Mayor Pro Tem Doug Head Seeks Reelection

Mayor Pro Tem Doug Head

The City Council, together, has accomplished a lot in the last 5 years. But there is more to do and the best is yet to come. I would like to look at what I think is important and some of what we have accomplished in the last 5 years regarding Finances, Public Safety, Infrastructure and Quality of life:

Finances:

The city has 7-9 months’ worth of unrestricted operational reserves for primary government. A goal for many governments is 3-6 months so we are in good shape financially to run our everyday operations and deal with emergencies that could come up. My 38 year banking career gives me the experience, knowledge and skillset to be able to read and understand financial statements, cash flows and financial projections.

Public Safety:

Police: We have enacted a take home policy for cars for officers and worked on pay and classification plans to help recruit and maintain adequate staff. We are seeking to set up a Crime Suppression Unit to deal with increasing gang and violent crime activity.

Fire: We anticipate finishing our new Fire Station by Christmas. We have purchased a new aerial Ladder truck and will add a new much needed replacement pumper truck. We hope to continue the training that has helped us lower our ISO rating from 4 to 3. I want to encourage our working toward being certified as a Licensed Medical First Responder Unit to help in critical care needs of our constituents, particularly when the ambulance service needs help.

Infrastructure:

We have executed a long needed Intergovernmental agreement between the city and county to upgrade and increase the capacity of our sewer system to take care of current needs and to help facilitate recruitment of future industries.

We have made $20 Million worth of upgrades in Sewer, $3 Million in Storm water upgrades, and $3 Million in paving of streets. We also got, with the help of taxpayers, a TSPLOST passed to help further paving of streets.

Quality of Life

We have completed Phase 2 of the Greatest Generation Park and looking forward to the October 8 ribbon cutting to open Lake Thomaston to the public. That is exciting!

We are also working toward the redevelopment of Downtown Thomaston by commissioning the first ever master plan of downtown, authorizing a Façade Grant program, working toward Rural Zone designation, and commissioning the redrafting of both alcohol and zoning ordinances. I believe that these things will lead to investment downtown that has simply not had as much interest before.

There is a lot more that we have done in the last several years that has been made possible with the great team of our council, our city manager, our financial officer, and all of our city employees. Yes, we have done a lot, but I am here to say that there is still more to do and believe me when I say that the best is yet to come!