Q&A With Peachtree Corners City Council Candidate Lorri Christopher

Peachtree Corners Patch asked the 20 candidates vying for the six council seats on the new Peachtree Corners City Council a series of questions relating to city government for the upcoming Municipal Election on March 6, 2012.

Each of the candidates were asked the same set of questions. The last question we posed was to ask each candidate to compose a question and provide the answer to his or her own question.

Patch introduces Lorri Christopher, one of three candidates seeking to fill the council seat for Post 5.

Name: Loretta A. "Lorri" Christopher, age 69

Lived in Peachtree Corners: Since 1983 

Educational background - B. A. Math & Science Education, SUCO;  MBA Business & Finance, 1980 Emory University, MBA Global Ecommerce 2002, Georgia State, Current Doctoral Candidate Computer Science - Information Security, Nova Southeastern, additional graduate work in Education - Hofstra University, Computer Science - Georgia Tech

Family: Married, Larry Christopher (retired Oki executive), 3 stepsons ( Larry II, Alan, and John) and 1 stepdaughter (Carla), 7 grandchildren( Larry III, 24, Jordan 21, Ian 13, Natalie 11, William, 9, Meaghan 6 and one adopted grandaughter, Jessica, 16 (daughter of a friend).

Military background - N/A
 

Occupation: Director, Insitutional Advancement, Gwinnett Technical College, and faculty member Information Technology - raise funds for college and teach. former high school math & science teacher, industrial educator, businesswoman, and community volunteer.

What experience in your background do you think has best prepared you for serving on the Peachtree Corners City Council?

I have always been involved in our local and global community through my volunteer work and through my career experiences at Gwinnett Technical College and through my work with a variety of service organizations such as Rotary.

I enjoy a collaborative environment whereby a functional team can achieve great outcomes by working together. I am a past Preisdent of the International Alliance of Professional & Executive Women. This group is a global organization that represents leaders not only in our local community, but also worldwide. Through collaboration and partnerships we have enabled the success of many young women around the world through the support of micro-enterprise initiatives. Enabling success with limited resources.

I am also a graduate of the Senior Leadership Gwinnett program and coordinate these efforts in my current college position. In this group I have had the opportunity to learn about our county and cities from many different business, community, justice, and government leaders about how cities can succeed in their mission of serving their constituents while also helping them understand the constraints that face us as a city.

As a graduate of Leadership Atlanta, I learned how to maximize the potential of all people in a community which is important as the face of our community has changed in the years we have lived in the Peachtree Corners community.

Our community's diversity is represented in the faces of the students I see every day at Gwinnett Tech and in our neighborhoods. It is these expereinces that will enable me to listen to all of our constituents and enage them for the betterment of our entire new City of Peachtree Corners.

Tell Peachtree Corners readers about your vision for the new city and how you would accomplish it?

My vision for the City of Peachtree Corners is to have a safe, value protected community where we all continue to take pride in our community and make it the best place to live in Gwinnett. I wish to see our local businesses and industries grow and prosper, and for our children and grandchildren to be able to work in our community and become educated in our local community.

The charter for the new city encompasses the functional areas that we need to enable my vision to happen: code enforcement, zoning, and trash. Through partnering with the county on services they already provide well and by building an involved and committed citizenship where we share ideas to arrive at common goals we can protect and grow the investments in our community and maintain the beauty of our neighborhoods while also managing to prevent erosion of property values.

Non-polluting economic development coupled with neighborhoods that care about their neighborhood appearances will send a message to prospective businesses and buyers that this is a place for your family to be not only today, but also in the future. We can create a community where people of all ages will enjoy it and enjoy being together and learning from each other.

What do you think is the greatest challenge facing Peachtree Corners, and how would you approach it?

The greatest challenge is engaging all of our Peachtree Corners citizens in the future of Peachtree Corners. Now that we have made the decision to become a city, a decision made by less than 10% of the people in our new city, we all need to reach out and educate our citizens about our new city and make them a participating part of our mutual future. 

It will take all of our city leaders to bring us together. If I am elected, I will do my best to make responsible, inclusive decisions that enable our community to become what the designers of Peachtree Corners envisioned when they created the idea of "city lite" - take on the challenges we need as a city and permit the county to do what it can do best. Reach out to our city neighbors and colloborate of area funding opportunities and choices of mutual benefit to both our partners and us.

We must remain focused on the goal we set to be successful and be good community listeners. We need to act with conviction and make ethical choices. the best choice we can make is to show our constituents that our chosen city leaders act with integrity and for the good of our community as a whole.

Will the city leaders of Peachtree Corners do what they said they would do prior to becoming a city?

It will be incumbent on the elected city leaders to be open and forthright on their decision making and to obtain input from the city stakeholders as they move forward in setting up the processes to function effectively as a city. We have many peers to learn from who have been down the road before and are most successful. If we learn from past mistakes and plan and implement well, we will no doubt be the best city in Gwinnett and maybe Georgia.

Campaign website: www.electlorri5.org