Guzman tapped to serve as Cedartown’s assistant city clerk
Edward Guzman has been selected to serve as Cedartown’s assistant city clerk.
Having worked as office clerk at City Hall for the last four and a half years, Guzman is familiar with the ins and outs of municipal business. As office clerk, Guzman was responsible for general customer service, issuing business and alcohol licenses, recording water utility payments and other duties as needed.
In his new role as assistant city clerk, Guzman will perform clerical work relating to purchasing, data entry, and records maintenance. He will also assist with research, development and implementation of policies and procedures and attend commission meetings in the absence of the city clerk.
Additionally, Guzman will work to resolve issues and matters of concern that city residents may have and assist with administration of municipal elections and the City’s transit system.
“Edward has met and exceeded all expectations in his first four years with the City and continues to seek out new challenges,” said City Manager Bill Fann. “Having dedicated young talent like Edward bodes well for the future and we have high expectations for him over the next several years.”
Guzman is a 2006 graduate of Cedartown High School and a 2010 graduate of the University of Georgia, receiving undergraduate degrees in both political science and criminal justice. During college, he studied abroad for a semester at the University of Oxford in England.
He is bilingual, speaking both English and fluent Spanish.
As a lifelong resident of Cedartown, Guzman has always had a special connection Cedartown, this new position, Guzman says, will allow him to become even more involved.
“I was born and raised here; a lot of my classmates moved or went away to college and never came back to their hometown. I chose to stay because I think it’s a great place to live,” Guzman said. “My parents were immigrants from Mexico, they came here for a better life and so I want to give back to my community. I want to stay here and make it an even better place and I am excited to have that chance through this new position.”
Guzman is the Cedartown Exchange Club president- elect, serves on the Cedartown Civic Arts Commission and is a member the Downtown Cedartown Fourth Friday Concert Series committee. He served as the 2015 vice president of the Georgia Association of Business Tax Officials and was selected to participate in the 2016 Georgia Academy for Economic Development.
Guzman’s official job description was set to be finalized during the Monday, Feb. 8 city commission meeting.
Commissioners got a chance to give it a final look during their Feb. 1 work session and send back any corrections needed for the description.
East Avenue corridor improvements
City commissioner Dale Tuck is hoping that by working with several other county officials that progress is possible on cleaning up the East Avenue corridor.
Tuck told her fellow commissioners during the February work session that the city has been asked to put in half of $10,000 needed to give Brad Jones an opportunity to complete a study for what should be done, and provide potential designs.
She said any funds provided would go toward “top of the line work to make that corridor look fantastic.”
Jones, a landscape architect, has previously done work on several projects in the Cedartown area, including the forthcoming Cedartown Sports Walk of Fame slated for the Polk County Courthouse grounds this spring.
City commission chair Larry Odom said any work to improve the corridor coming into Cedartown from Rockmart on East Avenue was worth any work done.
“It is one of the worst of our corridors,” Odom said.
Tuck said planning with Polk County commissioners Scotty Tillery and Jason Ward is forthcoming, and said they will work to find funds through various resources to make those needed improvements.
Coming soon: ceremony for wastewater treatment plant rename, plaque installation
The City of Cedartown will soon get a chance to unveil a plaque at the wastewater treatment plant to honor a longtime employee at the facility.
The city approved the honors last fall as one of former commissioner Gary Martin’s last pet projects before finishing his term in December 2015.
A plaque describing the life and work done by J.L. Wright was commissioned following the city’s approval of a plan to rename the facility made back in October.
The plaque finally came in and with the permission of the commission will be installed and covered until an official unveiling ceremony with Wright’s family can be planned.