Segal Runs for City Council

Two years ago Richard Segal ran for the Douglasville City Council Ward 2 seat against Dennis McLain and had been considering running again in 2013. That would have been the earliest he could consider running, since he currently lives in Ward 2.

The city council, however, will vote tonight on whether to implement new election district boundaries which would put Segal in Ward 5, making him eligible to run in this year's Nov. 8 election, for the seat currently held by Terry Miller. (See Patch story on redistricting here.) Miller is vacating the seat to run for mayor. (See Patch story on Miller here.)

"It was unexpected," the California native said. "Everything depends on the city council's vote and subsequent approval from the U. S. Department of Justice."

Segal, who has lived in Georgia for the past 12 years,  lost to McLain by 41 votes two years ago and said that was the first time he had ever campaigned for anything.

Why is he running for city council?

"Because in my 11 years of living in Douglasville I've noticed some things I hope to improve upon," he said. "One example is the city-county governments. It's not what I'd call a very cooperative relationship. It's more political."

Segal currently works in the finance department for a large company in Atlanta and has spent the past 20 years working in the fields of accounting-finance and budgeting/planning. He has a Bachelors of Science and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach.

He believes his two business degrees as well as his real world experience will serve him well as a city councilman.

"I'd like to see a greater level of transparency," he said. "I'd also like to see the budget on-line. Carroll County has their SPLOST projects on their Website, as well as their weekly expenditures. I'd like the residents of Douglasville to be able to see how and where our government is spending money.

"I'd like to see more information on-line, like the redistricting map. There was an ad in the paper and the map was about this size (indicating a small area) in a later article. The map's available at the clerks office but I'd like to see it on-line so people could look at it at their leisure instead of standing in the clerk's office."

Segal said he doesn't believe a resident's responsibility ends when they step out of the voting booth.

"It's up to us to constantly monitor what they're voting on," he said. "I'd like to see more citizen involvement, more people at the city council meetings."

Segal is married to Rachel Segal and has a 10-year-old son, Ryan.

He can be contacted or followed via Twitter at @SegalDville, Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SegalForDouglasville, or email at segalfordouglasville@yahoo.com.