Alex Fudali

I am running for the Roswell City Council because I want to bring your local government closer to you. That may sound like a daunting mission, but it is something I strongly believe in and will campaign to make happen. While there are many other pressing issues facing Roswell, you may be asking yourself, why focus on this? I have lived in Roswell for over 18 years. When my wife Laura and I were looking for a place to call home and raise a family, we wanted to be in a community that had great schools, offered an opportunity to enjoy the arts and culture, and had a small town feel. For us, Roswell fit the bill. Today, 18 years later, we know things have changed, but we also feel we made the right decision in establishing our roots in Roswell. We are raising three wonderful young men, Alex Jr., Justyn and Kristopher, and we are trying to make a difference in our community.

Roswell today is not the same place it was 18 years ago. It has grown tremendously. By some estimates, it has doubled in size. While growth in itself is not a bad thing, when it is not balanced with a supporting infrastructure, it becomes fractured and begins to affect our quality of life in many ways. We know we all have the ability to change things individually; realistically we also know there are limits how far our individual efforts can alter the course of change in our community. For this reason, we rely on our elected officials to drive whatever changes we are faced with in a positive manner. For this to happen, we need to feel connected to the people we elect and give them the authority to act on our behalf and that of the community.

The population of Roswell is estimated at over 85,000 people. We are a large community, ranking in the top ten largest cities in Georgia. One of the biggest consequences of becoming a large city is a sense of loss of the ‘small town feel’ and disengagement from the people we elect. It does not have to be this way. We can change this.

So how do you bring back a small town feel when you have become a community of over 85 thousand people? You do this by linking neighborhoods and different areas of the city together, in a pedestrian friendly way, and by moving traffic patterns in a more synchronized fashion through parts of the city with heavier traffic volume - areas such as Alpharetta Highway, Crossville and the Holcomb Bridge. Roswell should also explore viable mass transit options along the 400 corridor. Georgia legislators are reaching a funding agreement on transportation. We need to be at center stage on this issue to ensure our needs are heard. Roswell's elected leaders have to be committed and willing to make tough decisions. As a daily commuter I have a keen appreciation of this problem. I will make the tough decisions others refused to make.

Eliminating traffic congestion in itself will not alter the decay we see in of some parts of Roswell. We need to pursue state, federal and private grants designed for redevelopment of underperforming and underserved areas of the community. We need to encourage commercial property owners, developers and merchants to upgrade/redevelop existing retail space and shopping centers in a manner that creates a sense of character and charm, and blends Roswell’s historic town feel with new, stylish and creative designs. Some of this is beginning to happen in Roswell today. It has to continue happening and if we elect the right people to the Roswell City Council, it will. I will make this a cornerstone of every decision I make dealing with redevelopment and new projects in the City of Roswell.

Electing the right people to lead Roswell today and into the future can be challenging for all of us. There are things we must insist on now to help us know who the right people are to run the City of Roswell. For starters, the Roswell City Council must begin airing live Council meetings on the RCTV. This will allow Roswell residents to stay in touch with what is happening in their city and to know how their elected officials are managing the peoples business from the comfort of their homes. People live busy lives, but they also want to know what is happening in their community. Airing live Council meetings will lead to open, honest government, and produce informed citizens. The City of Roswell adopted the Roswell City Cable Channel concept over 10 years ago, but refused to include a provision to air live meetings. I served on Mayor Wood’s Communications Committee when he was first elected as mayor. I developed the concept and drafted a resolution for the Council to incorporate a Public Access Channel. One of my guiding principles behind the Public Access Channel concept was to air live Council meetings. This must happen, and if elected, I will work with the City Council and Mayor to make it happen.

Another key aspect of building accountability into government is changing the structure of the Council seats and the manner they are elected. Today, Council members are elected at large. There are 6 posts or Council seats and each seat represents the entire city. This too has to change. With over 85,000 residents, having at large representation greatly diminishes accountability of our elected Council. We need to create an environment for the residents of Roswell to know their elected officials. We need to establish permanent, regional council representation where council members are elected by districts. The needs of Roswell East are different than the needs of Roswell West, North or South - having different needs demands having balanced representations. Changing the structure of electing council from an at large manner to permanent geographical districts brings government closer to the people. This form of council representation exists in neighboring Sandy Springs. It should also exist in Roswell. I will work tirelessly to bring about this change.

Between 2001- 2003, I served as a LSAC - Local School Advisory Committee member at Roswell North Elementary School. The committee consists of the school administrators, teachers, parents, PTA members and representatives from our local business community. A key task of LSAC is to help the school principal determine the number of grade classes a school needs to offer each year. Determining the number of grade classes that need to be offered is based on an estimate. What I found is that school administrators do the best job they can based on the information available to them. What I also found is that no communication takes place between the city and local schools. This is unfortunate because open communication between the two bodies could yield incredible benefit for Roswell. If schools knew what projects were being planned and what developments were in their final building phases they could incorporate this knowledge into their grade class count planning process. Hiring teachers, allocating classroom space can be done in a calculated, productive manner. I will keep the channels of communication open between our schools and city government.

In my professional line of work, we place a high premium on customer service. I will apply this philosophy to every resident in Roswell - home or business owner. I will ensure our residential home and business owners feel they can seek help from the city without apprehension and in a fair manner. In my short time on the campaign trail, I have heard numerous concerns from the small business community implying their concerns are often overlooked or not given serious consideration. I will apply 3 simple principles when dealing with our business community - listen, be supportive, be fair. Customer service will be the foundation of every interaction I have with Roswell residents and the business community.

Simple 3 Step Plan for Roswell's Business Community

• Listen to Issues and Concerns
• Provide an Environment of Support
• Be Fair

Providing an environment of support for Roswell businesses makes sense for 3 simple reasons. Thriving businesses in a community:

• Support our tax base
• Create jobs in the community
• Provide shopping, dining, entertainment and cultural conveniences for our residents