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Candidates square off in Senoia

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

A crowd of nearly 60 curious spectators packed the East Coweta Senior Center in Senoia last week to hear the city’s four candidates for two City council seats discuss the issues facing the growing town.

Incumbents Robert Belisle and Bill Wood were familiar faces to the crowd, as was challenger Murray McAfee, the city’s former city administrator.

Challenger Charlene Redding, who has not been involved in politics, told the crowd that she had lived in Senoia all her life and worked at Fayette Community Hospital.

“I just want to make sure we have a safe environment,” she said.

In the last few years, Senoia has been struggling with an explosive growth in population and subdivisions, and McAfee said the city had a choice to make.

“I’m for quality growth and making sure it’s done right the first time,” he said.

Councilman Robert Belisle said residents should look at the accomplishments of the current City Council when the head to the polls Nov. 2. He cited the imposition of impact fees as one of the major victories and said the council was getting very strict on issuing variances. He also had advice for would be developers in the city.

“You’ve got to play by the rules to develop in this town,” he said.

Councilman Bill Wood said the city had faced numerous needs and challenges in the last few years and he also favored quality and smart growth.

It appeared that traffic and growth were the key concerns of the residents. One of the questions concerned a traffic light at the intersection of Rockaway Road and Ga. Highway 74.

McAfee said that when he was city manager he had tried to work with Peachtree City and the DOT in securing a light at the intersection. Wood also echoed McAfee’s comments and said one of the main problems was the intersection was not within the city limits of Senoia, so the city had no jurisdiction over the area. Redding and Belisle both agreed the situation needed to be fixed.

The two candidates who receive the most votes in the Nov. 2 election will be sworn in as new councilmen in January.