A rose by any other name, the saying goes. The same holds true for a community activist. And there are few people if any in south Fulton County who fit the role of community activist more than Sandra Hardy. Her most recent involvement came in February with the appointment to the board of directors of South Fulton Community Improvement District (CID).

South Fulton CID is a self-taxing group of industrial property owners working together to facilitate business and community development through transportation improvements in partnership with government officials, business professionals and community members, according to information supplied by the organization. The CID’s three overriding goals include improving transportation infrastructure, enhancing economic growth and vitality and providing effective financial administration and responsibility, according to the organization’s website. Likely unknown to most of south Fulton’s nearly 100,000 current residents, it was Hardy’s persistence that brought the South Fulton CID into existence.

“The CID was formed to have a bridge built on Oakley Industrial between Hwy. 92 and Hwy. 138 and to address traffic that was, is and will be pounding the I-85 corridor and Highway 74,” Hardy said, having functioned as the organization’s first administrator. “We had to be cognizant of the traffic infrastructure concerns in south Fulton and the traffic links to Peachtree City on Hwy. 74.”

Hardy’s appointment to the South Fulton CID board came by way of Fulton County Commissioner Bill Edwards. Commenting on Hardy’s appointment to the CID board, Edwards said the move made sense.

“Sandra’s efforts years ago brought this organization about. She worked with Fulton County and the legislature to make sure it was formed,” Edwards said. “Who better to put on the board to represent me than one of its founders?”

Hardy often describes herself as “just a housewife.” But that assessment does not begin to scratch the surface of a consummately plain-spoken and diplomatically-outspoken woman who has been immersed in Fulton County politics and transportation improvement issues for longer than most people can remember.

The CID lobbied Fulton County and Georgia Dept. of Transportation to have traffic lights installed at the I-85 ramps on Hwy. 74 and, more recently, to have the traffic light installed on Hwy. 92 and Oakley Industrial. Along with South Fulton CID and the more recently formed Tri-County Alliance, Hardy maintains the long-held belief that the transportation infrastructure future for the south Fulton area should include extending Oakley Industrial to Gullat Road, making Gullat an access point for I-85.

As for the CID’s future, Hardy said the organization would benefit from having a community liaison on the board, a resident who wants to participate along with county and local appointees and industry members.

“I really wish there was a community representative on this board and on every CID in Georgia,” Hardy said. “Everybody is impacted by traffic, so board membership should be representative of the entire community, not just the chosen few.”

Hardy’s various affiliations, both past and present, reads like a primer on community activism and participation. Aside from founding South Fulton CID, Hardy currently serves on Fulton County Planning & Zoning Commission and on the steering committee for South Fulton Concerned Citizens, the community organization spearheading the formation of the new City of South Fulton. Hardy served on the South Fulton Chamber of Commerce board of directors, the chamber’s Transportation Initiative Panel and Economic Development Round Table, as Secretary/Treasurer for South Fulton Parkway Alliance, as CFO for Partnership for Tomorrow and was a consultant for North Fulton CID. A former real estate agent, Hardy was a 4-H Club leader and is a lifetime Parent Teachers Association member.

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