Politics & Government
For Berkeley Lake's Mayor, it's Never a Dull Moment
In addition to her responsibilities as the city's full time mayor, Lois Salter is serving on several boards, trying to resolve the issue of a leaking dam and enjoying quality time with the grandchildren between meetings - and it's only Monday.
You might just as easily find Lois Salter handling a city issue at Berkeley Lake City Hall, networking with other area leaders at The 1818 Club in Duluth, chairing a statewide board dealing with the criminal justice system – or just cutting flowers with her grandchildren in her lakeside home garden. What you probably won’t find, is Berkeley Lake’s mayor sitting still.
Many people talk a good game, but few people walk the walk like Berkeley Lake Mayor Lois Salter. She really believes in putting her family first, working hard and giving back to the community.
Of the 26 years she’s been a resident of Berkeley Lake, Salter has spent almost half of that time as the mayor of this picturesque little hamlet tucked away among the beautiful trees, rolling hills and natural “greenspaces” in this western Gwinnett comunity.
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“My kids were young when I moved here and they thought they’d landed in paradise,” says the mayor. “They could jump off the back yard into the lake, or romp around acres of woods - it was glorious!”
Keeping Berkeley Lake green and pristine is very close to Salter’s heart…and no small task. Stormwater management, particularly due to the seemingly endless hills found in the area’s topography, is one of the foremost issues constantly facing the nearly 2,000 residents of Berkeley Lake.
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“We’ve passed some cutting edge ordinances related to wildlife management and septic tank required maintenance (designed) to protect the lake and streams,” Salter explains. “Public safety is an issue that we work on and our city funded patrols help in that. Our property maintenance expectations are pretty high and that keeps our Ordinance Enforcement Officer busy.”
Recent damage to the 63-year old dam that created the city’s namesake body of water, Lake Berkeley, is the most formidable challenge the mayor and the people of Berkeley Lake have ever faced. Just last week the residents approved a $2.8-million bond referendum that will be used to either pay to repair severe leaks in the dam or take out the dam and return the 88-acre lake to a streambed – though that option appears to be the least likely.
Still, Salter faces this problem in her usual manner; methodically and head on – which seems to be why she’s always so busy.
“It takes far more time to be mayor than most people would think,” says Salter. “I am almost never really ‘off duty’ and for that reason my kids have been outspoken in their opposition to my continuing in this.”
No word, yet, on whether mom or the kids will win that debate because being something of an expert at multitasking seems to be in Salter’s blood.
A former teacher and the head of the counseling department at Duluth High School, Salter has volunteered at Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital and Habitat For Humanity and is currently on the boards of the Mt. Carmel United Methodist Church and the North Georgia Family Counseling Center as well as chairperson of the Criminal Justice System Advisory Committee for the State of Georgia – not to mention a member of the Atlanta Junior League, the Metropolitan Atlanta Mayors Association, and the Gwinnett Municipal Association.
What helps to make it possible for the mayor to keep all of those spinning plates in the air at once is a very supportive city staff and the back-up of a lot of Berkeley Lake residents.
“I’ve got years of experience and a history of relationships that make it easier.” But Salter is quick to admit that “when things get too crazy, the grandbabies readjust my perspective.”