MARIETTA - For many Mariettans, the party to attend Tuesday night was hosted by the Poston family at their Traton Homes office for Marietta's new mayor, Steve "Thunder" Tumlin.

Some 200 well-wishers filled the room to raise their glasses to Tumlin and his election as Marietta's 54th mayor.

Marietta attorney and former state senator Chuck Clay described Tumlin as a man with "a cracker-jack smart mind and a calm demeanor - everything you think is good about a Southern gentleman."

Clay said the Tumlin family has supported the community for generations.

"These are folks that represent the best of the city," Clay said.

What Tumlin brings to the table is a sense of leadership by team building, cooperation, extending a hand of friendship and sharing information openly.

"We've got to get the city moving. Recession aside, when's the last time we cut a ribbon on a major business in Marietta other than county investment in the strip malls, bless them? We've got to have the kind of cohesive leadership that makes a business want to come to Marietta to create jobs, get us through this recession," Clay said.

"It's time for somebody to bring the (City Council) together and if we can't, the one thing I will say if it doesn't happen now, the one person I won't blame is Thunder Tumlin, because if you can't get along with Thunder Tumlin you're just a miserable human being," Clay said.

Noted Marietta Realtor Cathy Colquitt said she admires Tumlin's devotion to the city and his concern for its residents.

"He wants to be the mayor because he cares about the city. There's no personal gain. There's nothing other than wanting to do what's best for the people he represents," Colquitt said. "The city needs him. He has a vision. He's a businessman, he's an accountant, he's an attorney, and he knows how to take those skills, put them together and lead our city."

Attorney and political operative Heath Garrett believes Tumlin will pick up the mantle that Mayor Bill Dunaway created on redevelopment and revitalization and move the city forward with his consensus-building skills.

"Bill Dunaway raised issues in a style that made everybody pay attention to them. Sometimes you have to break things in order to get people to focus on them, and then you have to have somebody else come in behind and actually put those things back together and build a consensus to move forward, so I actually think Bill Dunaway and Thunder Tumlin are a great one-two punch for the city," Garrett said.

One of Tumlin's biggest supporters is the Rev. Sam Storey, senior associate minister emeritus at First United Methodist Church of Marietta.

"He's honest, he's very transparent and everybody loves him. He will listen to the people and he will respond, but you can always count on him being honest and forthright," Storey said.

Added Marietta attorney Tom Browning, chairman of the Downtown Marietta Development Authority, "Instead of burning, he builds."

Councilman Philip Goldstein was in attendance, along with Council members Grif Chalfant, Annette Lewis, and Jim King.

"I'm looking forward to working with Thunder. He's got a style that brings people together, and that's something that will be good for the next council," Goldstein said.

Northeast Cobb Commissioner Tim Lee was also at Tumlin's party.

"Thunder is the guy that has the common ability to bring consensus and a focus to the different facets of the city council. His demeanor and his personality and his leadership and experience and all he does in his law work and other work in public office - I think it's prepared him for this point in his career as a politician. Marietta is a great city, they have great things ahead of them and I think he's the right guy at the right time at the right job for Marietta," Lee said.

Others in attendance included Mary Ansley Southerland, daughter of the late Mayor Ansley Meaders; Georgia Trend publisher Neely Young; Georgia Supreme Court Justice Harris Hines; Ed Hammock, chairman of the Marietta Housing Authority and staffers Ray Buday and Pete Waldrep; Bob Lewis, general manager of the Marietta Board of Lights and Water; Otis Brumby III, Marietta Daily Journal general manager; Tumlin's children and grandchildren; Dr. Dan Stephens, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Marietta; and former Marietta City Councilman Andy Morris.