Newly Elected Officials Outline Their Top Priorities

In January, the Dunwoody City Council will have three new members helping to shape policy.

Mayor-elect Mike Davis, City Council Post 4-elect Terry Nall and City Council Post 5-elect Lynn Deutsch will be taking on their new roles.

This week, the three discussed their top priorities for when they step into office.

The chief issue for all of them? Fiscal responsibility.

“We have to use our resources carefully and have well defined priorities,” Deutsch said.

Both Davis and Nall quoted a citizen who they’d heard from during a campaign event.

“One of the people in attendance said ‘The Dunwoody city council needs to stop buying and start fixing,’” Nall said. “To me that said it all. That’s the message Nov. 8. It’s the message Dec. 6.”

Davis repeated the mantra in his victory speech Tuesday night.

“I really think that the city council has done a fabulous job, but I think we need to stop spending money and start fixing things,” he said. “We have roads that need work, we need sidewalks, we have stormwater sewer systems that are old. We’re going to have to spend the next two years doing that kind of thing and stop buying stuff.”

Deutsch also said she’d like to see clearer interaction with the public.

“We need to improve communication and transparency with residents,” she said. “We need to ensure that the city acts as an advocate for residents.”

She said neighborhoods should get clear and advance notice when there will be a project near their home.

“We have to be sensitive to the neighborhoods and to neighborhood needs,” she said.

Davis said the city sent a clear message about negative campaigning.

“We’ve stuck a stake into the heart of negative campaigning,” he said. “Now is the time to heal Dunwoody. We need to get back to the basics.”

Davis said the city council’s to extend Peachford Road is a good example of poor fiscal restraint.

“I can guarantee had last night if Terry Nall and I been on the council, we would not have bought that piece of property right there at Shallowford,” he said. “That would not have happened.”

He continued.

“We have a priority list that the city already determined and last night we went out and we purchased number 27, we need to start working on one through five,” Davis said. “And that’s where we’re going to start. We’re going to start on that priority list. We’re not going to skip to 27 because we get a chance to spend somebody’s money.”

Nall said he took Tuesday’s results as a call for financial restraint.

“Dunwoody is ready for change,” Nall said. “Dunwoody is ready for us to get our house back in order and to refocus our attention on our priorities and, of course, live within our means.”