Palmetto experienced a sea-change in elected leadership that began two years ago and continued in the November election. New Mayor John Miller recently shared his thoughts on city’s future, the immediate and long-term goals and the desire that the large number of residents who fostered that sea-change will continue their involvement on local government.

“One of the exciting things we’ve got now is momentum with the community. They are excited and interested in participating in their destiny,” Miller said. “The community has an opportunity now to have their voice heard by getting information from city hall, as they deserve, and knowing what’s going on and using that to come to the table and introduce ideas themselves. They have elected members now who are receptive to the needs of the community, who are all pledged to benefit our entire community.”

The new mayor and council came into office promoting significantly enhanced accountability, transparency and communication with citizens, a stand that has pitfalls for any local government and that can be geared to criticism. Miller acknowledged those realities, but noted the long-term advantage and the importance of being willing to hold the characteristics of accountability in high regard.

“Certainly we’re not going to please all the people all the time,” said Miller. “But what we can give people is the real knowledge and belief that they’ve been listened to, that their ideas have been considered and an explanation has come out of that, even if they are not on the winning side of a topic. They will know the council gave the time and the respect to their ideas. In this way, with ideas coming to the table, it can be an amalgam of ideas, so that you don’t have a right and a wrong. You’ve got an ‘us,’ a community direction. We’re just seven people up there. Our task is to filter through the community’s ideas and make an amalgam that will work for everybody so that the net effect is beneficial. This is very different than where we’ve been before.”

Miller said the city’s immediate needs include those in public safety, in terms of being competitive and having a police and fire department that meets today’s challenges with staffing and competitive wages. He said other immediate needs include development.

“We’ve got a real opportunity to control what our future looks like. We can see what we’ve got currently and what’s recently been built. I think everybody realizes that’s not the direction we need to go in. Development should benefit the community, not the developer. We’ve got a real opportunity to improve the quality of development in our city. We’ve got a large undeveloped area and south Fulton’s growing. We need to make sure we’re growing in the right direction,“ said Miller.

Longer term goals include having a greater interconnectivity between the city’s historic neighborhoods. Still other goals include instituting changes that will bring quality investment to the downtown area, such as restaurants and venues geared to families. The council is geared toward increased quality for the city, Miller said.

“When I served on the council I didn’t have any inkling what was coming up the next month or the next week, because those decisions were in a very closed and controlled decision-making environment,” he said. “To open it up might make our job easier because we don’t have to come up with all the ideas. It also brings the responsibility back to the community. Because if you’ve said we wanted to participate and to have a new day in Palmetto, then you need to show up at council meetings and come to the town hall meetings and truly participate in Palmetto’s future.”

Miller’s announcement, only minutes after he was sworn in as mayor, to have the council hold town hall meetings signals a change in the customary approach by most local governments. The first hall meeting will be held Feb. 7 at 7 p.m. at the community center on Roosevelt Highway. Miller said the initial meeting will establish a format for future meetings and hear a presentation by department heads. The council will also address the three or four hot button issues that have been expressed by citizens. Those issues will be supplemented by answers to questions already posed to the new mayor and council during previous months.

“The (town hall) idea came very early on as we were talking about some changes that needed to be made in the city,” Miller said. “When people come to a city council meeting, a lot of times it’s such an intimidating and formal setting, people often have to be pretty ticked off to stand up at the meeting. If we’re looking long term, we’ll have a better exchange of ideas that will be allowed in a town hall format where people can come to the mic and speak constructively. There will have to be some specific guidelines, but I think as people realize this is an ongoing process they will understand that, even if their topic did not come up at one meeting, they came leave a comment card with questions and concerns that will better focus the next meeting.”

The new mayor and council have made no secret in their belief that Palmetto stands on the threshold of a positive future, supplanted by the idea that every resident and every business owner should participate to broaden the scope and enhance the opportunity for a new future.

“We have a real chance to start fresh and to preserve what we’ve got. And we’re talking about including everyone, not playing favorites,” said Miller. “When you come to the table in Palmetto, no matter who you are you’re brining your ideas and you know it will be listened to. This is the pledge I feel our new mayor and council has brought to the table. The opportunities are tremendous. The long-term will be molded by all those at the table.”

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