Tom Taylor represents Georgia House District 79, which includes the recently incorporated City of Dunwoody, part of Chamblee, and part of unincorporated North DeKalb County. Tom resigned as a City Councilman for Dunwoody to run to fill the House seat being vacated by State Representative Fran Millar. Prior to his elected service in Dunwoody and running for the House, Tom served as Vice President (and later President) of Citizens for Dunwoody, Inc. and is a founding board member of that organization. Tom was a driving force in that organization and provided leadership during many key endeavors including the legislative process and incorporation effort where he set the political strategy and also formed and served as President of the Dunwoody Action Committee PAC. He led multiple initiatives during the planning and implementation process, including serving as Chair of the Police Task Force. Tom was elected to the original Dunwoody City Council and was instrumental in the successful startup of the new government. Tom’s latest accomplishment was serving as point person for the city in the Georgia General Assembly that resulted in passage of HB-203 in the 2010 session. This bill transferred all of the county-owned parks and other properties in the city limits to Dunwoody, as well as $7 million in bond proceeds for Brook Run, Dunwoody’s largest park. Tom’s proudest accomplishment as he leaves city government for the State House is that the new city has exponentially improved service delivery and responsiveness without raising a single tax or fee. The "Proof in the Pudding" here is that successful conservative governance allows Dunwoody to move into its third year of operations in December 2010 with a $3 million surplus.
Representative Taylor also brings extensive, hands on business and financial management experience to the table. Beginning his career in the telecom industry with AT&T, Tom transitioned to the defense and military contracting industries in the early 1990’s. In senior management roles with both Rockwell International Tactical Systems, and DynCorp International, Taylor managed a variety of sensitive defense programs with multi-million dollar budgets for both the U.S. government as well as customers worldwide. He is a veteran of the United States Navy, with 21 years of combined active and reserve service. Taylor earned an undergraduate degree from Georgia State University in International Relations and Economics and an MBA in International Business.
In addition to Citizens for Dunwoody and later Dunwoody City Council, Taylor served as a board member on the Dunwoody Homeowners Association and the Executive Committee of the DeKalb Republican Party. He has worked as a parent volunteer at Kingsley Elementary and Peachtree Charter Middle School. He also coached youth soccer at the Ashford-Dunwoody YMCA for 18 seasons. Taylor is a native of Boca Raton, Florida and has lived in the Dunwoody area for 22 years. He and his wife of 26 years, Wendi, have an 18-year-old son, Keith, who is a sophomore in a dual degree program at Georgia Tech and North Georgia College.
