Barbara appreciates your financial support for her plan to work for an even greater Snellville. Make checks payable to: Barbara Bender, 3095 Zermatt Way, Snellville GA 30078. (more…)

Former Snellville City Council member and District 106 State Representative Melvin Everson has endorsed Barbara for reelection to the City Council. From his open letter to his constituents:

Barbara Bender is up for reelection this year. She is a fine candidate with a sharp mind for civic issues. As well as having long ties to the community, she has brought several issues to the forefront in her tenure on the Council. Barbara has always been receptive to any questions I have had about her policies, and she is a very skilled and intuitive Mayor Pro Tem whenever she has had to oversee a Council meeting in the Mayor’s absence.

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On Thursday, October 15, Barbara attended an open house for the North Road Overlay District Ordinance. The public information meeting was sponsored by the City’s Planning Department.  Barbara was on hand to discuss questions and concerns with residents and property owners who took the time to give a final review of the ordinance. 

This Overlay District ordinance is very important to the City since it sets out a vision for how the North Road corridor can transition from residential to office/professional uses in the coming years.

A referendum on the November ballot will ask voters to allow the City to create Tax Allocation Districts (TAD) to help finance redevelopment projects.  There is a lot of confusion and misinformation about what a TAD is and how it works.  The following example should help explain it.

First, a TAD is not a tax increase.  It does not raise the millage rate, neither does it take any revenue away from the City’s general fund. In fact, a TAD can stop further decay of declining properties and the resulting loss of tax revenue.

Second, a TAD is a proven method of funding large, usually commercial redevelopment projects. There are other options but, in many cases, a TAD can be the best option because it essentially makes the redevelopment pay for itself. (more…)