DeKalb: 2 new on school board; Johnson wins judge post

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

DeKalb County parents voted for new leadership Tuesday and elected two new school board members.

Nancy Jester, the mother of three, defeated incumbent Jim Redovian in District 1 by capturing 55 percent of the vote. Certified public accountant Donna Edler defeated incumbent Zepora Roberts in District 7 by winning 72 percent of the vote.

“We need new people to fix things in DeKalb schools,” Kate Fourmy, a mother of six, said after voting for Jester at Hawthorne Elementary School in north DeKalb.

DeKalb prosecutor Courtney Johnson defeated Dunwoody lawyer Michael Rothenberg for Superior Court judge by winning 61 percent of the vote.

Many voters told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution they turned out specifically for the judge’s race.

“I’m really interested in the judge’s race after all that publicity about Rothenberg,” Atlanta resident Diana Hunter said after voting at Hawthorne Elementary.

Last week, the AJC reported that Colorado-based Winterhawk Energy and Development Co. filed a federal lawsuit in Atlanta accusing Rothenberg of running a Ponzi scheme through his commodities company, Four Five LLC.

Rothenberg has denied the allegations.

On Monday, Democratic U.S. Reps. Hank Johnson and John Lewis, Democratic state Sen. Jason Carter and Republican County Commissioner Elaine Boyer said they were wrongly included in Rothenberg’s campaign fliers. All four said they did not endorse Rothenberg.

Jester late Tuesday attributed her win to a grass-roots effort and said she plans to meet with every PTA.

“I think it says they heard our message and that we have new ideas to change the way we do business in DeKalb,” Jester said.

Roberts said she will stay involved.

“I fought a good battle,” she said. “I don’t have anything to hide from and anything to be ashamed about.”

The new board will be tasked with hiring a superintendent, salvaging the district’s accreditation, managing revenue declines and implementing ethical reforms. Former Superintendent Crawford Lewis and three others were indicted in May on charges they ran a criminal enterprise at the school system.