'Nonstop great things' in Suwanee

Dave Williams knew being mayor would be a mixture of hard work and fun. And his first year as Suwanee Mayor didn't disappoint.

"The last year has just been a whirlwind," he said. "There has been almost a nonstop series of great things happening."

When looking back over the past year, Williams said it's hard to believe so many big events happened in Suwanee just this year. From the Tour de Georgia beginning Stage 5 downtown to the Life is Good festival as well as a new Lowe's opening and the grand opening of Sims Lake Park, the city has seen its share of large events.

"There has just been a tremendous amount of volunteers this year," he said. "It's been great, just one fabulous event building on top of another."

Increasing and encouraging civic engagement was one of Williams' goals when he took office.

"I wanted to help lead the effort to increase civic engagement," he said. "I wanted to help create many opportunities for people and businesses to get involved."

Williams and the city have helped increase involvement through the water system study group and the downtown master plan steering committee, among others. He said the Suwanee Day base had grown and Trek or Treat saw 700 families take part.

"I think we have been doing a better job of tracking those participants and capturing data," he said. "This has helped us find out what people liked and what they thought could be improved."

For example, Williams said a survey with Suwanee Day vendors was a great help.

"We had extraordinary results from vendors and a couple hundred people," he said. "It's easy to confuse activity with results. This way we can make sure our efforts are effective as they can be. You can be busy, but that doesn't mean you're successful."

Overall, Williams said 2008 has been a "pleasure" and he attributes that to the wonderful city staff and council.

"I think it was a seamless transition," he said. "The staff is so great and I really think the government works well together. The staff and government body trust one another. This attitude has allowed us to get past what we might not agree on and that is what has made Suwanee distinctive. I want to help preserve that."

To preserve that, Williams said Suwanee must continue its foundation based on trust.

"Our foundation is a group trust," he said. "If we don't have that, nothing else matters. It allows us to work effectively toward our common goals. I'm aware something could come along and take that away, so one of my goals is to help maintain that attitude."

Williams said Suwnaee can "pick our future" and that many of the current projects show what the city government and residents are capable of.

"Sims Lake Park is a great example of that," he said. "We said we wanted a world class park and we set out to do that. Now, I think we have it."
- www.gwinnettherald.com

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