Porterdale Councilmember Arline Chapman recently announced that she will seek reelection for the Post 3 council seat in November.

 Chapman was elected in 2008 to serve the remainder of the term of a councilmember who was moving out of the city.

 Since her election, she has worked to raise funds to renovate and landscape Porterdale Gazebo Park, has promoted the Better Hometown Program, and has opposed employee cutbacks, furloughs and city tax increases.

 This year, she encouraged the council to support the town’s Fourth of July fireworks display.

 "We couldn’t miss this opportunity to bring people to our city as the only provider of a fireworks display in the county," she said.

 Looking forward, she said she would like to see the council adopt a local homestead tax exemption, as well as stricter ordinances and better enforcement of codes regulating the condition of rental property.

 Recently, she strongly supported the creation of a downtown development authority in Porterdale.

 "This authority will be instrumental in the final renovation of the Porterdale Gym in cooperation with the Newton County Recreation Department," she said.

 She also is interested in researching grants and other funding to develop recreational access to the Yellow River; she said she envisions the area near the depot including a public pavilion, fishing dock and launching area for kayaks and canoes.

 "I am dedicated, along with others, to making Porterdale the major destination point in Newton County."

 Chapman is a former flight attendant for Eastern Air Lines and is a retired state employee. She has worked for the House of Representatives, on the staff of Gov. Zell Miller and retired as executive assistant to Attorney General Thurbert Baker.

 She is a part-owner of Lofty Antiques in Porterdale, a member of Epiphany Lutheran Church in Conyers and an artist and member of the board of directors of The Southern Heartland Art Gallery in Covington.

 Her two grown sons live and work in Newton County. She has two granddaughters.