Member Spotlight - JoAnne Taylor

by Marisa Hegyesi

JoAnne Taylor is the current Mayor of Dahlonega, a jewel in the North Georgia Mountains.  Originally from Brooklyn, JoAnne obtained her Bachelor of Arts from New York’s Mercy College.  She is also a Certified Sales Executive.

Her first job was babysitting and being a lifeguard.  After a 32-year career with IBM, she retired from her position as Vice President in the Global Telecommunications Industry. Her extensive career included positions in global executive and line management, as a consultant and practice principal to the Utility industry, and in detailed technical roles.

When asked how she balances work/home life, she stated that being Mayor keeps her “pretty busy! I turn off my city phone on weekends, take trips scheduled around meetings, and don’t react to Facebook inaccurate posts!”

Married for 31 years, with grown children JoAnne enjoys family time, reading, bird watching, singing choral music, traveling, golf and baking bread.  JoAnne’s favorite food is good bread.  JoAnne – Got any bread recipes you would share?

JoAnne’s favorite place in the world is rural Italy because of the pace of life, the natural beauty, and of course the “FOOD!”  Two of her favorite books are Magic Mountain – Thomas Mann and Look Homeward Angel – Thomas Wolfe.  Her favorite music is Opera – especially Othello.

She enjoys participating in the Mercedes car shows, driving events and the socials when time permits.  Otherwise, JoAnne catches up by perusing the MBCA Peachtree Facebook page.

As far as Mercedes, she and her husband Ken have a 1991 500 SL, a 2015 GLK, and her dream car which she newly purchased from a club member – a 2002 CLK 55 AMG.  FYI – all models are black cabriolets.

Kathleen Madigan, an American stand-up comedian and TV personality makes JoAnne laugh. When her car broke down on the way to a meeting at St. Simon’s Island, JoAnne had to resort to taking an Uber from Statesboro to St. Simon’s.  “The driver played Kathleen Madigan’s shows the entire way and we laughed for the whole trip!”

JoAnne does love “other people’s animals.”  An interesting fact about her is that she is the oldest of 10 children.  And as a child, she actually walked 6 city blocks to school by herself.  What would today’s kids think about that?

As far as plans for retirement, Japan is on her bucket list.  However, she is getting a lot of encouragement to run for another term as Mayor of Dahlonega. 

Stay tuned! JoAnne wants to be remembered for “Service in all that I do.”