Mike Miller has been the mayor of Flowery Branch since 2010, but he told city council members Thursday night his tenure will end at the conclusion of his current term on December 31, 2021.
Miller said he needs to spend more time with his family.
"Most everybody in our community knows we've had some tragic events with some teenagers and some suicide issues here [recently] in Flowery Branch and that puts a spin on life," said Miller in an interview with AccessWDUN. "I've got 12 and 13-year-old sons that will be 13 and 14 at the end of my term and I'm getting to the point where I'm missing their activities...it's time to be a full-time dad for them."
Miller was elected to Flowery Branch City Council in November 2009 and elected by his fellow council members as Mayor pro-tem in May 2010.
"Just a matter of days after that, the mayor at the time Diane Hirling made the decision - her and her husband - to move back to Florida, so as of June 1, 2010, I was interim mayor," Miller said. He was elected in a special election in the fall of 2010 to fill Hirling's term and has been re-elected since that time.
Miller said when he was first elected, he had a 10-year plan in mind - projects he wanted to accomplish - but he said there were naysayers who didn't think he could bring his vision to reality.
"A lot of them just laughed," Miller said. "The first thing was a new city hall. I made it a goal within 10 years to get that done and we actually accomplished it in about seven-and-a-half years."
The renovation of the historic downtown area was another goal, and construction is moving along now on the south side of Main Street; the project - which includes a mixed-use building, a farmers market and a couple of parks - should be up and running by the time Miller leaves office.
"That seems like a good bookend to my tenure," Miller said.
Qualifying for the mayor's post, along with three at-large city council posts, is scheduled for Aug. 16-18. The election will be held Nov. 2.
