Candidate Profile: Stacy Skinner For Johns Creek City Council

JOHNS CREEK — Nine city council candidates qualified for four seats in Johns Creek Nov. 2 municipal election, two of which are running for the Council Post 2 seat.

Rashmi Singh and Stacy Skinner have qualified as candidates for Johns Creek City Council Post 2. There is no incumbent for this seat as former Post 2 Council Member Brian Weaver is not seeking re-election for this post.

November 2, 2021 Municipal General/Special Election sample ballots are available for review at the Georgia My Voter Page. Enter your information in order to access a personalized sample ballot.

Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles as Election Day draws near.

Stacy Skinner is running for Johns Creek City Council Post 2 against Rashmi Singh.

Age (as of Election Day)

42

Position Sought

Johns Creek City Council Post 2

Party Affiliation

Family

Married to Derrick Skinner for 14yrs. We have two school aged girls.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

B.A. Interdisciplinary Studies with a Concentration in Social Science and emphasis in Psychology, University of Georgia

Occupation

Public Administration 10+years, Legal Assistant for 7yrs; currently resigned to serve the citizens of Johns Creek in a full capacity.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

N/A

Campaign website

stacyskinnerforjohnscreek.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I am seeking elective office for a few reasons: 1. I absolutely LOVE JC & want to make sure it remains the great, diverse city we all love - that our quality of life remains intact 2. It's extremely important to elect officials that will have the best interest of the community behind each and every decision they make. I was not recruited by any partisan party, I am running to engage and enable others to get involved and feel a part of our community. Not for power or name recognition, but simply to be a public servant of the people which is a quality lacking in many of our leaders today.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

One of the most pressing issues facing our city is retaining and attracting businesses. A huge bulk of our revenue comes from sales tax and it’s extremely important we retain, attract, and support our businesses to alleviate the burden on the residents.

Johns Creek has often given the impression we are not open for business and changing that mindset will be the biggest challenge.

The Economic Development Director will play an integral part in reaching out to our businesses and neighboring cities. Firstly, they need to access what we can do to better retain and assist in expansion for our current businesses and secondly, see what our surrounding cities have to offer that Johns Creek doesn’t.

Additionally, the city needs to review and revisit its licensing and permitting policies and procedures to be more “business-friendly”. Are our licensing and permitting policies more overbearing and deterring business more than inviting business? - That needs to be reviewed Day 1. That being said, smart growth is key to the success of Johns Creek. We absolutely do not want over development and big-box retail on every corner. We want to attract and retain businesses with controlled growth and development.

What are your short- and long-term goals if you are elected?

My short-term goal is to improve and enhance our parks. Our parks play a critical role in our quality of life. We are fortunate to have walking trails, pavilions, soccer fields, etc., but we need to make sure these parks can accommodate all the sports Johns Creek residents desire to play. Currently, Johns Creek is losing residents to Forsyth County and Alpharetta due to our lack of feeder programs. Our children are starting high school without having had an opportunity to play recreational sports through an organized feeder program. Johns Creek also has less acreage of park land per resident than typical, so improving upon and expanding our park system is extremely important to our residents' quality of life and one of my short term goals.

It's hard to nail it down to one long-term goal but I'd have to say, Revitalization of our shopping center nodes. Several of the shopping centers around Johns Creek are at least ¼ empty. If the shopping centers do not revitalize to keep up with surrounding areas, their class status will fall lower, which equates to a loss in revenue for the property owners, the city, and additionally, lowers our property values. I’m excited that the 2018 Comprehensive Plan addresses the need and sees the value in revitalizing our shopping centers and that priority will be one of my long-term goals along with building the Town Center, Arts Center, and tackling Storm Water management.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

Most critically is the desire of my opponent to fundamentally change Johns Creek. My opponent wishes to change the zoning laws to allow for multifamily housing at every opportunity. The 2018-2028 Comprehensive Plan's focus is to preserve and protect Johns Creek's residential neighborhoods and quality of life by managing development. Over development will place unnecessary burden on our schools (the very reason so many move to Johns Creek), our infrastructure, and our overall quality of life. Adding multifamily housing throughout Johns Creek would fundamentally change what makes Johns Creek Johns Creek.

The next critical difference is our community involvement. I have been volunteering and serving the community in multiple capacities since I moved to Johns Creek in 2013. My family and I moved from Lawrenceville and truly feel grateful for our beautiful city so it was important to get involved and establish roots.

The last critical difference is that I already have Public Administration experience working for local government. I've also sat on several boards and currently sit as Association President for Rivermont, the largest neighborhood in Johns Creek. I know how to work with a wide range of personalities and perspectives to get the job done. I am objective to a fault and love people, so serving the community comes natural.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)?

N/A

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

I think hindsight is everything. No one saw this global pandemic coming. Of course we can look back at the way it was handled and say what we would have done differently but we didn't know what we didn't know. The various opinions and advice from our leaders and health officials only added further confusion. I can only speak to how I handled the pandemic as President in Rivermont. I did everything in my power to keep up morale and let the community know we were here to assist and would do everything we could to keep some level of normalcy without subjecting the association to liabilities. I also reached out to small businesses and tried to send out info and let the residents know which Johns Creek restaurants were doing delivery, take out, etc. And then we started the famous - Food Truck Fridays. We were the first neighborhood to pioneer the idea and it took off with flying colors. The residents were so excited and looked forward to it for several months and I know the small businesses were equally appreciative.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

My biggest issue is maintaining our quality of life. The residents of Johns Creek moved here for a reason. What makes Johns Creek so great is our diversity, schools, and safety. If our schools and safety decline, then the communities that make up our diverse city will leave and we will lose the very thing that makes Johns Creek exceptional!

My first priority is Building a Sense of Community. Building a sense of community encompasses my whole platform. Build a sense of community through community involvement (engaging and enabling the residents), building an Arts Center where we can celebrate and be exposed to our many different cultures, building a Town Center where we can gather and throw community concerts, revitalizing our shopping centers for those like me who don't live close enough to the Town Center to enjoy it more than once/week, keep supporting our schools, build full connectivity with sidewalks, enhance our parks. Through those measures we will BUILD A SENSE OF COMMUNITY and retain our residents.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

If you can handle Rivermont, you can handle anything - lol. In all honesty, I had my first tax paying job at 14yo (and I'm not talking babysitting which I had done from the age of 10), I interned for the Administrative Office of the Courts at 16yo and after the summer when my internship had ended I was offered a position where I worked for the next 11yrs. I worked hard and worked my way up all while getting my undergrad from the University of Georgia. Additionally, I have always volunteered and given back to the community and will continue to do so.

What do you like best about living in your city (or county)?

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Give more than you receive.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I am a humble servant of the people and here to represent them. I believe as elected officials we should fully be public servants making a servants wage, not doubling our salaries or using the position for personal gain.