It is fitting that East Point’s history making Black Government Officials, appointed and elected, be highlighted during Black History Month. I will be highlighting former City Manager Joseph “Joe” Johnson and Mayors Patsy Jo Hilliard, Joseph “Joe” Macon, and yours truly, Earnestine D. Pittman.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Prior to the appointment of East Point’s first Black City Manager and the first three elected Black Mayors, the City was undergoing a long drought of residential new housing projects, new economic growth, lack of street repairs and repaving, and no upgrading of our water and sewer infrastructure. Following the lost of being named the seventh largest industrial City in the State, East Point was in need of a revival on all fronts. After the booming new housing subdivisions in Wards C and D in the 1950’s and 1960’s, East Point saw a decline in Wards A and B in new home constructions and the lost of Downtown businesses. White flight also meant a loss in population and many business interests. From 1960 to 1983, there was no noticeable changes in East Point’s business, housing and economic districts.
EAST POINT FIRST BLACK CITY MANAGER and CITY TREASURER (1983-1996)
Joseph “Joe” Johnson was elected East Point first Black City Manager in 1983. From 1984 to 1987, the City did not charge any property taxes. In 1984, the City bought the land where Camp Creek Marketplace now stands for $500,000; and annexed the south-side of Camp Creek from I-285 to the east- side of Welcome All Road in unincorporated Fulton County. During this time period, Mayor and Council improvements included:
- Building the Law Enforcement Center and the Martin Street Fire Station.
- The Cleveland Avenue Corridor paving and sidewalks improvement project.
- Reinstating City property taxes to pay the bond debt that was used to pay for the previous construction and building projects.
- Building the MARTA Station.
- Opening office parks: Buggy Works and Wagon Works; and East Point Commerce Park.
EAST POINT FIRST BLACK MAYORS (1991-2013)
MAYOR PATSY JO HILLIARD (1991-2005)
In 1991, Patsy Jo Hilliard made history in two East Point categories. She became the first woman, and Black Mayor. During Mayor Hilliard’s fourteen years administration, the City saw unprecedented revival in seven new residential subdivision home constructions in Wards A, C, and D. McCoy Place, in Ward C, was the first new home subdivision built in over thirty years. Mayor Hilliard and her Council Members provided tremendous economic growth and development with new hotels; multiple in-fill residential housing units; new multi-family townhouses/apartments complexes; a senior residential facility on Norman Berry; Bowden Center; foundation for Commerce Park; Grady Clinic; East Point Library; laid the foundation for the building of Camp Creek Market Place by creating the CampCreek TAD, and the largest Capital Improvement Plan in the history of the City.
Travelling internationally with her late husband, Dr. Asa Hilliard , Mayor Hilliard spread the good news about East Point far and wide. Her close ties with the business community helped to bring investors to the City, hence the great economic and housing revival.
MAYOR JOSEPH “JOE” MACON (2006-2009)
In 2005, the City elected Joseph “Joe” Macon, its first and only Black male Mayor. Mayor Macon and his Council Members continued the work of Mayor Hilliard and her Council by overseeing and implementing the build of Camp Creek Market Place and overseeing the implementation of the $52 million Storm Water, Water, and Sewer Capital Improvement Plan, and the new fire station at Camp Creek. Mayor Macon and his Council laid the foundation for the Storm Water Utility; revised the City Charter to include a Bill of Rights, Code of Ethics and a Municipal Advisory Utility Commission as part of the many changes; updated the City building codes by adopting international standards where applicable; annexed properties that added more than 200 new residents; added Connally Nature Park; received State funding for the Main Street Corridor improvement yet to be started; received over $500,00 in funding for Sykes Park to help build a nature trail that is not yet started; received Federal funding to address the storm water situation on Taylor Ave; created the Downtown TAD; and brought Clorox, the fist Fortune 500 business to the City.
MAYOR EARNESTINE D. PITTMAN (2010-2013)
CITY COUNCIL MEMBER (2003-2009)
In 2010, I became the first female Mayor who had served as a Council Member as well as the first Black Council Member to serve as Mayor. After serving two years on Mayor Hilliard’s Council and four years on Mayor Macon’s Council, I was well prepared to continue implementing the capital plans that started in both of their administrations. My Council and I adopted, expanded, and began implementing a street resurfacing and sidewalk plan that started during Mayor Macon’s administration. We also completed a large portion of the $52 million CIP Program to include the completion of Brookdale Park, Norman Berry sewer and street repair; Hayden Drive sewer repair and restoration;renovated and built new public housing facilities and closed down the outdated ones; added five community parks; purchased the Customer Care building that would provide additional space for future development for the building of a new City Hall, rebuild/renovate the Auditorium, or parking deck; implemented the 50 Worst Blighted Property Program; passed an Ordinance creating the Storm Water Utility; implemented Duke Realty expansion across the bridge at Camp Creek from five to seventeen buildings; used the Downtown TAD to bring Walmart to East Point; implemented expansion and development in South Meadows Park on Welcome All Road; implemented the building of the senior residential facility on Cleveland Avenue, and an office building on Norman Berry Drive; built a new fire station at Camp Creek; negotiated a new formula for LOST funding that would garner the City and additional $11 million over ten years; and most importantly, adopted a policy that would eliminate the $59 million Unfunded Pension and allow the City to increase its bond rating.
Working with the Mayors in the South Fulton Municipal Association ,the North Fulton Municipal Association, and Fulton County Legislators, we were able to provide draft legislation that led to the SPLOST referendum for transportation that would garner the City over $35 million for street repaving, sidewalks, and storm water projects.
I hope that anyone reading this will realize that no Mayor and Council can achieve all of their goals in a single or multiple administrations. However, every effort should be made to build on the foundations established by previous administrations while creating new future foundations.
