Decatur Mayor To Give 'State of City' Address Tuesday

DECATUR, GA -- Decatur Mayor Patti Garrett will give her first “State of the City” address Tuesday evening.

The speech is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel at 130 Clairemont Ave.

A city commissioner since 2010, Garrett, who teaches nutrition at Georgia State University, was unanimously elected mayor by her fellow commissioners earlier this month.

On her website, Garrett said former U.S. Poet Laureate and Emory University professor Natasha Trethewey will read a poem she wrote for the tenth anniversary of the Decatur Book Festival in 2015.

City Schools of Decatur Chairwoman Annie Caiola also is scheduled to make brief remarks at the event.

Garrett has said the most urgent task facing the commission is pushing both the city and city schools’ homestead tax exemption plans through the state legislature, which is currently in session.

Annexation and a community action plan that addresses diversity are also among her top stated priorities.

(Photo courtesy City of Decatur.)