What's Happening in Roswell, GA…

The Roswell City Council recently passed the city’s budget for FY2018, garnering tremendous applause from residents who had attended the budget meeting.

Jere Wood, Roswell’s mayor, says the audience was the largest he had seen at such a meeting during his years in office.

Some of the enthusiasm seems to stem from the fact that measures that had previously been cut from the budget were restored. Among them were $50,000 for cemetery enhancement for the Roswell Historical Society, $155,000 earmarked for Phase V of the Riverwalk project, $340,000 to purchase Mimosa Hall (an antebellum estate), $72,000 to pay a full-time planner in the Community Development department, and $60,000 for the Roswell Arts Fund. The most popular restored item, though, was probably the $183,000 going to Roswell, Inc. – an organization that promotes the city.

Many of those gathered were supporting Roswell, Inc. Steve Stroud, the executive director of the organization, said cutting its budget would have impaired the organization’s ability to market Roswell effectively, and residents agreed. They told the council how Roswell Inc. had persuaded them to locate their businesses in Roswell, rather than Decatur or Marietta, which are nearby. Many added they had never addressed the council before, but felt so strongly about the budget cuts that they had to say something.

Communities like this can benefit if officials work with a newsletter printing company, which can create a letter for residents explaining local issues.