Alpharetta Planning Commissioner Runs For City Council

From Karen Richard: I am excited to announce my candidacy for Alpharetta City Council. It has been an honor to serve our city as a member of the Planning Commission for the past six years. I’ve worked with residents and business leaders in finding ways to balance the need for growth with the limits of the city’s infrastructure. I look forward to bringing my experience to City Council.

Alpharetta is already a great city to live, work, and raise our families. When my family moved to the North Fulton area over twelve years ago for job opportunities, we researched our options carefully and quickly realized that Alpharetta’s schools, low crime rate, and exceptional parks program were superior to any of the other cities in North Fulton. They still are. But I believe we can and should do even better. In my opinion, improvement is within our reach, but only if city council more closely aligns its priorities with your family’s and mine.

Balancing growth is my top issue. Our government too often appears to consider the requests of special interests, without due consideration of the needs of our residents. Our citizen-created Comprehensive Land Use Plan will be my main guide in making zoning decisions that affect our community. The plan which was drafted by our citizens and approved by Council in 2011 calls for balanced growth. We need to double-down on that commitment and allow our quality of life to catch-up to the effects of recent development.

For example, although Alpharetta’s phenomenal growth following the Great Recession is truly a blessing, we are no longer meeting the demand for solutions to traffic management and other density-related challenges. Newly-approved developments will soon add thousands more cars to our streets.

The recent voter-approved TSPLOST and bond will help offset the pace of this development, but we must ensure every aspect of its rollout - from bidding to construction - is both transparent to our residents and linked to their further input. We must also work with our regional and state leaders to prioritize Alpharetta’s transportation plans and fight to bring our state tax dollars back home. Protecting our residents is the single most important service our city provides to its residents.

While our Public Safety Department is widely recognized for its excellence, and our city is ranked as one of the safest cities in Georgia, we cannot let the pace of growth jeopardize our security. Our Public Safety Department must receive appropriate funding and resources to adapt to growth-related and societal changes. As a Planning Commissioner, I have gained the reputation of being well-informed on the issues. I’ve also made sure the Commission listened and reacted to your voices. As a member of City Council, I’ll be committed to that same approach.

About Karen Richard

Karen and her family moved to Alpharetta in 2005, originally moving to the Windward community. They recently moved to the Academy Park neighborhood. Karen and her husband, John, have two sons, Colin and Connor. In addition to her Planning Commission experience, she served seven years on her neighborhood’s HOA board, two years as a committee member of the Windward Community Services Association and several years as a coordinator for the Alpharetta Neighborhood Watch/PACT Program.

In addition to her many civic engagements, Karen was a dedicated volunteer in her two sons’ school activities throughout their education at Webb Bridge Middle School and King’s Ridge Christian School. She was elected to serve on the King’s Ridge Parent Board for several years and was an active member of numerous committees.

Before she retired from corporate life in 2006, Karen held numerous leadership positions at American Express and its predecessor companies, including executive oversight of global airline and hotel contract negotiations on behalf of Fortune 100 clients. Karen and her family are members of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church.

Image via Karen Richard