Rick Badie's Gwinnett: Fresh start for civility in Snellville

Like the one in which Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer ratted on Councilman Robert Jenkins because he kept an old toilet and broken-down car in his yard.

Or the time the mayor requested police presence when he visited the can. He felt that he and Jenkins might get into fisticuffs. Imagine that.

This council had the uncanny ability to turn matters of the routine into drawn-out debates. This was a City Council that once deadlocked, 3-3, on whether to adjourn a meeting.

Alas, the Snellville snafus that we’ve come to know the past two years may be a past relic. Thank Tuesday’s city election.

Voters gave the nod to businessman Tom Witts, accountant Barbara Bender and electronics engineer Mike Sabbagh.

Likewise, they gave the boot to Jenkins, an incumbent who had been on the council since 2003. With Jenkins out, Kelly Kautz is the only remaining council member who had a tendency to lock horns with Oberholtzer because, well, he’s Oberholtzer.

On election night, Oberholtzer said the poll results were “a relief.”

“I can now breathe,” he told AJC reporter Shane Blatt.

So can the community.

After all: Who wants to live in a town that routinely makes headlines for City Hall wackiness?

Who wants to call a town home where measures vital to its economic health and livability get short shrift because of passive-aggressive, vindictive, petty personalities?

Make no mistake. Oberholtzer hasn’t been a model of leadership. On some occasions, he could have done what I implore my son to do when butting heads with his little sister.

Bite your tongue. Leave. Be the adult. Like Miles, though, Oberholtzer found it difficult to channel that kind of energy.

Now, it is hoped, he has a more amenable council to work with. He needs to realize, though, that amenable doesn’t equate to blanket approval of everything he brings to the table.

Still, “I think we have turned the corner,” said Councilman Tod Warner. “We’ll have our dust-ups, but hopefully they won’t turn into public spectacles.

“You can have dissension with an ability to work together, or you can have just a contentious relationship in which you hit each other with sticks at every turn. We have tried [the latter] approach the last two years.”

Much needs to be done. The city has a $1.1 million budget shortfall. Its infrastructure is aging. It has a sign ordinance that some legal experts have rendered unenforceable.

The city wants to develop its town center along the lines of Gwinnett jewels such as Norcross, Suwanee and Duluth. Whether to allow Sunday alcohol sales is a lingering issue.

On Monday, the newly elected council members are to be sworn in. Civility, it is hoped, will return to City Hall.

Time will tell.

Rick Badie, an Opinion columnist, is based in Gwinnett. Reach him at rbadie@ajc.com or 770-263-3875.