Clayton County voters handed incumbent Eldrin Bell his walking papers Tuesday, anointing former Clayton Police Chief Jeff Turner as their new county leader.
Turner was elected to head the five-member Board of Commissioners. Turner, who became Clayton’s first black police chief in 2007, ran his runoff campaign on a platform of change, fiscal responsibility and greater governmental accountability. With no Republican opposition in the general election, Turner is effectively the new commission chairman.
It’s a stunning vindication for Turner who was removed from his police chief job in December 2009 for alleged insubordination and other charges. Bell was head of the commission at the time and had sole power to hire and fire the police chief.
At 77-years-old, Tuesday’s loss effectively ends the political career of Bell who was seeking a third term. He fought hard to restore bus service to the county and backed the failed transportation referendum, a move that many observers felt hurt him. Bell’s defeat — and that of other incumbents — signals Clayton voters’ deep frustration and distrust for elected officials and their opponents who unleashed a flurry of robocalls and glossy campaign mailers since the July 31 Primary to sway voters. But it wasn’t enough to convince voters like Connie Jones and Elnora Barnes to return incumbents to office.
Jones voted against all of the incumbents except for Sheriff Kem Kimbrough. She said she couldn’t bring herself to vote for Victor Hill, a candidate who has been indicted on 37 charges, ranging from racketeering to witness tampering.
“When the county is the laughing stock on the news, you’ve got to do something,” said Jones who lives in Jonesboro. “You just have to hold your nose and vote. They need to change.”
Barnes voted against all of the incumbents. Unlike Jones, she voted for Hill. “We need a change,” said Barnes who recently moved to Atlanta and is renting out her Jonesboro residence.
Attorney Shana Rooks beat incumbent Wole Ralph for the District 3 commission seat. Last year Ralph led a move to increase taxes in Clayton County. It turned out he didn’t own a home in the county.
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