Former Athens-Clarke County planning commissioner Herb Gilmore is running for county commission on a platform of comprehensive planning and helping small businesses, he announced today.

An Old West Broad Street resident, Gilmore is running for George Maxwell's District 3 seat. (Maxwell is not running for re-election.) The district includes the Hancock Corridor, Rocksprings, Cobbham, Boulevard and Normaltown neighborhoods in central Athens.

Here's his full announcement:

Herb Gilmore, a native Athenian, businessman and civic leader, is announcing his candidacy for the Athens-Clarke County District 3 Commissioner position being vacated by ACC Commissioner George Maxwell.

Gilmore sees economic development as a key issue. “We need to do more to assist small business so as to increase their chances of success, as well as to help the manufacturing, service, entertainment, arts and hospitality industries expand.”

He called for comprehensive plans for development, social improvement, and marketing for Athens-Clarke County.  “We need to plan ahead to develop and maintain a more sustainable community that is better educated, more prepared and poised to attract more business and industries that offer higher paying jobs,” Gilmore said. “This type of environment is generally much stronger, more insightful to the needs of its citizens, and is more creative, inventive, entrepreneurial and productive.  It should be our goal to create a sustainable community which includes more economic stability and that offers its citizens the opportunity to advance financially.”

Gilmore also feels that a strong partnership should be forged with The University of Georgia, Athens Technical College and other educational and social institutions in our area to better utilize the resources in education and services that they possess.

For 19 years, Gilmore has served as executive vice president and chief compliance officer of Business Success, Inc., a firm that provides training and management consulting to small and medium-sized businesses as well as the healthcare, education, government and nonprofit sectors.

From October 1996 through June 2008 he served on the Athens-Clarke County Planning Commission, including a term as chairman. Gilmore was also the inaugural executive director of the Morton Theater Corporation, March 1983 to September 1984.

A native Athenian, Gilmore is a graduate of The University of Georgia in Athens and Clarke Central High School.