Clarkston, GA — The Clarkston City Council voted to appoint Shawanna Qawiy as Clarkston’s city manager at its regular meeting on June 7.

Qawiy has been serving as the interim city manager since the departure of Robin Gomez in September 2021, while concurrently serving as director of planning and development.

Mayor Beverly Burks and other council members congratulated Qawiy on her recent graduation from the Leadership DeKalb program.

In other business, The council also authorized an agreement with the Atlanta United Football Club,
LLC to host free youth soccer programs at Milam Park. Atlanta United will pay the city a fee of $2,700 for use of city soccer fields.

The city council deferred a memorandum of understanding to donate $40,000 of the city’s American Rescue Plan Act funds to Fresh Harvest for the purpose of food distribution to low income Clarkston residents. An original agreement passed in December 2021 that included purchase of a food truck was deemed an ineligible use of ARPA funds by city attorney Stephen Quinn.

Josh Deaton of Fresh Harvest will meet with Qawiy in order to work out a new agreement.

The city approved $125,000 in ARPA funds for Empower Clarkston to fund one year of their program, which will train 10 people in green construction skills on 10 houses.

The council appointed members to the Early Learning Task Force, including Clarkston residents Angel Chin, Eyelachew Desta, Ashli Owen-Smith, Maggie Deaton, expert members Amy Jaret, Julie Goldberg, Virginia Baker-Jeffcoat, Audrey Rodgers, Jennifer Green, Linda Travers, Alexandra Cesar Giselle, Janette Miles-Kendall, Nassra Mireh, and also including Roberta Malavenda, City Manager Shawanna Qawiy, Clarkston City Council member Jamie Carroll, and Vice Mayor Awet Eyasu.

As part of her report to the city council, Qawiy stated that Georgia Power will be installing the new chargers for electric vehicles on city property in the next few weeks.

The council issued proclamations for LGBT Pride Month; World Refugee Day; and Juneteenth. World Refugee Day is June 20. Clarkston will be holding a Juneteenth celebration on Saturday, June 18 on Market Street from 10 am to 2 pm.

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