No Project Creation Without Funding and Implementation!

Many of you have heard of the constitutional argument that there should be no taxation without representation. From my 10 years of living in District 4 of Cobb County I now add a new one:

“There should be no project creation without funding and implementation.”

There are 37 planning studies listed on Cobb County’s Community Development webpage. Seventeen of those studies are for projects located in District 4. District 4 includes Austell, Mableton, most of Powder Springs and portions of Marietta and Smyrna. Studies date as far back as 1995.

How is it that that our area has great attention when it comes to planning projects but such little follow-through in project implementation?

If our area developed at the rate of each planning study we would be the best looking, best kept district of Cobb. Instead our area goes underinvested in year after year.

Of little surprise, when I knock on doors of voters none of them ask about lofty town centers and big box stores listed in earlier projects. Instead they ask about lower hanging fruit like

• Installing sidewalks so children and seniors don’t have to walk in the middle of the street

• Regular mowing of grass medians and right-of-ways.

• Adding streetlights to improve visibility and deter crime at night.

So, while it would be great to develop with comparable investment and quality to other areas of Cobb, I do not believe new projects should be pursued at the expense of not addressing more apparent needs and opportunities.

I also believe we need good faith effort to address development in more parts of the county than the area of current leadership and even before (I shame to say it) the summer of an election.

On July 31, year I ask for you to vote to ensure we no longer have project creation without funding and implementation. Lets start immediately working on those things we can change today without losing sight of how to implement our desires for a better tomorrow.