Bruce Gaynor For Norcross City Council
About Bruce Gaynor
My Story
My wife, Jan, and I have been proud residents of Norcross since 2009. Over the past 11 years, I've actively participated in the local government, including serving as the Chair of the Sustainable Norcross Commission and achieving Platinum level recognition under the Green Communities Program. My journey in public service led me to successfully run for City Council in 2019.
With a 40-year career as a sales and marketing executive, I've honed leadership, consensus-building, and collaboration skills that have greatly benefited my role on the City Council. My candidacy is focused on building upon our city's successes to drive Norcross to new heights in responsive government, sustainable growth, and community inclusiveness. I am committed to ethical and accountable governance.
Public Safety
Norcross is a safe place to live because we demand excellence from our officers and, in turn, reward them with excellent leadership and competitive working conditions. Our new Public Safety Building demonstrates our commitment to high quality law enforcement and I am proud to have been a part of bringing this to the city of Norcross.
Some of the tangible results of this commitment are: 1) continued reduction in crime, overall crime is down 14% in the last year, and 2) significant reduction in vehicle crashes, down 16% since 2021.
Historic Downtown Norcross
One of the crown jewels of Norcross is our Historic Downtown. The city should be doing all it can to make sure the business district is the most successful it can be. Promoting and supporting the downtown merchants and the walkable, small-town environment, must be a top priority of city government.
Buford Highway Master Plan
I believe in the importance of City Council's leadership in realizing the Master Plan for the Buford Highway Gateway. Collaboration among all stakeholders is essential for success. Norcross is a vibrant, walkable city, and I am dedicated to encouraging business expansion to enhance our community's excitement and desirability.
Fiscal Responsibility
The citizens of Norcross deserve a high level of services. From our Police Department and the Parks and Public Works Departments, to the concerts and events in the downtown area, our residents demand high quality services. However, we must live within our means and continue to find ways to increase efficiency in city government. I am proud to have been a leader promoting a change the city charter to increase the Homestead Exemption by 500% thus lowering property taxes for all city homeowners.
Notable Achievements:
Taxes
Community Safety
Electric Rates
Promoted a change in the city charter to increase the Homestead Exemption by 500% thus lowering taxes on all homeowners in Norcross. The next step is for the voters to approve this in a referendum on November 4.
Electric Rates
Community Safety
Electric Rates
Leader in driving Norcross Power to both keep electricity rates lower than the state average and to simultaneously increase its contribution to the General Fund, all while investing in equipment and maintenance to reduce power outages.
Community Safety
Community Safety
Growing City Parks
Worked closely with Norcross Police to reduce crime in the city. Overall crime is down 14% from last year at this time and 45% since 2022. Vehicle crashes are down 16% since 2021 while over the same period the number of cars on Norcross’s roads have almost doubled.
Growing City Parks
Growing City Parks
Growing City Parks
Initiated the creation of the Parks, Greenspace and Trails Commission, bringing community voices together as we look to expand and improve our Natural Spaces. The new Parks Master Plan calls for converting existing city land in Southeast Norcross to a Parks and Trail system..
Sustainability
Growing City Parks
Sustainability
Supported Sustainable Norcross Commission to achieve Platinum level recognition under the Green Communities Program. This level of certification attracts both new residents and new investment into the city where sustainability is a major driver.
Infrastructure
Growing City Parks
Sustainability
Infrastructure isn’t a glamorous subject but in my time on Council we have approved contracts to repave about ¾ of the streets in the city and update the traffic lines on the rest. We have approved a plan to reline or replace almost all the stormwater system in the city, which will be good for about 50 more years, upgraded parking in downtown, and approved a project to create pedestrian crossings on all the railroad crossings in the city. We did all this using grants and SPLOST funding making sure we didn’t need to raise taxes.