About Lake Oconee news. (Greensboro, GA) 199?-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 13, 2017)
Friday, October 13,2017 Lake Oconee News Page All MORGAN COUNTY Kathi Russell vying for Madison mayor’s post Kathi Russell is the third may- oral candidate on this year’s municipal ballot in Madison. “My experience in working for the City of Charleston gave me all the guidelines for an environment of honesty, integrity, planned growth and inclusion of all people,” Russell has said of her candidacy. Russell said she was hiredby the city of Charleston to help transfer the Old Exchange Building from the State’s Management to man agement by Charleston, requiring her to work with various agencies “in a fast but effective way.” She organized and managed the Neighborhood Services Division for the City of Charleston, a comprehensive task to include all residents, in all neighborhoods, without exception. She was also the Director of Museums for the City of Charleston, including The Charleston Adventure located in the Visitors Center, The Best Friend Train Museum, The Old Exchange and others that were only in the planning stages then but are open today. Russell says that she and her husband of 43 years, Rick Russell, are an ardent supporters of all things good in Madison. “We chose to retire to Georgia after a long and successful career in theinsurance business,’’Russell said. “We could have returned to Charleston and opened abusiness there, but we saw this idyllic place and knew this was for us. We bought a beautiful home on Main Street, which has been on tour several times over the past few years, and have enjoyed most everything about living in the historic district.” In 2010, she opened The Madison Tea Room on Hancock Street. “Except for a side trip to MD Anderson in Houston, for treat ment of Stage 3 Breast Cancer, I opened my third tea room on the courthouse square.” Russell said. “Seeing a need for transpor tation around the historic district for people visiting my tea room to enjoy all ofthe shops Madison then had to offer, I started The Lady Buggy, a nine passenger golf cart designed to ensure visitors an even more pleasant visitto our beautiful historic district.” Russell says she has brochures for people visiting Madison to make sure visitors stayed and shopped. “Tourism should not be the burden of the taxpayer,” Russell said. “Tourism must pay for itself. I also believe as a steward of the taxpayer’s dollars, we can do more by spending less. Ordinary citizens have to, so why not the City?” Russell has served on Madison’s Main Street Advisory Board, as well as the Welcome Center’s Tourism Board. “If elected mayor, I will pledge to protect our historic district, yet work hard continuing to pursue our much needed growth,” Russell said. “I believe everyone has a responsibility to serve and will work to be sure everyone can. I have chosen not to accept cam paign contributions but rather fund my own campaign. That will uphold my integrity as well as the City ofMadison’s. I also pledge my mayoral salary be donated to the Boys and Girls Club to hopefully fund either a Saturday Program or another of their fine educational programs for ouryouth. Ifl can be of assistance or if I can answeryour questions about my Campaign, please call me at 706-342-6779, Kathi Russell and I will be happy to discuss all of the issues that every voter, in the City of Madison, will have to address in the very near future.” MORGAN COUNTY Burris challenges fifth district Madison City Council seat Woody Burris is running for the fifth district seat on the Madison City Council, challenging incumbent Chris Hodges. “Ifelected, I will acceptthe responsibility of serving my new hometown of Madison as a member of the City Council with no conflicts of interest or obvious need for recusals on important issues,” Burris said. “I have had and will not have any other political ambitions. I will not accept campaign contributions from individ uals or organizations with interests that create conflicts of interest or might cause me to recuse myself from an important vote or dis cussion on the council. My only special interest is for a progressive and prosperous town for our businesses and citizens.” While relatively new to Madison, Burris has lived in Georgia for 46 years. “I have earned a reputation for high integrity in my work and community because I believe in earnest prepa ration and strong ethics,” Burris said. “I am retired and willing to devote the necessary preparatory time and effort to be an effec tive city council member. I earned a degree in History from Emory University and have substantial financial planning experience and education. I also have trans portation logistics and data base design and implemen tation experience, which have resulted in greater operating efficiencies for Georgia businesses and organizations. “I believe that diligent work as a City Councilman will make Madison a better place to live, thus I will: • work for a clear economic development strategy as a joint venture between the City of Madison and Morgan County that brings additional revenue, high qualityjobs and good citizens to Madison. We need 21 st - Century internet services! Woody Burris • work to remove trac tor trailer traffic from Main Street and the town square. This safety hazard handicaps tourism, retail and restaurant business. Continued non-action on this issue is unacceptable. • work to maintain our historical district as the crown jewel of Madison and the resulting tourism, which is a key economic engine of our community. Maintain low density in the historic district. • advocate efforts for the City of Madison, the Pearl Street school neighbor hood and the Morgan County School Board of Education to find progres sive solutions for the adap tive use of these historic buildings and sites. • worktohireacodeenforce- ment officer in Madison to maintain and improve our image as ‘the prettiest vil lage in the state.’ • work to use building inspectors from Madison that are local and familiar with our conventional and historical building codes. • work for a more cordial, proactive, and transpar ent relationship between all city employees and citizens.” Burris is seeking out perspectives aboutMadison: what’s good and what can be better? You can share your thoughts on his confiden tial website www.woody- forCityCouncil.com or call 706-818-1682. Contributions can be sent to Tom Sherwood, Treasurer, P. O. Box 843, Madison, GA 30650. FREE family fun farm style Sunday, Oct. 22 Ruby Sponsor: Tested p r 1 pm to 5pm Cultural Center Front Lawn barnyard animals. live music i & games. ice cream. demonstrations 'godfreysfeet Gold Sponsors: AgSouth Farm Credit Farmview Market th^whole family will enjoy... it will truly be „ AGRI-CULTURAL! 434 South Main Street, Madison, Ga 30650 (706) 342-4743 (855) 627-0723 toujne WWW.MMCC-ARTS.ORG fej -fk- Morgan,Citizen q B q follow us on Community MADISON MORGAN CULTURAL CENTER FREE Opening Reception October 20, 2017, 6-8PM MMCC Galleries featuring works by Morgan County students K-12 on display through Jan 4, 2018 VIL-L-AVfB INSPIRED ARTISTS - AMAZING ART Lake Country Fine Arts Show November 4 th - November 17 th • DualVision: Art Through Different Eyes September 23 rd - October 6 th JENNIE NEWTON, CITY COUNCIL Thursday-Friday 11-5 • Saturday 10-3 110 West Marion Street • Eatonton IT’S ALL ABOUT MADISON 706.623.7757 • theartisansyillageguild.com
