by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
“I tell people that this job feels like a Godsend for me. I love it. I enjoy the debates and solving people’s problems.”
That’s how City Council member Art Graham describes what he does when he’s not working as a chemical engineer developing ways to handle the by-products of the paper industry.
His office at City Hall is more about business than his personal life. It’s decorated with souvenirs and mementos of past and future public and charitable projects.
Graham left a full-time job with Georgia-Pacific so he would have the 40 hours a week he devotes to public service.
“Basically, I needed flexibility. I couldn’t continue to work for Georgia-Pacific because I had to travel too much. So I started my own environmental engineering company that deals with paper mill by-products. It allows me to work for about a fourth of what I was making,” said Graham.