Powder Springs Businesses Want New Direction

Mayor Vaughn touts growth, public safety in State of the City address

by Ricky Leroux

February 13, 2015

POWDER SPRINGS — Mayor Pat Vaughn said her city is building off the growth of 2014 to improve further this year, but her challenger in this fall’s mayoral race thinks he can do better. Vaughn touted the city’s economic growth, improvements in its public safety departments and a new location for the city’s Seven Springs Museum during her State of the City address at the Patricia C. Vaughn Cultural Arts Center in Powder Springs Thursday. During her presentation to a crowd of about 40, Vaughn said the city ended fiscal 2014 with an increase in unassigned funds in its general budget of about $377,000 through strategic budget cuts and savings in operational costs. Vaughn said this gives the city about nine months’ worth of reserves.

“We’re stable. We’re in good shape,” Vaughn said. Additionally, the city saw building permits for single-family homes increase by 160 percent: 46 permits were issued in 2014 compared to 17 in 2013. Vaughn said the city also revamped the Powder Springs Development Authority and the Downtown Development Authority, and the DDA has a new $10,000 grant for restaurants which open downtown. “They were just sort of on an inactive status because we’d had so many cutbacks that we didn’t really have the staff,” she said. Stephanie Aylworth, the city’s economic development director, said there is one restaurant already working through the application process. “They have to go through the Development Authority, the Development Authority has to approve it,” she said. “And then it has to go through the City Council for approval.” The grant is a reimbursement grant, Aylworth said, so businesses must spend their own money on the improvements and the city will pay them back after verifying the receipts. Aylworth said $3,000 of the grant goes toward outside signage and façade improvements and the other $7,000 is for renovations and equipment. Vaughn, first elected in 2004, is facing the end of her third term in office this year and has already announced her intentions to seek a fourth. Councilman Al Thurman, first elected to the council in 2002, has announced plans to oppose Vaughn in the fall. Thurman was in attendance at Thursday’s address and said the reason he decided to run for mayor is because he feels he has more to contribute to the city. “I believe that the current administration — I have no problem with it, but I just feel like I can make a bigger difference from a standpoint of transparency, accountability. Those are strong issues for me,” Thurman said after the speech. Thurman said if elected he would want to bring new business to the city to increase the size of its commercial tax base. “I think we have to. With the economic turndown, we saw the tax digest changing. It affected our revenue big time,” Thurman said. Police improvements, new museum Vaughn also called special attention to improvements to the city’s police department, including the purchase of new police vehicles and the implementation of a body camera program. The new vehicles bring the Powder Springs police closer to having a car for each officer to take home. “We’re very happy that we’ve instituted the take-home program. … We’re doing them as we get them. We couldn’t buy 40 new cars at one time. So as we get the money, we’re putting money in it every year,” Vaughn said. Interim Police Chief John Robison said the city has ordered two police vehicles and plans to order two more in March, which would leave the department with just four more vehicles to purchase to give every officer a take-home car. Robison said he hopes the city will have those remaining vehicles purchased by the end of the year. Additionally, all Powder Springs patrol officers began wearing body cameras in November, and Robison said the cameras have proven to be a powerful tool for law enforcement. “It’s been helpful in some investigations that we’ve had to do. So far, it’s been very good. It’s already paying off,” he said. Finally, Vaughn was very proud of the city’s efforts to move the Seven Springs Museum from its current location in Powder Springs Park to the Bodiford House, the childhood home of Superior Court Senior Judge Jim Bodiford. The current museum experienced flooding in 2009, so it needed to find a new home, Vaughn said. “Its new location will be wonderful. We’re able to hold on to a beautiful historic home in Powder Springs, maintain our history and have a new home for the museum,” Vaughn said. The renovations to the Bodiford House are underway and should be complete by June, Vaughn added. Opponents, residents speak out Vaughn’s address began with two videos: one highlighting some of the city’s accomplishments in 2014, and the other had historical photos of the city which faded into current photos of the same locations. Vaughn then spoke in more detail about some of the things mentioned in the videos. The presentation garnered mixed reactions from those in attendance. Al Brewer, an insurance salesman and Powder Springs resident, said he thought it was excellent. “I love the presentation. You know, many of us are visual, including me,” said Brewer, a 35 year resident of Powder Springs. Alison Feliciano, who owns the Powder Springs-based financial consulting firm MyCRD, said Vaughn’s presentation was concise, but too broad. “I would’ve loved to have heard more about the growth that has been had and really what the plans are to come to grow this city,” Feliciano said. “As citizens, I think we should hear more about the nuts and bolts. As beautiful as our city is, we know that nothing is perfect. We wish, but I would’ve loved to hear about the challenges we’ve been experiencing and then what we’re doing to try to resolve those as best as we can.” Feliciano said she learned about several projects she did not know about before Vaughn’s address and wished the city did more to get the word about the work it’s doing. Patty McMichen, owner of Addy Cakes Bakery on C.H. James Parkway in Powder Springs, said she opened her business in January 2014, but it’s been tough going so far. She said she wanted to hear solutions from Vaughn about growing businesses in the city. “We are sustaining, but that’s not enough,” she said. McMichen said she grew up in Powder Springs and “knows it can do better,” so she doesn’t plan to vote for Vaughn in the fall. “The businesses — we’re suffering. And she has had enough terms and we’ve come to her enough times,” she said.

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