Moments after being sworn in as the city of Porterdale’s mayor, Michael Patterson made his way to the mayor’s chair inside city hall. When he arrived at the chair to begin the Jan. 8 meeting, Patterson banged the gavel and said, “Let’s get to work.” 

Doing so was not planned, but something the new mayor decided in the moment.  

“It was something I felt like the city needed to know that we were ready to get some things done,” Patterson said. “Let’s get to work and let’s move forward and let’s get this ball rolling.” 

Sitting in the mayor’s chair for the first time will not be a moment forgotten by Patterson anytime soon. 

“Right after I was sworn in, we took some pictures and greeted everyone who came to celebrate with us,” Patterson said. “But when I got behind that desk and into that seat, there was a difference. It was official.” 

Road to mayor

Becoming Porterdale’s mayor was made possible on election day, Nov. 7. Patterson won the election by garnering nearly 63 percent of the vote.
Patterson’s road to his ascension to mayor started much earlier than Nov. 7. Even earlier than when he originally announced his campaign in Porterdale’s 2022 Christmas parade, too. 

In fact, Patterson’s original interest in politics stems from watching one of his favorite shows, “The West Wing.” 

“It was like, ‘This is interesting,’” Patterson said. “And, even though it was drama and entertaining, I’ve always had this sense of interest in politics.” 

From there, Patterson began attending city council meetings. Then, when now-former mayor of Porterdale Arline Chapman was first elected, Patterson hosted and moderated candidate forums. 

Patterson proceeded to get involved with the planning and zoning commission and was voted in as chairman. After that, Patterson was appointed to serve a year of an unexpired term on the city council. 

The next election cycle, he ran unopposed and served a full term as the Post 3 representative. 

Patterson’s life in ministry

Another large portion of Patterson’s life is spent in ministry. 

Now, the current pastor of Faith Tabernacle in Conyers, Patterson began his ministry under the leadership of his grandfather Dr. J.A. Patterson by playing the drums at 9 years old. 

Six years later, he became involved in the youth ministry until he graduated from Rockdale Christian School. Not too long after that, he was named youth pastor.

Patterson then received his ministerial license through the United Pentecostal Church International (UPCI). 

Being elected to an office is nothing foreign to Patterson, either. 

After originally being a section 5 youth leader, he became the Georgia district youth secretary for six years. Then, in 2013, was elected the district’s youth president. 

He filled that capacity for the next eight years, still worked at Faith Tabernacle and even pastored Faith Tabernacle's daughter church in Blakely, Georgia. 

When Patterson was 24 years old, he was ordained and was associate pastor of Faith Tabernacle. 

Two years removed from that — Feb. 1, 2012 to be exact —  Patterson was voted in as his home church's senior pastor. 

Patterson was grateful by the vote of confidence. 

“That was the greatest honor of my entire life, because I’ve always wanted to be in ministry,” Patterson said. “I grew up in ministry… I grew up getting my hands involved in everything I could in the church. My passion and desire for ministry just grew and I feel like my calling was developed through being around it all my life.” 

Patterson’s hobbies

When Patterson is not discussing policy or delivering a sermon, he enjoys many hobbies. 

Toward the top of the list is being an assistant coach for his kids’ Little League baseball team at the Newton County Recreation Department. Patterson is an assistant for their travel ball team, too, “Newton Rookies.” 

Patterson is an Atlanta Braves fan with his favorite player while he was growing up being Chipper Jones and, today, it is Ronald Acuña Jr., because “the guy’s a beast.” 

Another hobby of Patterson’s is golf. The two hobbies came together a few years ago when Patterson participated in a celebrity golf tournament at Cherokee Run in Conyers with former Atlanta catcher and coach Eddie Perez. 

Patterson played the whole round and rode on the golf cart with Perez. 

Last year, Patterson started playing pickleball and joined the Covington Pickleball Club. For his birthday, Patterson’s church gifted him a kayak. 

Patterson is the fifth generation of his family to live in Porterdale with his children representing the sixth. 

He has a “blended family” with his wife of two years, Wendy — Newton County’s recently promoted EMA director. Patterson has two children, Corban and Logan and is a “bonus dad” to Blake and Addison. 

At home, Patterson loves to play card and board games as well as put puzzles together. Currently, Patterson’s desire to read has him re-reading Lee Cockerell’s “Time Management Magic.” 

He and his family have family dinner nights — namely Taco Tuesdays. 

Patterson’s No. 1 vacation is to cruise, but his favorite spot to visit remains Pigeon Forge, Tn. When traveling to the area, Patterson attends an array of shows with the Comedy Barn, Hatfield and McCoy and Dolly Parton Stampede among his go-tos. 

But Patterson is anything but just an attendee. While he said he relishes the entertainment aspect of the shows, Patterson oftentimes waits around after each show to meet the cast members. 

Today, Patterson is Facebook friends and texts with many of them. 

“I have one guy…he’s a bass player that ended up getting an infection in his leg and had to have half his leg amputated,” Patterson said. “And I was with him the whole time checking in, ‘How are you doing? I’m praying for you.’ And now he’s back on stage with a prosthetic leg and he’s playing. Every time I go up there, I see him and we talk and hang out and it’s really cool.” 

Patterson believes that is just part of who he is. 

“One of the ways I get a lot of conversations started is if I don’t know the person and I’m intrigued by them, I may go up to them and say, ‘Hey, I’m Michael, it’s good to meet you. What’s your story?’” Patterson said. “Because I’m interested in who they are, but also what made them who they are.” 

Patterson’s vision for Porterdale

Now, as the face of the city of Porterdale as its mayor, Patterson plans to use his personality and his past experiences to lead the city forward. 

Patterson categorized the state of Porterdale as being in a “season of growth.” 

As far as his objective in fostering that growth, Patterson aims to be intentional. That way, when more growth ensues, it will be to the betterment of the city and its citizens. 

“If we don’t have a plan, we don’t have vision and we don’t have a masterplan set that we can agree on, then all that’s going to do is continue to be development driven where the developers come in and tell us what they’re going to do,” Patterson said. “What I want to do is have a master plan where when a developer comes in — whether it is for residential or commercial or industrial — that we can help connect the dots and the pieces of the puzzle to say, ‘This is how we can flow. This is how we can work together.’”