Financial planner Harold Logsdon has formally announced his candidacy for mayor of Peachtree City.
Logsdon, 59, is a nine-year resident of Peachtree City and took part in the meetings where city officials crafted an ordinance to ban indoor smoking in public places last year.
Although Logsdon disagreed with the need for the ordinance, he said he wouldnt plan on changing it if he is elected.
I have no intentions of trying to undo that one, Logsdon said.
The change Logsdon wants to see is in the relationships the city has with other agencies, including Fayette and Coweta counties, state officials and the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce.
He has alienated all our neighbors, Logsdon said of current Mayor Steve Brown.
Logsdon said he didnt think it should have taken this long to finish the extension of TDK Boulevard into Coweta County. The failure to have it done affects businesses in the area, Logsdon noted.
That has an economic impact that were losing daily, Logsdon said.
Logsdon is working on his second career as a financial planner after spending 36 years with BellSouth, serving the latter part as a manager in the audit department. He also spent 38 years with the National Guard, ultimately retiring as a colonel.
That management experience in both roles will serve the city well, Logsdon said.
With my desire and leadership experience I think Im fully qualified for this job, he said. Maintaining the citys quality of life is the main goal, Logsdon added.
The proposed annexation of roughly 360 acres on the citys west side needs to be done to create another road so residents in the area can avoid the often-clogged corridor of Ga. Highway 54 West, Logsdon said. The bonus of the annexation is that the city will be able to control how the land is developed, he noted.
The city must also be concerned with helping to fill up its industrial park, Logsdon said. He predicted the two biggest issues the city will face in the future are rezoning and redevelopment.
Logsdon said he doesnt like the bickering over the issues that takes place in the local newspapers because it turns off companies that might want to locate here.
Those things need to be handled transparently, Logsdon said.
While admitting he didnt know all of the details, Logsdon also said hed like to see a better management of the citys tennis center.
They just seem to be struggling over there, Logsdon said, noting
Changes to make the tennis center entirely self-sufficient financially may not have been the way to go, Logsdon said. He noted that the Kedron Fieldhouse, for example, is a city recreation amenity that does not break even and thus needs city funds to operate.
At the same time, Logsdon said if a city entity is capable of operating without a subsidy, it should do so.
Logsdon has been attending City Council meetings since early fall and said he has a good feeling for the issues. He also is impressed with the capability of city staffers.
His opposition to the smoking ordinance, for the record, was that he didnt feel the city should be forcing the regulations on private business owners. Smoking is becoming publicly unacceptable anyway, partly due to education efforts about its dangers, Logsdon said.
The indoor smoking ban affected private employers and restaurants, although the city left an exemption where bars could keep an indoor smoking environment.
Logsdon and his wife of 37 years, Ann, live in the Morallion Hills subdivision in south Peachtree City. He is a member of the Peachtree City Kiwanis Club, the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce and Peachtree City Christian Church.
Although current Mayor Steve Brown hasnt committed to running for office again, one other candidate is in the fray: Stephen Boone, 59, of the Planterra Ridge subdivision. Boone is a retired colonel from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and now has a business that contracts with the military for engineering and advisory matters.
Boone will be profiled in next weeks edition of The Citizen.
Local author Harry Chambers said Monday he is also considering a possible campaign for mayor, but he is still evaluating the possibility. Chambers said he hoped to have a decision in the near future.