Electors of the Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District (GPCID), a self-taxing district that uses additional property taxes to accelerate infrastructure improvements, security enhancements and economic development in the Gwinnett Place area, held its annual Caucus of Electors on Wednesday, April 10, with the re-election a board member and the election of one new board member.

Current board member, Ondria Jett, was re-elected to serve a three-year board term. Ms. Jett has acquired 25 years of experience in commercial property management by managing capital and tenant improvements with a value of more than $100 million. As a Regional Manager for Banyan Street Capital, she is responsible for the oversight of nearly 3 million square feet of commercial property in Atlanta and New York, as well as annual business plans and budgets with a net operating income (NOI) of more than $45 million.

Ondria’s experience in commercial property management began as an Assistant Manager for a downtown Atlanta property that underwent a $26 million redevelopment. In her roles representing commercial property owners, Ondria has served as liaison for major tenants such as Salesforce, Google, RentPath, FDIC, Jacobs Engineering, National Financial Services Group, Wells Fargo and the GSA. Ondria was named CBRE Real Estate Manager of the Year in 2004, won the 2004 Building Owners and Managers Association Atlanta Office Building of the Year Award and served on the board for the Perimeter Transportation Coalition from 2007 to 2008.

The new board member, Romi Patel, Vice President, BHG Hotels, was elected to a three-year term. BHG Hotels is a family-owned business that invests in hospitality ventures in the Midwest and Southeastern hotel markets, including two hotels in the Gwinnett Place CID (Wyndham Garden-Duluth and Wingate by Wyndham-Duluth). Mr. Patel’s primary responsibility is to oversee all aspects of operations, playing a key role in keeping renovations updated in all BHG properties, and assisting with the development and expansion of the company’s hotel portfolio. Romi has been interested in the hospitality industry since a young age- witnessing his parents’ ambition, interning at hotels, and taking the initiative of expanding BHG. Romi graduated from Indiana University prior to joining BHG Hotels in 2011.

During the meeting, the CID board of directors recognized Mark Williams, who has served on the CID board since 2005. Mark has also been recognized by Commissioner Carden with a Gwinnett County Resolution. As a founding board member, chairman and secretary/treasurer for the CID, he has provided years of visionary guidance, exceptional leadership and unconditional commitment to the CID. Mark is the owner of Printing Trade Company – a full-service print company his family started 39 years ago. He has served in appointed and volunteer roles with numerous civic efforts countrywide and in the cities of Norcross and Duluth.

Leo Wiener, President of Ackerman Retail, and Trey Ragsdale, Manager of Public Affairs for Kaiser Permanente, were reelected as board chair and vice-chair. Board member Jill Edwards was elected to serve as the new secretary/treasurer of the Gwinnett Place CID. Ms. Edwards serves as Senior Vice President with United Community Bank.