After a decade on the Smyrna City Council, Teri Anulewicz understands the needs of the community. So she’s pleased that one of the top issues – transportation – is one her new committee assignments in the Georgia House.
Rep. Anulewicz won the House District 42 seat formerly held by Stacy Evans who is running for Governor.
Along with six other newly elected House members, she got a “crash course in Legislature 101” in December, she said.
The Speaker assigned her to committees on code revision, intragovernmental coordination, and transportation.
“Transportation is a tremendous issue, one of the biggest we face as a region,” she said. “(District 42) is cradled between I-75 and I-285.”
“This is a community where people and businesses want to be,” She said. Transit has been missing in this conversation and the Speaker has made that clear that (a solution) doesn’t mean just one thing.”
“Imagine if we had better and more efficient transit so we had an extra hour and a half with family each day,” she said.
She agreed that her predecessor’s work on HOPE grants for vocational colleges “Is defiantly on the agenda as we talk about the budget. It will be important as we talk about Amazon so that Georgia continues to have the workforce that we want to have.”
“I’m looking forward to getting things started,” she said. “It will start slow and gather speed like a freight train.”
Cobb has a very good delegation
She said that she has relationships with many of the Cobb delegation already. “I’m a known commodity, on both sides of the aisle. I’m familiar with the language and the culture.”
As the only name on the ballot, Anulewicz spent her campaign time getting to know the rest of the district. District 42 includes much of her former Smyrna Ward 3, plus Fair Oaks on the west, I-75 to the east and even the southern edge of the Marietta Square. She met with Marietta Police Chief Dan Flynn, School Superintendent Grant Rivera and numerous community groups.
“It’s a large district partly because it has Dobbins Air Reserve Base,” she said. “The joint use runway is going to bolster and strengthen that base, so it is important to keep it roust, vibrant and vital.”
“I spent time getting to know the Marietta part of the district,
Anulewicz said she will work to keep in touch with all of her constituents.
“My goal is to be assessable; my cellphone number is the same. Please reach out to me,” she said.
She has scheduled two listening sessions; on Jan. 13 at 1 p.m. at The Smyrna Library, and another at Yell’s on Franklin Gateway Jan. 18 at 6 p.m.
From the January 2018 issue of The Bright Side, Cobb County Georgia’s Newspaper covering Smyrna, Vinings, Mableton, Powder Springs and Austell, GA.
