Greetings From Canton City Council

Happy New Year! I'm Farris Yawn, your newly elected Ward 3 Canton City Councilman. Some of you may know me from my previous term as a councilman, but for those who do not, allow me to introduce myself.

My family moved to Canton 45 years ago, and we were welcomed with open arms and hearts. I'm a graduate of Cherokee HS where I met many wonderful people, many of whom are still friends today. Most importantly, I met my wife, the incredible Stacy Westbrook Yawn, on my first day in homeroom.

Stacy and I live in River Green with our two pugs, Pugslee and Wednesday. I own and operate two Canton businesses: Yawn Publishing, LLC, and Yawn's Bookkeeping. My wife's family also owns several businesses in Canton.

After moving my bookstore to downtown Canton, I wanted the area to be returned to the vital center I remembered from my youth. So, I started looking for ways to increase customer traffic.

I thought one way to help downtown Canton business owners was to create a merchant's association. Members included retail businesses, restaurants, attorneys, doctors, and nonprofit organizations. We published a newsletter and met regularly to share information, events, and specials.

While serving as president of the Historic Downtown Canton Association, I was surprised to receive a letter from City of Canton's then-mayor Gene Hobgood, which invited me to a meeting of a committee he was forming to help with his goal of revitalizing downtown.

The members of that committee formed the first Main Street Board. I was honored to serve as treasurer of that board until I had to resign after I was elected to Canton City Council. I also drafted the bylaws and secured the board's 501(c)6 status.

During my time on the Main Street Board, we created the Canton Farmer's Market, First Friday, Valentine Chocolate Walk, art walks, and many other events. We also supported and assisted the effort to create Fincher-Adkins Park, among other projects.

But enough about me — I look forward to working with the mayor and my fellow council members to address Canton's current challenges such as making our inevitable growth more sustainable, reducing the burden on our city's taxpayers, and finding minor ways to improve the efficiency of Canton's streets, intersections, and traffic flow while working with the county and state to speed up major improvements.

I could use your help! What are some issues we need to address? How do you feel about the goals Canton City Council is already working on? Please reach out to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to let me know your thoughts.