Mayor Rusty Paul

Elected mayor in November 2013, Russell K. (Rusty) Paul brings more than 40 years of federal, state and local public policy and public administration experience to the job. He is currently serving his third term. 

In addition to his role as Mayor, Paul currently serves as the North Fulton County mayoral representative on the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) Board, a member of the Combat Antisemitism Movement’s Mayors Advisory Committee, a member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the Transportation Chair and a member of the Legislative Committee for the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA). He previously served on the GMA Board of Directors.

Mr. Paul was elected to the founding city council for Sandy Springs in November 2005 and served one term. He chaired the city’s charter review commission and the Sandy Springs Development Authority.

He was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate as Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations in the first Bush Administration under Secretary Jack Kemp. Secretary Kemp also appointed him acting Assistant Secretary of Community Planning and Development and tapped him to oversee the department’s disaster response to Hurricane Hugo and the 1989 San Francisco earthquake.

He received the Secretary’s Golden Eagle Award, the highest honor a cabinet officer can bestow. 

Besides his stints in federal government, Mr. Paul is a former Georgia State Senator and also served on the Stone Mountain City Council and served three terms on the Georgia Municipal Association board of directors.

In 1995, he was elected chairman of the Georgia Republican Party and served on the Republican National Committee, where RNC Chair Jim Nicholson appointed him to chair the State Chairman’s Advisory Committee.

He is a past chairman of the Sandy Springs/Perimeter Center Chamber of Commerce and a member of Sandy Springs Rotary. He and his wife, Jan, are parents of five adult children and nine grandsons, and they attend Holy Innocents Episcopal Church.

EMAIL: rpaul@sandyspringsga.gov