Meet the Candidates: Lance Lamberton, 'The Austell Taxpayer's Best Friend'

The clock above Austell city hall has been stuck at 2:25 for years. Like the hands on the clock, Lance Lamberton feels the city is not moving forward. He intends to change that if elected to serve Austell's Ward 4.

“We need some fresh ideas,” said Lamberton, the 10-year Austell resident running against incumbent Virginia Reagan. “We need to revitalize this city.”

He moved to Austell from Dallas, TX with his wife of 14 years, Cheryl, to work as the senior manager of operations in public relations for Delta Airlines. He is now the Southeast Senior Director of Operations for VNR-1 Communications. He has two sons, Roark, 24 and Rearden, 20.

He describes himself as a taxpayer activist, and he has about 40 years of experience fighting to bring “more accountability to the U.S. government.”

For Lamberton, if elected to Ward 4, his top priorities include helping Austell bring in more businesses and more jobs. He said he would like an audit conducted of all city ordinances to evaluate how they impact businesses within the city limits.

“If there are impediments to starting a business or keeping a business in Austell, we need to reform those and make the city a more business-friendly environment,” said Lamberton, adding that he wants to ensure Austell is run as efficiently as possible.

“Austell has been falling behind as far as economic growth and population growth is concerned and given its location, it shouldn’t be,” Lamberton said. “The environment that exists right now is not conducive to business growth."

Other issues Lamberton would like to address:

Citizen Complaint Process

Currently, residents are required to give their names when placing complaints.

“The bad thing about having code enforcement done that way is that you invite retaliation. It might result in people being reluctant to place code enforcement complaints so things get neglected,” Lamberton said.

Sunday Alcohol Sales

Lamberton said the Sunday alcohol issue should have been placed on the ballot for several reasons. He felt that it would bring more people to the polls for the election and it would bring more revenue to the city. He also felt the city would save money by placing the issue on the ballot in November instead of holding a special election, which would use additional taxpayers' funds.

“I believe in local choice. There’s revenue that we can get as a city. It’s a matter of free choice.

"The Austell Taxpayer's Best Friend"

Chances are you’ve heard of Lamberton if you’ve been in Cobb County for the last year or longer. 

He’s the president and founder of the Cobb Taxpayers Association, which he founded in 2005. The organization opposed the 2005 and 2011 countywide SPLOST. He also went head-to-head with Rose Wing in a countywide televised debate about the countywide one-cent special sales tax, which voters passed earlier this year.

Lately, Lamberton’s name has been mentioned regularly as the current TSPLOST issue gains more attention and so does Lamberton’s organization, CTA, which opposes another new tax for the people of Cobb, and particularly the people of Austell who will not be directly affected by any of the projects currently on the draft list that the 1 percent transportation tax would fund. However, if passed, would still pay the additional tax.

Lamberton, who served in the Reagan White House as deputy director of the White House Office of Policy Information, said government officials “tend to be in favor of any kind of tax increase because it gives them access to money to be distributed to their constituents. Your money is yours to spend as you see fit. The burden of proof upon spending taxpayers’ money should be on them and not on you.”

Since the 1970s, Lamberton has remained “involved in local and statewide tax and spending issues,” by founding organizations and working with elected officials for change.

“We’re all suffering from too much government spending and too much government waste, as a county, as a state, as a country and even as a city. Government is too big  and it’s costs too much and that’s the issue we need to address.”

With his focus on tax and spending issues, he uses the slogan,  “The Austell Taxpayer’s Best Friend,” after being described as such in an endorsement from former Congressman from Cobb County, Bob Barr. Former Cobb County Chairman Bill Byrne, current Austell City Council members Trudie Causey and Martin Standard and Austell City Council have also endorsed Lamberton.

Lamberton said he looks forward to working with the mayor and the city council to help improve and revitalize Austell, if elected.

Lamberton said he is running because of a deep love for the city.

“Austell is an affordable place to live and work, conveniently located close to one of the great metropolitan areas of the country,” Lamberton said in a release announcing his candidancy. “Unfortunately, I believe it has lost its focus over the past few years, and is no longer the thriving community that it once was, and that it can and should be.” 

The city's municipal campaign will be held on Nov. 8. For more information about Lamberton, his background and campaign, visit his website at lambertonforcouncil.com.