Friday, October 10, 2003
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Friday, October 10, 2003 |
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Senoia mayoral candidates square off in forum By JOHN THOMPSON
In interested crowd of nearly 50 turned out Tuesday night to watch Senoia Mayor Dianne Cleveland and challenger Robert Hannah answer questions about their vision for the city. Cleveland and Hannah were joined at the forum by City Council candidates Anthony Miller and Larry Owens. Owens and Miller will take office in January after the third candidate in the race, Councilman Pat Tunnell, quit the race last week. Miller and Owens offered brief statements on their qualifications before the mayoral candidates took the stage. Miller stressed the experience he had garnered working with the city of Atlanta fire department and said he's worked with many mayors and four presidents. He said he planned to live in the city for the rest of his life, and wanted to work in lowering citizens’ insurance bills for fire services. Owens moved to Senoia six years ago because of the small-town atmosphere. He knows the city is going to grow and emphasizes keeping “quality people in important positions.” Once the future City Councilmen had their say, it was the mayoral candidates’ turn. “I think Senoia’s in great shape,” said Cleveland. Cleveland emphasized the accomplishments of her administration, including getting the sewer system started, and getting good employees to work for the city. “The public works department is excellent. They’ve always got a smile on their face,” she said. Cleveland also deflected some criticism of the city’s move toward impact fees. “We're looking at about $78,000 in additional revenue each year,” she said. Hannah, who’s served on the City Council for six years, called Cleveland a “good friend,” but said it was time for real leadership in the city. “We have got to have personnel in place that can handle the growth,” he said. Hannah said he was in favor of the impact fees, but said it could have been done cheaper than the $20,000 the city is spending on studies. During the question portion of the program, Cleveland and Hannah agreed the commercial growth was headed to Senoia, but said the city had plenty of land already zoned for commercial. In his opening statement, Hannah had wondered why the wooden bridge on Bridge Street had not opened, and Cleveland addressed a question from the audience about the historic structure. “By the end of the year, we should be taking bids,” she said. Both candidates stated their opposition to any future annexation efforts and said that bike paths and walking trails would soon be coming to the city. In their closing statements, both candidates stressed their experience and urged voters to head to the polls Nov. 4.
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