On Sunday, October 30, The Gainesville Times profiled the four candidates running for Flowery Branch City Council. Unfortunately, the online version of the story does not include the question and answer set provided by each candidate. I have reproduced my answers to those questions for you to read here and share with your friends and family that may be voters in Flowery Branch. If you want to see the online article, you can do that here Flowery Branch City Council election.
Name: Amanda Swafford
Age: 35
Occupation: Paralegal
Website: www.AmandaSwafford.net
Political Experience: Elected to the Flowery Branch City
Council in 2010
Education: B.A. Political Science Agnes Scott College, Decatur,
GA
American Bar Association Paralegal Certificate, Gainesville State College, Gainesville,
GA
1 year of law school, McGeorge School of Law, Sacramento, CA
Currently
pursuing a B.S. in Technology Management at Gainesville State College,
Gainesville, GA
Family information: Single
Detail your history in Flowery Branch: 4th
generation native of Flowery Branch
Question No. 1
With the completion of Thurmon Tanner Parkway between
Flowery Branch and Oakwood, what should be the city’s role to help attract
business and industry to that corridor?
Answer No. 1
Our city should work to reduce regulations, fees and other
requirements imposed on our small businesses.
Attracting new business is an especially competitive area right now and
our city should adopt policies that reduce administrative burdens and repeal or
revise existing regulations that hamper growth.
Our city should also continue existing negotiations to revise the
confusing matrix of intergovernmental agreements pertaining to water and sewer use
in that area as well as throughout our city.
Question No. 2
Regarding the city’s budget, do you see areas where you can
cut spending and/or that need additional funding? If it’s the latter, how would
you cover the expense?
Answer No. 2
Currently, actual expenditures have usually come out around
$100,000 under the total budgeted amount meaning our city does a good job of
holding down costs. However, that’s
$100,000 not in the pockets of our citizens or going toward important
priorities like our aging infrastructure and storm water plans. In terms of spending, personnel costs have
risen fairly substantially over the last several years and now encompass a disproportionate
share of non-SPLOST revenue. In
addition, the General Fund is being supplemented with reserves of over
$100,000. We need to bring a better balance
to our city budget.
Question No. 3
What is the city’s most serious infrastructure need and what
would you do to fix it?
Answer No. 3
The downtown area currently has no comprehensive storm water
plan. One of the ways the Council can
start the process of obtaining funds for the creation and implementation of a
storm water plan is to look for areas in the General Fund where costs can be reallocated
based on usage instead of relying on the millage rate structure which is based
on the value of a real estate parcel. In addition, no
study should be funded until the budget is expected to have funds to implement the
study findings within a reasonable amount of time after the study is
finalized.
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