About Dunwoody reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 20??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 27, 2013)
HONORING EVA Mayor Eva Galambos - Thank you for your commitment and dedication to your community, your efforts behind localized governance, and for enhancing the quality of life for citizens throughout the metro area. Dunwoody Dunwoodyga.gov We celebrate Mayor Eva Galambos and her steadfast commitment to making the city of Sandy Springs a great place to live and work. We thank you for your outstanding years of service to our community. Ackerman & Co. Mayor Eva Galambos enjoys herself at a party thrown in her honor at Heritage Sandy Springs on Dec. 8. It’s been said that “when you work with Eva, there is no compromise with quality. Everything has to be done right... There’s a wrong way, there’s a right way, and there’s Eva’s way.” Galambos has remarked that the politician she most admired was former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, known as “The Iron Lady.” “She had determination and she fought for what she believed,” Galambos said. “She was a wonderful role model.” PHIL MOSIER Eva’s way: Sandy Springs mayor never took ‘no’ for an answer CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7 side of the home. With her intellect, and ambition, she could’ve been almost any thing she’d wanted. She moved to Sandy Springs in I960 with her young family. “We wanted a large lot, and we want ed to be where there was plenty of room around us,” Galambos said. “When we moved on Trimble Road, there was a 14- acre site next to us with cows. It was the edge of development.” Galambos grew frustrated as develop ment started cropping up in the com munity around her. “I realized how mistreated we were by Fulton County, and realized that was not what I expected from local govern ment,” Galambos said. “That made me passionate about protecting our neigh borhoods. We were being inundated with gas stations and commercial devel opment at every corner.” That was the beginning of what would become a decades-long fight. Galambos became president of the Committee for Sandy Springs in 1975. The effort to incorporate was also a po litical struggle, pitting black Democrats in the state Legislature against white Re publican lawmakers from the suburbs. Galambos said when she was young er she identified as a Democrat, but now identifies as a Republican. She and her husband John, who worked as a physi cian, resented how government spent taxpayer money. “The thing that really brought about the change was when we started paying huge income taxes and we realized how much of our income was being redis tributed,” Galambos said. “That’s what turns liberals into conservatives. When they see how the money is wasted, you get a different philosophy.” Galambos had a knack for recruit ing talented allies in her fight against big government. She reached out to Kar en Meinzen McEnerny around 2001 for help when the state Transportation Department was considering a contro versial plan to realign Roswell Road. McEnerny was elected to the city’s first council in 2005, along with Galambos. Over the years, their relationship showed signs of strain as McEnerny pushed for policies that Galambos didn’t support. The councilwoman frequently found herself in the voting minority on city council. “Eva is somebody to never underes timate,” McEnerny said. “She is one of the most focused, hardworking women I have ever had the opportunity to meet.” Trisha Thompson-Fox, a member of the Sandy Springs Council of Neighbor hoods, first met Galambos in the 1990s. Galambos enlisted her to fight zoning in Fulton County to protect Sandy Springs from overdevelopment. The more time Galambos spent as mayor, the more frequently she found herself at odds with the Council of Neighborhoods. She was criticized for votes in support of commercial and resi dential developments that some council members opposed. Galambos said her view on protect ing neighborhoods has not changed over the years. “I still absolutely cherish the neigh borhoods and want to maintain them as they are, but when you’ve got commer cial development that isn’t impinging on a neighborhood, you have to under stand a developer’s viewpoints,” Galam bos said. “I don’t think the Council of Neighborhoods often listens to the de velopers.” Fox said that the friction between Galambos and the Council of Neigh borhoods hasn’t gotten in the way of her relationship with the mayor. “We have not always seen eye to eye, but I respect her opinions and her abil- 10 | DEC. 27,2013 — JAN. 9, 2014 | www.ReporterNewspapers.net
