Enhanced City Services

The City of Mableton would have the ability to contract with local and large providers to provide trash service, large waste (bulk) disposal, and recycling.  The surveys performed by the South Cobb Alliance showed that trash was the number one complaint of residents.  The city could uniquely take advantage of economies of scale to increase service levels while decreasing cost.  This is especially important for bulk pickup of furniture, tv's, and appliances.  

Currently our community has a shortage of Code Enforcement Officers and a surplus of Code violations.  Many of these violations have gone unchecked for years.  In the surveys done by South Cobb Alliance, lack of code enforcement was the number two complaint. A city could enforce the codes and provide immediate help to get violators into compliance.  Often the violators don't realize that they are violating the ordinance.  The county's code enforcement efforts are primarily reactive to complaints rather than being proactive.  Citizens don't complain as they do not know something is a violation because it occurs so frequently in our community.  Proper code enforcement involves working with people to achieve compliance, not just fining them.  The city can create programs, possibly in conjunction with non-profits, to assist citizens who cannot afford to come to compliance.  Community Development Block Grants can often be obtained with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to assist with code enforcement issues.  Poorly maintained propertied deteriorate our community and they need to be addressed.  

At one time the parks in the area had thriving youth sports programs.  A city could kickstart these programs so that our children and community have an opportunity to grow and support each other.  There are also several acres of undeveloped park land that could be developed with unique attractions for all ages.

For effective and responsible development and redevelopment the city can provide a thorough plan for the future.  This plan can be used to attract new business into the community.  The city can work to attract business specially to our area, whereas the county's efforts are primarily geared to attracting businesses to locate somewhere in the county.  The county operated under a one size fits all zoning ordinance, which does not take into account the unique needs of our community.   When ordnance changes have been proposed to deal with our unique needs, commissioners in other districts often block the efforts.  For example, we have many properties that need redevelopment, but under the county zoning ordinance redevelopment is not economically feasible.  A city can help to add more options and attract diverse opportunities.