About the candidates
Mereda Davis Johnson
Background: Attorney concentrating on real estate and family law. Married to U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga. Co-founder of the DeKalb Lawyers Association. Member of the board of directors for the DeKalb Hospital Authority and the Georgia Democratic Committee. Past chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus Spouses.
Website: meredafordistrict5.com
George Turner
Background: Retired from MARTA, where he managed rail transportation and operations personnel. Chairman of the District 5 Community Council, legislative assistant to Sen. Ronald Ramsey, D-Lithonia, and leader of Homeowners United, Hunter's Run II Homeowners Association and the South Lithonia Neighborhood Coalition.
Website: turnerforcommissioner.com
No matter who wins Tuesday’s runoff election for DeKalb County Commission, one thing is for sure: Southeast DeKalb will finally regain political representation after going without for two years.
Mereda Davis Johnson, an attorney who is married to U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., will face George Turner, a retired MARTA manager and leader of several neighborhood improvement groups. Johnson and Turner received the most votes among 10 candidates in last month’s special election.
Johnson says she has the political savvy needed for the job, having worked for her husband’s campaign and as DeKalb’s first black female judge when she served in magistrate court in the 1980s.
Turner says he’s the candidate who is most in-touch with the 144,000-person southeast DeKalb community because he’s been volunteering for decades with various homeowners’ associations and civic organizations before deciding to run for office.
The winner of the election may tip the scales of power in DeKalb, potentially breaking repeated stalemates on the divided county commission.
Southeast DeKalb’s seat at the county commission’s table has been vacant since July 2013, when the area’s elected commissioner, Lee May, was appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal to run the county, replacing CEO Burrell Ellis who was suspended form office while facing corruption charges. Ellis was convicted July 1. May resigned from the commission in May, clearing the way for the special election.
Both candidates want southeast DeKalb, an underdeveloped area surrounding Lithonia, to get its fair share.
“We have been without representation for two years, and it clearly, clearly shows,” Johnson said during a candidate forum at Salem Bible Church. “We can clean up the county, sell some of the homes, take them away from the banks and bring back economic growth in the county.”
Turner said he would work to get some form of mass transit built along the Interstate 20 corridor, which he hopes would lead to job creation. In the meantime, he said the area must improve its business prospects by getting rid of unkempt, boarded-up houses.
“You’ve got to make the area attractive for economic development. Nobody wants to come to an unattractive area, let’s put it that way,” Turner said. “If you can do something about the blighted portion of our community, clean it up in terms of finding someone to buy these houses, occupy them, make them beautiful again, one thing leads to another.”
If Johnson wins, she would be following in the footsteps of her husband, who held the same District 5 commission seat until 2006, when he ran for Congress and defeated Rep. Cynthia McKinney.
“Mereda has an understanding of how government works and how you have to work with others to get the results you seek,” said Congressman Johnson.
But Turner’s supporters say he has more experience working in the community. Turner is the chairman of the District 5 Community Council, the leader of three neighborhood improvement groups, a board member of the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area and a volunteer for Sen. Ronald Ramsey, D-Lithonia.
“George is always on the case. He’s all business,” said Willie Hinton, who worked with Turner on the South DeKalb Neighborhood Coalition.
Johnson said she sees potential in southeast DeKalb, the most sparsely populated part of the county with below-average household incomes.
“This district is a goldmine,” she said. “We have the most undeveloped land in DeKalb County – that can and will be used for economic growth.”
Turner said residents need to face the realities and challenges of recruiting a large company that would bring many jobs to the area.
“The truth of the matter is those big businesses are not going to come here until the time is right,” Turner told about 100 people at the candidate forum. “We’re going to have to build up to it. You’re not going to get a Fortune 500 company here overnight.”
About the Author
