Georgia House of Representatives District 41 candidate surveys, 2022
From Ballotpedia
This article shows responses from candidates in the 2022 election for Georgia House of Representatives District 41 who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
- Click here to see candidates and election results.
- Click here to see Candidate Connection survey responses.
Candidates and election results
General election
General election for Georgia House of Representatives District 41
Incumbent Michael Smith defeated James Allen Rodi in the general election for Georgia House of Representatives District 41 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Michael Smith (D) | 71.0 | 11,336 |
 | James Allen Rodi (R)  | 29.0 | 4,630 | |
| Total votes: 15,966 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey responses
Ballotpedia asks all federal, state, and local candidates to complete a survey and share what motivates them on political and personal levels. The section below shows responses from candidates in this race who completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
Survey responses from candidates in this race
Click on a candidate's name to visit their Ballotpedia page.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
| Collapse all
James Allen Rodi (R)
Housing Policy
Small Business Growth & Development
Engaged Representational Governance
Small Business Growth & Development
Engaged Representational Governance
James Allen Rodi (R)
I believe that our built environment shapes the character and quality of our community. The area we now live is largely subdivisions with struggling retail. Our main corridors of Austell Rd, Windy Hill Rd, E/W Connector and Powder Springs Rd are too often congested and lacking the vibrancy of other communities in the metro area. I believe a greater civic dialog can be cultivated that helps to stimulate the vitality of our community. Several of us fought to preserve the SPLOST funding for the rebuild of Osborne High School and the Career Academy which has nearly doubled enrollment in two years. There is more work to do. The housing choices that are available though our zoning codes are limited because of lack of a meaningful solution-oriented conversation. If we don't stand together and build a better world for our small builders (70% of whom died in the great recession) and our locally owned and operated small businesses we will see a further erosion of our personal freedoms and liberties. Housing, Real Estate wealth and small business wealth are the reason that we have a middle class. Very few people create significant wealth though corporate roles. Now is the time to review the fundamental characteristics of how land use policy is conducted in our county as organized by our state constitution.
Small Business Owners where crippled by our local COVID policies. Eviction Mandates may have preserved quality of lives for tenants but the landlords suffered hardships.
James Allen Rodi (R)
I love they way Kasiem Reed stood up to so many great challenges in the city of Atlanta. His support for the Atlanta Beltline, local parks and bicycle infrastructure were courageous and needed. He brought our city closer together. Andrew Young branded us as a city to busy to hate and Reed closed that gap better than anyone else so far. Reed worked with Gov. Nathan Deal to resolve our pathetic response to treacherous roads in the winters by adding to our cold weather fleets which influenced the salt depots that we have all across the state now. I could not have been more impressed with the way Reed engaged Andrew Young and Local Police and held a live cast from police head quarters to create a productive dialog over racial tensions and rioting. He personally stopped people from going onto the interstates. His engagement with Andrew Young and Young's personal stories from his work with Martin Luther King Jr were valuable in shaping the thoughts and minds of our city at a difficult time. No one is perfect and I expect others will recall criticisms of Reed. He was courageous when we needed his courage and that was a valuable asset to teach from in the role of Mayor.
Governor Roy Barnes was probably one of the most brilliant governors in modern times. His creation of the Community Improvement Districts and his role in developing the Atlantic Steel site into the Atlantic Station that we have today took a lot of urban planning insight and organizational skills when many different organizations had to work together to working out the permitting, environmental work and anchor tenant recruitment. Locally, Barnes and Olens crafted a form-based code system for the future City of Mableton that could one day be recognized as a key factor in creating the housing choice that our current housing crisis calls for. This is one of the reasons that I'm running for office. I believe that the requirements on our provisions for land use can be enhanced to help ...
James Allen Rodi (R)
From a leadership perspective, I believe the movie American Gangster is particularly valuable. Contextually, I don't support, murder, drug dealing, violence and corruption and the world he was involved in. Frank Lucas saw opportunity when he was faced with it and he found a way to get to the finish line in-spite of the cultural obstacles in front of him. He learned his trade from the Italians and to that point in time African Americans had not achieved the level of proficiency in delivery systems. Lucas built relationships based on respect and loyalty and he delivered on his word. At the end of the day he knew what he was doing was wrong and he accepted responsibility for his actions.
I believe each and everyone one of us can accept personal responsibility for the opportunities and passion that have been knitted into our DNA by a grand creator. It's work to uncover and explore what we are capable of. We must purse it if we are to find out who we are made to be. The movie Meet the Robinsons is a great companion to these qualities as is Queen's Gambit.
James Allen Rodi (R)
Listening is probably the most important and to stay engaged and accessible to the member of the district. Leaving an incredible model of leadership that encourages others to accept greater challenge in their own lives is after that. We must raise the bar, it's been around our ankles since the TV was invented.
James Allen Rodi (R)
Leadership - I'm a courageous leader, in most situations, I'm able to engage and grow in leadership ability. I listen and put the pieces together well.
Ideation - I'm extraordinary at listening, understanding and proposing constructive solutions to problems. I love it when my ideas are stolen.
Champion / Encourager - I leave my mark on engaging people to become better versions of themselves.
James Allen Rodi (R)
Housing Choice is not that hard of a problem to solve. The built environment can be so much more than it is now. The social experiment of suburban sprawl become very clear when you look at it from a taxable / revenue value per acre perspective. The examples of working solutions are already in our communities. My contributions will be in housing, community development and quality of life through cultural transformation.
James Allen Rodi (R)
I remember watching the Challenger Explode on national television. We were at home because it was a snow day and were playing Atari video games. I was 16 in January 28th 1986. I remember thinking that everything that happens in our country doesn't always turn out for the best.
James Allen Rodi (R)
My first job was working at a local barbershop as a cleanup person when I was 13 years old. I rode by bike about a mile to the local Service Merchandise shopping center on Memorial Drive and and swept up the hair on Saturdays and dusted the entire store. I made $1.50 an hour and a coke cola and had to get a work permit. I did that for at least a year. When we moved to Cobb County I was 15 years old. I got a job a the Shoney's on Cobb Parkway and rode my 10 speed bike to work and made $5.50 and hour. I received a raise my first week on the job after that I started a lawn mowing business and built my business up to about 10 yards that I cut every couple of weeks. I sold the business to my brother when I left for college and my 10% share of the profits paid for my gas though college.
James Allen Rodi (R)
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. The juxtapositional redemption of a wonky life well lived will make you weep and hence will end up washing your soul. A lot things can happen with a clean soul. I've recommend this book so many times.
I'm also a great fan of biographies of well known missionaries.
James Allen Rodi (R)
Donald Miller wrote a book titled "Blue Like Jazz" and then turned that book into a timeless indie-classic movie. I've watched that movie more than 40 times and ended up modeling about 4 years worth of writing on his pattern of redemption. My writing found a decent following on instagram until during the wave of canceling on big technology platforms one day my account was removed without notice. I believe my work was a great response to Blue Like Jazz and likely could have found a similar following had it been turned into print. Want is a poor choice of words, I did.
James Allen Rodi (R)
I'm a huge Taylor Swift fan. I love her whimsical insightful lyrics. The is a true master of her craft. Other than Taylor, I love to get the Katy Perry's Roar in my head and Michael Jackson usually a go to when in need inspiration.
James Allen Rodi (R)
Cancel Culture in my Swing Dance community and in my Real Estate Brokerage is a real bummer. I miss the centrifuge of cultural influencers. Bullies are everywhere in every shape and form. It's best to make your own path and not get caught up counting wrongs when there are many open doors when you look at things from God's perspective.
James Allen Rodi (R)
I believe that good leadership starts in our local communities. An engaged constitutionally literate community builds a strong case for legislation. We you see a strong vibrant community working together to create a vision to solve problems locally and build engaging face to face dialog, I believe you will also see that same sprit in the state legislature with the office of governor. No one succeeds alone. The culture at Home Depot in the 1990s was to create a robust dialog where everything got out on the table and was filled with passion. The entrepreneurial culture and strong leadership ensure good solutions. I see that spirit in a number of people running for office this season on the heals of lots of big government socialism.
James Allen Rodi (R)
I believe that the greatest challenge is to get our communities to understand the 'we' part of local, state and national government. Often I hear people talking about elected roles using the word 'they' when in all reality it's only a 'we' pronoun that ever enables a constructive solution. It's easy to point fingers when something is wrong or broken, and complaining only sours the pot. We need 'we' thinkers that aren't willing to take what is handed to them. We need local people that go out there and get what we need in our communities accomplished. The hopeless mentality of everything is doomed does not feed our future selfs and our successive generations well. Hopeful courage and a willingness to get out there an do the things that need to be done is the legacy that I will leave for people to model. No one is perfect and I certainly am not, but I am made for shepherding the community that I serve and I will do it with the greatest enthusiasm and energy. Rich Golick was my representative for many years, every time I went to Rich with something, he listened to me, investigated what was happened and created really good changes. Rich was an extraordinary example to follow as a community engaged local representative.
We have too many people winning at dividing people when we need a constructive local culture. We've suffered by not having a robust picture of our history presented in our educational systems and through our local arts and history organization. We we promote social justice with a mentality of victimhood we end up with hurt people continuing to cause hurt in our society when what we really need is to become whole. People who will leave people hurt and angry leave a wake for our neighborhoods that is bad blood and often leaves justice in their very hands. The role of faith in a person's live looks to an trustworthy judge to reconcile bad behavior, when we take justice into our own hands we remain angry and can create more damage in our local world
James Allen Rodi (R)
The checks and balances of local and more regional representation in two chambers helps create better policy. Sometimes policy can move too fast for the people at home and the process we have for approving laws helps keep engagement and participation healthy in government. Once you have a law created, it takes legal challenges to reframe that policy. It's best to get it right the first time even if it takes 5 years to get the policy right.
James Allen Rodi (R)
I believe that my work in the community helping to bring people together has been helpful. I'm grateful for the window into the practice and participation at the county level that Chairwoman Lisa Cupid extended to me was very beneficial in my development. Politics happens at a lot of different levels in ones life. The role of creating change in the culture of a local hardware store can happens with the way you engage and treat people and the level of excellence that you bring to the game. I was able to create a leadership culture in my swing dance community by serving the people who were new to the dance community by participating in the first timers class. I believe that having a few people around you that are willing to model and teach good habits and behaviors are quite helpful. Anyone with enough drive and want will find a way to learn what they need to learn to be successful. In my 10 years of sales experience I've found that people buy value and when you show them that value they will buy into it. A credible authentic professional is a valuable guide at the legislative level.
James Allen Rodi (R)
I believe that good healthy working relationships with people of a variety of perspectives in healthy in many areas especially in the role of making laws. I asked a freshman legislator what he learned in his first year and this was his answer to build great relationships with others.
James Allen Rodi (R)
We have a lot of broken parts in our system of elections and I don't believe that redistricting is the greatest obstacle at this moment. I believe we have some work to do getting our communities to read, participate and understand our constitutional process and they ways it can be subverted. Communities need to have participation and engagement. They days that you can draw lines based on the color of ones skin are quickly coming to an end and as more local neighbors are able to have good honest respectful conversations about politics and religion the better we will become. The things that don't get talked about leave us with ignorance and ignorance creates bullies. We can move past this state of being.
James Allen Rodi (R)
House Study Committee on Regulation, Affordability and Access to Housing - I believe the clues for housing choice are embedded in places like the Midtown Garden District which has a wide variety of choice at all price points. Improvements to our requirements to provisions around comprehensive planning and rezoning are needed. My experience as a Real Estate Developer, Residential Realtor and a Commercial Multifamily Investment Advisor will be valuable here.
Banks & Banking - Our small builders base has been destroyed, we can rebuild it with good policies around lending to first time builder developers. State Planning & Community Affairs - Comprehensive Planning is due for an update and so are our 6 criteria that we place on local municipalities during rezoning proposals. Small Business Development - It's time to increase the velocity and support we give to small businesses and I believe this can be accelerated through our primary and secondary education systems. Lending, land use and Real Estate/Developer Mathematics are core skills needed to enhance participation in the urban and suburban planning. Special Committee on Election Integrity - As a Poll Manager, I understand how our process works and what we can do to regain the confidence or our local voters. Transparency and Integrity in the individual ballots cast and the reporting systems are paramount. Creative Arts & Entertainment - As a sculptor and writer, I know first hand how local arts can affect the mentality and vibe or an area. Local arts engagement and participation is a healthy component of a growing society that solves, resolves and responds its own problems. The role of the artist as prophet and shaman is as important as local gardening skills. When people participate in growing at a local level it changes the way they respond to challenges.
Human Relations & Aging - With aging parents, I understand first hand the opportunities we have to create better built environments to serve ourcommunites
James Allen Rodi (R)
Scott Hilton, Ed Setzler, Roy Barnes, Phillip Singleton
James Allen Rodi (R)
I'm interested in the roles of County Commission, State Senator, Lt Governor and Governor.
James Allen Rodi (R)
I'm impressed with the lives of many members of my community. Local educator Valerie Goodson is a personal hero of mine. Valerie is a great example of a lifelong learner who care about her community. Helping Valerie helps our community succeed. When rezoning signs pop up in our community, I'm one of the first people she calls. We vet out what is happening and work to bring the local community and developers together so we can frame the needs of all parties into something that fits the designs and plans we have locally. We worked with a developer on E Callaway road and created good harmony on a project that pushed cars to the rear and will make our corridor much healthier.
Local Pastor Harry Valdez is a great role model. Pastor Valdez built the church he pastors now at Templo De Trinidad by driving the bus to pick up members, he preached the sermon, he drove the bus to return people back to their communities and then he enlisted leaders to preform the roles vital to the operation of the church. He's a active learner and a valuable member of our community.
My mechanic Alejandro is an extraordinary man who is the son of a Colombia Senator. His lessons on history and local politics are a valuable source of education for me as are the stories of my neighbor Abebee former Ethiopian Ambassador and Secretary of Commerce. Major Bullock is also a valuable member of my community as a educator and a visionary into problems we can solve in our community.
James Allen Rodi (R)
The legislature should have veto power over emergency powers that are used unjustly.
James Allen Rodi (R)
I believe that if you can get 85% of what you want in legislation that is being proposed that you are willing. Politics is a game of trading to get things done. The best people do their leg work up front and socialize their policy with key stakeholders so that the support for legislation is well rounded considered by a variety of perspective. This is the practice of leadership that I gained from experience leading large projects in Supply Chain/Distribution at The Home Depot in the 1990s and 2000s. Any idea is as good as the support you can gain from making it a shared solution. The work of policy making is to recognize the need and to build consensus and support. I was famous for using this approach in my work in Ministry among singles under Dr. Charles Stanley. I was able to train and develop numerous leaders because I say the passion that lit people up and I used that to build events and community that fueled an exciting and engaging level of energy that led to many strong marriages. People love a culture of collaboration and it's important to help other achieve their dreams.
See also
More about these elections:
Select a district below to read responses from candidates in those races:
