Friday, May 5, 2023–9:13 a.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
Friday is the last day on the job for Rome-Floyd County Planning Director Artagus Newell, who will begin a new job in Atlanta on Monday.
Newell was hired in 2017 following the retirement of Sue Hiller.
He said that after being planning director for nearly six years, leaving Rome is bittersweet.
“Rome has been wonderful and the people have been great,” he said. “It’s been a beautiful season in my life. I love Rome and had been here a lot before I came to live and work here, and I definitely plan to be back to come visit. It’s just been a great time in my life.”
Newell said during his tenure a lot of great things have been done, but there is much more work to do.
“I know that the team that is here in the planning department and the other city, county, and joint departments will keep that going for Rome, the citizens, and visitors,” he added. “Again, it’s bittersweet, but I had a new opportunity to come about that’s going to be good for my life and my career, but Rome is always going to have a piece of my heart.”
Floyd County Manager Jamie McCord praised Newell for the job he has done.
“Art has done a good job during his time here,” McCord said. “It doesn’t quite seem like it’s been six years. I wish him the best of luck in moving forward. He got a great opportunity.”
McCord added that he and Rome City Manager Sammy Rich will need to get together pretty quickly to get the planning director’s position filled.
“We’ve got a lot of things going on with ULDC, the comprehensive plan, and SDS,” he said.
Rome, Cave Spring, and Floyd County are currently in the process of updating the Unified Land Development Code, which was written 20 years ago and has never been comprehensively updated.
The comprehensive plan is a 20-year policy guide that assesses current conditions, projects future trends, develops strategies and goals, and creates a work program to achieve these goals.
Service Delivery Strategy process gives local governments and authorities the opportunity to reach an agreement on the delivery of services in an effective and cost-efficient manner to Georgia’s citizens.
