Friday, October 13,2017
Lake Oconee News
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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
