Every Clayton County voter who cast a ballot on July 15 has to return to the polls on Aug. 5 and drag along five friends. The outcome of the runoff will determine whether Clayton overcomes its many woes or sinks deeper into them.

Even with the future of the county in the balance, only 21 percent of voters cast ballots in July. If Clayton residents want to salvage their county's reputation and its schools, more of them must participate in the runoff election.

First up for Clayton voters are five school board contests. One problem is that many candidates in the runoff are educators or school employees. Ideally, parents should be the dominant voice on school boards rather than current or past school employees.

Here are The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's endorsements in critical Clayton races:

SCHOOL BOARD

District 2: Lindsey McDaniel, who runs a teenage mentoring program, would be an asset to the troubled board. The winner will face Republican Della Ashley in November.

District 3: Two former public school employees are vying for the seat —- retired Clayton County educator Jessie Goree and Charles Davis, a retired Atlanta Public Schools maintenance supervisor. Goree's knowledge of innovative education practices makes her the stronger candidate.

District 4: While Milton Mack is also a teacher, he's the better choice in this contest.

District 5: Social worker Jennifer Talley offers a fresh voice as well as the bonus of not being a teacher. Retired Jonesboro High English teacher Ophelia Burroughs has a higher profile in the community, but the school board risks being dominated by educators. Given these two strong candidates, voters should opt for Talley to provide balance. The winner will face Republican Diana Nicholson in November.

District 6: Mary Baker has been paying close attention to the school board for a decade and understands its role and its mission. She deserves a seat on the board.

COUNTY COMMISSION CHAIRMAN

In the runoff for County Commission chairman, Lee Scott is attacking incumbent Eldrin Bell with the name-calling and innuendo that became his signature in his previous bids for public office. Scott offers voters little substance, which is why he avoids public forums that would expose him. He relies on inflammatory mailings and billboards to sell himself and disparage his opponent.

Venom and vitriol fuel Scott's political machine. That combination has helped him propel several unqualified people to elected office, including his wife, Jewel, who is district attorney. Clayton voters ought to reclaim their county and derail Scott's hate machine. They should stand by Bell. Because no Republican filed, the winner of the Democratic primary takes the seat.

DISTRICT ATTORNEY

Voters ought to oust District Attorney Jewel Scott, who was never qualified to hold her job in the first place. Instead, voters ought to support Juvenile Court Judge Tracy Graham-Lawson, whose legal experience is far more relevant to the challenge of getting criminals off Clayton's streets.

When Clayton voters elected Scott four years ago, she brought no criminal trial experience to the job and has botched high-profile murder cases. A former prosecutor, Graham-Lawson's been a juvenile judge for 13 years. In her 10 years as an assistant DA in Clayton, Graham-Lawson amassed an impressive conviction rate.

A Duke graduate, she was a police officer and firefighter before earning her law degree at the University of North Carolina. As a judge, she's created a Second Chance Drug Court for high-risk offenders and established programs to keep kids out of jail and on the straight and narrow.

Voters ought to rebuff the efforts of Scott and her husband to consolidate their power in Clayton using racially charged politics and misrepresentations of their accomplishments. Because no Republican filed, the winner of the Democratic primary takes the seat.

SHERIFF

In the dictionary, Clayton Sheriff Victor Hill's photo ought to appear alongside "deranged." From posting snipers on the roof after he laid off 27 deputies to blatantly disregarding a federal court order, Hill has turned into more than a loose cannon. He's a nuclear bomb in free fall.

Despite his bizarre and costly behavior, Hill won 49 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary in July. He's in a runoff now with attorney Kem Kimbrough, who has experience as a major in the sheriff's office and who can return sanity and stability to the Sheriff's Department. Kimbrough is a graduate of Morehouse College and Emory University School of Law.

If voters want to avoid lawsuits, they ought to support Kimbrough. Hill's become such a risk that Clayton County commissioners sought legal protection in May from future liability for his actions. Commissioners warned that Hill's "objectionable actions, policies and practices concerning management of the county jail and sheriff's office personnel negatively impact Clayton County's reputation and endanger the citizens of Clayton County and the state of Georgia."

After Hill violated a federal court order in 2006, the frustrated judge said, "This litigation is a disaster for Clayton County, for the sheriff of Clayton County and for the citizens." U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash went on to add, "I guess the public is the biggest loser."

And the public will be the biggest loser again if Hill wins the Aug. 5 runoff. If voters want to stop losing lawsuits, their choice must be Kimbrough. The runoff winner faces Republican Jack Rainwater in November.

—- Maureen Downey, for the editorial board (mdowney@ajc.com)