Thank you for volunteering to help in my re-election campaign. This is the first of weekly e-mails that I plan to send out to all volunteers between now and November 3rd, election day.

The next campaign event will be a fundraiser on Wednesday evening, August 12th, at 7:30 p.m. at my mother’s house on Stroup Road. We need help accepting donations, serving food and drinks, driving a shuttle van, and setting up and cleaning up. If you have time to help, please e-mail the campaign.

On August 13th, everyone is invited to a mayoral debate at the Doubletree Hotel on Holcomb Bridge Road, reception at 6:00 p.m., debate to begin at 7:00 p.m.

We have not settled on a slogan for the campaign. Below is a list of possibilities. If you have a preference or any other suggestions, please e-mail the campaign.

Build Roswell with Wood

Roswell Rocks

Roswell Runs Well

Roswell Runs Well / Wood Works

Roswell, Built by You with Wood

Roswell, Jere Wood, Just Solid

Roswell, Where You Make it Happen, Jere Wood for Mayor

Getting Better All The Time

Nobody Is Better

Wood Works

Wood - Proven, Sturdy Leadership

Wood - Proven Leadership

Wood Makes Things Better

Wood Makes Things Best

Wood Makes Things Great

Wood - The Best Is Yet to Come

Wood - Keeping Roswell Great

Great and Getting Greater with Wood

Build “Green” With Wood

Great + Wood = Greater

Best + Wood = Even Better

With your help, we will win this election and make Roswell an even better place to live.

Thank you for your comments and suggestions for a campaign slogan. We have a lot of good ideas but still have no consensus on what the slogan should be.

Chad Hagan has been making calls to volunteers to build our campaign team. Eddie Mathis, Bill Largin, and Jim Taudte have been working on our website and database. Lalit Janak, our intern, is back at Alpharetta High School, but he still has time to update my Facebook from time to time.

I met with Nancy Diamond, Peter Vanstrom, Jim Pollock, and other potential candidates to discuss the Roswell Council races.

Most of my time this week has been spent preparing for the Mayor’s Roast on Wednesday night and the debate on Thursday night. We are planning for 125 guests at the roast Wednesday night. Jay Barnett will be cooking barbecue, Bobby Fierman and the Bow Ties will be providing music, and Moby and the Mayors and other Roswell notables will be roasting me.

If you are coming to the Mayor’s Roast Wednesday night and have not R.S.V.P.’d, please do so by e-mailing me at mayorwood@mayorwood.com.

At Thursday night’s debate at the Holiday Inn on Holcomb Bridge Road just west of GA 400, starting at 7:00 p.m. sharp, I will be talking about my record and my vision for Roswell.

It’s All Good!

Jere Wood

RE: Re-Elect Jere Wood Campaign

Thank you for coming to the first campaign meeting and volunteering to help in my campaign. With your help, I will be re-elected as mayor and continue to make Roswell even better.

For photos and minutes of the of the volunteer meeting, you can go to http://www.mayorwood.com/campaign_info.cfm or click on Campaign Information in the side bar menu.     

As discussed, you can help in my re-election campaign by:

1. Encouraging your friends to consent to being added to my e-mail list by e-mailing me at mayorwood@mayorwood.com or by going to my website at www.mayorwood.com
 and clicking on the “Get E-mail Updates” link in the left side bar. 

2. Join my Re-Elect Jere Wood Facebook group page.  If you do not have a Facebook account, Bill Largin has volunteered to help.  You can contact Bill at bill.largin@gmail.com, or call him at 404-625-7468. 

3. If you do not already have a yard sign and you would like one, you can pick one up  at the campaign office.  Ask your friends and neighbors if they would allow us to put up a sign in their yard also.  You can also pick up signs at the campaign office, 1173 Canton Street, or we can put one up upon request addressed to yardsigns@mayorwood.com. 

4. More than anything else, talking to your friends and neighbors about Roswell issues and why you support my re-election is the most important thing you can do.  Word of mouth is the most effective tool in a campaign. 

 The next events will be a fundraiser in early August, a debate the evening of August 13th at the Doubletree Hotel in Roswell, and a second volunteer meeting in mid August. 

 If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact me at mayorwood@mayorwood.com or call me at campaign headquarters, 770-641-1923. 

 Thank you again for all of your help.

JULY 22, 2009

Fifty-five people attended the first campaign volunteer meeting. An additional twenty-one people volunteered to work in the campaign in response to the invitation to this meeting, but did not attend the meeting.

The meeting was held at 7:30 p.m. at the 1810 log cabin of Jere Wood and Judie Raiford on Stroup Road in Roswell. The meeting began with a discussion of what the volunteers thought the issues would be in the upcoming mayor’s race. Among the issues were:

• Traffic and plans for transportation improvements.
• The economy and how Roswell is responding.
• Roswell’s image as being unfriendly to business.
• Roswell’s lack of success in redevelopment.
• Lingering resentment to Mayor Wood’s early support for the East Roswell proposal, despite his later withdrawal of support.

Mayor Wood stated that the goal of the campaign was to win 5,000 votes. In 2007, 6,200 votes were cast out of 46,000 registered voters, a 14% turnout. In 1997, 9,173 votes were cast out of 32,000 registered voters, a 23% turnout for Jere’s first race for mayor.

Jere plans to personally call and e-mail registered voters and make personal appearances. He is setting up luncheons with business owners to discuss how to make Roswell more business friendly.

Jere introduced some of his campaign team members:

• Eddie Mathis is hosting Jere’s Wood’s campaign website, www.mayorwood.com.
• Bill Largin is managing Internet technology for the campaign and Jere’s e-mail account, mayorwood@mayorwood.com.
• Lalit Janak, a senior at Alpharetta High School, will be managing volunteers and posting a daily blog on his experiences in the campaign at lalitjanak.blogspot.com.
• Marisa Negri, a student at UGA, is assisting Jere with Facebook, the Mayor Jere Wood personal page, and Re-Elect Jere Wood group page.
• Karen Negri will be answering the campaign telephone, number 770-641-1923, at campaign headquarters, 1173 Canton Street, Roswell, Georgia.
• Melanie Vogan with Atlanta Telepoductions, and Jim Hirz, with Professional Video Imaging, will be shooting video for the campaign.
• Ron Sherman is the campaign’s official photographer.
• Bruce Peoples will be conducting focus groups to determine what issues are important to the voters.
• Jim Taudte, CPA, is serving as the campaign treasurer.
• Judie Raiford is in charge of keeping Jere in line.

The mayor asked the volunteers to:

1. Send in their e-mail address to be added to his list and ask their friends and neighbors to consent to being added to the mayor’s e-mail list.
2. Join the Mayor Jere Wood and Re-Elect Jere Wood Facebook pages.
3. Take a yard sign and ask their neighbors and friends for locations to place yard signs.

The next campaign event will be a fundraiser in early August, followed by a second volunteer meeting in mid-August.

Jere closed by asking everyone to talk to their friends and neighbors about Roswell issues and why they support Jere Wood. Word of mouth is the most effective tool in any political campaign.