MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS DURING MY CURRENT TERM

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In 2017, I promised the voters that I would help bring a major chain grocery store to Monroe so that our citizens would not only have the shopping option but also to keep our sales tax dollars in our local economy rather than sending the money to adjacent counties and cities. That promise is fulfilled by the MAB shopping center which includes a Publix and several other national retail stores. The center represents a 150 million dollar investment by the developer and will keep millions of dollars of sales tax revenue in our local economy as well as provide scores of jobs for our citizens. Obviously, this project is the result of hard work by many individuals and I am proud to have been a part of the effort.

In 2017, I promised the voters that I would work to upgrade our City internet service which originated during my term as Mayor. That promise is currently being fulfilled as the City is running an entire fiber-optic network to serve our users in replacement of the old coaxial cable technology. The fiber optic service will provide far greater speed and bandwidth to both residential and business customers while cutting the customers’ costs. The new network will allow the City and citizens to migrate to streaming services to replace the outdated standard cable services.

In 2021, the County announced its plan to build a huge new jail in a residential area in Monroe. The County’s primary site was on Church/Hammond Streets with Baker Street as a second option. I am proud to say that I led the fight on behalf of the citizens in those neighborhoods to move the jail to an industrial site. We were able to prevent the jail from being placed on the Church/Hammond site but the County Commission has voted to place it on the Baker Street site. I believe that significant hurdles remain for the County regarding that site and I pledge to continue my efforts to get it relocated to the Cherry Hill industrial site or an alternative industrial location.

For several years, Monroe depended on the County to maintain our City parks as part of the countywide Service Delivery Strategy. Unfortunately, the County underperformed such that the City decided to take back the responsibility. We have allocated the major portion of our current SPLOST funds to upgrading all of our parks. I have served on the Parks Committee and have worked diligently to transform Pilot Park which is in my district as well as Mathews Park which is not. Pilot is nearly completed and is the most used park in the City. Mathews will be completely revitalized by early 2022. In 2020, I helped negotiate the donation of the new 123 acre “river park” to the City. This park will be our true “nature park” with trails and access to the Alcovy River for kayaking. Finally, I worked to help secure the downtown tract on Church and South Madison Streets which will be our new “town green”. We have secured the funding to build a permanent stage for the concerts and to install a splash pad for children as well as various other amenities

I believe that strong economic development is essential to the well-being of any city. I have worked hard to facilitate both large and small business development to provide good local jobs for our citizens as well as to keep our sales tax dollars in the local economy. As a result of our efforts, Monroe’s business community has continued to thrive even in the chaos created by the pandemic. The City continues to earn statewide recognition and awards for these efforts. Furthermore, we have been able to continue to roll back the millage rate for property taxes in the City due to keeping our business economy strong and healthy.