2 council candidates disqualified over residency requirements
Two candidates vying for the open southwest Atlanta City Council district race were disqualified Tuesday after residency challenges.
Atlanta City Council candidates must reside in the city and live within the council district in which they’re running for at least one year prior to qualification.
Political hopefuls flocked to City Hall last month to submit documents with the clerk’s office that confirm they fit those requirements.
But not long after, both Keith Andre Lewis, Jr. and Sherry B. Williams were accused of living outside of District 11 by resident Donna Cook, who questioned the addresses listed on their voting records.
The clerk’s office held administrative hearings last week for each of the candidates, who both argued the out-of-district addresses were linked to family homes in which they haven’t lived for years.
Williams even brought with her friends, church acquaintances and her house cleaner to bolster her testimony, along with letters from her landlord and local NPU leader supporting her residency.
City Clerk Corrine Lindo told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the vague state residency statute leaves room for interpretation.
“It just says you have to establish residency — and what is residency?” she said. “So it becomes a question that law has to help me review.”
The city’s law department ultimately determined that utility bills and lease agreements were not enough to overcome the candidates’ voter registrations and driver’s licenses which still listed the old address. The ruling also said there was “insufficient evidence” that they lived within District 11 for the required amount of time before the general election.
The decision leaves eight candidates in the crowded race for the District 11 seat that was left open when Council member Marci Collier Overstreet decided to run for the council president position.
Both Lewis and Williams are able to appeal the outcome in Fulton County Superior Court.
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District 2 candidates hash out housing as Midtown becomes more crowded
Candidates for the open District 2 council seat face unique challenges around housing if elected in November, while the Midtown and other urban neighborhoods they represent get more crowded and expensive.
During a forum hosted by Abundant Housing Atlanta and moderated by journalist Sean Keenan at the Atlanta Civic Circle, the group was questioned on topics like the city’s outdated zoning code, parking minimums for new developments and policies that fight displacement.
According to Midtown Alliance — an organization made up of the neighborhood’s community and business leaders — nearly 2,200 apartment units were added to the area in 2024.
The group points out that student housing is also on the rise. Last year, about 7,500 college students made up the neighborhood’s population of more than 26,000.
And after years of waiting, the languishing Atlanta Civic Center property is on track to be transformed into a mixed-use space with senior housing, apartments, office and retail space.
But the dwindling space for new development isn’t the only challenge that the next District 2 council member will face. Many of its roadways are hot spots for pedestrian-vehicle collisions, including a recent hit-and-run incident at the intersection of 10th Street and Peachtree Street.
And in the adjacent downtown neighborhood, two pedestrians were fatally struck by cars within a three-month period — again, along Peachtree Street.
District 2 candidates also lamented the delayed rollout of the Monroe Drive Complete Street project that is part of the lengthy backlog of city infrastructure projects that was first promised as part of the Renew Atlanta program approved by voters in 2015.
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About the Author
Riley Bunch is a reporter on the local government team at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution covering Atlanta City Hall. She covers the mayor and Atlanta City Council while also keeping an eye on the city’s diverse neighborhoods.
