"I am running for Marietta City Council Ward 2. I want to give back to the city I love and see Marietta be the best that it can possibly be. With over a decade of government experience, I know what it takes to find solutions, navigate complicated governmental agencies and get things done. Service to my community has always been incredibly important to me. Making Marietta better takes a little bit of work from all of us and I hope to play my part in that process by serving you on City Council and always listening to your concerns."
- Griffin Chalfant -
LIST OF ISSUES
FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE BUDGETING
I am proud to provide discretionary and capital funding to schools, senior centers, hospitals, police stations, parks, animal care, community organizations and others for the necessary initiatives and programs such as quality of life, food pantries, senior programs, technology, safety, neighborhood cleanups, health and safety, education and much more.
- Keep Low Taxes for Marietta Families
- Champion for Open Records & Transparency
- Focus on Community Needs and Essential Community Services
- Enhance Revenue through Economic Growth while being mindful of overdevelopment
HOUSING
I recognize that a coalition of private-public partnerships devoted to identifying the wide variety of needs in our community can service all and will help bring in a wealth of resources from the private sector that can best serve a mixed usage - to create both market and affordable housing, improve the quality of life for residences, and increase economic development. I believe that affordable housing plans which require developers to earmark a certain number of units as "affordable", would serve our community more valuable, than a project that is 100 percent luxury. I want to actively engage in discussions to rezone underutilized land that would make way for affordable housing units, new businesses and jobs for local residents. I remain focused on improving the quality of life for every socioeconomic status and will continue to support the hard-working Georgians that make our city one of the best in the our state.
HEALTH
I have been working to ensure that our residents are kept safe, up to date and receive the best assistance possible with any issue or concern. During the pandemic, it is imperative that our city staff, council and residents were up-to-date on what is going on. Many people have mixed information, it’s good that they can call us and get the true facts of what’s going on. With a list of resources and factual information we make available for your protection, we also ask that we continue to be patient with one another and to please consider your friends and neighbors and take proper precautions and don’t buy more than you need. We’re all in this thing together., so let’s not allow this crisis to hurt another human being. We should love one another and help one another as we are able. This pandemic has exposed longstanding gaps in health, education, human services and others, but it has also changed the ways we connect, support and stand up for each other. I am devoted to ensuring that our residents are fully empowered to meet all present and future challenges.
ENVIRONMENT
I have a passion for protecting the environment and preserving Marietta’s historic architecture portfolio. I look forward to "greening efforts" - pursuing the knowledge and practices that can lead to more environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible decisions and lifestyles. This can help protect the environment and sustain its natural resources for current and future generations to help create green jobs, improve environmental policy and build a more sustainable city now and for the future. I believe that partnering with the private sector to seek eco-friendly projects in building new developments and housings will preserve the community’s culture and diversity and also pioneer the community into the future of technology through innovative projects that will yield higher quality jobs and living conditions in our city.
DIVERSITY
Diverse cultural perspectives can inspire creativity and drive innovation A multicultural workforce can give a city an important edge when expanding into new job markets. Having a diverse talent pool makes a city attractive to ambitious, globally minded candidates. By drawing from a culturally diverse talent pool, a city will benefit from having people with a broad range of skills that are often not accessible otherwise. Much of our attention is on ethnic diversity, but it’s more than that... it includes socio-economic diversity, political/religious diversity, gender diversity and ethnicity.
BUSINESS
I have a focused awareness of local entrepreneurship and support it. It is good to work with local community colleges and high schools to encourage entrepreneurship as an alternate career path. We should overview the skills needed in our city and our young people should have access to the career training that our major employers demand. We should also give focus to the businesses that contribute to the appeal that makes our city unique and recognize the importance that arts, museums and entertainment play in attracting people and firms. We must clearly promote the central value proposition to potential employers and constantly evaluate the total portfolio of our community's offerings as a business destination.
EDUCATION
When an entire society is educated, productivity increases, average income increases, and unemployment decreases. This leads to the economic growth and stability of a society as a whole. It starts with education. A personal benefit to getting an education or training in a field is the opportunity to grow as an individual and experiment with what you are passionate about and find yourself. When you feel passionate about something, you want to immerse yourself in that topic and education gives you the space to do so. You will be exposed to a diverse set of people and ideas which expand the mind. As a former educator, I know that the benefits of affordable and quality education are societal and personal. Those who are equipped with training or education for a career have higher incomes, more opportunities in their lives and tend to be healthier. Societies benefit as well. Societies with high rates of education completion have lower crime, better overall health and civic involvement. Finishing any degree — whether it is a high school degree or higher education — is an accomplishment, and graduating gives students the confidence needed to go out into the world and make something of themselves. We should evaluate what is good for our local schools and require the education department report detailed student demographic data to compare how each school’s data matches up to its surrounding district and city - with the end goal of better educating our students and to provide any input, recommendations and guidance.
COMMUNITY SAFETY & EFFECTIVE POLICING
I would like to know how Marietta citizens and our police feel about our current public safety and policing. A survey may help evaluate whether other types of community safety initiatives should be expanded, along with questions about possible public safety alternatives. Some general questions may include:
- Addressing Criminal Justice Reform
- Reduce Crime with Job Opportunities, Community Engagement, and Effective Policing
- Prioritize Solutions for Homelessness, Mental Health and Drug & Alcohol Abuse
- Your personal views on police
- Does an increased police presence make you feel safer or do you believed an unarmed model of crisis response is appropriate for nonviolent incidents?
- Do you believe that unarmed trained specialists from a non-law enforcement agency should respond to non-violent 911 calls?
- Do you believe that unarmed city employees from the Department of Transportation should enforce routine traffic violations?
- Do our officers feel more training is needed and do they feel safe when holding their fellow officers accountable for any possible misconduct within the department?
We should look into the recommendations from the Justice Department for Police-Community Relationship Building. Any reform must start and end with public input if we as a society want to implement any needed change.
TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT
Transparency in government is what most of us hope for. Inquiry that leads to facts gives us our best hope for developing a deeper understanding of policies and operations and their varied impacts. Transparency in government can bring the public and leadership together to better find solutions to our common issues and is indispensable for democratic decision making. As your City Councilperson, I want to serve our residents with clarity and openness.