PORTERDALE, Ga. — Kay Piper says she is running for mayor to use her marketing and accounting experience to remake Porterdale as a tourist and retail destination and make sure the government is on a sound financial footing.

Piper, a real estate broker and owner of Magnolia Realty Group, represents Post 1 on the council. She is the second candidate to announce publicly for the mayor's seat after Post 3 Councilmember Michael Patterson announced in December he planned to seek the office.

They are hoping to replace Arline Chapman, who has said she will not seek reelection to a fourth term as mayor in this year's election.

The mayor in Porterdale’s government presides over meetings but only votes on agenda items if there is a tie. 

However, that person also is responsible for signing checks and works with the city manager to negotiate and sign contracts, among other duties, Piper said.

Piper won her council seat in a special election in 2021 to serve out the remaining term of a councilmember who moved from the city. Piper previously served as a councilmember from 2005 to 2008 but resigned for health reasons.

The Porterdale native said she's in the process of writing a book chronicling the history of the town, including details on the mills that operated there for almost a century and their workers, as well as a history of the textile industry in the South.

However, Porterdale must continue to “change for a better future,” she said.

“We’ve got to have a plan to move it forward,” Piper said.

She said she wants to work to revitalize the downtown business area, including replacing the cramped and outdated city hall building. 

Piper said she developed a city revitalization plan in 1998 and hosted town meetings and weekly cleanup sessions.

Downtown Porterdale first was revitalized after she marketed the vacant Bibb Manufacturing Co. Porterdale Mill for redevelopment which attracted developers interested in converting it into loft apartments in the early 2000s.

However, she said now the city should not confine its economic development efforts to downtown. It also should encourage development of retail outside the historic downtown in such areas as the planned mixed-use developments called The Oaks on the north side and Cedar Shoals on the town's west side, she said.

She also wants to reestablish the Porterdale Business Alliance and work with the Friends of Porterdale and Porterdale Woman’s Club civic groups to hear their thoughts on how the city should proceed.

The town's unique design, geography and history makes it a natural magnet for everything from unique shops and restaurants to recreational, historic and cultural tourism, Piper said.

She noted the town has been the location for as many film productions as Covington, which attracts tourists because of such shows as "Vampire Diaries" and "Sweet Magnolias."

The current ABC-TV series "Will Trent" recently used the historic Welaunee Inn in Porterdale as a location for an episode while other shows like the Stars series "P-Valley" and the Amazon movie “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” used locations in the city in recent years.

Piper said she also wanted to use her 30 years of experience in corporate accounting to benefit city taxpayers.

"I will be able to review the full financial statements that are issued monthly, including bank statement reconciliations, in an effort to avoid the fiasco that was made public in 2020 when it was revealed that the city of Porterdale was over $1 million in debt and that there were limited funds in the bank," she said.

"Prior to my coming back on the council in 2021, there was not and still is not anyone on the council who can read a financial statement to know if it is accurate or not," she said. ""This is vital in order to assure that the mayor, council and city manager are making financial decisions based on true numbers.

Piper said she wanted to establish "more structured and orderly City Council meetings and work sessions with a format that draws on a similar format as Roberts Rules of Order."

She said she would be at City Hall one Saturday each month to meet with residents who have questions about the city or problems they may be having with city services.

Along the same lines, she said she wanted to reestablish a series of open meetings with government officials "that I initiated during the years of my “Let’s Sweep it Clean!” campaign" which she led to help clean up residential areas of the town in the early 2000s.

"The format would be the same with guest speakers at each meeting to address various developments and programs that are of interest and benefit to the city," she said.

Piper is a Porterdale native who returned with her husband to live in the town in 1989.

Four generations of her family have worked in Porterdale or were born there — beginning with her great-grandparents who came to work in the then-new mill in 1899.

The councilwoman was born in Porterdale Hospital and her father and grandfather were in management with Bibb Manufacturing Co. while it operated the mill, she said.

"I grew up in Porterdale Baptist Church where my daddy was a deacon and my mother taught the Beginner’s Sunday School Class," she said.

She began serving the church as pianist at age 13 and has served as pianist, organist, ladies’ Sunday School teacher, and director of women’s ministries in other churches.