Personality, style dominate Roswell mayor's runoff

By Ralph Ellis

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Roswell Mayor Jere Wood, a 60-year-old lawyer with wavy hair and a signature bow tie, has a booming voice and a personality that fills the room.

David Tolleson, Wood’s opponent in the Dec. 1 runoff election, is a slender and soft-spoken nonprofit executive who prides himself on being a consensus builder.

These very different men are battling for the right to run Roswell, Georgia’s sixth largest city. The race is shaping up as a battle of styles rather than issues, said the campaign manager for third-place finisher Lori Henry.

"Tolleson is a good listener," said Paul Kaplan, who also is a former reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Voters like that. He does not have an imperious nature, which Wood does and kind of saddles him a little bit. Wood is a very dynamic leader and has done very good things for the city."

Through force of personality, Wood dominates municipal government in Roswell. Tolleson, a former council member, said that hurts the city.

“His confrontational my-way-or-the-highway management style wastes staff time and taxpayer dollars and prevents us from being everything we need to be,” Tolleson said. “We need somebody who builds consensus.”

Wood said he has to ruffle feathers, especially in Roswell’s weak-mayor form of government. The mayor only votes to break a council tie but he has veto power.

“The power of the mayor’s office doesn’t come from the charter, it comes from the personality of the mayor,” Wood said. “Any time you take a position it’s going to rub somebody wrong. … David doesn’t rub anybody wrong because he doesn’t take any positions.”

This election could be a game changer for Roswell, a town of 90,000 people that reveres its history. The city is an affluent suburb of Atlanta with a median household income of $78,667 and a large immigrant population. People at political forums have said they’re worried about too much development, crime and traffic.

This is Roswell’s first tough mayoral election since 1997, when Wood was an upstart running on an anti-sprawl platform. He beat W.L. “Pug” Mabry, who’d been mayor for 30 years. Wood easily won re-election in 2001 and 2005.

Wood grew up in Roswell, the son of a biology teacher and a wildlife conservationist. He’s married to Judie Raiford, a goldsmith who owns and operates the Raiford Gallery in Roswell. He’s an avid bicyclist who makes sure every transportation plan takes two-wheelers into consideration.

Wood has run on his record, saying he made the city safer and a better place to live over 12 years. But he made some enemies, too. Current council members Becky Wynn and Rich Dippolito have publicly endorsed Tolleson, as have several former council members.

Tolleson, 47, was on the city council from 1999 until last July, when he resigned to run for mayor. He is executive director of the National Down Syndrome Congress and has been interviewed on numerous TV news shows about disabilities. Before taking the job with the nonprofit, he was chief operating officer and co-owner of Southern Druggists Inc. The Fulton County native and his wife, Kim, have two teen-aged children.

In Tuesday's election, Wood finished on top with 40 percent of the vote. Tolleson got 32 percent and Lori Henry, a city council member, got 28 percent.

Henry ran as the “issues candidate.” Her main issue was Wood’s support for Roswell East, a high-rise complex that never got off the ground but resentment lingered among the council and voters who feared density.

"They [current mayor and several council members] wanted high-rises, denser development,” Joel Dallow, 37, said Tuesday when interviewed at the polls. “People do not think this area can handle that kind of development. It has caused a lot of uproar."

Wood said Wednesday that he took a position that Roswell East should be discussed and later changed his mind about density and “tall buildings.” Wood said the issue never came up for council votes but that Tolleson never really took a position.

Tolleson remembers the Roswell East scenario differently, saying he told Wood the proposal would not work. Tolleson said he talked to residents and tried to share their comments.

Henry didn’t return calls Wednesday and has not endorsed either candidate in the runoff.

Wood said he didn't know if Henry would endorse him, but he made a prediction.

“Lori is not going to be voting for David,” he said. “And I don’t think most of her supporters will be voting for David.”

When told of Wood’s remarks, Tolleson said, “I want to talk to Lori and congratulate her for her race and see how that conversation leads. I want to be respectful of Lori in this situation.”

Staff reporter Andria Simmons contributed to this report.