Diverging Views of District 2: Fries Response to Dishman's Comments

District 2 City Councilmember Dianne Fries says the northern end of town has a lot to boast about with new business, parks and road work. Her opponent, Ken Dishman, has criticized her for not doing enough to help develop the northern end of Sandy Springs. The district needs vision and attention, he said. 

Click here to see his full comments: Dishman and Fries Have Diverging Views of District 2 [Part 1]

In contrast, Fries told Patch, “I think you’ve got some folks that don’t realize what has been done. There’s a lot that has happened in District 2 and all without raising our taxes.”

District 2 is in the first two phases of new street lighting funded by Community Block Grants. Fries said she was instrumental in getting lighting on Dunwoody Place near the Coca Cola plant after residents expressed concerns about safety. 

“My goodness I’ve lived in my neighborhood for 30 years. You can’t help but be connected. We’ve only been in business for eight years.  I’ve worked on the owner of North River shopping center to bring in development and get a density on it of 15 stories to encourage people to come in, Then the economy fell off.

Stars and Stripes [bowling alley] will open in December.

Every time I meet with a developer I say, 'Have you looked at our district,' because I know the area. I am involved in trying to get it developed.

Sometimes I’m embarrassed because I feel like I’ve gotten more than my fair share in the district. We have the award-winning Morgan Falls Overlook Park. We have new ball fields, lights and an elegant high tech press box. We totally revamped that property. Both the ball fields and the park cost $10 million.

We’ve got that little dog park down there. I worked with Georgia Power to get that fishing peer down below the dam.

[I got] a redesign and added lane from Dunwoody Place going north into Roswell. There are two right had turns now.

I pulled together the Rowsell and Sandy Springs City Councils to bring the bike pedestrian bridge across the Chattahoochee.[Construction] is coming soon, I hope. We have funded our share and it’s definitely a partnership with Roswell."

See also: Dishman and Fries Have Diverging Views of District 2 [Part 1]