom: Atlanta’s 25 Neighborhood Planning Units advise the city on zoning, land use, alcohol licensing, event permits and legislation.⁠[1]

The planning commissioner’s case for staying with Clark Atlanta rests on substantial upfront planning, a curriculum tailored to the NPUs and what the ordinance describes as the program’s initial success. The same document says efforts to re-procure the services have not been successful.⁠[1]

The original two-year agreement began January 15, 2025, with a ceiling of $296,183. The proposed ordinance does not specify a new dollar amount for the five-month extension or the renewal options.⁠[1]

The measure is listed for first reading at the Community Development/Human Services Committee’s October 27, 2026 meeting at 1:30 p.m. It remains a proposed contract change, not an approved extension.⁠[1][2]