WHO IS VINCENT T. WILLIAMS?

Commissioner Vincent T. Williams sets sights on becoming New Mayor for City of Brunswick

Who is Vincent T. Williams?

I am currently serving my second term as Commissioner of the City of Brunswick. I am a husband, father, grandfather, pastor, entrepreneur and a life-long resident of Brunswick, GA.

You’re a candidate for the mayor of the city of Brunswick what is your vision for moving the city in a positive direction?

For the past eight years, I have served as a City Commissioner continually moving the City of Brunswick in its positive direction. Now as a candidate for Mayor, my four-point plan entails: housing, careers/jobs, small business development and support, and efficient allocation of resources through strategic partnerships.

My vision is to build and create more affordable housing. It's important to use local and minority contractors and take advantage of government programs that prepare individuals and their families for sustainable home ownership.

Education and training are the keys for preparation for any career or job. We will partner with our educational institutions, as well as our federal, state and local nonprofit programs and organizations, allowing us to strengthen those partnerships and remove the barriers for success for careers and jobs.

Small businesses are the backbone of our community, and support for them is crucial. Small businesses boosts their local economies, spur additional business growth in neighborhoods, create employment opportunities for residents, and contribute neighborhood services and social capital. As Mayor of the City of Brunswick, I will direct and train staff to become a one-stop shop for small business development. A place where residents can learn how to start their businesses and learn more about all the government entities that are city partners that can assist them in making this process simpler. They will be able to gather information about zoning laws, permits, licenses, City fees, and etc.

I believe that through our local government partners, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, small businesses and citizens, we, as the City of Brunswick, have resources that will allow us to bring my plan into fruition and continue to move the City in a positive direction.

What are 3 initiatives you would like to accomplish as mayor in your first term?

We have to create a vibrate City that encompasses a live, work, play environment. There are three initiatives that I would like to focus on within my first term: Housing, Economic Development and Recreation. Here in the City of Brunswick, our studies show we have a lack of workforce housing for home ownership, and at the same time we have blighted areas which can be developed. As Commissioner I am

seeking strategic partnerships, public and private, to make it affordable to build and purchase sustainable affordable housing in our great city. We must also reestablish our recreation programs so that residents of all ages can improve their quality of life. With economic development, we must create a vibrant business climate that allows new companies to launch, grow and expand. We must also re-establish our recreation programs so that residents of all ages can improve their quality of life. I am going to add one more initiative to this, and that is to maintain and improve the City's financial position. When I became a City Commissioner in 2014 the City was taking out loans/TAN's(Tax Anticipation Notes) to pay its bills. Since then, we have taken a long hard look at our finances and moved the City to a positive financial position by renegotiating our contracts with the local banks and investing your City's money wisely. The end result is the City has a surplus; and it is the best financial health we’ve been in since I took office. And its due to these wise decisions that we can leverage our dollars to provide our staff with raises, and through strategic partnerships, that we can develop housing, provide job and career training and create a recreational environment for our community.

Before you chose to run as mayor, what are some of your accomplishments you've achieved up to this point as a commissioner for the city of Brunswick?

As your North Ward City Commissioner for the past 8 years, I've taken a long hard look at the City's Financial health and realized the City had been taking out loans or TAN'S-Tax Anticipation Notes just to make payroll, which is unacceptable. We explored a variety of investment options and now the City has a financial surplus. Due to the additional investment revenue the City has realized, the City has not had to raise the millage rate since 2015. Also, we have been able to give our city employees raises, which had not been done in 12-15 years prior to me coming into office. We've upgraded our police and Fire fleet's. As well as our senior programs and buildings have been upgraded. Overall, since coming into office crime is down and we have worked with the Glynn County School Board to provide safer routes for our children. We have paved or repaved more miles of streets than anytime in recent history. We've reconditioned or paved new sidewalks, and walking trails. The Mansfield and L St. projects have been completed. Our S.P.L.O.S.T. projects are on schedule and on budget. We are seeking to improve our L.O.S.T. position in negotiations with the County. We have re-instated our Planning, Zoning and appeals Commissions which is currently working on overhauling our City's ordinance and making our zoning laws favorable to both the business and residential communities. We hired the City's first Economic Development Director. We've established a tree board, which has gained the award of being a “Tree City” and they are in the process of quantifying trees as an asset for the city, allowing the City to place this tree equity on the financial bottom line for the City. Allowing the Mayor and City Commission to make a more informed decision about public trees as well as, having leverage in public tree decisions.

We've worked with small business incubators to develop and encourage small business which is the backbone or our community. The City of Brunswick is recognized as a city of ethics through the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA).

We've empowered and engaged the community and community leaders in the decision making process through the Neighborhood Planning Assemblies (N.P.A.'s). We implemented the Urban Redevelopment Agency along with the Land Bank to solve commercial and residential issues.

And Currently we are in the engineering phase of the College Park neighborhood drainage issues. As the Mayor of the City of Brunswick, I will continue to work with our local, state, and federal partners to resolve these homeowners drainage issues and provide them with a quality of life they deserve.

What is your plan to bring more economic development to the community to create a live, work, Play environment for better quality of life?

As we've discussed, quality of life is more than a job or career and a home. It is a community in which you can thrive professionally, personally, leisurely, and spiritually. Economic Development is simply one piece of the puzzle, and what we are looking at is more than one piece of that puzzle. We are looking at the full picture which entails small business growth and support, job and career enrichment, sustainable affordable housing, and a supportive community that provides resources that enables its residents to succeed. We are developing plans to make it easier for small businesses to have access to capital with revolving loan funds and grant opportunities to ensure that small businesses owners are able to start and maintain their businesses. You’re also a radio host for rejoice 97.5

FM, how does that role help you educate and keep the community informed on social issues?

It is a blessing to have this platform and be able to speak directly to constituents each and every week on social issues that effect our community. With my show “Community Matters”, listeners are not only able to learn more about resources offered by our community’s anchor institutions, they are also able to hear directly from leaders, both city and county, and organizations that may not have an opportunity to be heard.

In working with you we found out you are a huge advocate against gangs and gun violence, what is your plan to reduce this sort of activity in the Brunswick community?

We already have a taskforce that comprises of the City of Brunswick’s Police Department and the Glynn County Police Department where we have strategically encompassed violence prevention, education and community engagement initiatives. To continue our efforts we want to recruit and retain more officers, and get more citizen involvement in law enforcement. We also need to create more recreational opportunities for our youth so that they have more activities to occupy their time.

You also work closely with the seniors of this community, as the city of Brunswick is known as a retirement hub for many of our elders... what plan is in place to create a better quality of life for senior citizens?

We are an inclusive community and economic security is key to protecting the quality of life for seniors in the Brunswick community. The programs we currently offer at the Roosevelt Harris Senior Center are successful, and we are working to increase access to our senior programs. Expanding our partnerships with nonprofits, local government entities and others has allowed us to focus our efforts and service the senior community more efficiently. We will accomplish this through three main points: Housing, Retiree-friendly jobs/careers/ small business and Recreation/independence. As far as housing, many of our neighborhoods have aging homeowners who wish to stay in their homes or need more affordable options. We need to provide additional support for rental and homeownership assistance where needed to stabilize neighborhoods. It is my objective to establish a program that works with our Community Home Investment Program and Community Development Block Grant programs that offer additional home maintenance solutions for low to moderate income residents aged 60 and older. We will also continue to work with the Brunswick Fire Department to bolster our installation of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. The City has already established a Neighborhood Beautification Grant program where we issue grants to the Neighborhood Planning Assemblies, nonprofits and other groups to beautify the neighborhoods.

My plan is to also work with our small businesses, local colleges and universities to provide job training to empower our seniors, that are not quite ready to retire, to either stay relevant in their fields or transition to other positions within the workforce, if desired.

What is your plan to help small business owners that wish to do business in the city of Brunswick and what structures are in place to support small businesses?

My objective is to bring our small businesses and entrepreneurs to the forefront of our vibrant future. Since I've been Commissioner for the City of Brunswick(for 8 years) we've worked very diligently to support our business community. Working with our new Economic Development Director (Travis Stegall), the Commission and I have began the process of simplifying the process of starting and doing business with and in the City of Brunswick, from streamlining the permit process to creating the www.opportunitybrunswick.com website. My next steps are to be more inclusive and bring the additional governmental partners into the fold making it a seamless transaction between government and business by involving our local government colleagues. The process includes access to capital, revolving credit loans, and zoning laws that are favorable to both the community as well as the businesses.

How can we follow you online and stay in touch with up to date information on your campaign? @votevincenttwilliams @vincenttwilliamsformayorofbrunswick