Sandy Springs Mayor Eva Galambos made it official Monday that she will not seek a third term. The mayor, who helped spark metro Atlanta’s recent incorporation movement, said she will step down in January.
“I’m going to be 85 in July, and I want to go out at the top of my game,” she said.
Galambos became involved with the incorporation effort in 1975, helping found a grassroots organization of residents and business leaders to push for Sandy Springs’ cityhood. Achieving that goal would take 30 years, with countless setbacks before the General Assembly allowed residents of the area to vote on the issue in 2005.
The measure passed by better than a 9-to-1 margin.
Since then, six other cities have sprung up in metro Atlanta.
Milton Mayor Joe Lockwood called her an “icebreaker” that led to his city’s founding in 2006.
“She made a huge difference that led to the formation of Milton,” he said.
Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker was equally praiseworthy.
“She was the catalyst for the incorporation effort,” he said.
Galambos will leave a city that has garnered recent international attention for its use of public-private partnerships in government. Outside of police and fire, Sandy Springs has fewer than a dozen employees. The remainder — from public works to planning — are hired contractors.
Such initiatives have helped the city keep expenses low by continually putting work out for bid.
The city is also involved in a $100 million downtown development effort to re-engineer Roswell Road from a traffic-laden commercial catchall into a pedestrian-friendly gathering site.
“I feel the city is on a very good trajectory,” Galambos said. “I think we’ve got all the right initiatives in place and moving.”
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