POWDER SPRINGS — As grants compliance director with the city of Atlanta, Connie Taylor said she knows what communities need to do to get funds for redevelopment. And she hopes to be able to use that knowledge to benefit southwest Cobb County as its next commissioner.

“It will help me because I know how to write applications for grant funds,” said Taylor, 54, a Powder Springs resident. “I know the federal (regulations) up and down.”

Taylor said she is familiar with things like enterprise zones, tax allocation districts and federal HOME and CDBG funds. But that doesn’t mean she will blindly support every effort for redevelopment in the county.

Taylor said she has concerns about the newly recreated South Cobb Redevelopment Authority, which looks to “land bank” several apartment complexes along Six Flags Drive to be redeveloped in the future. She wants to know how long the land will be kept before something goes in its place.

While she said that she would be OK with the county working with developers to sell the property, Taylor said she does not want to see the property held by the redevelopment authority for several years, keeping the county from collecting property taxes, which it can do while it is in the hands of a private apartment owner.

“We should look at all our options,” she said. “I hear they want to acquire the property, I hear they want to land bank the property, but what is the future? Do we have someone at the table who’s saying, ‘We want to develop?’”

Taylor said she is concerned that no funds were set aside in incumbent Commissioner Woody Thompson’s 15 percent local portion of the Transportation Investment Act to restore Cobb Community Transit bus routes that were cut during last year’s budget crunch. She said she would like to see more input from residents before such project lists are put together.

“Nothing has been done, just study after study,” Taylor said. “The residents would like to have just a little bit of input.”

Taylor, a Cobb resident since 1999, is one of five people challenging Thompson. Also competing are former engineer and policy analyst Lisa Cupid, bilingual secretary Ruth Negron, educator Dr. Michael Rhett and former teacher Monica DeLancy. Because no Republicans qualified for the race, the winner of the Democratic Primary will most likely take office.

Taylor said she considered running for the District 4 place on the Cobb Board of Commissioners in 2008. She felt her background on boards and other community activities would help make her a natural commissioner. She is involved in church and community boards, including the Arthur Langford Team Leadership Institute and the Shaw Temple Learning Center board.

Taylor has also served as president of the Cobb Democratic Women, as well as a member at large for the Georgia Federation of Democratic Women.

Also, Thompson appointed her to the county’s SPLOST Oversight Committee, as well as the Board of Tax Assessors.

“I respect the job he has done,” Taylor said of Thompson. “I just think we need a change. I do not believe any politician should be a career politician.”

Taylor said she already has a positive relationship with county staff and would fit in well on the Board of Commissioners. If elected, Taylor said she would continue to work in her current job along with being a commissioner.

“It may seem like a full-time job, but it’s a part-time job,” she said. “I have bills. I know there’s no conflict of interest and I can do both.”

Taylor said her campaign isn’t seeking large donations and has no prominent endorsements. The campaign finance report she turned in Friday shows her with $3,455 in contributions during the three-month reporting period, which includes $760 in loans. She has just under $2,100 on hand.

While she has plenty of yard signs up in parts of southwest Cobb, Taylor said she would rather spend her time going door-to-door campaigning instead of relying on major endorsements.

“People want to see the candidates in their community,” she said. “They do not want to see a representative (of the candidate) out there.”