POWDER SPRINGS RESIDENTS HEAR FROM CANDIDATES IN CONTESTED RACES

POWDER SPRINGS — Economic development was a key topic of discussion Thursday for the three candidates vying to become the next mayor of Powder Springs. The mayor’s race has local business owner Alison Feliciano running against Post 2 Councilman Chris Wizner and former Ward 2 Councilman Al Thurman, who left his council seat to vie for the office. The winner will succeed Pat Vaughn, who chose not to seek another term, citing health issues and other factors. The three candidates for mayor as well as the five men and women seeking two City Council seats were all in attendance at Thursday’s candidate forum at the George E. Ford Center, an event hosted by the Powder Springs Community Taskforce. The city’s voters on Nov. 3 will select a new mayor and council members for at-large Posts 1 and 2. Feliciano, who told those in attendance she had 25 years in finance and business, said Powder Springs needs to become a business-friendly city. “We need to soften regulations that are currently holding our companies back from growing, and possibly preventing others from coming to our city to bring jobs here,” she said. “Many of our citizens drive very far away to go to work to get a good paying job. “People that are driving very far to go to work are not spending their money here in Powder Springs to help our companies that are here,” she added. Thurman, a resident of Powder Springs for more than 30 years, has served on the City Council for 13 years. The CEO and owner of Superior Landscaping Inc. said he wants to move the city away from the bedroom community mentality. “My vision for the city of Powder Springs is to move us in a direction where we are more balanced in revenue. I’d like to see us go from a bedroom community to at least a 30-percent tax base,” he said. Wizner, a family physician, touted his nearly 20 years of involvement with the city. He says as mayor, he would hope to oversee the building of a database and a long-term plan for replacing the city’s infrastructure. “I think we need responsible growth. I think we’ve done a great job, we’ve got a great staff with the city,” he said. “One thing the council did recently is we got an economic development person, and we’ve had more growth in the last two years than we’ve had in several years. “We’re moving in the right direction — we just got to keep moving in the right direction,” he added. The at-large Post 1 council seat race has two men — Patrick Bordelon Sr. and Tom Bevirt — vying to succeed Rosalyn Neal, who did not seek re-election. Bevirt is seeking a return to the council after previously serving three terms in the at-large Post 2 seat. He lost his 2011 reelection bid to Wizner. “It’s become very apparent that we need to see more transparency in our city government so you can see what the heck is going on. That seems to be very absent here,” Bevirt said, adding one way the city could do that is by having every quarter public meetings in places such as the Ford Center. City officials, he added, could also meet residents in the clubhouses of their neighborhoods. Bordelon started his introduction by referencing the namesake of the building the forum was being held in — George E. Ford. “He was never mayor, but he was such a wonderful person in the city that they named this building after him. It’s appropriate that we’re meeting in a building named after him because his role on the City Council was to be a peacemaker, and to always try to do things better, and that is certainly something I would like to be able to do as a City Council person.” With Wizner running for mayor, his at-large Post 2 seat is up for grabs in the November race. Voters will get to choose from Henry Lust, Ashanti Norton and Patricia Wisdom. Lust, who told the crowd about his involvement with local school PTSAs and other community organizations, said education was a key priority for him. “I want to be an advocate for our children to make sure they receive an excellent education,” he said. “I want to focus on the adults as well — there are a lot of adults that do not have their diploma. I want to initiate a program that would help those who do not have a diploma to get access to GED testing so they can get their GED or diploma and have the ability to get their education.” For Norton, a business owner and 29-year resident of Powder Springs, government transparency was an issue she said she wants to focus on. “The honesty in the government needs to be obvious to the people,” she said. “You need to know what’s going on behind closed doors, what the government has decided to do with your tax dollars. I want to make that information available for everyone to know.” Wisdom said one of her goals would be to develop citizen advisory groups for residents and businesses to participate in all aspects of city revitalization. “As your elected official, I would treat you all with courtesy and respect and integrity. It is very important to me that you feel you can register concerns and issues and your issues will be responded to in a timely manner. I have no vested interest other than representing you,” she said. With no incumbents seeking re-election, three new officials will be sitting in the mayor’s seat and the two council positions in January. Another new face will be joining them, but her name will not be on November’s ballot, as Doris Dawkins was the only resident to seek Thurman’s Ward 2 seat. The Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration today at 10 a.m. will hold a called meeting to cancel the special election to fill that seat, which would have been held on the Nov. 3 election day, and to certify Dawkins as elected to the office.

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