It was an excellent Council meeting this week. I was very glad to hear such a detailed explanation for the zoning ordinance and hope the benefits it could provide are soon realized. I feel having a balanced budget is a testament for the solid decisions made by our councilmen and women. Thank you Patch for the speed of the information highway in getting this story out bright and early this morning, and thank you all our Elected officials for doing such a wonderful job for our community.

One more point worth mentioning, we do have a balanced budget without tax increases, giving up services, furloughing city employees or having layoffs, but for the third year in a row, there are no salary increases for city employees. I appreciate the hard work our public servants perform and at some point, I think we need to realize that we can't withhold an increase for these much needed service positions. At some point, they really need a salary increase. Our Police & Fire Departments put their lives on the line for all of us. We need to think long and hard about the jobs they perform and the salaries they receive. Also, thank you to our Councilmen & women for refusing a salary increase as long as there is no increase for city workers. It is just another testament to your dedication to this community.

I've takem a 50% cut in my income over the last 3 years. Many in the construction business haven't worked in 2 years!! Anyone still gainfully employed need to be thankful they even have a job. Unemployment is around 10% in Georgia, but actual numbers are closer to 16 %.
Many people no longer looking , drop off the statistics.
I think maybe Smyrna could cut some 'fat' & show how they really care about their community w/ an across the board 25% pay decrease!
(it is OUR tax money that keeps these people employeed, ya know!!)
I speak for the 'little' folks!

Wow, sounds like a missed a good meeting. Stupid family birthday.
Anyway, y’all will have to forget my ignorance here, but will this new ordinance require existing apartment complexes to be brought up to “class A” standards or does it just require that any new complexes built adhere to those standards? If it only pertains to new construction, did I miss the moratorium being lifted? Again I’m sorry for the questions, but I’m kinda scratching my head over this one. I mean on one side the city is trying to remove apartment complexes yet with this seems like they are wanting more, just a higher class.

Alex, we'll be having a more on this ordinance and what it means for the city in a story to come. But in trying to answer your question, this will be for redevelopment only and only up to a maximum of 15 units per acre. The owners of the complexes are not obligated to upgrade the apartments to "Class A,'' but city officials looks at this as another mechanism, specifically with regards to the number of 30- to 40-old apartment complexes in the city, to help them positively change the quality of life in Smyrna. And on a side note, I think all birthdays deserve celebration. Hope it was a fun one.

Ok Mary you start with your 25% decrease in pay! You don't risk your life everyday do you? Why should the people I will count on most, at the worst moment of my life, To be eager to help me at moments notice and cut there pay 25%! Nope they deserve more then most and they have to work part time jobs just to make ends meet. I sure would hate for Smyrna to lose all the money spent on there training for them to look for work else where, that would be an even bigger waste!

Alex, I spoke with the Mayor's office and had a copy of the proposed ordinance emailed to me yesterday. I will be happy to forward on if you like. Since there can be no new apartments built in Smyrna, this allows an opportunity for old run-down apartments to re-develope in to a Class A Apartment. From what I understand, It does not require current apartment complexes to do anything, it is only opening up an opportunity to them if they so choose. Personally, I'm all for it. I have the document in PDF form just as it was sent to me. I could either email to you directly or if you would rather not share your email address, I could send it to Hunt and possibly he could pass along to you.

$25 utilities increase for container replacement? The owner should replace the curbside container not all the 40,000 citizens. That is a millions bucks the city will get to replace one or two containers a year. Thanks Councilman Woods for finding another way to make the seniors pays for the Wolf Center. Did anyone in the council or the Mayor remind you the seniors have to pay a fee to use the center? Thank,s Woods for looking out for the seniors. $500,000 from the general fund for a 5th fire station the city does not need. Does the Mayor and Council know the Smyrna fire dept. are breaking records in the 911 response calls? Do they know that we the citizens of Smyrna will have to pay with our taxes for the up-keep of the 5th FD and the 6 new hires? Sod replacement! The Pebble landscaping co. and tru green just got a raise from our mayor and council not the firemen. The firemen can look out the window at the stations and see who got their raise. The grass cutters and the water dept. Water increase! Do I half to spell it out for you S-O-D. Paid with our taxes just to water sod everyday. Carpet replacement! Pergo is cheaper. I hope I have made it clear to city employees why they did not get salary increase, it was because the INTELLIGENT budget. Thanks mayor and council for not increasing our taxes cause you get our money in so many other ways.

Thanks Hunt & Rio. Makes a little more sense now and I'll keep an eye for the article. Rio, is there a way I can PM my email address?

And Hunt FWIW, I'm not big on birthdays. I had last nights meeitng on my calendar because of the budget, but since my bday was this past Friday and my grandma's is Thursday, we killed two birds with one stone so to speak.

Oh Grandma Birthdays are super special! And happy birthday to you Alex! I'll give you my email and you can send me a msg so I'll have yours. I'll forward you the email from the Mayor's office with the attachment. rioally@yahoo.com

Upon speaking with alot of the city employees today they are fine with the budget. They are so dedicated to their jobs and the City of Smyrna. They understand the econmic conditions that the country is experiencing. To clarify an earlier comment, the city water department employees are not getting a raise. Cobb county went up on the rate they charge the city and the increase was merely passed on to the people who use the water. As the city no longer has a lawn staff I'm sure that the city's landscaping company passed on a rate increase that has to be paid for. Not one city employee got a raise in the new budget. I for one would like to Thank the Smyrna emplyees who have dedicated themselves to putting the city first. The city has always taken care of them in the past and they are repaying the city with their dedication and hard work. Most realize that in the end they will be taken care by a caring Mayor and council, as they always have been in the good times.

Donna I invite you to go to the back of Vinings Estates or the new Racetrac on Veterans Memorial and Oakdale Road and call 911 and tell them you are having difficlty breathing. Hang up and hold your breath until the fire department gets there. Then you will see how bad a new firestation is needed on that side of town. What about the children at the new city park down on Oakdale road or Whitfield academy. Children are always getting hurt and need medical attention fast. Do you want them to have to wait for rescue coming from South Cobb Drive at Lois street ? Thats the closest station. Chief Lanyon and the Mayor and council saw the need and want to help the residents. ( Please don't really call in a fake emergency to 911, I was only trying to make a point, that will get you arrested and then you couldn't run for Mayor). Of course you have a Fire Station right by your house. Do you not care about the citizens on the West and South side of the City ?. One life saved is worth the money the city is spending in my opinion. Go visit a burn victim unit at a local hospital and you may change your way of thinking. Thank you to the Public Safety departments at the City of Smyrna for all you do.

Michelle, my understanding is that the hourly rental fee would be charged to the therapy company not the seniors. The seniors do pay an annual fee for use of the Wolf Center, but it is minimal; Wolfe Center Membership: $20 yearly residents / $50 yearly non-residents. Aquatic Pass: $40 yearly residents / $100 yearly non-residents.

Link to the City of Smyrna Aline Wolfe Adult Recreation Center:
http://www.ci.smyrna.ga.us/index.aspx?page=508

The Wolf Center used to be free for seniors, and the city still balanced the budget. Now the city charges seniors why not have a therapist on call for our Smyrna Seniors. All that yearly money could go towards at least one aqua therapist. Councilman Woods can't find money in the budget for that. But he can find ways to charge the seniors for their needs and wants. I paid a $1 to swim at King Springs the city had a balanced budget then and now it is $5 a visit. If you look and see the 4th FD location it covers the same area of the soon newly built 5th FD. It seems the city made a mistake and should have put the 4th FD at the 5thFD location. Again fire dept breaking records responding to 911 calls

The Cobb library system recently fired 27 employees (pages) and cut library hours. There are still 2 or 3 times too many library employees. Are all govt. departments like that? I don't know. Hopefully the Citizen Oversite Committee will answer that question.

Maybe city governments are the same?

It's great that Smyrna has not increased taxes since 2007, but have properties been revalued and decreased according to economic realities? This year, you can appeal your property valuations using foreclosures. Should be interesting.

Did Smyrna ever institute new oversights after losing at least $125,000 by employee theft? Remember that? And the man did not even go to jail. Was that because he would have spilled the beans about other thefts?

And even if employees did not get a raise, did they get overtime pay to make up for it? And were they promoted within the city govt. and the new promotion automatically gave them extra money?

Just thinking out loud.

Top Cat, The director of Human Resources; Chris Corey; was fired for theft was arrested, charged through the Cobb County Superior court and is in jail as we speak serving his sentence. The city has a very strict policy of No Overtime. There are extreme situations and emergencies where it can't be helped, but generally speaking overtime is strictly controlled. No new positions were budgeted this year either. The only way an employee will be promoted is if someone leaves a postion of higher rank / status. The employee will start the position at the entrance salary for that position. The pay increase will be covered by the salary recovered by the employee that left that position. Not all positions will be filled. Promotions are very limited. Hope that helps.

Seems a little unusual to me that on this is privately owned web site, a city of Smyrna employee has taken over w/ almost 100% control of every little piece of information & comments.
Kinda seems the improper forum for so much city control.
Inside-out,... have you considered running your information center through the city website, where it belongs & leave Patch for what it was originally intended- a FREE flow of ideas about current events, politics & community happenings between interested people.
It kinda makes it difficult to hear what all people are trying to convey, when the city deems itself in charge of every communication tool available.
If the city needs so much clarification, maybe more work needs to be done on the CITY website, to clarify zoning, news stories , SPLOST expenditures, etc.
Decatur has an 'open city hall' forumn on their website- where they ask a question & open it up for comments (uncensored).
Dunwoody has a brilliant OPEN 'discussion board' on their website.
The city employees need to try to reserve city information to a city information website,... & let us regular folks have an opportunity on Patch to exchange 'citizens' thoughts!
The deadline is nearing that Hunt has asked people to use their real names.
I hope people will respect his attempt to run his Smyrna Patch the way he has asked, & not undermine peoples intelligence w/ new fake names. If you really believe in what you comment, there shouldn't be any reason to hide!

Inside out always shares facts and he does seem to know them. Here is a fact of my own.. After reading what Donna writes She will never get my vote for Mayor! Neither will Alex Bakery! Not sure who you are inside-out But you never get Donna to answer you! I guess she has a non-transparency rule or something. But I do love the good questions and facts.... Michelle and Rio love your postings as well... i do think it will get better here in Smyrna, But it will take time and effort... I can see a change already with the tone of the patch.. there is hope and lets not give up on the City we love and call home!

Thank you Mary for posting more lies and inaccuracies. Once agin speaking when you have no idea what you are talking about. I would be proud to be an employee of the City of Smyrna, but this is not the case. This forum is to discuss the City and news. I am very involved in my community and I speak to lots of the employees of the city weekly. I stay informed. I talk to our mayor and council, I speak with the business owners and stay involved in community events and forums. If I can share facts or clear up any misinformation I will do so. Just because I don't share your ideas or thoughts then I have to be a city employee ?. You hate the truth and you can not stand that you can't just get on here and rant and make up your "own" facts. I provide factual information in a non condescending way. I won't bring myself down to some peoples level and name call or spread false information. Anytime I see something posted that I have information on I will post it. I even try to post where the information came from. I can not and will not stand by and watch people post lies and misinformation. Not everyone has time to be as involved as I am fortunate to do and for them I will post what I know first hand. I never see you at many citizen events. Thought you would also like to know what I learned while I was there. Facts are facts. I appreciate all the kind comments I have recieved. That makes it all worth while for me. There is a big difference in hiding and protecting.

So just who would you be protecting?
If you have all this factual information, then stand behind what you say, with integrity, by using your real name. Otherwise, nothing you say has any merit.
And no, you won't see me @ any city events. I really don't care to associate w/ people like what I've seen on this forumn.

Mary.. inside out and others on the patch do give us facts! I for one am all for that! all you want is real names on the patch? well sounds like maybe inside-out is protecting himself from crazy people on the patch, I mean you won't go out to public events for that very reason! everything inside out has said is very true, I have looked it up! If I don't get the correct info or can't find it, I will call the mayors office and can most likely find out what is going on!... this thread was going great and moving right along just fine, then, Bam! it took a turn for utter stupidity, and then people bounce from one post to another! and here we are.. Any one from the outside in (No Pun) :) can clearly see when the thread runs into pure blabber, right about the time someone says something nonfactual or just plainly accusing people. The facts are above this post on this thread! Inside-out Thank you for your efforts and staying on top of reality and keeping us informed of the truth!

...more dead bodies & closed resturants! Gotta love it!

Wrong Story Mary, I am sure that post will put you on the list of possible suspects! and there is another story on the patch for that post! off topic again!

Wow. I have a busy afternoon and look at all the "spirited debate" I missed.

FIRST, a big thank you to all who care about the truth. It is important to keep the Patch and the comments factual. Opinion is great too, but Opinion means nothing if it is based on untruths and misinformation. SECOND, that "dead body", Mary, is someones relative and your amount of disrespect is disgraceful. THIRD, The deceased was found in Cobb County, NORTH of Smyrna. LASTLY, I don't care about people's real names on the Patch. Even Hunt stated that he assumed people would just make up more realistic names. So really, what's the point.

Just because someone posts the true facts does not mean they work for the city. It means they care enough about this city to seek out the truth. I appreciate everyone that makes a real effort to find out the truth and share it with others. It is greatly appreciated and very much needed, especially in an open forum such as the Patch.

It is a shame that comments continue to go this way and pull the focus off topic.

I am having a hard time understating why there is opposition to station #5. I mean the land was donated to the city and the cost of the new personnel and construction is being offset by a federal grant. The city isn’t purchasing any new equipment as I was told by Jason that the city will move the truck that’s currently at the station #4 to station #5. The ladder truck and its associated personnel will stay at #4. Now that was the plan in the spring when I was a candidate for CSB, but it could’ve changed. But in the long run, this will only help all of us homeowners here in Smyrna as it could positively impact the city’s ISO rating (already went from a 3 to 2 back in December I think), which is used to calculate homeowners insurance rates. I’m all for fiscal responsibility within city hall, but even if Smyrna wasn’t getting grants, this would be an expenditure I would support 100% even though I live nowhere near station #5.

It is odd that the former Smyrna employee who was convicted of theft is in jail, according to the posting by inside out in response to my post. That's not what the Marietta Daily Journal reported. The MDJ also said this guy, if we are talking about the same thief (or was there more than one?) took a job in another county government, even though that county govt. knew he had a serious problem in Smyrna. He was hired anyway. The MDJ reported the city attorney saying he was pleased with the decision of no jail time and just probation and restitution. Are we talking about the same guy?

You can get six months in jail if your grass isn't cut, but the thief got probation and had to pay restitution for stealing at least $125,000?

Inside Out, I have a question for you. Are you on the government payroll? Does govt. have enough money to pay you to constantly post on the Patch?

Top Cat, here's the link to the mid-April story of the former Smyrna human resources director being sentenced to one year in jail http://patch.com/A-g6KV. Hope this helps.

Thank you so much Hunt for helping to clarify. It's nice to see that the Patch strives for truth and correct information sharing!

Thank you hunt now we can move past that! :)

I am not sure whether I am flattered or not that someone would think my comments are worth being paid for. If the government will pay me to write on Patch, then where do I apply ?. I am an average citizen who loves his community and my hobby is local government. I try to answer questions that people may have If I can, or pass along what I have discovered. I like to think of myself as a good neighbor. I get involved in my community. I attend / view as many council / commisioner meetings that I can. I read the newspapers and various blogs and I watch the news. I am a newshound and my hobby is political debate.

Top Cat, to answer your question in regards to the defunct city manager, here is the quote from April 2011, here on patch " Smyrna’s former human resources director was sentenced to a year in prison and 15 years on probation after pleading guilty of using city credit cards for personal use on Monday.
The Cobb County Superior Court judge also ordered Chris Corey to pay back $121,000". Chris Corey was hired by Rockdale county while , but was soon fired after his arrest on the city charges were filed in Cobb Superior court. Hopefully Rockdale county will learn to do a better background check in the future. What I have learned since Mr. Corey's arrest is that the City of Smyrna will fire you and put you in jail if you mes with its' citizens money, or break the law. I think this highly commendable and a model other governments should be strive for. If you are getting your news from the MDJ, I would stop. Patch.com does a much better job at getting the local news out there, in a more factual, timely manner. Hope that helps.

Tip for the day: research the truth before you post your opinionated theories, some might think is true and walk away with false info! and it helps to make us here in Smyrna Seem a little more civil! if you think i am speaking to you, I bet you are right to assume :) Thank you Inside-out!

I'm sure if there is a pattern Mary then it will be discovered and the city will put whoever it is in jail. They are good like that. It just goes to show you that the city of Smyrna is not messing around with "our" money. Audits and checks and balances are in place to catch this type of activity. I for one am glad to see this.

ACTUALLY, She had been an employee of the city of Smyrna for 8 years. The thefts do not go back that far. Now you can apologize for posting misinformation or just go on to another post which is your usual M.O. Check your facts before you post what you DON"T know.

I bet you I am not Sean!

Excuse me?? We (regular citizens) can only strive to find the truth in Smyrna (many times hidden under rocks & rugs)- I got my information from the MDJ reguarding the thefts. It did not go into any detail as to which day which dollar was taken. I doubt that has much bearing on the story anyway. She stoled that ammount of money sometime w/in the 8 years of employment. If you are in charge of the polygraphs in Smyrna,.. I have a few suggestions as to where to start!

I am a regular citizen and realize that the MDJ is only one source of information and at best only hits the highlights. Many times I reach out to my Councilman, Mayor's office, as well as other city officials as the need may be. They are always kind, courteous and eager to help. I have never had an issue finding out the facts. Of course, I am only searching for truth and not trying to sling mud in the process.

No Excuses Mary for your lack of reading it wrong and misleading the patch readers. You always avoid details of your arrest and how much it costed the city! lets talk about that! I PAID FOR THAT! I WOULD LOVE AN ANSWER TO THAT? Sounds to me like your part of the problem in Smyrna!

i plead the 5th- how 'bout that?

That's your right. And I'm not a bit surprised that you exercised it!

That's a criminal for ya! I wish you would exercise that right more!

I am a regular citizen as well. All you have to do is ask those in the know. They will tell you straight out. Open records provide all the answers we need. Your Quote "This occured over an 8 year period--it wasn't discovered until AFTER she was fired. This shows a LACK of proper auditing". Is totally wrong. It's your own post. The facts show the dates when it occured and how much was embezzled. The city discovered this while she was still an employee. When it was dicovered she was fired and arrested, not the other way around as you posted. This shows that the safeguards the city has in place are working. Something each citizen should be proud of. You always like to go back and rewrite your post after you post them. You don't know what you are talking about and you should do your research before putting lies out . I do not have enough time to be in charge of the polygraphs and do my government job of posting on Patch. Ah, the Bats, the bats.

Well Inside-Out, apparently George is Sean and he loves to volunteer so maybe he could help ya out with those polygraphs. Did someone say Bats?

Michelle AMEN!