|
Kourajian: Bring
business experience to city gov’t
It seems that everyday that
we open a local paper, we read something about our city leadership, and
most of the time it’s not very positive.
Some people say that the current climate with the city leaders is the
reason not to get involved. I say that the current climate is the EXACT
reason to get involved.
We as residents have three choices: 1. We can sit back and hope that it
gets better, but the last couple of years have shown that probably won’t
happen.
2. We can move away, and not deal with it; leave it for someone else to
handle.
3. Or, we can do something about it. We can get involved, either by running
for the job or by supporting an individual that can get it done.
I choose to do something about it, and I am running for the Post 2 City
Council position.
My wife and I moved to PTC over 15 years ago, and we moved here for some
of the same reasons that a lot of people do: Education for our children,
feeling of community.
City politics wasn’t front-page news everyday. Our leaders identified
and addressed the issues professionally. They made decisions that affected
us without grandstanding and publicly patting themselves on the back.
One of the popular descriptions for the role of the City Council is that
of a CEO of a company. The city staff handles the day-to-day activities
of managing the business while the council addresses the long-term issues
and focuses on the big picture.
With that description in mind, we need leadership that has the experience
to deal with issues from a strategic point of view, and not get caught
up in the minutiae of the moment and personal agendas.
A leadership that can look past petty differences and work as a team to
identify and resolve the issues that we face, without personal agendas.
A leadership that focuses on the best interests of ALL Peachtree City
residents, not just the average citizen.
A leadership that has proven experience in handling funding issues on
both a personal and professional basis.
A leadership that all citizens can look to, and have faith that they are
doing all that they can to guide our city.
With more that 20 years of business experience, and managing projects
with multi-million dollar budgets and hundreds of individual workers,
I have the financial experience and team leadership qualities to identify
and address the issues that were facing today.
Depending on your frame of reference, we all look at issues from a different
perspective, but no matter whom we talk with, it narrows down to the same
few: Development Authority, tennis center, amphitheater, budget, traffic.
First, the Development Authority:
I support the Development Authority. I believe that the members volunteer
their time with the best of intentions. Im sure they’ve made some
mistakes, and as is the case with any of us, hindsight is 20/20. On the
whole, the history of these volunteers has been one that has helped PTC
to grow and prosper.
The tennis center and amphitheater are indeed the much-talked-about crown
jewels of PTC. They are viable entities that need our support, and MUST
be allowed to continue. Do they need a different management structure?
Possibly. Should it be the city? No.
We as a city do not have the infrastructure and management expertise to
manage the facilities. And, do not have the financial freedom to absorb
the costs of payroll, insurance and pension for an additional 20 to 30
people.
I have offered the city my assistance to determine the best solution.
Not as a candidate, but as a concerned citizen who understands the value
of both facilities. I will continue to work with all parties to determine
the best solution.
Budget: Until recently, we as a city didn’t have many financial issues.
Construction was abundant, and the impact fees played a major role in
financing our activities, the economy was strong, a budget deficit was
unheard of.
Now, with PTC almost at build-out, and the economy not yet in full swing,
our revenue sources are not keeping up with expenditures. And, it’s
going to take solid leadership and focused thinking to get us through.
It’s easy as a politician to SAY the right things: We need to cut
expenses. We need to increase revenues. We need to leave no stone unturned.
And, while its easy to say these things, it’s proven difficult for
our leaders to put them into practice. Tax increases have recently become
the norm, and we will be experiencing them on an ongoing basis if restraint
is not put into practice.
There were lots of discussions this year during the budget hearings at
the City Council meetings, including election year rhetoric about refusing
to vote for a tax increase. But ALL of our leaders knew last year that
a tax increase was going to be needed this year. It was discussed during
last year’s council meetings and budget workshops. A meaningless
vote against the tax increase was nothing more than theatrics.
Balancing a budget is spending less than you make. It’s a simple
concept that works at home, in business, and should work in government.
The city staff has done an admirable job of reducing the fat in the budget,
while our council has made unanimous decisions to support free spending.
Do we really need a bridge to nowhere?
We need to be fiscally responsible, and treat tax money as our own. When
times are lean we should spend on the essentials not the luxuries. If
elected I will employ my business skills to identify process improvement
opportunities and work with city staff to implement them.
Traffic: Traffic is the result of success. As the city has prospered,
we've become more of an attraction for employment, shopping, and entertainment.
Alleviating the traffic woes at Ga. highways 74 and 54 is an expensive
proposition, one that we must work with our neighboring municipalities,
counties, and state government to resolve. We can’t wait for the
problem to go away. If elected, I will determine the steps that must be
initiated to address the problems and spearhead an effort to resolve them.
I make one promise if elected to the City Council: I will thoroughly research
all issues, and will make decisions based on what is right for PTC. I
have no agenda other than doing what is best for PTC.
Stuart Kourajian
Peachtree City, Ga.
|
