Joe Thomas, Lula's new mayor, said he wasn't sure about jumping into politics, but he said he decided to make a run for office after he was encouraged to do so by a number of citizens.
"I was really hesitant about it, but I had a lot of folks in town say that they weren't happy with the present mayor and they needed to get somebody to run. I said 'then you need to run' and they said 'no, Joe, you do it,'" Thomas said. "I had so many tell me that, I decided to jump in and see what would happen."
What happened was Thomas was elected, unseating the incumbent mayor. Two other political newcomers, Denise Shockley and Gene Bramlett, ran for city council posts and defeated incumbent council members.
Thomas said despite half of the council being new to elected office, he doesn't see a problem working with the current council members as he lays out new goals for the city.
"I think we're doing okay," Thomas said. "Garnett [Smith] and Lamb [Griffin] and Matt [Hamby] are all really good councilmen and I've reached out to them and talked to them to try to let them know what I'm doing, and they're on board."
Thomas said his first order of business is improving communication between City Hall and city residents. That starts, he said, with getting more people to engage in the government process.
"Our city council meetings get about 30 people. There's 3,000 people in Lula. To me, that's a terrible turnout," Thomas said. "If I can't get them to the meetings, then I want to at least get the meetings to them - or at least get the results of the meetings to them - in a timely manner instead of waiting a full month. That's my main goal."
Thomas said he doesn't simply want warm bodies in the seats, though.
"I want to get them involved - not just showing up," Thomas said. "I want them asking questions, doing their research, finding out what they want in town and work as a whole community, not just mayor and council."
Thomas acknowledges Lula has some challenges when it comes to growth and development. The city sits just off busy Ga. 365, one of the major industrial growth corridors in Hall County. Thomas wants major growth to stay outside of the downtown Lula area, but he said something needs to be done to make the historic downtown more appealing to visitors.
"For example, the restaurants in Lula are not thriving right now because there's not a whole lot of walk-in traffic to keep them busy. And without walk-in traffic, there's not a lot of other business here, either," Thomas said. "It's a battle of one against the other."
Thomas said he would like to see something like a local burger restaurant - akin to The Collegiate in Gainesville - as a drawing card to Lula. He said there are empty storefronts along Main Street that would be suitable. Plans like that are a bit down the road, however. He said he still has plenty of homework to do when it comes to the ins and outs of city planning.
Thomas, 73, is native of Alabama, who was raised in Albany, Ga. He moved to Lula when he married his wife 32 years ago, so Lula is home. And, he said he is ready to take on whatever challenges await him as he leads his adopted hometown.
Follow this link to the City of Lula website. Information about the city is also posted on the Mayor Joe Thomas Facebook page.
