To the residents of Roswell and members of the press, 

I have read the recent letters written by former elected officials about the current administration and the direction of our city. I know many of the individuals who signed them. I have worked alongside almost all of them. I respect their years of service, and I know their concerns come from a place of love for this city. I share that love. But I also believe it is important to tell the full story: from the perspective of someone who has worked inside City Hall through nearly every administration of the past decade and only recently left for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 

This is not a political response. This is my story, and what I witnessed firsthand while serving 22 elected officials, three mayors, and countless residents. 

I began working for the City of Roswell in 2015 as Executive Assistant to the City Council. I served under Nancy Diamond, Rich Dippolito, Jerry Orlans, Kent Iglehart, Becky Wynn, and Betty Price. I later supported Mike Palermo, Don Horton, Marcelo Zapata, and Mayor Jere Wood. I went on to manage the Mayor’s Office under Mayor Lori Henry, working alongside Matt Tyser, Matt Judy, Marie Willsey, and Sean Groer. In 2023, I returned to City Hall at the request of Mayor Kurt Wilson, serving with Councilmembers David Johnson, Will Morthland, Allen Sells, Lee Hills, Christine Hall, and Sarah Beeson. 

Over that time, I saw leadership at its best, and at its most dysfunctional. 

I was in the mayor’s office for the now-infamous yellow ball project. I was questioned by the FBI when Councilmember Kent Iglehart was arrested. I was at City Hall when word spread that the judge had ruled Mayor Jere Wood ineligible for a third term. The staff found out while he was in flying lessons; he had to land the plane to hear the news, and City Hall buzzed with uncertainty, while some, like Don Horton, believed they might soon be mayor. 

I sat through long committee meetings about the City Green project, which was debated for years yet never came to fruition and over a million dollars were wasted. I listened to ongoing conversations about historic homes: Mimosa Hall, Bulloch Hall, Smith Plantation, and how expensive they were to maintain, yet no real strategy was ever put in place to preserve them sustainably. 

I was in the room when the need to replace Roswell’s aging clay pipes was discussed under Mayor Wood. It was acknowledged. It was serious. But it was deferred. 

I answered the phone when residents from the Housing Authority called about terrible living conditions: mold, leaks, unsafe environments, and when I brought those concerns forward, I was told, “That’s not the city’s issue.” 

I witnessed Mayor Lori Henry do the right thing by listening to the Groveway community and helping preserve Doc’s Café, only to fail to create any plan to restore, use, or honor it afterward. 

I watched issues repeatedly delayed or abandoned: Oxbo Road, the downtown parking garage, and improvements to the Riverside corridor. And I watched as Mayor Jere Wood used bonds for capital projects but failed to fully roll back the millage rate when those debts were repaid, quietly growing the government on the backs of residents. 

I left City Hall in 2020. Not because I stopped loving Roswell, but because the leadership environment had become angry, divided, and without vision. I believed I could do more by trying to serve at another level of government. 

Three years later, Mayor Kurt Wilson asked me to return. I did not come back because it was easy. I came back because I saw something different. We spent hours discussing what the right thing for the city was. He made very difficult choices because he believed they were needed. I watched him spend hours developing trust and respect with the City Council. And I say this with honesty: he does what he believes is the right decision, with the clear understanding that if voters disagree, they will vote him out. He does not make decisions to stay in office; he makes them because he believes they are in the best interest of Roswell, even when that is not politically advantageous. 

Is Mayor Wilson perfect? No. No leader is. But I have never worked for someone more willing to apologize when wrong, more open to hard conversations, or more focused on doing what he genuinely believes is best for Roswell, even when it is unpopular. 

Yes, people are upset. They should ask questions. But we should also be honest about where we came from. Many of the problems we are now confronting: infrastructure, aging facilities, financial sustainability, historic preservation, did not appear overnight under this administration. They were decades in the making. 

We can honor the service of former officials and still acknowledge that not everything was perfect under their leadership. We can disagree without calling one another untruthful or irresponsible. We can love Roswell enough to fight for it, without tearing it apart. 

Roswell is a place people love deeply; that is why these conversations matter. But I left City Hall once because leadership was broken. I came back because I saw leadership that was willing to fix what had long been ignored. That is my truth, and I am willing to stand by it publicly. 

I hope we choose to move forward, not backward. I hope we choose solutions over slogans and community over conflict. 

May God bless Roswell and the people who care enough to serve her, past, present, and future.

With respect,

Katrina Singletary

Note: This is an opinion article as designated by the the category placement on this website. It is not news coverage. If this disclaimer is funny to you, it isn’t aimed at you — but some of your friends and neighbors honestly have trouble telling the difference.