Kennesaw replaced three of its five City Council members in November’s election, so a majority of the 2018 edition of the council will be newcomers.
When the new council holds its first meeting next year, the city will welcome business development manager Pat Ferris, Georgia Tech senior research engineer Chris Henderson and Kennesaw State University materials management professional David Blinkhorn to the seats for Posts 3, 4 and 5 respectively.
PAT FERRIS
Ferris received 56.6 percent of the votes in the election, defeating two other candidates for the spot. This is Ferris’ second go-round in City Hall, having served on the council from 1985 to 2001.
Ferris and the other two new officials have been meeting with city staff to come up to speed before they take office Jan. 2. Ferris said the biggest changes he has seen compared to his first stint on the council have been technological.
“There’s a lot more paperless type stuff,” he said. “The internet was there, but we didn’t use it as much. Email was there, but we didn’t use it. It was relatively new, and everything was on paper … I’m fairly technical, so that’s not going to be a big jump. The basic ordinances, rules and procedures — those things have changed slightly, but it’s still basically the same as how it was when I left.”
Ferris said his top priorities in office will be getting a handle on SPLOST projects and producing a balanced budget that does not include borrowing to make up for shortfalls.
He said he also wants to work with the city’s parks and recreation department to create facilities accessible to people with disabilities. Also on his agenda: changes to the rules for council meetings.
“Right now, people are not allowed to speak on regular agenda items,” he said. “That just tears me up. I think the mayor and current council members can come to an agreement on how to handle that. I’m hoping that is not going to be a fight right from the start.”
Ferris spoke in highly complimentary terms about his new colleagues and city staff.
“I think that the city is about to get a mayor and council that’s going to be able to work together and actually be able to get some results,” Ferris said. “I like all the other guys, I like the staff. We seem now to be able to get along and share some common goals.”
When he’s not in the office, Ferris said he enjoys working with his hands, dabbling in carpentry and home repair.
“There’s always something that needs to be fixed up,” he said. “Between my family, my friends, my girlfriend — they always have little projects.”
In his younger days, Ferris said he made a living as a private DJ for weddings and other events.
“It goes so far back, I used to spin records,” he said with a laugh. “I still remember one party, there was a little kid — this was close to the time I got out of it — she pointed at my records and said ‘What are those?’ At that point, I kind of decided it was time to step away, but that was an awful lot of fun for a lot of years.”
CHRIS HENDERSON
Henderson will take office after an unusual race.
Henderson defeated incumbent Councilman Jimmy Dickens as well as Councilman James Sebastian, who stepped out of the race for his Post 5 seat to challenge Dickens in an attempt to show the flaws in Kennesaw’s election system, which elects all candidates citywide as opposed to electing them to represent wards or districts.
Sebastian was hoisted by his own petard after Henderson took 51.8 percent of the vote to Dickens’ 28.4 percent and Sebastian’s 19.8 percent.
“Running against two incumbents was not what I signed up for,” Henderson said, “but it worked out in the end with a lot of legwork and meeting a lot of people, knocking on over 800 doors.”
Henderson said he has been working with the city staff to learn the ropes, and on his free time, he has been reading over the city charter, city code, the budget and various rules and regulations.
He said his first goal is to learn everything he can about his new job.
“The first year, I have to be honest, it’s a lot of learning,” he said. “I hope to be able to stand on my own two feet by the end of the year and not have to consult the code so much, to know off the top of my head. I know a lot of my answers (to constituents’ questions) at first are going to be, ‘Let me go research it’ … I hope to be able to more fluidly answer questions instead of always having to do the research.”
Henderson said his top priorities will include ensuring fiscal accountability from the city and accountability from elected officials. He said that means keeping track of what money is being spent and who is and is not attending city meetings.
“Me and the other two guys that are going to be taking the dais agree on a lot of the issues that we’d like to see changed,” Henderson said. “Unfortunately, the existing mayor and council have not been able to make any changes to the charter, so I think that’s one (of the priorities for the new council).”
When Henderson is not working as an engineer or preparing for his new office, he said he enjoys all kinds of cooking, but especially barbecue.
“I’ve got a smoker, and I like getting new recipes for different kinds of Boston butt or basically any other kind of large meat I can throw in there,” he said. “I like to watch the smiling faces of my friends and family as they come over and taste it, or sometimes their frowning faces if I screw up.”
Henderson said people are surprised to learn the he is actually quite introverted.
“Nobody that I graduated high school with would ever say that I’d be in political office, much less half the stuff I do for my day job,” he said. “I’ve forced myself to become more social, learned to talk to people and everything.”
Henderson said he was once quite shy, but working with others and attending conferences as an engineer has taught him to appreciate being a people person.
“I really enjoy meeting new people and getting new perspectives,” he said. “If I don’t talk to new people, I’m not going to get more information and learn more about how people think and how the world works, so I’ve really come to enjoy it.”
DAVID BLINKHORN
Blinkhorn defeated his write-in challenger Bobby Copeland with about 86 percent of the vote.
He said he has been keeping busy preparing for his new job.
“There is a lot to learn in a short amount of time, so most of my time has been taken up by reading the material and attending as many meetings as possible,” he said.
Blinkhorn said he is looking forward to following the strategic plan the previous council had laid out, calling it “a fantastic vision for the future.”
He said his other top priorities will include creating more citizen involvement in meetings by reaching out to groups like homeowner associations. He also said he wants to attract more visitors downtown.
“We’ve done a great job of bringing business throughout all of Kennesaw,” he said. “Now there will need to be a focus on making a downtown where families will want to come, with restaurants, craft stores, things along those lines.”
Blinkhorn said his hobbies include reading about history and studying his family’s genealogy.
He and his wife also enjoy the outdoors, hiking together on Kennesaw Mountain and at Swift Cantrell Park when the weather is nice.
The incoming councilman said one thing most people don’t know about him is that he dabbled in thespianism.
“I did quite a bit of theater when I was younger, which I guess makes me comfortable talking in public,” he said. “I can’t sing, but I would love to sing. It’s my dream that will never come true.”
