When I was sworn into office I had plans to keep our city's residents informed on what I was doing and what was happening around town. Every time I would start to write something I would get caught up in making sure I had everything written just right, and that there were pictures (or video) to go along with that. I wanted it all to be perfect. And then I found out just how busy being on City Council would keep me, especially as the other responsibilities in my life didn't slow down. So what happened? My worry of getting things "just right!" turned into not getting anything out. So now I need to do some catching up and let everyone know what has been going on since January 2022.
First off, being on Council takes up a bunch of your time. While it is true that the bare minimum commitment is two meetings every month, if you are going to try and do well and be effective you are going to put in more time than that. I'm not complaining about the extra time because I love what has come along with that commitment, and I think we have kept the City going in the right direction over the last 18 months. The big takeaway is that, as much as I knew about how our City works, I have had a huge amount to learn about how to make local government work for the residents.
That much time passing also means something else - next month I will be qualifying once again to run for the District 4 seat on City Council. My first term is only two years because I have taken over the seat for a member of Council who resigned. This next election (November 7!) will be for a full four-year term. More on that in another post though.
Let's get into some of the highlights of what has happened since election day in 2021.
I was afforded the opportunity to sit in on the City's Budget Planning meetings held on the Saturday after that Election Night. This was the definition of jumping into the deep end. As staff took the Mayor and Council through the proposed City budget for 2022 the question of how to use the ARPA funds the city had been awarded had to be looked at. Due to the conditions that were attached to the funds they could only be used for certain things, with preference given to areas of the city that fell into a specific group of census blocks. This is a long way to say that we could only use the money in a few places. I gave my full support to using these funds to rebuild Dresden Park, which at the time was within the bounds of the newly drawn District 4. While we have had several delays, that renovation project is scheduled to begin in January 2024. It follows on the heels of another project within Dresden Park, the repair and improvements to the banks of Arrow Creek. The extensive restoration work goes a long way in improving the water quality in the creek and helps reverse the erosion damage that the creek has seen over the last 25 years.
In March 2022 the Council and city staff went to Greenville, North Carolina for a retreat. The goal was to look at what that city has done for path and trails and new park construction, and try to figure out what ideas we could use here in Chamblee. At one point while biking along the Swamp Rabbit Trail several of us realized that Chamblee has a lot of ideas about what to do for trails, but we didn't have a solid plan. Bringing the PATH Foundation in to help create a master plan for a city-wide path and trail system came directly out of that conversation. After nearly a year working with PATH, holding community meetings, and being a member of the steering committee for this project, I was proud to make the motion to adopt the Trails Master Plan into the city's comprehensive plan. That vote in April of 2023 makes the creation of a full-city path plan an integral part of the city's future. The goal of improving connections across the city, and to create transportation alternatives for our residents, is one of the issues that I campaigned on. I cannot be more proud of the work we have done, the future we are planning.
Council devoted a great deal of time and energy into doing research on what the city needs. This included completing a comprehensive study looking at housing affordability in the city with proposals for addressing the issues that were found, community meetings and planning for maintaining and updating Keswick Park, planning for updates to Huntley Hills Park, design and engineering for a pedestrian path along Chamblee Tucker Road, and continuing the construction of the Rail Trail through the downtown area. The takeaway from all of this is the city has a good handle on what it will take to make these projects move to completion. All that is left is identifying ways to pay for these things.
There is no end to what the city can do, from improving the services already provided to residents to adding new features and activities for the community to use and enjoy. I have loved everything that I have been able to work on since January of 2022, and I hope you will help me continue that for the next four years. I have many more things to talk about with you, and I look forward to being able to talk to many of our residents as we continue on. Take care.
Elmer
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