The Sept. 28 town hall forum hosted by the Atlanta Police LGBT Advisory Board with Mayor Kasim Reed and Atlanta Police Chief George Turner will be rescheduled to a later date in October. A specific date is expected to be decided this week.

Glen Paul Freedman, chair of the advisory board, said today the date will be after Atlanta Pride, set for Oct. 8-9, and will not be scheduled to interfere with the AIDS Walk on Sunday, Oct. 16.

The current date of Sept. 28 falls on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. An open letter to the community from gay-led Congregation Bet Haverim urged the board to change the date.

Atlanta Police LGBT board to reschedule forum with mayor; board member resigns

“I’m waiting to hear back from the board. We are all in agreement we should move the date to October so there are no conflicts,” Freedman said.

At the Tuesday, Aug. 30, Atlanta Public Safety Committee meeting, City Council member Alex Wan is set to read the letter the police LGBT Advisory Board sent to the mayor and police chief asking certain questions about the 2009 Eagle raid be answered, Freedman added.

Board member resigns

Molly Simmons resigned from the Atlanta Police LGBT Advisory on Saturday. Simmons, who also serves as the national co-chair for the Human Rights Campaign Board of Governors, was appointed to the board last year when Mayor Reed announced he would resurrect the panel to serve as a conduit between LGBT Atlantans and the police department.

Simmons notified Freedman in a letter that work requirements would keep her from fulfilling her duties on the board.

The process for replacing Simmons on the nine-member board is for those interested to submit applications to the board and board members will review the applications and make the selection themselves, Freedman said.

Simmons’ resignation falls on the heels of a sometimes heated meeting of the board with members of the public on Aug. 22, as well as the announcement on Saturday that Joe Solmonese, president of the national Human Rights Campaign, will step down by March.