Candidates for chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners will speak at a forum at 7 p.m. Monday at St. James United Methodist Church, 3000 Webb Bridge Road, Alpharetta. Candidates for attorney general and labor commissioner also have been invited. The public will have a chance to meet the candidates at 6:30 p.m.
After a quiet summer on the campaign trail, the race to lead Georgia’s largest county resumed last week, taking on the tone of an attack ad.
At candidate forums in Atlanta and College Park, Republican Earl Cooper, seeking to become chairman of the Fulton County Commission, portrayed himself as someone who can work across party lines. He challenged the effectiveness of incumbent Democrat John Eaves, who he said has put the interests of his party and himself above those of taxpayers.
“It can’t be all about you,” Cooper told Eaves at the College Park forum.
Eaves, seeking his third term, said Cooper distorts the facts and has no solutions for tough problems facing the county.
“When you don’t have anything of substance to offer, all you can do is attack,” Eaves said. “I think he’s very incoherent in some of his responses [to questions].”
The stakes of the race are high for nearly one million Fulton County residents. The chairman’s race will determine whether Democrats or Republicans control a Board of Commissioners that oversees more than $600 million in spending on courts, libraries, health care and social services.
Democrats have long controlled the commission. But a redistricting plan approved by the General Assembly last year guarantees Republicans three seats on the seven-member board beginning in January.
If Cooper wins, Republicans would win a majority that could downsize county government by reducing spending and taxes. If Eaves wins, Democrats likely will protect many of the services they say their constituents demand.
In a county where President Barack Obama won 64 percent of the vote in 2012, Democrats would seem to have the upper hand. Campaign finance disclosures show Eaves also has a financial advantage. The incumbent had $26,243 in campaign cash to spend as of June 30, while Cooper had just $340, according to their most recent disclosure reports.
Judging from his performance at last week’s candidate forums, Cooper is trying to make up for his lack of money by increasing the volume of his attacks. He portrayed Eaves as an ineffectual leader who has accomplished little during his eight years in office.
One example: the county jail remains under federal supervision 10 years after inmates filed a lawsuit over overcrowding and dangerous conditions.
Eaves responded by saying Fulton has met nearly all of the conditions needed to end federal oversight, and submitted a staffing plan to address the final problem last week.
“My hope is by the end of this year we’ll be out from under this [federal] consent decree,” Eaves said. “The good news is, we’re almost there.”
Cooper pounced, saying the county had taken too long to address the problems.
“You want us to applaud you for seven years of work?” he said.
Eaves challenged his opponent’s facts often. At the College Park forum, Cooper said Eaves has a hard time getting along with other elected officials, including some in his own political party. Cooper claimed he had been endorsed by Sheriff Ted Jackson, a Democrat. Eaves expressed surprise and later claimed Jackson had endorsed him.
Jackson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he had planned to remain neutral in the race because he tries to stay out of politics. Jackson said he never endorsed Cooper, but when he heard about the claim he endorsed Eaves.
“I’m disappointed that someone would lie on me,” Jackson said.
Cooper said he misspoke, that he meant to say only that Jackson had not endorsed Eaves.
The candidates will meet again Monday, when the League of Women Voters and other groups will sponsor a third candidate forum in Alpharetta.
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