Q&A With Stephen Peet, Peachtree Corners City Council Candidate

Peachtree Corners Patch asked the 20 candidates vying for the six council seats on the new Peachtree Corners City Council a series of questions relating to city government for the upcoming Municipal Election on March 6, 2012.

Each of the candidates were asked the same set of questions. Our last question was to request each candidate to compose his or her own question and provide the answer to that question.

Patch introduces Stephen Peet, one of two candidates seeking the council seat for Post 2.

Name: Stephen L. Peet, age 56.

Lived in Peachtree Corners: 22 years.

Educational background:  Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1980.

Family: I have been married for 26 years to my wife, Dianna. Our sons, Sterling, Taylor, and Devon, all attend Georgia Tech. Our daughter, Christa, attends Norcross High School in the International Baccalaureate Program.

Military background:  N/A.

Occupation:  I am a Senior Project Manager for AT&T.  My responsibilities include planning, design, construction, operations, and maintenance of data centers. I work with standards and contracts on a regular basis. I recently completed a $10 million expansion of technical space. 

What experience in your background do you think has best prepared you for serving on the Peachtree Corners City Council?

My engineering and operations management background qualifies me to research, negotiate, and contract municipal services. Through my volunteer experience, I have represented our residents in many capacities on school committees and homeowner boards.  I have been a Boy Scout leader, coached roller hockey, and supported the Norcross High school band and robotics teams.

I have completed various leadership training and for added fun, I was a swim team DJ and announcer. I have met a great many fantastic people in this community through volunteering!  My involvement in school, scouts, neighborhood, and church activities has augmented my leadership and management skills to prepare me for the exciting challenges of serving Peachtree Corners as a City Councilmember.

Tell Peachtree Corners readers about your vision for the new city and how you would accomplish it?

I see Peachtree Corners neighbors working together to create a new and vibrant city that efficiently meets the needs of its residents. I would accomplish this by encouraging open and easy communication. We can use time-tested forms of communication (for example, phone, mail, town hall meetings) as well as newer technology-based communication (for example, websites, Facebook, etc.).  Because we have a smaller constituency than county or state officials, we can dialogue more often on a personal level: one-on-one and face-to-face!

What do you think is the greatest challenge facing Peachtree Corners, and how would you approach it?

The greatest challenge facing Peachtree Corners today is bringing the community back together following the referendum. Naturally, we all had a variety of viewpoints and in the days leading up to the referendum the focus was on the benefits of each side. 

Now we need to work together to implement the aspects of cityhood that best fit our community. My approach is to involve as many residents as possible in the process of implementing this unique limited city concept. Listening to why our residents moved here and what they envision for our future is paramount in planning and designing our city. Already I hear that we want low overhead and high responsiveness. I am certain that we can accomplish these goals. 

What are the first things you will do in office? This one question lets you know my immediate goals supporting my vision for the City of Peachtree Corners! 

My first goal is to work with the founding the City Council to set up the appropriate intergovernmental agreements with respect to the cost of the services that the city will provide (zoning, solid waste management, and code compliance) and that Gwinnett County will continue to provide (police, fire, EMS, and everything else). It is important that the agreements comply with the Service Delivery Strategy (SDS) Act to avoid misinterpretations and possible legal action and related expenses.

Secondly, I want to develop a detailed Peachtree Corners Master Plan for Land Use to guide the city in making local zoning decisions. This master plan will also be incorporated into the Gwinnett County 2030 Unified Plan. Once this plan is in place we can decide, with resident input, what changes we would like to implement, if any.

Thirdly, I want to establish a code compliance framework. It should start with what Gwinnett County is currently doing, but it will be much more convenient because it will be handled locally. For example, permits can be obtained in Peachtree Corners instead of going to Lawrenceville and code compliance officials will also be local. Again, we can decide, with resident input, what changes we would like to implement, if any.

My fourth goal is to make a city-wide Solid Waste Plan that is more cost effective than the Gwinnett County plan and meets the needs of our residents. This plan will guide city decisions related to all solid waste services, such as waste contractor, waste pickup frequency, and types of waste services (for example trash, yard waste, recycling).