Mike and Janet

Smola moved to Tyrone in 1993 and have been very involved in the community

ever since. Janet became a member of the Fayette County Board of Education

two years ago. Now her husband, Mike, will join her as an elected official

after unseating incumbent Councilman Ronnie Cannon by 16 votes. The Smolas

are believed to be the first married couple in the county to hold local

office at the same time, but neither of them seem to think it will change

their relationship in any way.

The couple

has been married for 30 years and has lived in Massachusetts, Illinois

and New York before moving to Tyrone. Mike is a finance manager for ASA/Delta

Air Lines and Janet is a professional fund-raiser for nonprofit organizations.

As the years have progressed they became more active in the community,

starting with PTO meetings and heading up booster clubs. They are members

of the Republican Party and have worked with the Atlanta Red Cross, the

Chamber of Commerce and the United Way.

In 1999 the

SPLOST initiative failed by 65 percent. Janet got involved in trying to

get the next SPLOST passed. The next initiative failed as well, but only

by 1 percent. Janet then decided to run for a seat on the school board

during the next election and won. Mike then began to attend many of the

meetings with her, and started to get interested in the local political

scene.

Mike Smola

cited Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs when talking about his interest in politics.

"This discusses a person's needs during life as a person gets older

and begins self-actualization. As one gets older he or she can occupy

their time with politics."

The Smolas

do not see any conflicts of interest in the future and do not think they

will have to abstain from any voting due to either spouse's office.

Of their three

children, Evan is a freshman at the University of Georgia, while Zach

is a senior at Sandy Creek and Andrew is a freshman. The nights of their

meetings are on different nights, often during different weeks, so one

of them will always be home and available for their kids.

"Community

service has enriched all of the family's lives," said Janet Smola,

who was proud that Evan returned from UGA last week to vote in the elections.

"We never insisted that the boys become active in the community but

we have led by example."

Both Mike and

Janet Smola say they look forward to representing their community and

trying to keep Fayette County a special place for its citizens.