City of Atlanta Advisory Roundtable with Councilmember Dustin Hillis

Dustin Hillis
Councilmember, District 9

Dustin Hillis was first elected in 2017 and is serving his second term representing the citizens of District 9 in Northwest Atlanta.

Professionally, Dustin is a critical care registered nurse who worked in the Neuroscience ICU at Emory University Hospital from 2013 to 2018. Dustin also served in Emory’s Serious Communicable Disease Unit during the 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak, caring for four of the first patients ever treated in the United States. He was an integral part of the team of doctors, nurses and public health professionals who revised and strengthened the standards of care for patients with Ebola Virus Disease. Dustin was honored with Emory University Hospital’s 2014 “Rookie of the Year” Award and the National Patient Safety Foundation's DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses. Dustin is a member of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses and the Georgia Nurses Association.

In his first term, Dustin worked for safer neighborhoods by spearheading the efforts for historic increases in compensation for Atlanta's public safety employees, leading the effort to fund and begin construction on a new AFRD Station 22, and instituting multiple traffic calming projects across District 9. In those first four years, Dustin also pushed for more prosperous communities and people through adding or saving over 900 affordable housing units in District 9, established a Westside Park Housing Affordability Overlay, conducted multiple code enforcement demolitions of blighted properties - including the largest code enforcement demolition project in they city's history, and helped secure the planning grant from HUD to rebuild the long-vacant Bowen Homes site. Dustin also prioritized sustainability and was successful in efforts to stop the development of the ecologically and historically important former Chattahoochee Brick site at the confluence of the Chattahoochee River and Proctor Creek. Dustin also cut the ribbon on the city's largest park - Westside Park, as well as sponsored legislation to complete the Chattahoochee RiverLands Plan, which envisions a trail along the river from Buford Dam to Chattahoochee Bend State Park, around eight miles of which will be in the City of Atlanta.

Dustin began his commitment to community service when he and his wife moved to the Riverside Neighborhood in 2011. He discovered there was much work to be done in his neighborhood and the surrounding area, so he immediately started attending meetings of the Riverside Neighborhood Association (RNA) and Neighborhood Planning Unit D (NPU-D). Through the years, Dustin served as RNA’s Chair of Public Safety, Vice President, President, and Immediate Past President. Dustin managed the neighborhood security patrol, spearheaded a proactive rezoning effort to spur economic development, and led the charge on better code enforcement of blighted structures.

Prior to his election to the Atlanta City Council, Dustin served on the City of Atlanta Code Enforcement Commission from 2014 to 2016. He also worked for two years as a staffer for former District 9 Councilmember Felicia A. Moore, serving as Special Projects Director, concentrated on improving public safety, code enforcement, and city services in District 9. One of his proudest accomplishments was improving code enforcement efforts, which led to the resolution of over 800 code enforcement complaints, including over 100 demolitions. Additionally, Dustin managed the District 9-funded “Operation Shield” program, a joint effort between District 9, the Atlanta Police Foundation, and the Atlanta Police Department to install 24 security cameras and license plate readers in high crime areas throughout the district
Dustin holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from Middle Tennessee State University, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) from Georgia State University, and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree with a concentration in Public Sector Management from Valdosta State University.