Editor’s Note: Jim Welborn is running for Mayor of Demorest in Tuesday’s election. He’s a local realtor and bi-vocational pastor at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Cornelia. This is Welborn’s first bid for public office. He’s challenging incumbent Demorest Mayor Rick Austin. Both candidates were invited to submit columns to Now Habersham. Jim Welborn submitted the following. The opinions expressed in this column are his.
Dear Demorest Residents,
As I have been going around the city, I have had the privilege of meeting a lot of you already and look forward to meeting more of you in the future. I continue to hear concerns over different departments of our city. I have met with our city manager and seen the painstaking work that she has done in getting our bills paid and our finances once again in order. If elected, I look forward to working alongside our city manager to continue strengthening our finances and government. We need to expand our city limits and find new ways to bring in new businesses to our city to generate more revenue. With the potential changing hands of Sweetbreads, (now listed for sale), we need to be ever mindful of the continuing changes and how to bring more businesses to our downtown district. I believe that we can make our city more sustainable for the future.
What I am hearing and also feeling myself is that we are all wanting to see the old hometown feel of Demorest that is now missing come back to our small town. For many of you that have been here for years, the small town feel we remember together is when Demorest had a music store, the Calico Restaurant, and Steffi’s Store along with other businesses that were in our downtown district. You were met with smiles by others coming and going from the various businesses that drew people into our town. I know many of you have lived in Demorest for a long time as I have, but some for a shorter time. The one common thread I hear is that we all want Demorest to be what it once was for so many years. I agree in the conversations that I have had with many of you that going back to the government we had years ago does not need to be revisited. If elected your Mayor; I look forward to working along with you, our city’s government, elected officials, and city employees as a fellow citizen to achieve the goal of reshaping the feel of our city, both inside the government and out on our sidewalks to make a better Demorest.
Please Vote Jim Welborn for Mayor of Demorest on Tuesday, November 7th.
Thank you for your support! I look forward to serving you.
Sincerely,
Jim Welborn
