Good evening and happy weekend!

Since this petition went live, we reached over 1,000 signatures in about two weeks. Julia wrote an article for Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. We were on the front page of the Marietta Daily Journal ("Readers Rally" 4/18/25). Countless emails have been sent to the City, all ignored. I personally have heard from many of you about how Julia and The Book Worm has brought you joy and that makes me so happy.

I attended the Powder Springs Town Hall on Thursday 4/24/25 with Julia and several other supporters of The Book Worm. A few new concerns have arisen. This was streamed live on Facebook Live and as of 4/25/25 at 11:10 pm it is still up on Facebook on the "City of Powder Springs- News and Events" page.

1. When discussing the City's plans for a "story garden" Wayne Wright, ARPA/special projects manager, pointed out The Book Worm on a map and aerial photo, then stated, "back in '21 the City bought the rear half of that parcel from the Book Worm and it's given us the opportunity for something unique."
   • Julia, who bought The Book Worm in 2020, would like to correct this statement by saying the property now owned by the DDA was originally owned by the previous owner of The Book Worm. The sale of the store did not include the portion of land mentioned here. When she purchased the building, the previous owner still owned that strip of land and it was she who sold it to the DDA.
   • Mr. Wright, whether he knew this is what he was doing, admitted that there were meetings with Julia and the city took her idea of a story garden.
   • There is a rendering of the city's "story garden" that is shown at time stamp 1:04 on the facebook video of the town hall. This shows actual green space, along with seating. Julia states this was never presented to her by the City.
2. There is a new rendering of the building that is supposed to be built on the current parking lot. This shows a different, smaller building. It is unclear if this is a new rendering, but Mr Wright did show the original rendering and elaborate how it was designed by Georgia Power, so this leads us to believe that it is a new design.
3. During the Q&A portion of the town hall at timestamp 1:33, a citizen asked if there is already a restaurant tenant that has signed for this building (I believe the Mayor called it The Board Building?). Pam Conner, City Manager, said that at this time, there is not a tenant that has signed. The citizen then said "the developer is asking you to push forward arbitrarily, hoping that they can get someone to go in there to a sit down restaurant, even though there is all kinds of empty spaces downtown, am I hearing you correctly on that?" To this, Ms. Conner replies, "no (backed by laughter from the Mayor), you asked me if there was a tenant and that's your one question. You can get back in line [to ask another question]." No one ever asked her for clarification.
4. Q&A, timestamp 1:33:53: Julia asked to clarify some slides, mainly regarding the one with the deck that would eliminate The Book Worm's Story Garden. She acknowledged that this is a Q&A and said that she would not get into that at this time. During this meeting, there was much said about "attracting and retaining" business. Julia says, "as far as retention, you guys have mentioned community a lot, attracting and retaining. I see a lot of attracting new businesses. I took over in 2020, every business that came in after me is pretty much gone. What are we doing to retain ... particularly while construction is happening and we effectively have no parking." Marcellus Williams, economic development director, came to the podium and, to paraphrase, stated they connect businesses with financial and coaching resources. Julia rebutted with the fact that the resources mentioned are County driven and from outside organizations, and asked what the City does. He doubled down and said that that's what they do. The mayor interjects and states sarcastically, "we connect people with people." A commenter during the livestream called them out for taking traffic away from existing businesses by taking parking away, then essentially telling them to get a loan in order to stay open.
5. Q&A, timestamp 1:51: A citizen states, re: vacant buildings, "how are businesses supposed to sustain themselves... do we have enough people coming into the area to patronize the businesses to keep them going... they're closing and there's a reason. You can give them all the money you want, all the resources, but if people are not coming to patronize it, it doesn't make sense... So why are we building another building when we have vacant buildings and we're not doing anything." The Mayor laughed and compared this to Walmart and malls coming to the area. He said that they have to have "density" and people living in the downtown area. He failed to answer her question as to why a new restaurant is being built while so many store fronts remain empty. Tina Garver, community development director, joined and stated that people do not come to visit a downtown to come to one store. As someone who lives an hour away from Powder Springs, I wholly disagree. I come to Powder Springs ONLY to go to The Book Worm and I believe many other people do the same. They seem to think that "if you build it they will come" but I still can't help but wonder WHERE ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO PARK?!
6. Q&A, timestamp 1:58: Julia asks what the timeline for the building is, since there's no tenant. Ms Conner states the "park area" will be finished by June, but they are still going through the permit process for the building, which can take about 9 months. This is 9 additional months that the parking lot will have been demolished and sitting empty before construction can begin. Meanwhile, The Book Worm and other businesses downtown are losing revenue. 

TL;DR (too long; didn't read):
This town hall created more questions than it answered. It was full of generic, rehearsed, non-answers to genuine questions. 
The City continues to be extremely dismissive of concerns in the community.
Go to your local town halls and city council meetings, wherever you live. These are the people you vote for, and they need to know how they're doing! :) 

Independent Bookstore Day is Saturday 4/26. Please show your indies some love. Utilize Bookshop.org to shop online through an Indie of your choosing. If you're close enough, please visit The Book Worm. You might have to get creative with parking but I promise you that it will be worth your while. Tell them I sent you. Whatever you do, avoid Am*zon like the plague it is. 

Love,
Skylar