History

Different Names, Similar Mission

• The history of our agency began around 1970 when the Cherokee Recreation Commission was formed under the guideline of the Georgia Recreation Enabling legislation.
• During the 1970’s the Commission evolved into an arm of county government as a Recreation & Parks department and the first director was hired in 1972.
• The Department continued as a county agency as the governing body transformed from a single-commissioner to a multi-commissioner (five-person) form of government in 1992.
• Three-and-a-half years later the five-person County Commission introduced local legislation and the Cherokee Recreation & Parks Authority was born on July 1, 1995 as a result of an act of the Georgia General Assembly, House Bill 951.
• The Authority was governed by a five-person board appointed by the County Commission and included one county commissioner appointed by the Commission Chair.
• The initial time frame for the Authority was five-and-a-half years, through December 31, 2000.
• In 1999, the County Commission again introduced local legislation and the Authority’s time frame was extended by the General Assembly’s House Bill 932 through December 31, 2010.
• In 2007, local legislation was introduced by the County Commission to dissolve the Authority after 12 years via the General Assembly’s House Bill 403.
• House Bill 403 became effective with the Governor’s signature and returned recreation and parks operations under county government as the Cherokee Recreation & Parks Agency.
• The Agency began operations on May 23, 2007.

Mission Statement

	Cherokee Recreation & Parks Agency "Quality People Delivering Quality Services for Your Quality of Life."
	Cherokee County Board of Commissioners The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners is dedicated to providing a "Superior Quality of Life" for its residents.
OUR GOAL: To preserve the Beauty, Unique Character, and Desirability of the Community where we live, work and play. OUR PROMISE: Listen to you; Respect your Rights; & Respect you with the highest standards of Ethics and Integrity. OUR COMMITMENT: Service Excellence & Continuous Improvement; Accelerate Infrastructure Improvements; State-of-the-art Public Safety facilities, training and personnel; Fiscal Responsibility & Conservative Planning to maintain lowest tax rates in ARC - Metro Atlanta.