What Does it Mean to be a City?

The word city is rooted in the Latin word civis, from which we also get words like citizen, civics, even civilization. Our main task as a city is to provide services – specifically to do certain things our citizenry has asked and authorized us to do. Our main goal is to improve quality of life by doing things as and for our community that individuals cannot do for themselves.

When we took over the reins of managing services for the new City of Tucker, we expected it would grow into much more than the three designated services outlined in our charter. Providing services like Code Enforcement, Planning and Zoning and Parks and Recreation are integral to our quality of life. We also expected that as we matured as an organization, developing and proving our proficiencies, we would seek to bring other services in-house, rather than continue to contract them out to third parties, as we did a year ago with stormwater and road maintenance.

But keeping our eye on the bigger picture, we continually ask ourselves questions like, “How is all this leading to a better quality of life?”, and “Is our community getting stronger?”.

The Tucker community existed before the formal city government for over a century. Tucker was a known place with a strong sense of civic pride. The community celebrated itself with the famous Tucker Day celebration, Taste of Tucker, Trunk or Treat and the Holiday Tree Lighting on Main. At the start of our incorporation, we vowed to not wrest these long traditions from our community volunteers and we have instead opted to support them, and add more community events to the lineup. In 2018, on a shoestring budget funded mostly with local sponsorships, we launched the inaugural TKR Summer of Fun with a Movie on Main, the July 3rd Celebration of Independence and Fireworks Spectacular and National Night Out in partnership with DeKalb County Police Department and the DeKalb County School District.

In the years since, we have expanded our community gatherings to monthly events in our parks like the Sip n’ Stroll and Adult Field Day. Our TKR Summer of Fun has filled out now with the First Friday Concert series and the Movie on the Green on the third Thursdays of the summer.

In 2021, we purchased the Cofer RV lot off Railroad and for the past year, staff and our contractor Barge have been designing and navigating all that is needed to create a signature downtown park and community space. Even though we are a year (or more) into this project it still feels like we are just beginning. It may be August before a shovel hits the dirt with an expected completion around 12 months later.

But why do we support and conduct all those activities? It’s contained in the phrase you’ve heard me use about nurturing Tucker as a place where a person can Live, Work, Play and Pray for their whole life. My goal is to create multiple opportunities for every one of our citizens to spend as much time close to home as possible. Because when we do, we run into our neighbors, local business owners, elected officials, faith leaders and so many others. We develop connections that are meaningful and durable. It’s what makes us a community and not just a city. It’s what makes Tucker home.

So, when you see announcements about events coming up, or the opening of a new park or business, stop by and make yourself at home. Because you are.