A 25-year-old college student has announced he will run for one of the two Peachtree City Council seats up for grabs this November.

Timothy James Hoyle, 25, said he decided to run for the seat because “I just really think I can do a lot for the city.”

Hoyle is currently a student at Clayton State College and University seeking a criminal justice degree. Although he realizes he’s relatively young to get involved in city politics, Hoyle said he sees that working to his benefit because he’s well connected with youth in the city.

“I think they really could use a young person on the council ... to bring some fresh ideas,” Hoyle said. “I’m really fired up about it.”

Hoyle has lived in Peachtree City for 11 years and he graduated from Starr’s Mill High School in 2001. One of his goals is to preserve the city’s current comprehensive plan to control growth.

Hoyle also noted that traffic is a significant issue, and he would like to see improvements made for the interchange of Interstate 85 and Ga. Highway 74 before other roads are considered such as the recently halted project to extend TDK Boulevard into Coweta County.

“The current widening of Highway 74 is a good start,” Hoyle said, adding that he’d like to see a community forum to get ideas to improve traffic conditions. “... I’m not a traffic expert.”

Another pressing issue for the city is the current amount of vacant police officer positions with the city, Hoyle said. He thinks the city should have job fairs and look at other ways to recruit potetial employees.

“That should be a high priority,” Hoyle said.

Hoyle said the recent action by council to increase pay 4.5 percent for starting police officers and corporals is merely a quick fix but the issue needs to be studied further.

Hoyle said he originally planned to run for the seat currently held by Judi-ann Rutherford, but he has not firmly decided whether or not he will run for that seat or the one currently occupied by Councilman Stuart Kourajian, who has announced he will not seek re-election.

Hoyle is the second person to announce candidacy for a council seat, joining Michael L. King, who works in commercial sales for Wade Ford in Smyrna.

Qualifying for the election will be held during the week of August 27 – 31, 2007.The qualifying fee for City Council is $180, per state law, which requires the fee be set as 3% of the annual salary.

login to post comments