Candidates emerge for DeKalb special election

Candidates will begin filing papers today to run for a DeKalb County Commission seat representing more than 140,000 residents in the southeastern part of the county.

The area has lacked a representative for almost two years since their former commissioner, Lee May, became the county's interim leader while charges are pending against CEO Burrell Ellis. May resigned his commission seat this month, clearing the way for a June 16 special election.

The field could become crowded. Potential candidates include:

• Markus Butts, a member of the DeKalb Planning Commission
• Harmel Deanne Codi, a former DeKalb government employee who has become a citizen watchdog
• Vaughn Irons, the chairman of the DeKalb Development Authority and the CEO of APD Solutions, a development company
• Mereda Davis Johnson, an attorney and the wife of U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga.
• Gina Smith Mangham, an attorney who ran for the DeKalb Commission in 2012
• Kathryn Rice, the leader of an effort to form a city of Greenhaven in South DeKalb
• Kenneth Saunders III, a member of the DeKalb Parks Bond Advisory Committee
• George Turner, the president of the District 5 Community Council

If no candidate wins a majority in the special election, a runoff will be held July 14.

Candidate forms have been scheduled for May 28 at the Lou Walker Senior Center in Lithonia and for June 8 at the Community Achievement Center in Decatur.