Galambos, Eva C.

Mayor Eva Galambos has lived in Sandy Springs for almost five decades. She is a retired economist specializing in urban finance and labor economics. She has also served as an arbitrator resolving disputes between labor and management. She was president of Committee for Sandy Springs from 1975-2005 leading the effort to incorporate Sandy Springs. She is a co-founder and former secretary of Sandy Springs Revitalization; founder of Sandy Springs Clean and Beautiful; chairwoman of services committee for the Sandy Springs Council of Neighborhoods; former chairwoman of the Fulton County Public Housing Authority and founder of Sandy Springs Civic Roundtable. Ms. Galambos has a Ph.D. in economics from the Georgia State University, holds a masters degree in labor and industrial relation from the University of Illinois and a bachelor in business administration from the University of Georgia. She is married, has three adult children, six grandchildren and resides in the Bentwater neighborhood of Sandy Springs. In her spare time Ms. Galambos and her husband enjoy spending time with the family, hiking and gardening.

In 1851 Wilson Spruill donated five acres (two hectares) of land for the founding of the Sandy Springs United Methodist Church, near the sandy spring for which the city is named. In 1905 the Hammond School was built at Johnson Ferry Road and Mt. Vernon Highway, across the street from the church. After World War II, Sandy Springs experienced a housing boom, bringing new residents and major land development. In the 1960s and 1970s, Georgia 400 and Interstate 285 connected Sandy Springs to metro Atlanta. Debate over incorporation began in the 1970s when the city of Atlanta attempted to use a state law to force annexation of Sandy Springs. The attempt failed when the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that the law was unconstitutional. In response, the Committee for Sandy Springs was formed in 1975. In every legislative session since 1989, state legislators representing the area introduced a bill in the Georgia General Assembly to authorize a referendum on incorporation. Legislators representing the city of Atlanta and southwestern Fulton County blocked the bills using the procedural requirement that all local legislation be approved first by a delegation of representatives from the affected area. In early 2005, the procedural rules previously used to prevent a vote by the full chamber were changed so that the bill was handled as a state bill and not as a local bill. The referendum initiative was approved by the Assembly and signed by Governor Sonny Purdue. The Assembly also repealed the requirement that new cities must be at least three miles from existing cities, because the new city limits border both Roswell and Atlanta. The referendum was held on June 21, 2005, and residents voted 94% to 6% in favor of incorporation. Many residents expressed displeasure with county services, claiming that the county was redistributing revenues to fund services in less financially-stable areas of the county, ignoring local opposition to rezoning, and allowing excessive development. Many residents of unincorporated and less-developed south Fulton County strongly opposed incorporation, fearing the loss of tax revenues which fund county services. Mayor Galambos and six city council members were elected in early November 2005, and formal incorporation occurred on December 1. The six city council districts are roughly northwest (along the Chattahoochee River), northeast (north of Dunwoody), southwest, southeast, east (along Georgia 400), and central.