Former State Sen. Steen Miles says she wants to follow Vernon Jones as the next Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb County after his second and final term ends this year.

The one-term Decatur senator, whose term ran from 2005 to 2007, said DeKalb is "spiraling into a place that is not something that we can be proud of," and said she feels compelled to do something about it. She cited taxes and transportation, along with the condition of the environment and schools, as areas that are worsening.

"So many people have said, 'we need you,'" the Democrat said, adding that a sermon by her pastor at Green Forest Baptist Church on Sunday inspired her to run. She said the pastor asked his congregation: "Do you believe ... ."

Miles, 61, worked for nearly three decades as a television reporter, news anchor and station manager. She ran against Jones in 2000, then worked three years as media relations director for MARTA. She left that job for the state senate. There, she introduced legislation that would have forced counties besides DeKalb and Fulton to pay for Grady Memorial Hospital, an issue that DeKalb and Fulton leaders have complained about.

"It went no place, of course," Miles said.

She also sponsored a resolution honoring actress Jane Fonda for her work on reducing teenage pregnancies in Georgia. The Senate voted down the resolution after some heated debate about Fonda's Vietnam War protesting. And in 2006, she introduced then-Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor's PeachKids health insurance legislation. The bill did not become law, but it did become a central issue in Taylor's losing bid for governor.

That year, Miles left the senate to run a failed bid for Taylor's office as he ran for governor.

"The third time is the charm," Miles said, referring to her spontaneous bid for CEO. She said Wednesday that she would embrace "the rich diversity" of DeKalb. On Tuesday, she held her first campaign rally at a location —International Village in Chamblee— that reflects the county's ethnic variety.

Miles said she would strive for collaboration with the county commission, whose relationship with CEO Jones has been volatile. Miles, who said she was referring to politics nationwide and not DeKalb, said she would work to ensure the county's governance would "stop being bogged down in the minutiae and arguing" and work together to solve problems.