This month I’m pleased to report that the Gwinnett Animal Shelter continues to transform. Management of the facility moved from the police department to community services in April 2017. The staff is now led by Alan Davis and two deputy directors, Vern Sawyer and Chandler Giddes. The news below is from an update they presented to the Board of Commissioners recently.
In the midst of Gwinnett’s Bicentennial Celebration, I am very grateful for the work of the pioneers and all those leaders to follow who built the foundations for today’s Gwinnett County. I also feel very appreciative that some tangible evidence of what life was like here more than a century ago has been preserved.
The adage “when you want to get something done, ask a busy person to do it” came to mind last month while I was attending a volunteer recognition program at the Gwinnett Historic Courthouse. Our Department of Community Services honored 32 individuals and 48 groups who volunteered a total of 875,000 hours in the health, senior services, animal control, elections, and parks and recreation divisions. The other 11 County departments and many elected officials’ offices use volunteers, too.
Last summer, I wrote about the Connect Gwinnett: Transit Plan, the County’s first major look at transit since the launch of Gwinnett County Transit in 2001. In the time that has passed, the planning team has been hard at work analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data, information, feedback, and other details to begin to shape draft recommendations for the County’s transit future.
Gwinnett County has seen tremendous growth and change in the past 50 years. As we reflect on our first two centuries during the County’s Bicentennial this year, I can think of no better time to be planning for the year 2040 in this great County!