Campaigns begin for Alpharetta municipal election

By Caroline Gray /Neighbor Newspapers

Several seats will be in contention in November in the city of Alpharetta.

Alpharetta City Councilmen John Monson and Doug DeRito have announced their intentions to run again but Councilman Jim Paine’s seat will be completely open due to term limits. Alpharetta Municipal Judge Jim Matoney said he plans to seek his seat again. The judge who served before Matoney, Scott Childress, said he does not plan to run again.

Matoney served 12 years on city council and said he still keeps abreast of politics in Alpharetta but refrains from commenting publicly. He said although local politics I can be mired in controversy, when taking his role on the bench his biggest goal was to keep things running smoothly.

“There was a lot of controversy within the court and various departments in the city,” said Matoney. “My intention was to eliminate the controversy and keep Alpharetta out of the news. There was a wonderful staff who wanted to work for the public but things had become an embarrassment.”

Matoney said some improvements he has made include a user-friendly computer system and working with the police department to minimize officers’ time in court.

Although Alpharetta City Council discussed changing to a system of appointing judges, for the time being the judge will still be elected by the public. Matoney said he plans to visit citizens door-to-door and post signs as he ramps up his campaign.

Monson, who serves as the council’s primary liaison to the department of engineering and public works, said transportation remains a top priority.

“In the 2009/2010 fiscal year we will complete over $6 million worth of transportation infrastructure projects. I am very proud that we continue to leverage Alpharetta’s funds for transportation projects at a current rate of 280 percent return on taxpayer dollars,” said Monson.

He also mentioned contributing to the city’s conservative leadership and helping to provide additional homestead tax relief and a balanced budget with reduced revenues among his accomplishments.

Although the economy has caused several of the city’s projects to stall, he said in the meantime the city must do all it can to position to rebound quickly when liquidity returns to the capital markets.