For the past six months, Snellville has had a city council with six members who are united in their desire to not only keep Snellville the place where everybody is proud to be somebody, but to bring new sources of pride. The results of that unity are impressive- a completely revitalized Towne Green, positive news in both general and social media, renewed enthusiasm within the city staff and, throughout the city, eager anticipation of great things still to come.
That enthusiasm and anticipation is in stark contrast to the environment of previous years when controversy and lawsuits hung over the council like dark clouds. The atmosphere that prevailed in those years was captured in a series of CutToThe-Chase.com blog posts entitled, “Divided We Stand”. That series was motivated by the actions of the then-current occupant of the mayor’s office and her singular minion. The actions in question took the form of attempts to implement a private agenda, and working against virtually anything that didn’t serve it.
What became obvious over time was that the private agenda emanated largely from outside the city, not from within; an external group seemed to be attempting to gain control of the city council for its own benefit. The puppeteer who was pulling the strings and paying the bills had grand plans and even grander delusions of an expanding sphere of control that would dominate the city.
Those delusions were dashed when the lead puppet began spinning out of control, thereby rendering the puppeteer’s plans largely ineffective. The situation became somewhat analogous to the inmates running the asylum. And neither clandestine meetings nor ridiculous lawsuits changed that. That obviously didn’t bring any joy to the puppeteer, who then proceeded to recruit other puppets and finance their bids to be elected to the city council. Fortunately, for the citizens of Snellville, that plan failed too.
As a result, Snellville is unified like never before. And consequently, it’s enjoying success like never before. Some of that success is the result of improving economic conditions, but the primary driver that is enabling the city to enjoy beneficial economic activity is the unity of purpose that originates with the city council and is embraced by the staff and the citizens.
Now that the region and the nation have climbed out of the financial abyss that resulted from the recent recession, home values are returning to, and in some cases exceeding, their previous levels, new businesses are calling Snellville home and existing businesses are expanding. And the Towne Center that has been on the distant horizon in years past, is now front and center and close to becoming a reality.
Snellville’s united council, staff and citizenry are ensuring that the city can take maximum advantage of the current economic environment- not to simply grow, but to make the city more attractive and more livable. Without question, challenges lie ahead. And equally without question is that unity will turn those challenges into opportunities that will pay handsome dividends to the city and its citizens.
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