City Government

Judy Putnam Retires as Communications Director for the City

Published

3 years ago

October 18, 2021

Mark Woolsey

Judy Putnam. Photo By George Hunter

We have a good city council that is made up of intelligent and well-educated professionals. Even though none of them had held office before, they had a good understanding of it and have worked together to make the city what it is today.
Judy Putnam

Judy Putnam went from writing stories about golf to hitting metaphorical holes-in-one through shaping the voice and message of the city of Peachtree Corners. Now she is retiring after more than a decade of putting words to the keyboard, chronicling the birth and growth of Gwinnett County’s newest and largest city.

Putnam first carved out a solid career in the news media. Yes, she covered golf throughout the state for two different publications. “Amateur, the pros, anything that took place in Georgia. I did golf course reviews,” she reminisced.

“I have always loved writing feature stories,” Putnam added. “That was my favorite thing” during a career spent mostly in magazine writing.

Her work with Patch, an online news service, marked a somewhat harder-edged tilt to her career arc. Putnam covered various aspects of Peachtree Corner’s drive to become a city in 2012, along with its early buildup period that included election of a city council and establishment of departments and services. She established close relationships that proved key to her next phase.

The move to a city job

Then came a massive layoff in the early 20-teens, which put about 90 % of local community-covering Patch editors on the street.

Putnam rang up Mayor Mike Mason, saying, “I just wanted to let you know. There’s this massive layoff and I’m gone.”

She continued, “About two weeks later, he called back and said ‘We’re looking for a communications director. Would you like the job?’ I said yes, of course. I didn’t have to hesitate on that.”

Putnam went from the more arms-length relationship of a journalist covering a community to becoming a spokesperson for a locality and shaping its message. She became Peachtree Corner’s first communications director, supplanting an ad-hoc approach which had relied on outside vendors writing news releases on city happenings.

“I started March 1 of 2014 and sat down to a desk and a computer and had to create the department basically,” she recalled.

Already in possession of good journalism and public relations skills, she said, it was a natural fit. “Initially when I sat down at the desk there wasn’t a lot of news going on about the city,” she said. “It was news, less than three years old, and they were still putting things together to make it run efficiently.”

That changed after Peachtree Corners purchased the property across from the Forum for the Town Center development. It generated a lot of buzz and news, she said, as the city held a series of town hall meetings asking residents what they wanted in a community gathering place.

The Corners’ decision to pursue a multi-use trail network was another rich source of content, she indicated. The push to establish the Curiosity Lab, provide incentives for developers and establish a redevelopment authority provided still more grist for the mill.

Looking backward and forward

The building of the city and its programs over the years has been handled well over the past nine years, Putnam thinks. “We have a good city council that is made up of intelligent and well-educated professionals,” she said. “Even though none of them had held office before, they had a good understanding of it and have worked together to make the city what it is today.”

She also gives high marks to city manager Brian Johnson, a boss who sets guidelines, then gets out of the way and doesn’t micromanage.

Her job has been both fun and challenging, said Putnam. Fun in that when she’s out about and interacting with people, she finds that her outreach and projects have found a favorable audience. Challenging in that the pace is quite rapid.

Putnam is looking to shift gears to a different pace and an altered roster of plans and priorities with her retirement while keeping busy. She plans to travel to visit family who live out of state, including a son who lives in Arkansas, family members in Florida she hasn’t often gotten to lay eyes on and her grandkids, although she points out that with the pandemic, “there’s an asterisk next to the travel category.”

She also plans to help her husband in his business — he’s a certified pickleball instructor — while playing the game herself and renewing her acquaintance with golf.

As she steps off the municipal stage, Putnam feels that the city is in good hands and well-positioned for growth and change.

“It’ done remarkably well,” she said, “and they’ve had good support from the community. Of course, there are always naysayers; you go to any community and you’ll find that. But overall, we’ve gotten very favorable responses.

“There’s been nothing boring about it, that’s for sure.”

Related Topics:Brian Johnson city of peachtree corners Featured george hunter Judy Putnam Mayor Mike Mason

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Mark Woolsey

City Government

Councilmember Eric Christ: 2025 Peachtree Corners Municipal Elections

Published

4 weeks ago

March 3, 2025

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

A white man with glasses, wearing a dark colored jacket walking in the road alongside a line of vintage cars.

Source: Peachtree Corners Post 2 Councilmember Eric Christ’s recent newsletter.

Peachtree Corners Municipal Elections Tuesday, November 4 in white font on a blue background.

On Tuesday, November 4, we will have municipal elections here in the City of Peachtree Corners for three council seats. [And] for the first time since 2013, there will be a state-wide election on the same day as our city general election.

The state-wide election is to fill two seats on the Public Service Commission, which regulates Georgia Power and other utilities.

For the PSC election, the Gwinnett County Board of Elections will have all 156 county precincts open on November 4. Historically, Peachtree Corners has had a single voting location for city elections — at City Hall.

If we do the same this year, citizens who want to vote in both the PSC and the City Council elections will need to go to two places to cast their ballots.

A few years ago, I convinced the County Board of Elections to remove their prohibition against the Gwinnett Elections Department managing city elections. (Every county surrounding Gwinnett already offered this service to their cities.)

This means there is the potential of adding our city council elections to the county ballot.

I would like to hear your thoughts on the pros and cons of combining our city council races with the county’s for this year’s elections.

Please complete my brief survey by clicking here.

To sign up for Councilmember Christ’s newsletter or find him on social media, visit linktr.ee/votechrist.

You can read more from his latest newsletter updates here and here.

City Government

City of Peachtree Corners Receives Distinguished Budget Presentation Award

Published

2 months ago

January 31, 2025

Peachtree Corners Magazine staff

For the eighth year in a row, the City of Peachtree Corners has been esteemed with the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. This award was presented by the Georgia Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for the City’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget submission.

The award represents a significant achievement by the entity. It reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting. To receive the budget award, the entity had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. These guidelines are designed to assess how well an entity’s budget serves as a:

policy document
financial plan
operations guide
communications device

Budget documents must be rated “proficient” in all four categories and in the fourteen mandatory criteria within those categories to receive the award.

Certificate of Recognition

When a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award is granted to an entity, a Certificate of Recognition for Budget Presentation is also presented to the individual(s) or department designated as being primarily responsible for having achieved the award.

“Congratulations to the entire finance team on receiving this award,” said City Manager Brian Johnson.

“This recognition is a testament to our team’s hard work, professionalism and commitment to excellence.”

There are over 1,700 participants in the Budget Awards Program. The most recent Budget Award recipients, along with their corresponding budget documents, are posted quarterly on GFOA’s website.

Award recipients have pioneered efforts to improve the quality of budgeting and provide an excellent example for other governments throughout North America.

About the GFOA

The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) advances excellence in government finance by providing best practices, professional development, resources and practical research for more than 21,000 members and the communities they serve.

About the City of Peachtree Corners, Georgia

As the heart of what is being called #SiliconOrchard in the metro Atlanta region, Peachtree Corners is a vibrant municipality that’s home to more than 45,000 residents and an innovation hub that houses some of the world’s most disruptive technology companies.

As the United States’ premier smart city powered by real-world connected infrastructure and 5G, Peachtree Corners serves as the model for how government and private industry can better collaborate to create a better future for society and business.

From the world’s first deployment of teleoperated e-scooters to fully autonomous shuttles being utilized by actual residents, and from a solar roadway to the largest electric vehicle charging hub in the region, Peachtree Corners is where the most future-forward Internet of Things (IoT) and sustainable technologies come to life for the benefit of its people and the world.

For more information, visit peachtreecornersga.gov.

City Government

BRACK: How one city operates without property tax

Published

2 months ago

January 30, 2025

Courtesy of Elliott Brack's Gwinnett Forum

Peachtree Corners City Hall in the evening with flag display, signage and lights.

Some people lament paying taxes. They don’t understand that taxes allow us to live in a more civilized manner, helping and protecting us all along. That’s why I don’t mind paying reasonable taxes for the safety of everyday living.

Many don’t recognize it, but you are often paying a small tax without realizing it as you go about your everyday business….but it’s not called a tax.

White man with white hair and glasses wearing a suit with a red tie, smiling. Beside the image is the name Ellliott Brack in all-caps blue letters on a white background.

It’s called a “fee.” Each time you pay your power or utility bill and cable bill, your insurance premium, when you rent a hotel room or car…and other ways…you are providing a few cents or dollars to help fund mostly local government.

The newly-minted City of Mulberry (and previously Peachtree Corners) will run its government without taxing property owners paying a tax to fund its operations. How so? Entirely from fees.

Let’s visit what the other city without property taxes, Peachtree Corners, is doing.

White man with short brown hair and facial hair wearing a suit, smiling at the camera with an American flag behind him. — Salley

We talked with Cory Salley, who is the finance director for Peachtree Corners. He sent along a graphic which shows where Peachtree Corners gets its funding, as well as how it is spent. (See graphic.)

For the most part, Peachtree Corners is funded by fees. The biggest comes from Georgia Power Company, paying $2.8 million in fees for the city for 2025. Other utilities include $450,000 from Atlanta Gas Light Company; $250,000 from Comcast; $70,000 from Direct TV; and $42,000 from AT&T. (That last figure was interesting, in effect, showing how few people have land-line telephones anymore.) Altogether, utility fees brought in $4.3 million in Peachtree Corners for 2024.

Another bucket of fees include $3.8 million in insurance fees. This comes in one check from the Department of Revenue, which collects insurance fees for all cities.

Each business in Peachtree Corners pays an occupational business license tax. With lots of professional offices in the city, these businesses contribute $4.4 million to the city coffers.

Infographic of the FY2025 Budget at a Glance for Peachtree Corners

Other fee collections for 2024:

Alcoholic licenses and sales: $1 million.
Zoning and land development permits: $1.4 million.
SPLOST funds on sales within Peachtree Corners: $10 million.
Automobile and vehicle purchases: $1.7 million. This is interesting: no matter where you buy an automobile in Georgia, part of the sales tax reverts to the city where you live.

Then there are other funds coming to the city; stormwater fees, grants, solid waste, etc. Altogether, it added up to approximately a $40 million income to run the city.

Some specifics and the way they are figured:

Real estate transfer taxes: This tax is imposed at the rate of $1 on the first $1,000 and 10 cents on each additional $10 on any conveyance of real property when the value of the interest transferred exceeds $100.
Distilled Spirits—up to 22 cents per liter on package sales and up to 3 percent of the sale price of a drink on sales to the public;
Wine—up to 22 cents per liter; and
Malt Beverages—up to $6.00 per bulk container (no more than 15.5 gallons) to be paid by the wholesaler and up to 5 cents per 12 ounces when sold in bottles, cans or other containers.
A municipality may levy a business license tax on depository financial institutions (such as a bank.) The maximum rate of this tax is 0.25 percent.
Hotel-motel tax: a municipality may levy a hotel-motel tax at a rate of 3 percent or less or at a rate of 5, 6, 7, or 8 percent. (Yes, let the out-of-towner pay!)

Perhaps this gives you an idea of how a city, like Mulberry in the future, can operate without property taxes.

Have a comment? Send to: elliott@elliottbrack

Written by Elliott Brack

This material is presented with permission from Elliott Brack’s GwinnettForum, an online site published Tuesdays and Fridays. To become better informed about Gwinnett, subscribe (at no cost) at GwinnettForum.