Mayor Douglas Athas visited with voters during a re-election campaign kick-off reception last week at the Generator Coffee Shop in downtown Garland.
He said that a lot has been accomplished during his first term, but there is still much to be done.
“I think we finally have a plan on how to grow within our skin which is something we didn’t have before,” Athas said. “Everything is not in place yet and I guess that’s why I have to run again. It’s that opportunity to bring everything together.”
He added that things that he, the City Council and city staff have been working on for the last couple of years will come to fruition this spring and he expressed pride in steps that have been made to revitalize Garland
Athas is happy with all that has been accomplished in the downtown area as well as progress made in historic preservation issues.
“I’m proud of the historic preservation accomplishments made during my first term…The fact that we’ve got Heritage Park and the railroad depot museum going and the railcar being refurbished, and the Lyles house is about to be moved,” Athas said. “I’m extremely proud of everything that we’ve been able to do.”
The mayor used the word ‘fantastic’ to describe Garland.
“It really is a town that just happens to be the 88th largest city in the United States,” he said.
A new city manager will be in place in May, but Athas does not feel that will slow the city’s progress.
“It will not change anything,” he said. “The council has decided not to post the job outside the city so we are only going to have one or two or three people at the most applying for city manager.”
Athas believes that to bring in someone new for the city manager’s position would not support the work that is being done.
“I think there is going to be a lot of opportunities to bring other people into the city at several layers right below the city manager that will give us some new ideas, some new blood…but at the top we are probably going to see some familiar faces,” he said.
The city’s rating of “B” in the recently published “Dallas Morning News’ transparency evaluation is another reason to be proud.
“The only thing that kept us from getting an A was some of the stuff on the open records request process,” he said. “We just need to look at that and see if we can do it in a way that will get us a higher grade.”
He pointed out that the city checkbook, along with all the budget information, is online for all to see.
“Anyone who wants to know what’s going on in Garland, it’s there,” Athas said.