I want every citizen to feel heard and included in decision making.
I have been elected chair of Gwinnett's Internal Audit Committee and have worked to keep ourselves accountable. We've also clarified the charger and performance evaluations for the internal auditor (that had never been done before).
I have helped form the Mountain Park, Lucky Shoals, and Centerville community associations. I've directed funds to develop community plans in unincorporated Gwinnett County to champion investments in historically neglected neighborhoods.
I made changes to our ethics ordinance to ensure that citizen voices are heard and create a clear line between what we require of commissioners and our aspirational goals.
Throughout my tenure, I have maintained a consistent commitment to delivering monthly newsletters and providing regular avenues for engagement with constituents. Town halls, open office hours, virtual meetings, podcasts, and state of the district addresses have made it easier than ever to connect with your District 2 commissioner.
I worked to update our non-discrimination policies to be consistent and clear. We had similar language in six different places, but each place had different criteria and did odd things like consider pregnancy and sexual orientation under the umbrella term "sex," which wasn't clear. We continue to make updates, for example, by including protections for hairstyle discrimination inspired by the CROWN Act.
It wasn't until I joined the board that Pride Month was officially recognized and celebrated. I have continued to champion for gender equity and inclusion so that Gwinnett can truly be a place where everyone thrives.
While previous commissioners picked friends and donors to serve on boards and authorities, I created an open application process that is now used by all the commissioners to appoint a diverse and motivated group of appointees.
I successfully lobbied to remove the public prayer from the beginning of our meetings to create better separation between church and state. I want people to feel welcome at our meetings regardless of their faith. We now have a moment of silence at the beginning of our meetings.
I have worked to bring new ideas and a new vision of modern government to the County to create the most satisfying government experience.
In 2021, I spearheaded the creation of the county's Vision, Mission, and Values to align the county's priorities with our shared values of integrity, accountability, equity, inclusivity, and innovation. These principles were reaffirmed by the current board in 2025, and we remain steadfast in our unwavering commitment to being the preferred community where everyone thrives.
As Chair of the Future Tech subcommittee of the IT Standing Committee of the National Association of Counties, I'm able to influence policy at a national level.
To address concerns related to gas station development, I have implemented a county-wide regulation that mandates the application of a Special Use Permit (SUP) and approval from the Board of Commissioners before permitting any new gas stations. Previously, gas stations were allowed to be built by right in any C2 zoning district within the county without the need for such permits.
I helped create the first IT Digital Strategy plan for the county and created it's vision to create "the most satisfying government experience."
I purchased and gifted the tinyurl gcga.us to the county to make it easier for people to type into their phones. I also made it so that gcga.us, GwinnettCounty.com, and GwinnettCounty.gov are now interchangeable for a better, more accessible, and flexible experience.
I created the ability to form special assessment districts to allow us to address the issue of absentee landlords when trying to get street humps or street lights in neighborhoods.
I worked with Waste Pro to initiate proactive call notifications when there are trash delays and have worked to turn them from the poorest performing waste partner to one of the best. As a result, Waste Pro never had to suspend service due to labor shortages. I also helped re-negotiate the contract to allow for tracking additional KPIs and expanding the criteria for liquidated damages assessed to the haulers. I also required all haulers to proactively notify residents of misses.
I worked with staff to ensure that each agenda item has an associated web page to make it easier to get access to information without having to search through a 300MB agenda package file. I even added our board recommendations to relevant agenda items for even more transparency. I'm also working on projects that will improve the experience at public hearing even more.
In response to the growing environmental concerns, I have contributed to the establishment of a sustainability commission, an internal sustainability committee, and the creation of a Sustainability Officer position. Personally, I've eliminated nearly all paper from my office. Previously, thousands of pages were printed a month for the District 2 office.
The pilot program I developed in my first term was a resounding success. As a result, we now have glass recycling drop-off locations located conveniently throughout the county.
We created a resource for small businesses in Gwinnett to provide assistance which is particularly important during these challenging times.
Since the state laws are very restrictive when it comes to fireworks due to the fireworks lobby, we found ways of addressing the problem under an enhanced noise ordinance.
When infrastructure is done right, you don't think about it. But it's critical to our daily lives.
Gwinnett County's bond rating is an important rating for the stability and confidence of the county. I'm thrilled that Gwinnett has maintained the highest AAA/Aaa bond rating throughout my tenure in office.
After the first two referendums failed, County staff diligently worked to develop a completely new transit plan that was unanimously approved by the Board of Commissioners. This plan closely aligns with the transit vision I conceptualized in 2019. However, since the voters rejected the idea of leveraging federal and state funds to reduce our property tax burden, we must now explore alternative funding mechanisms for the approved plan. Fortunately, my efforts to ensure that previous plans incorporated feasible short-term projects mean that we can continue to enhance our Ride Gwinnett transit system. For instance, I am working on making the Norcross Microtransit Pilot a permanent fixture of Ride Gwinnett.
The county created a mass-vaccination site and has managed millions of dollars of federal funding to weather the COVID pandemic.
During my tenure, the county has launched the Water Tower innovation center, the Rowen project, purchased Gwinnett Place Mall, several properties at Park Place, and managed our investment in our OFS and Tennis Center properties.
I was instrumental in spinning our Communications division off into a full department that can better serve the needs of the entire county.
Open source software and government just make sense. We need to be investing in our technology infrastructure, not overpaying for proprietary software rentals.
We've implemented warming shelters at county facilities since the faith-based-only options were not sufficient to serve our community.
