Councilman Wood retiring after 20 years of service

Smyrna’s election is about a week and half away, but there’s been no campaigning for Smyrna City Councilman Charles Pete Wood this fall.

Wood can look out the window of his second-floor office at and see where he grew up. The house he was raised in has long since been torn down and the Veteran’s Memorial built in its place, but knowing this easily viewable spot is where he experienced many fond childhood memories makes him smile.

In a way, Wood has come full circle, and after 20 years on the Smyrna City Council he has decided to retire. The soft-spoken councilman took time recently to discuss both his career serving on the council and his love for Smyrna.

Wood, 77, has served Ward 7 consecutively on the council since 1991. He also worked at Fulton National Bank in Atlanta for more than 30 years, but retired from the banking industry soon after getting into politics. As it turns out, politics runs in Wood’s blood, as his father also served on the Smyrna City Council.

Before being elected to the council, Wood served with Smyrna’s Downtown Development Authority. As a lifelong resident of Cobb County, he explained that he had a vested interest in seeing Smyrna revitalized and growing. 

“I could see things were happening in Smyrna. It was changing and it was growing and I just wanted to be part of it.”

Running for and being elected to the council, then, was the next logical step for Wood in order to ensure that he could do his part to help the city that he loves grow.  

Helping this “quality growth” is what Wood said he is most proud of from his time as a council member. He cites the revitalization of downtown Smyrna, the building of the Market Village, new City Hall and as prime examples of the accomplishments he can look back on with fondness.

“Having an opportunity to be part of that has been very rewarding for me — to see Smyrna grow in people and other ways. Not just growth, but quality growth.”

While his love for the city is evident, Wood explained that he simply knew it was time to move on from the council to other things and enjoy retirement with his wife, Lillie. He and Lillie have been married for more than 50 years and have two children, Steven and Marilyn, as well as three grandchildren. 

“I felt like it was time for me to step down,” he said. “I’ll find ways to still be involved with what’s happening in Smyrna. If there is something that comes up in the city that they ask me to do, I’ll be happy to do that, too.”

Wood and his wife are both active members of First Baptist of Smyrna and he will still serve on the board of Wellstar Health Systems and be a member of the Smyrna Golden K Kiwanis Club, among other things.

“My wife and I are not the kind to just sit at home,” he said with a laugh.

Over the years, Wood said that he has only noticed change for the better. Tremendous growth does bring tremendous change, however, and with more people and expansion comes more responsibility. He acknowledges that there will always be opposition from some and that any citizen speaking out is well within their rights. In fact, along with what he feels is stable leadership, citizen involvement is another factor he cites for Smyrna’s success.

“In any organization, city or county, you are going to have a group of people that always seem to think that things aren’t running as smooth as they should,” he said. “I think that, by and large, though, the overwhelming majority of the citizens are very pleased with what has happened over these last 20 plus years. That is reflected in that most of the people that have been here have been reelected over and over.”

When Wood first began serving on the council, he and the other six councilmen shared a small office in the old city hall building. Now, he and Councilman Ron Newcomb, who is also not seeking reelection after this term, share a City Hall office. Wood comes into the office just about everyday, he said, adding how much he will miss it.

While it seems poetic that Wood is retiring from an office that is within walking distance to the spot of his childhood home, he seems much more optimistic about the future of Smyrna than he is sad to see this chapter in his life end. 

“Smyrna is going to continue to grow,’’ he said. “It’s a great location. I am proud of the city and proud of the central leadership. It’s been a great pleasure to be a part of what happened in Smyrna over the past 20 years.”