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Dunwoody Reporter
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NOV. 13 — NOV. 26, 2015 • VOL. 5 — NO. 23
Can we make a pie?
AROUND TOWN 9
Dunwoody joins cities in regional plan BY JOHN RUCH
johnruch@reporternewspapers.net
PHOTOS BY PHIL MOSIER
The Dunwoody Branch Library invited families to come out and pulverize their Halloween jack-o’-lanterns and pumpkins on Nov. 7. Left, pumpkin leftovers. Right, Mary Thatcher, 5, swings a rubber mallet while attacking her jack-o’-lantern. The smashed pumpkins were donated to the North DeKalb Community Garden as composting material.
Top officials of Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Chamblee and Doraville have met privately for nearly a year to work on a potential joint planning and economic development authority called the Peachtree Gateway Partnership. The existence of the collaboration, which is coordinated by the Atlanta Regional Commission, was revealed at the Oct. 27 Brookhaven City Council meeting by Mayor Rebecca Chase Williams. She said the four cities will start by creating a coordinated network of pedestrian/ bike trails, but have much bigger options, including forming a nonprofit to create public-private partnerships and “a blueprint for the area.” “The first thing we’re going to figure out is how to connect our trails,” which will help the cities “get used to working together,” said Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis. But the long-term goal is to “market success” of the area and take a regional approach to its booming development. “We need to be in control of it instead of letting stuff roll over us,” he said. The cities’ mayors requested ARC’s help with coordinated planning, especially in response to the enormous mixed-use redevelopment underway at the former GM plant SEE DUNWOODY, PAGE 28
Mayor-elect to save a ‘seat at the table’ for Dunwoody residents BY ELLEN ELDRIDGE
elleneldridge@reporternewspapers.net
In the days following the Nov. 3 election, Dunwoody’s mayor-elect focused more immediately on coming celebrations for the U.S. Marine Corps’ birthday and Veterans Day celebrations than on his plans for the city. Denis Shortal, a retired Marine general, celebrates those days every year. After spending 15 to 16 hours a day campaigning, he said, he hadn’t yet decided many specifics of what he wanted to do after taking office in January as Dunwoody’s third mayor. But he does have some ideas for what’s to come. “Some of these things are intangible – from my background, half of our life is intangible,” Shortal said. “Let’s bring back the positive attitude and mutual respect between citizens and leadership.” Shortal, a member of Dunwoody City Council since the council’s start, won about 63 percent of the vote in a four-candidate race Nov. 3 and ousted incumbent Mayor Mike Davis. Shortal said his biggest goals in early 2016 include sup-
porting the push in the state Legislature to allow independent school systems in Georgia. He said he plans to host a town hall meeting in January and intends for that meeting to be the first of many. “Being a public servant is not heart surgery,” he said. “You just tell the people what you’re going to do and then you do it.” Shortal wants to continue a drive to connect citizens with city staff and elected officials to create a “small, efficient, responsive government,” he said. “How do we enhance that and make that better? It’s like anything else; you have to work at it continually,” he said. “Bring back the attitude that creates that mutual respect amongst us all.” The mayor-elect equated his job over the next four years to that of an app developer, comparing city government to a widget that needs continuing updates. “You know, it’s the same things I’ve talked about the whole SEE MAYOR-ELECT, PAGE 7
PHIL MOSIER
Dunwoody mayor-elect Denis Shortal, left, and son Brian, address the crowd at Marlow’s Tavern on Election Night, Nov. 3. Shortal defeated incumbent Mayor Mike Davis with 63 percent of the vote.