POWDER SPRINGS - Cheryl Sarvis, a retired Atlanta Public Schools principal, is seeking to unseat incumbent Ra Barr in the Powder Springs City Council Ward 1 race.

Sarvis, 62, said she decided to run for office because of a lack of communication between Barr and those he represents on the council.

"A lot of people asked me to run because they said they did not know their Ward 1 representative and they had not been asked their opinion on issues pertinent to the city," Sarvis said.

If elected, Sarvis said she would bring her skills as an administrator to the job.

"Finding out how the people feel about things, discussing issues with them and getting back with people as to why we're having to do certain things," Sarvis said. "As a principal, I always involved my teachers and my parents in decisions that were made, and I really got much greater results because after discussing it, we always came to the same conclusion."

One of her priorities is to give businesses greater incentives to come or stay in Powder Springs. She noted that the city lacks certain types of businesses, such as furniture stores and dress shops, that would bring in revenue and presumably keep taxes lower.

"A lot of our revenue goes outside the city of Powder Springs that could be staying here," she said. "It's important that we have greater revenue here because we have to support the city government and services."

Sarvis said she'd be an advocate for more activities for seniors.

"We have begun to renovate the (Ford) senior center, but there's more that needs to be done over there," she said.

She also said she wants to see the community theater renovation conducted by the George E. Ford Center Board of Directors be completed, as well as projects that have been undertaken by the Powder Springs Downtown Development Authority.

As an educator for 30 years, Sarvis said she'd foster a working relationship between the city government and public schools in Powder Springs. She said she would like students to study more of Powder Springs' history and be recognized, along with teachers, for their achievements at council meetings.

"I do think the council people should be in the schools, and that the children and the teachers be at the council meetings," she said.

She said the City Council has done "a good job," and the government worked well in the wake of last month's flood. However, there could have been better communication for residents about federal disaster assistance, she said.

Sarvis worked in education in Thomas and Fayette counties before she served as principal of Warren T. Jackson Elementary School in Buckhead, from 1990 to 1998, and Adamsville Elementary School in Atlanta, from 1998 to 2002. She retired from education in 2002.

She has served as past president of the Georgia Association of Educators, on the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, vice president on the Ford Center's board of directors, and on the Powder Springs Downtown Development Authority.

Sarvis graduated from Florida State University and earned a master's and specialist degrees from the University of Georgia. She and her husband, Glover, have lived in Powder Springs for seven years and have two grown sons. They attend Morrow United Methodist Church.