MARIETTA - Marietta native Wes Godwin claims that his opponent in the Nov. 3 election, Councilman Van Pearlberg, wants to serve as councilman simply as a stepping-stone to run for district attorney.

"This is Van's stage. This is a jumping off place for him. From what I can see and from what I am hearing from the constituents, he does not take his job very seriously as a city councilman. It is just a side issue, a way of making extra money, getting more benefits and another retirement," Godwin said.

Some Ward 4 voters have complained that Godwin, with his recent attempts to oust Pearlberg, is taking away their only alternative in the voting. Godwin doesn't see it that way.

"The ones I am talking to are saying, 'Thank you. We do want options but we want legal, viable options. We do not want somebody that is not legal to serve on there,'" he said.

Godwin believes the council needs to work as a unit better.

"We do not need to say, 'Well, I've got a majority of the vote so I am going to ram through anything I want.' We need a mayor that is a cohesive factor and not a division," he said.

Mayor Bill Dunaway, Godwin said, divided rather than united.

"Just like on this bond issue that should have been brought out in the light a lot sooner, I think we need a more open government. We do not need the secret meetings, behind the doors," he said.

If Steve Tumlin is elected mayor, Godwin believes he will serve as that cohesive element at City Hall.

"He is not going to be the puppet Bill thought he was going to be," Godwin said.

Godwin believes it's wrong for a city official to use the city's Web site to attack a private citizen - such as Dunaway's recent, sternly worded postings about a resident.

"He should apologize and actually be made to pay restitution out of his own pocket. That is wrong for any public official to attack private citizens like that," he said.

Godwin said if he were the resident, he would sue Dunaway for slander.

"I think the Mayor has put the city in a very vulnerable position," Godwin said.

When it comes to the historic Kennesaw House owned by the Downtown Marietta Development Authority, Godwin would like the city to buy it so the Marietta Museum of History can operate there on all three floors. The history museum lacks friends at City Hall, particularly Dunaway, Godwin said.

"He has always been opposed to it. He has tried to subvert it at every turn. Why, I do not know. I do not know if it is something that happened with his and (museum director Dan Cox) relationship as boys or young adults or what."

If elected, Godwin said he would work to limit motorists cutting through downtown Marietta with increased police patrol and using traffic calming devices such as speed humps. He opposes widening Whitlock Avenue, and is in favor of a proposal to have Whitlock traffic pass from Kirkpatrick Street to Reynolds Street. He also wants to see a quiet zone installed so noise from the CSX railroad line is less disturbing to area residents. And he would support metered parking on the Square.

His opinion of the Marietta Redevelopment Corporation, he said, is mixed.

"I see it as another layer of bureaucracy that does not necessarily need to be there," he said, adding that there are good people who serve on that board, however.

As for the properties the MRC has purchased, "I think it needs to be investigated and looked into. Who were the people who sold the property and who were the partners that were involved in that? Who were the real owners? They pay top dollar for everything."

Godwin, a developer, believes the city needs to be more selective in its zoning, referring to the property on Marble Mill Road that Dunaway sold to a scrap yard business.

"When the junkyard went in out there around a residential neighborhood, it makes huge amounts of noise and creates a lot of problems. I know I would not, and I am sure none of you here would, like to have the noise level that is created from that junkyard in our backyard, or side yard or across the road from us. We're entitled to quiet enjoyment for our property, and that is infringing on our quiet enjoyment," he said.

As the recipient of a $400,000 Tax Allocation District for the Marietta Mill Lofts, Godwin is a fan of TADs.

"There is nothing wrong with these things. They work. Mine is working as it was designed," he said.

However, he opposes the $25 million parks bond referendum.

"Right now in these economic times ... a lot of people are having a hard time paying their taxes. Why should we impose another tax on them?" he asked.

Godwin's Marietta Mill Lofts development went into bankruptcy, although Godwin says that's no reason why he can't be trusted with the city's budget.

"I doubt you can find any person which has been successful that has not had some failures," he said.