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Politics & Government

Smyrna Ward 4 Candidate: 'I'm promising to be accessible'

Charles "Corkey" Welch talked transportation and development at his Thursday night meet-and-greet.

Accessibility, growth and traffic were on the minds of voters at a meet-and-greet held by Ward 4 city council candidate Charles “Corkey” Welch Thursday night.

Welch told Smyrna-Vinings Patch that some of the biggest issues concerning Ward 4 voters are the accessibility of their current councilman Mike McNabb.

“That’s one of the reasons I’m coming out,” he said. “I feel like as a city councilman you should be accessible to the people in your ward. That’s a big part of my campaign. I’m promising to be accessible.”

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The meet-and-greet at Aunt Fanny’s Cabin was one step toward that accessibility. Welch added that he’s attempting to knock on every door in his ward between now and the election on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

One Ward 4 voter who attended the meet-and-greet was Dennis DeLoatch. Some of his concerns included growth in Smyrna. Welch echoed this sentiment explaining that he’s excited about the , hoping it will be positive growth for the city.

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“The only real way that we have of controlling that is through zoning,” Welch said. “I’m excited that something’s going to move forward and I think as a council that the city just has to be very careful about what they let go into it. Don’t relax standards just because it’s a development coming to town. It still needs to be a good development.”

Ward 4 voters are also concerned about traffic. DeLoatch said he’s concerned about the high volume of cut-through traffic in his neighborhood, Forest Hills. McNabb and Ward 6 Councilman Wade Lnenicka to discuss traffic issues and possible solutions for the neighborhood.

Welch said he knows that transportation is “critical” to the people of Smyrna, which is why he’s supportive of the proposed TSPLOST that will be voted on in July 2012. He indicated that he is not in favor of the Cumberland-to-Midtown light rail project that was left off the final projects list.

“I just don’t believe that we need to take federal dollars and continue to take federal dollars from here on to the foreseeable future,” he said. “There’s no way that I can see in the future that (light rail) is going to be self-sustaining.”

The city election is a little over three weeks away, but there are still several opportunities for voters to get to know their candidates. There will be a Monday, Oct. 17 hosted by the Vinings Estates Homeowners Association. The forum begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Crescent Ridge Clubhouse, 655 Crescent Ridge Trail.

The will be held Thursday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Cobb County Commissioner’s Office, 100 Cherokee Street in Marietta. The public is invited to attend and come prepared with questions for the candidates. The forum will also be televised on TV23, the Cobb government access channel.

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