It’s qualifying week in Peachtree City—the moment when candidates for mayor and two city council seats make it official and place their names on the ballot for November. Whoever wins will not only take a seat at City Hall but will also hold real authority. They will set the millage rate, direct how tax dollars are spent, oversee public property, make decisions on roads and bridges, and pass ordinances that shape the health, safety, and character of our community.

In earlier columns, I’ve taken initial looks at mayoral candidate Steven Brown and Post 4 Councilmember candidate James Clifton. But they are not the only ones seeking office this fall. One of the biggest names on the ballot is the one already in the mayor’s chair: Kim Learnard.

Earlier this week, I met with Learnard to talk about her first term and her campaign for re-election. I wanted to know what has her time in office looked like so far, and if voters grant her a second, where might she take Peachtree City next.

The picture that emerged is one of wins, political controversies, and a misstep that, to me, blemishes her first term.

Kim Learnard’s Time As Mayor

Learnard became Peachtree City’s 12th mayor in January 2022. Since then, she has pointed to a wide range of accomplishments on her campaign website and in our conversation as evidence of her record in office.

Transportation

When it comes to transportation, Learnard often highlights the long-awaited construction at Highway 54 and 74. It is GDOT’s largest transportation project in Fayette County history, and work is now underway. But this is fundamentally a state-led effort that was already in motion before her term began. Learnard’s role has been to keep pressure on GDOT and ensure Peachtree City’s voice stays in the conversation. That advocacy matters, but it is not the same as running the project.

When I asked her what advocacy looked like in practice, she pointed to her work on design details. “During my first term, I was able to lobby for upgraded lights and amenities so that it’s in keeping with Peachtree City standards. I had to fight for that,” she said.

Despite skepticism (including my own), Learnard said she believes the project will “meaningfully improve traffic for the next ten years,” but acknowledged the city needs to be ready for whatever comes next. 

In the meantime, she has also emphasized smaller upcoming traffic fixes like the Avenue’s privately funded turn lane onto 54, the city’s upcoming dual left-turn lanes from Huddleston Road, and a planned roundabout at Crosstown Road.

Public Safety

Public safety is one of Learnard’s strongest talking points. Peachtree City was recently ranked among the Top 10 Safest Cities in Georgia, and unlike many communities nationwide, both the Police and Fire Departments are fully staffed. That’s no small feat given the national shortage of first responders.

Learnard credits a 2023 pay and benefits study that benchmarked Peachtree City against 14 peer cities. By raising starting salaries—especially for police—the city filled vacancies and even expanded the force. She also points to new investments, including plans to assign an SRO to every elementary school before year’s end.

Those are real steps, but we shouldn’t take a victory lap yet. Nearly half of the city’s budget now goes to public safety, a level of spending that could crowd out other priorities. And while Learnard cites a 25% drop in serious crimes compared to the year before, crime statistics can swing year to year for reasons unrelated to staffing levels. Whether the decline reflects long-term improvement or a temporary dip remains to be seen.

Finances

Finances are another central piece of Learnard’s record. She points to lowering the millage rate, creating a homestead exemption for low-income seniors, maintaining the city’s AAA bond rating, and opting into the “Save the Homes Act,” which will soon cap annual assessment increases to the rate of inflation. 

Overall, these are solid wins, and they are proactive steps that help our pocketbooks. But policy success doesn’t always feel like relief. Assessments made at the county level continue to climb, and most homeowners are still paying more despite Peachtree City’s millage rate being lower than neighboring Tyrone and Fayetteville. 

Learnard claims the city has a lean, conservative budget where nearly 70% of spending is dedicated to core services like public safety, recreation, and public works. That may be true, but it doesn’t soften the impact when tax bills hit a bank account.

Her stance on the one-penny Floating Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST) further illustrates the divide. The measure, created under HB 581, was pitched as a way to offset property taxes by shifting some of the burden to sales tax revenue. Learnard rejected it, arguing it would raise grocery and household costs without providing guaranteed relief for homeowners.

For most residents, the finer points of tax policy matter less than the bottom line. The city can point to restraint. Residents point to bills that keep climbing. Though Learnard and the city have successfully taken steps to lower what we could be paying in taxes, the bottom line is still moving upward.

Redevelopment

Redevelopment has become one of Learnard’s priorities. She cites the former Kmart property as an example, recalling how she personally met with KIMCO, the site’s management company, when they pushed for apartments there. According to Learnard, executives flew in twice to present their plans, and both times she told them “absolutely not,” arguing that Peachtree City already has enough apartments and that the location required a better fit. With apartments ruled out, the building sat vacant for years, but it is now set to reopen with Ace Pickleball as the anchor tenant.

Other long-vacant spaces are also seeing new life. The former Stein Mart and Bed Bath & Beyond locations have been filled, and Trader Joe’s is on the way. Learnard points to the hiring of a full-time economic development manager as a turning point, crediting him with helping recruit businesses and build momentum.

Recreation

Recreation is one of Learnard’s most visible talking points. The city rebuilt Picnic Park with an ADA-accessible playground, upgraded equipment across multiple parks, and added a new 400-meter track at Riley Field. Fees for the splash pad and athletic field lights were also eliminated—changes Learnard frames as ending the “nickel-and-diming” of families.

The bigger play, though, is the new Recreation Master Plan. It sketches out more than thirty projects, from pickleball courts to restrooms at Drake Field to a Veterans Plaza at Kelly Drive Park. But plans on paper aren’t the same as projects in the ground. Most lack identified funding, and the real test will come when council decides which ideas to prioritize and which to leave on hold.

The Controversies During Mayor Learnard’s Term

Accomplishments tell only part of Learnard’s story. Controversy has followed as well, shaping conversations around her leadership.

Controversy #1 – Pizza For Condos?

Sometimes even the smallest details can snowball into a full-blown controversy, especially when political opponents are eager to push them. That was the case with the pizza episode during Learnard’s first year in office.

During her 2021 campaign, Learnard hosted two meet-and-greets at Partners II Pizza in Aberdeen Village. The Royals, who own the business, provided a private room and complimentary pizza worth just over a hundred dollars combined. Months later, the Royals submitted a rezoning request for the Aberdeen Village Center that included redeveloping their site with ground-floor retail and twelve owner-occupied condos. City Council narrowly approved it in June 2022 with Learnard voting yes.

That’s when Suzanne Brown, a close ally of former mayor Steve Brown, filed an ethics complaint. She argued that Learnard should have disclosed the pizza as in-kind contributions and recused herself from the rezoning vote. She also flagged a separate $1,000 contribution from a company tied to the Royals’ attorney.

Independent hearing officer C. Bradford Sears dismissed the complaint. He determined the pizzas were covered under the city’s “occasional food and beverage” rule. He also noted that Partners regularly provided space free of charge and found the campaign contributions had been properly reported under state law. Because the campaign events occurred before Learnard took office in January 2022, the ordinance did not apply. Sears ultimately concluded Suzanne Brown’s filing was unjustified.

“That’s what the Ethics Officer found,” Learnard said in our interview. “Citizens have the right to file an ethics complaint, and an ethics officer has the right to find it unwarranted.”

That could have been the end of it. But politically, opponents have kept it alive. 

In a recent letter endorsing former mayor Steve Brown, Eric Imker went so far as to say Learnard “opened the door for high-density multi-family housing projects citywide, including one she greenlit for a campaign contributor, without disclosure or recusal.” 

Supporters have long countered that the controversy was a manufactured scandal over a trivial expense. Regardless, taxpayers ultimately paid the price. We were responsible for covering the cost of the investigation, which a city official speculated to me might have reached $5,000—an outsized sum for an issue many residents considered minor.

Controversy #2 – Controlling the Agenda?

In April 2024, the City Council approved Ordinance 1218, changing how items can be added to the meeting agenda. Previously, a single council member could place an item directly on the docket. Now, a member may still raise an issue under Council and Staff Topics, but it cannot advance unless a majority of the council agrees in that public meeting. Only then can the matter return for further research or action.

Supporters, including Learnard, framed the change as a practical adjustment. “In a council–city manager form of government, it is the city manager’s job to create the meeting agenda,” she explained. “Ordinance 1218 is generous. It still gives a council member an opportunity to bring an item forward if they have majority support. That’s a good balance. It preserves precious staff time and ensures we’re working on priorities that truly matter.”

Context also matters: the Georgia Municipal Association notes that in many Georgia cities agenda preparation is overseen by the mayor and/or city manager. In that light, Ordinance 1218 placed Peachtree City mostly in-line with common practice across the state.

Steve Brown, no fan of Learnard, saw it differently, calling the move “censorship.” He argued it gave too much power to the majority and the city manager, making it harder for minority voices—or even one council member representing citizen concerns—to bring issues forward.

Learnard pushed back on that perception. “If a council member can’t get majority support, then the system is working,” she said to me. “It means they need to go back, do their homework, and collaborate with their colleagues. That’s how good government functions.”

Controversy #3 – Mayor’s Voice or City’s Voice?

In September 2023 following the murder of 15-year-old Madison Gesswein, Learnard signed her name to a statewide letter calling for stricter gun laws. She didn’t just sign as a private citizen—she used her official title, Mayor of Peachtree City.

That decision blindsided other council members. Several said they had not been consulted and bristled at the implication that the mayor was speaking on behalf of the entire council, or even the city, on such a divisive issue.

Critics outside City Hall pounced, accusing Learnard of politicizing the office and overstepping her authority. Supporters countered that she was acting on conscience, showing leadership on public safety, and using her platform to push for change.

Learnard defended her choice. “I support every law-abiding citizen’s right to own a gun,” she said. “In this case, I was asked by other mayors to sign on to a letter asking the Georgia Legislature to look at criminal background checks and things like that. I was asked to sign a mayor’s letter, and I’m the mayor.”

She also made clear she has little appetite to repeat the episode. “I don’t want to get into national politics,” she said. “My focus is on the nonpartisan issues that are important to Peachtree City—roads, recreation, redevelopment, quality of life.”

No formal action came from the episode, but it begs the question: when a mayor speaks, especially on hot-button issues, is it just one person’s opinion, or does it carry the weight of the whole city?

My Biggest Issue Within Mayor Learnard’s Term

The pizza dustup and the agenda and letter fights may have sparked conversations, but my biggest concern with Learnard is something less flashy and far more consequential.

Annexations reshape Peachtree City in ways that last for generations. Budgets can be adjusted, policies reversed, and leadership styles come and go. But annexations redraw our map. They determine how far our services have to stretch and how closely we stick to the vision of village-style planning that built this city in the first place.

Our last comprehensive Growth Boundary Study was finished in 2014. More than a decade has passed without an update. That’s long overdue because the study is about more than drawing lines on a map. It weighs where new fire and EMS stations are needed, how roads and cart paths should connect, whether water and sewer can extend safely, and how zoning fits our village concept. It also runs the numbers: will new neighborhoods actually generate enough tax revenue to pay for the police, fire, and public works they’ll require—or will existing residents end up footing the bill?

Despite that framework being a decade out of date, the city has continued to annex. The most recent instance came in September 2023 when the council approved a 52-acre annexation off Stagecoach Road. The Planning Commission—myself included—voted unanimously against it. The project didn’t follow the 2014 plan, added homes on the fringe, and relied on septic systems near wetlands. Even the city’s own fiscal analysis showed the tax revenue would barely cover the cost of city services.

Yet the annexation passed 4–1. Councilmember Clint Holland cast the lone dissent, warning the project didn’t align with Peachtree City’s growth principles. Right before voting in favor, Learnard herself questioned whether the project fit the 2014 plan but ultimately said the city was “better off managing the development ourselves than leaving it to the county.”

To me, that logic missed the bigger point. When we make plans, we should follow them. A growth boundary study isn’t just a piece of paper—it’s a vision shaped by public input. Ignoring it in favor of one developer’s project discards that process and leaves the community reacting instead of leading.

That concern was only heightened by the fact that this same annexation request had already come before council in similar forms twice before and been denied.

To be clear, I don’t believe Learnard is beholden to developers. But in this case, the city’s Growth Boundary Study was sidelined while the developer got the green light. And when each annexation becomes a one-off negotiation, it’s developers—not citizens—who end up setting the terms.

For a city built on careful planning, this was a wrong decision, and it will alter Peachtree City for years to come.

What Are Mayor Learnard’s Plans For A Second Term?

After looking back at actions from her first term, it’s worth asking what Learnard wants to do with another four years.

So far, she has not released a detailed second-term platform. When I asked, her campaign provided this statement:

“Mayor Learnard will focus her second term on policies that help families and businesses flourish in our safe and beautiful community. Relying on her years of leadership and operational experience, she will oversee completion of the largest transportation improvement project in Fayette County history at the intersection of Highway 54/74, as well as projects in the new Recreation Master Plan; respect our villages and plan to the founders’ vision; invest in public safety and economic development; and continue to seek tax relief for our citizens.”

In other words, her second-term goals mirror her first-term themes—transportation, recreation, village-style planning, public safety, economic development, and tax relief. But the difference won’t be in what she promises, but in how those promises are carried out.

Get Ready For An Interesting Campaign Season

We are only at the beginning, and already this fall’s races are shaping up to be contentious. Campaign season in Peachtree City has a way of turning personal, and there is every indication that this one could get ugly.

My encouragement to readers is simple and the same as it has always been.

Focus on the issues, not the distractions.

The decisions made by the next mayor and council will shape everything from traffic and taxes to parks and public safety. We will also have a refresh of the city’s Comprehensive Plan during this upcoming term, which will guide our community’s direction.

I will continue to offer commentary on developments and provide thoughts on all of the races as November approaches. But for now, remember the stakes.

The choices we make this fall will echo beyond election season.