Canton Mayor Gene Hobgood will not run for re-election this fall. Hobgood, now in his third term as mayor, made the announcement at the conclusion of his State of the City address to the City Council on Thursday, Jan. 17.
“This is my final State of the City,” Hobgood said. Explaining that he sought to address pressing concerns, “from the outset I never intended to serve as long as I had, but it seems it has taken me this long to resolve some of these matters and feel confident about the city’s future.”
Accomplishments of the past year included reducing city debt by more than $3 million to the lowest level in 15 years, while keeping the millage rate unchanged, the mayor said. He also cited the restoration of two historic downtown properties: the Jones Building and the former Canton High School, now City Hall.
His two major goals, he said, was “reduce the exorbitant amount of long-term debt city had incurred; and awaken our downtown and give some life to it so we can have a vibrant downtown seven days a week. I believe these two goals have been met.”
Hobgood also served as Cherokee County tax commissioner and county sole commissioner in his 25-year public career.
A graduate of Cherokee High School and Reinhardt College with bachelor's and master's degrees from West Georgia College, Hobgood taught biology and chemistry at Cherokee High and the Reinhardt evening program; worked as a marketing representative for an engineering and architectural firm; and currently is a certified real property appraiser and real estate broker, according to his city biography: https://bit.ly/2DkvV9d
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