Are you kidding me?

The past six months have been crazy. I’ve had to devote an extra 20-30 hours a week to my city council responsibilities and to do that I’ve had to overload what was already a pretty crowded calendar. It hasn’t been easy but I feel good about the job I’ve done and I’ve never lost sight of what is most important in my life… my family.

But something had to give and several things that I used to enjoy were lost in the shuffle. In the snippets of free time I had before taking office I used to read, blog and play guitar and lately those times have been nearly nonexistent.

I’m not complaining. I knew what I was getting into and I don’t regret it. But Alpharetta is an exciting place to be with a lot going on so there has been much to do. It has been great to work with our new mayor and city council setting bold new goals while looking for better ways to serve our community.

One of the biggest challenges I faced over the past few months was the decision to approve a mixed use project proposed for Alpharetta. I attended meetings with city staff, fellow council members, developers, attorneys, friends and constituents. I spent hours researching the proposal and trying to anticipate all of the possible positive and negative consequences of my vote. For weeks I agonized over numerous aspects of the issue and after all of that I cast a vote which cost me some very dear friends. That project was named Avalon.

So I was elated to discover a little free time the other night and decided to download a new book on my wife’s Kindle.

The book is titled At Any Cost by Cara Ellison and you can download it here if you are interested. Ms. Ellison is a brilliant writer who I have followed online for more than a decade. She lived in Washington, DC during the September 11th attacks and wrote incredibly powerful short stories about the days which followed and how they affected her life and her nation.

So I settled into bed with my new book. It felt great to relax.

I knew from Cara’s blogging that she was familiar with the world of the Secret Service so it seemed quite natural that the protagonist of the book was a Secret Service protectee. I quickly became engrossed in the story and after a few pages a Secret Service agent began calling the protagonist by her protectee code name…

Avalon.

God really does have a wicked sense of humor doesn’t he?

Alpharetta hires a new Economic Development Coordinator

Hiring a person capable of leading our city’s economic development effort was a key goal for Alpharetta’s new Mayor and City Council this year. So I am proud to announce that Alpharetta has now hired a talented young man to direct that crucial effort to retain and recruit businesses in the city of Alpharetta.

Today’s press release:

Alpharetta Hires Economic Development Director

Following a year-long search the City of Alpharetta has selected the person who will lead its efforts to attract and grow business and private investment.  Peter Tokar will begin his new duties as Alpharetta’s Director of Economic Development on June 4.

In making the announcement during Monday night’s City Council meeting, Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle expressed enthusiasm.  “This is an exciting time for Alpharetta as we launch initiative like our Technology Advisory Commission, rebrand ourselves as The Technology City of the South, and begin to implement the recommendations in our new economic development plan. Mr. Tokar is bringing new ideas to the table and the experience to help us achieve our goals in an aggressive timetable.”

Tokar will be coming to Alpharetta from South Florida where he led similar efforts for the City of Davie, building that community’s economic development program from scratch.  Over a three-year period, Tokar completely restructured the program; rebranding the community, creating new business recruitment strategies, and developing the town’s first structured incentive program to spur job creation.  Tokar also dedicated considerable effort to working with existing businesses in Davie to ensure that the environment encouraged their growth and success.

Prior to his time in Davie, Tokar ran economic development programs for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Broward Alliance, the City of Miramar, Florida, and the Miramar – Pembroke Pines Chamber of Commerce.  Tokar also has private sector experience in sales and public relations.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications and Advertising from Liberty University and a Masters of Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University.

These are exciting times for Alpharetta and the hiring of Mr. Tokar is just the latest step in positioning our community as the greatest place to live, shop and do business in the state of Georgia. Welcome to Alpharetta Mr. Tokar!

Alpharetta’s 2013 Budget

This week the City of Alpharetta unveiled the proposed $78 million budget for 2013. Monday night will be our first public discussion of next year’s budget so if you are curious about what will be discussed you can find it on the city’s website here: http://bit.ly/JIZBuC

I will be glad to hear any feedback you have to share about the budget and will do my best to answer any questions you may have but please understand that at this point I am only a few days into the process of reviewing the 428 page document.

The Avalon Decision

Two weeks ago the Alpharetta City Council decided a zoning case which may turn out to be the most important decision any of us make over the next four years. The choice was whether or not to approve a large mixed use development called Avalon for the 80+ acre eyesore currently sitting on the doorstep of our community.

Several years ago the parcel on Old Milton Parkway was zoned for a much larger project called Prospect Park but economic realities and the global economy turned that grand idea into a vacant mud pit with a rotting parking garage. Eventually the property succumbed to foreclosure and more than a year ago the property was bought by a company named North American Properties.

Last month North American Properties came before City Council to ask for approval of their new Avalon project. The new proposal would be a much smaller development with more realistic expectations. It would create less traffic than the original project and reduce the number of housing units by several hundred but key differences including the addition of an apartment component also made the new proposal problematic.

However Avalon still shared one key characteristic with the previous Prospect Park proposal for the site… Avalon has the potential to give Alpharetta an iconic retail center that could cement our position as the most desirable place to live, shop and work in the state of Georgia for decades to come.

With that in mind I started evaluating the ramifications of such a project within a few days of taking office. To review such a complex issue was challenging and over the past few months city council members have spent hundreds of hours reviewing data and working with the Community Development Department’s staff to determine the feasibility of what was being proposed.

Over that time we tried to identify and set forth reasonable conditions for the project to ensure it turns out as promised while allowing the developer the flexibility needed to ensure its economic viability. We spoke with hundreds of constituents and listened closely to their recommendations as well as those of the Planning Commission before we finally sat down to decide the issue. And after the months of research and deliberation the Alpharetta City Council voted unanimously to approve the Avalon project under 53 specific conditions.

In all of the time I spoke to people about the Avalon project I don’t recall ever hearing a single person who absolutely did not want the project to be approved under any circumstances. Scores of people supported or objected to certain aspects of the proposal but every one of them believed that the project could be good for the city under certain circumstances. I listened to every one of those people and I took each of their opinions into consideration before deciding my vote on the issue.

Back on November 10, 2011, two days after my election, I wrote this blog post thanking the people of Alpharetta for the opportunity to represent them on City Council. In that post I wrote:

I know that as an elected representative of over 50,000 people there is no way to satisfy every person every time but I give you my word that I will always do these three things:

1) I will always listen to your concerns.

2) I will always keep an open mind.

3) I will always be honest with you regarding my positions.

I wish I could say every person in Alpharetta supports the Avalon project with the conditions we approved. But I know better. All I can do is stay true to my word and keep those three promises.

Feel free to ask any questions you have in the comments section of this post.

The Avalon project in Alpharetta moves forward

Below is a statement released yesterday by the City of Alpharetta. It is a call for public input on the zoning application submitted for a new development to replace the rotting parking garage currently sitting at the doorstep of our city on Old Milton Parkway.

I encourage all of you to participate in this process. It will have an enormous impact on our community, our quality of life and our property values for years to come.

We Want To Hear From You

North American Properties, the new owner of the 80-acre site at the northwest corner of GA-400 and Old Milton Parkway that was formerly known as Prospect Park, has submitted to the City ofAlpharetta their proposed plan for developing the site. As envisioned by the owner, the project, now named “Avalon”, would be a development consisting of retail, office, hotel, and residential uses with additional outparcels set aside for future sale or development.

While the formal public hearings for the Avalon Proposal are tentatively scheduled to begin on March 1^st when the proposal is presented to the Planning Commission, the City ofAlpharetta is seeking early feedback on the owner’s plans.

Please take a few moments to visit our Open City Hall online discussion about the new Avalon Proposal.  There you can view the proposed site plan for Avalon and the table comparing the uses proposed by North American Properties to those that were approved for the formerProspectPark.  Then, let us know your initial impressions, thoughts, concerns or suggestions. Your comments may be helpful to North American Properties as its plans are further refined and may also assist the Planning Commission and the City Council as they consider the proposal.

Also, please consider sharing this opportunity with your friends and neighbors.  We want to hear from all interested citizens.

Thank you for your participation.

James T. Drinkard
Assistant City Administrator, City of Alpharetta

1/14/2012 – The week in review

My first full week on Alpharetta City Council has been a busy one.

It began on a very sad note as Alpharetta Police Officer Reece Bonilla was laid to rest on Monday. I never had the opportunity to meet Officer Bonilla but by all accounts he was a fine young man and my prayers and thoughts go out to his family. There has been a tremendous outpouring of love and support from Officer Bonilla’s fellow officers in the Alpharetta Public Safety Department and I hope that his family takes some comfort in knowing how much we appreciate his service to this community.

Monday Night’s City Council meeting brought accolades from the city’s financial auditors and served as an excellent reminder of the terrific job Director Tom Harris has done running Alpharetta’s Finance Department. Alpharetta continues to thrive in a challenging environment due in large part to Director Harris’ leadership and the hard work of his staff. Thanks for a job well done guys.

The city also awarded new landscape maintenance contracts for our parks and recreation facilities as well as the medians and right of ways along our roads. Alpharetta is special and I think everyone on council realizes that we can do a better job of highlighting our beauty by paying more attention to some of the details that may have been overlooked in the past. With the new contracts I believe we are moving in the right direction while continuing to act in a fiscally responsible way.

Council also voted to make changes to Alpharetta’s Tree Ordinance on Monday. The tree ordinance sets forth the conditions and procedures which allow property owners to cut down and alter trees on private property.

Alpharetta’s wooded areas and large specimen trees help give our city a beautiful setting and overall we have done a good job of protecting that environment. But at times the tree ordinance also failed to provide reasonable protection for innocent homeowners who wanted to make reasonable changes to their property.

The complexities of the changes we made prevent me from going into too much detail at this time but suffice it to say that after a thorough review of all the changes I believe our code now does a better job of protecting our residents from overly burdensome regulations while still protecting the trees that help make Alpharetta beautiful. I commend Councilman Mike Kennedy, Engineering / Public Works Director Pete Sewczwicz and City Attorney Sam Thomas for their work on this issue.

In addition to the council meeting I also spent alot of time this week getting to know the employees and volunteers that make Alpharetta’s Recreation and Parks Department a world class operation. I am honored that Mayor Belle Isle nominated me to serve as our council’s liaison to Parks And Rec and it has been great to meet some of the people that make my son’s baseball and daughter’s softball programs possible. I will let you know more about these great public servants and what they do for our community in the near future.

Thanks again for this opportunity to serve our community and please take the time to stay engaged in the issues that affect us all.

And so it begins

Last night the greatest honor of my life took place. I was sworn in to serve as a city council representative for the people of Alpharetta. It is an honor that I take very seriously and for the next four years I will represent the people of this wonderful city to the very best of my ability.

As I adapt to my new role so will this blog.  GA Jim was originally created to let people know about events that interested me and affected our lives in Alpharetta. After I made the decision to run for city council, GA Jim became my campaign website. Now it is time for GA Jim to change once again.

GA Jim will now serve as the personal blog of a man on his journey of public service. I will continue to focus on the issues that interest me and affect our lives but from the perspective of a man elected to represent more than 50,000 people. My goal is to keep readers informed and engaged while giving some unique insight into the life of a public servant. I hope you enjoy the new iteration of GA Jim and I encourage you to share your comments as we make this journey together.