On behalf of my wife Ann Marie, my kids – Jenna, Doug and Matt, and myself; I want to take this opportunity to say “Thank You”!

Thank you for your the time you invested in my campaign, you contributions, your support and your friendship.

My campaign to become your next Mayor is now coming to an end and tomorrow the voters will decide who is best suited to lead our City.

Despite who you may be supporting, I hope you exercise your right to vote.  Our great City is at a crossroads and Alpharettans will decide our future direction.

We have had a great pool of candidates to choose from and I have come to know each candidate even better during this election season.  It is nice to see the quality of candidates that have put themselves through this public process for the simple goal of contributing to their community.  I thank each and every candidate for caring about our City and placing their names on the ballot for your consideration.

I want to say that I have enjoyed campaigning the last two months, appreciated the opportunity to discuss my vision for Alpharetta, I am thankful for the many people I have been fortunate to meet along the path and I have been touched by the tremendous support I have received.

I know the City will be in good hands after tomorrow’s election, because I know Alpharetta has a sincere interest in providing the very best for our community.

I ask for your vote tomorrow one more time and I have been honored to serve this great City during the last 10 years.  I have
great hopes for the future of our City and look forward to moving Alpharetta forward should the voters provide me the opportunity to serve as you Mayor.

Sincerely,

Doug

Tomorrow, November 8th, marks the end of the current campaign and voters will go to the polls to decide who is best qualified to lead our City as the next Mayor of Alpharetta.

Leadership skills and the ability to build consensus amongst different points of view are important qualities that any leader must possess to be successful. I have demonstrated a cooperative spirit in reaching common goals as your City Councilman these past 10 years.

Further, it is important that our next Mayor possesses the necessary financial management skills to lead our City. Having the ability to manage our finances as a City is one of the most important skill sets our Mayor should have.

I am a Managing Partner, responsible for the Atlanta Office for Ryan LLC, an international corporate tax consulting firm. I have a degree in Accounting and I am a nationally certified tax professional. I deal with international, federal, state and local tax matters every day in my career.

As your Mayor, I am committed to managing our finances intently and I will insure we meet our obligations without raising taxes.

The next Mayor will have to manage our public employee pension fund and not let our commitment made to those professionals who serve us daily be diminished.

The next Mayor will need to manage our finances to meet the obligations in the near future to fund waste water infrastructure improvements and improvements to roadways/sidewalks due to our aging infrastructure.

I also believe the next Mayor should set a goal of paying down our debt service as a City and lead on making the pay down of our debt load a key focus in our annual budget process.

All of this should be done at no additional cost to the taxpayers; while maintaining the quality and level of services we provide as a City with your hard earned tax dollars.

Financial management experience is critical in order to manage the financial health of our City and to lead on managing every tax dollar in the most cost-effective way. I have the experience that will help maintain our Triple AAA bond rating as a City and our tax dollars will be managed effectively.

The next Mayor will have an awesome responsibility to keep our taxes low, will need to lead our City through one of the worst economic downturns in my lifetime and will need to keep our commitment to meeting our obligations and providing the level of services our citizens deserve.

I ask for your vote tomorrow and thank you for following my campaign.

Regards,

Douglas J. DeRito

Alpharetta will go to the polls next Tuesday to decide who is best to lead our City as your Mayor over the course of the next four years.

The Mayor’s first and foremost responsibility is to keep our City safe. This is an imperative if we are to provide the quality of life deserving of our families, to sustain our stature as a business address of choice and to retain and attract jobs in our City.

During my tenure on the City Council, I worked with our Public Safety leadership, to re-organize our service delivery model. We consolidated administrative duties between our Police and Fire Departments, removed duplicate processes, positioned Alpharetta to obtain a higher level of public safety and homeland security grant dollars and we where able to put more police and firefighters on our streets. This was accomplished with an annual savings to the taxpayer of over $500,000 per year. And by the way, this was accomplished while improving our level of services to the City.

As your next Mayor, I would want to lead on the following new initiatives:

Outreach to Our Youth -

Partner with our schools to provide anti-drug/anti-alcohol education in our schools and work towards engaging our youth with our Police and Fire personnel to reach common goals and common respect.

Enhance Community Policing -

Enhance our patrols within our subdivisions and communities to have a more visual presence, thereby creating more of a deterrent for potential criminal activities within our communities.

Bolster Up Cross Swearing of Police Officers with Bordering Cities -

Continue to complete our efforts to cross swear our officers with police officers from bordering Cities. This will allow all Cities to coordinate and build a more robust cross-City borders proactive policing posture. This will legally allow all police officers to become more effective and build a improved policing model at no additional cost to the taxpayer.

Support the Needs of Our Police and Fire Professionals -

Your next Mayor needs to lead on maintaining a safe City, while recognizing that our greatest asset in maintaining a safe City are the professionals who carry out the job of keeping us safe. Our Public Safety professionals need a Mayor who understands and meets their needs so that they can be as effective for us as possible This means maintaining competitive salaries, providing for ongoing educational and training needs in a changing world, and providing the assets required to do their jobs effectively and safely.

I want to thank our Police and Fire professionals who have done an outstanding job in working hard to keep us safe 24/7. As a former firefighter myself, I know first hand the amount of time and effort that is required of our Public Safety professionals. I attended many Command Staff meetings and other Public Safety events during my tenure as your City Councilman these past 10 years and saw first hand the dedication and commitment our Public Safety Officials demonstrate in all that they do.

I am ready and willing to serve you as your next Mayor and maintaining a safe City will be a top priority for me.

I thank you for taking the time to read this and ask for your vote next Tuesday, November 8th.

Regards,

Douglas J. DeRito

To My Fellow Friends and Neighbors,

I wanted to pass on some of the key initiatives I would undertake as your next Mayor, in an effort to keep Alpharettans focused on the importance of this Mayoral race. 

I am asking for your consideration in voting for me to lead our City for the next 4 years and I do not take this request lightly.

First, I believe Alpharetta needs and requires a leader who is enthusiastic and presents a positive image for our future and one who has a plan to improve our quality of life.  Our future is bright and I wanted to bring to your attention several key elements of my platform that are essential in meeting the expectations of our great City:

Keep More of Alpharetta’s Local Sales Tax Dollars in Our City

Currently, Alpharetta receives approximately $11M a year from the one penny local option sales tax collected by our retail establishments.  It is currently prorated by Fulton County on a population basis.  If we were to truly apportion these funds by the level of commercial activity our City has worked hard to develop, we would see our local sales tax share rise to the level of approximately $26M a year.  This means we are currently seeing a portion of the one penny we collect within our own City borders be redistributed to other Fulton County cities. We can use an increase in the local optioin sales tax fund critical infrastructure projects, while providing additional tax relief to our Alpharetta citizens.

Appoint a Business Advisory Council to the Mayor’s Office

As your Mayor, I will work with the Downtown Area Trade Association, the Alpharetta Convention and Visitors Bureau, the North Fulton Chamber and other organizations to create a Business Advisory Council that will be solely focused on reducing red tape, cutting fees that stymie business investment in our City and helps retain and create jobs in Alpharetta.

Launch an “Alpharetta Cares” Program

Alpharetta Cares will be my way of tying into some of the great talent pool Alpharetta has attracted.  This group will help build a job clearinghouse and a City services organization that partners with our churches and our business community to post jobs, tie into job training opportunities and help Alpharetta get back to work.  This would become a privately run 501(C)3 organization that provides a conduit for our businesses to help families struggling who are out of work or under-employed and who can use a little help from their community.  This will not become a government program or be funded by any tax dollars from Alpharetta taxpayers, rather a community helping each other to mitigate foreclosures that hurt all of our home values.  As you Mayor, I am committed to getting government out of the way and strengthening our community.

Dedicate Funds Annually in Our City Budget to Focus on Downtown

Every candidate says they are committed to bringing back the vibrancy and vitality in our downtown area our City deserves, however, NONE have proposed a viable solution.  As Mayor, I will include a dedicated line item in our annual budget to invest in and fund ongoing improvements to the downtown area, help continue to grow the economic vitality of our downtown area, make our downtown a real community meeting place led by our City’s Events Planning Team, including addressing much-needed improvements to traffic flow to enhance mobility.

Complete Westside Parkway and Launch the Downtown Plan

Alpharetta can not wait any longer to address these critical needs in our City.  My plan calls for increased funding WITHOUT increasing taxes.  I am committed to seeing these projects through. 

Your next Mayor will have the responsibility of leading our City over the course of the next 4 years, which sees our City at a crossroads.  We will be going from developing a City to building a economically stable City for years to come, during the worst economic times of my lifetime.

These times call for good financial stewardship, which I have demonstrated in the last 10 years as your City Councilman.   Good financial stewardship leads to excellence in Public Safety, providing the ability to improve City infrastructure for improved mobility and maintain one of the finest Parks and Recreational offerings around our Country.

I thank you for allowing me to serve you the past 10 years and I would be honored to lead you as your next Mayor the next 4 years.

Thank you and I ask for your vote on November 8th.

Douglas J. DeRito

The Kimball Bridge Coalition cordially invites you to join us at our fourth forum for candidates seeking office in the City of Alpharetta. The forum will be held on Sunday October 9, from 1:00-5:30. The timeline is attached.

With a highly contested ballot of races, the KBC has decided to move our forum to the Embassy Suites Hotel – Alpharetta, to give us more space.

We will follow the basic non-partisan format we have used in previous forums. Our intent is to allow every candidate an opportunity to share their views with the residents of Alpharetta on why they are the best candidate for office and on their vision on how to best lead the City in the future.

Eight of the nine candidates in the contested races plan to participate.

We hope you have an opportunity to join us and of course the public is encouraged to attend, so please invite anyone who may be interested in getting to know the next generation of Alpharetta leaders.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Regards, 

2011 City of Alpharetta Candidate Forum
Sunday October 9, 2011

at Embassy Suites Hotel – Alpharetta
5955 North Point Parkway, Alpharetta 30022

 AGENDA

• 1:00   Meet & Greet the Mayoral Candidates

• 1:30   Mayoral Candidates Introductions

• 1:35  Mayoral Candidates Opening Comments

• 1:45  Q & A

• 2:30  Mayoral Candidates Closing Comments
• Break
• 3:00  Council Candidates Introductions

• 3:05  Council Candidates Opening Comments

• 3:25  Q & A

• 4:10  Council Candidates Closing Comments

• 4:30  Meet & Greet the Council Candidates

Sponsored by:  The Kimball Bridge Coalition
For more information contact:
Brad Sturgeon (678) 794-0437 or brad.sturgeon@hilton.com

Councilman DeRito Announces Bid to Be Alpharetta’s Next Mayor

Alpharetta City Councilman Douglas DeRito, announces his intentions to place his name on the November 8th, 2011 General Election Ballot, in hopes of being elected to become Alpharetta’s next Mayor.

DeRito is in his third term on the City Council and has built a record of achievement that has contributed to the improved quality of life for all Alpharettans.  He is no stranger to public service, coming to Alpharetta over 15 years ago, with his wife Ann Marie and three children (Jenna 22, Douglas 20 and Matthew 18), after serving his former community in Edgewater, New Jersey as a School Board Trustee and a City Councilman.

DeRito is a Partner, with Ryan LLC, an international corporate tax consulting firm.  He serves as the Managing Partner for Ryan’s Atlanta Office and deals with corporate international, federal and state/local tax matters around the world for Fortune 1000 companies.  He is a nationally recognized speaker on tax matters and a nationally certified tax accountant by trade.

DeRito currently serves as the President of the Alpharetta High School Foundation, is active in contributing to the overall growth of Alpharetta High School, served as a Board member on the Alpharetta Public Safety Foundation, a Board member on the Alpharetty YMCA and has served as the City Council liaison to the Finance, Public Safety and Recreation & Parks Departments.  Prior to joining the City Council, Doug served as a member of the Recreation & Parks Board.

Councilman DeRito’s achievements have been many, which deliver on the promises he made when first vying for City Council 10 years ago. They include:

 Supporting the City’s Growing Public Safety Department Needs – Councilman DeRito established the regions first Public Safety Department, aligning all Alpharetta’s public safety resources under one chain of command.  This has allowed Alpharetta to coordinate Homeland Security measures, attract a higher level of Federal and State Grants and delivered proven results in an enhanced community policing effort; while driving out annual costs to taxpayers in excess of $500,000 by integrating leadership coordination.

 Transportation and Development – Councilman DeRito has been a consistent supporter and vigilant advocate for upholding the City’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan and his voting record demonstrates his commitment to insuring quality growth within the requirements of our tough zoning laws and tree ordinance.  Doug has supported the continued effort to build out Westside Parkway; and along with his colleagues on the City Council, has helped prepare the City’s first overall regional growth impact study efforts that will serve as a blueprint for the continued managed growth of the City.  He also continues to support proactively investment in our Traffic Control Center, intersection improvements, sidewalk extensions and the signal interconnect initiative to improve the flow of traffic within our City limits.

 Parks and Recreation – Councilman DeRito has worked towards managing the continued building requirements of our Parks and Recreational needs, an area that has had a direct impact on the quality of life for all ages.  Councilman DeRito has supported the expansion of the Greenway System and provided leadership on addition of additional passive parkland and green space requirements of a growing population base.

 Financial Management Leadership – Councilman DeRito has worked hard towards building fiscal responsibility within all aspects of City government.  He served over the Finance area of the City for his first two years on the City Council and in that time assisted in implementing over 18 new financial management policies.  These policies have become the framework in providing our taxpayers complete transparency in financial management of the City’s tax dollars, has had a direct impact on the City achieving a AAA bond rating, implemented an internal auditing function to track every tax dollar to eliminate governmental waste and set in motion policies for insuring the long-term financial health and stability of the City – while at the same time stabilizing our tax rates and positioning the City to experience annual surpluses from sound fiscal policies.  Councilman DeRito has a 100% record in supporting tax relief and has supported the increase in the residential homestead exemption.

During his terms of office as City Councilman, Doug has demonstrated principled leadership and has assisted the City through some critical growth periods and matters of great importance, while currently managing the financial well being of the City through tough economic times. Councilman DeRito now turns his focus on continuing to provide good fiscal leadership during these current tough economic times, addressing aging infrastructure needs and keeping our eye on protecting our quality of life through maintaining a robust public safety model.

Councilman DeRito looks forward to building upon the excellent reputation of a City, which has an even brighter future and will work towards keeping Alpharetta an economic powerhouse.

Councilman Douglas DeRito can be reached at (770) 772-6276 or (404) 386-4538 if you have any questions.

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