A month from today, Clayton County voters will go to the polls to select their county leaders from a hefty slate of candidates. The May 24 Primary features some 40 people vying for various offices in one of the largest fields in a decade. Local races include school board, district attorney, sheriff, board of commission.
Here’s a look at candidates in some of the key races.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Tracy Graham Lawson (I), 57, lives in Jonesboro.
Job: District Attorney for Clayton County
Top priorities if elected: Continue to maintain the lowest crime rate in five major metro Atlanta counties; continue successful case management techniques; fully develop new domestic violence pre-trial intervention program.
Jason Green, 42, lives in Ellenwood.
Job: criminal defense attorney
Top priorities: Develop crime-deterring programs for kids; fight recidivism through re-entry initiatives; assign assistant district attorney and investigator to each voting district in Clayton County to increase access for victims, witnesses and citizens to the district attorney’s office.
SHERIFF
Clarence E. Cox III, 53, lives in Hampton.
Job: Former Police Chief of Clayton County Public Schools
Top priorities: Create more access to and more transparency in the Sheriff’s Office; foster an environment in which citizens believe there will be an impartial, fair application of the law; fulfilling the constitutional responsibilities of the Sheriff’s Office.
Dwayne Fabian, 53, lives in Riverdale.
Job: Retired Georgia state trooper
Top priorities: Bring accountability, integrity and transparency to the office.
Victor Hill (I), 51.
Job: Sheriff of Clayton County
Did not respond to repeated requests for information.
Chris Pigors, 49, lives in Riverdale.
Job: Police officer with the Grantville Police Department in Coweta County.
Top priorities: Fight crime, build trust and be fiscally responsible.
Satira Walker, 51, lives in Hampton.
Job: Retired from the Clayton County Police Department in March.
Top priorities: Increase accountability to citizens, taxpayers and employees of the sheriff’s office.
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
Junior Jackson, 25, lives in College Park
Job: School teacher at Heritage Elementary in College Park.
Top priorities: Foster a relationship between public officials and young people; focus on economic development; encourage entrepreneurship and small business development; forge a solid relationship with Fortune 500 firms in Clayton.
Wade Starr, 63, lives in unincorporated south Clayton.
Job: Executive Director, Housing Authority of Clayton County.
Top priorities: Update the 2013 county Strategic Economic Development Plan, putting a focus on job creation; create a revolving-loan fund to support small business creation and expansion; meet with current businesses to see how the county can help them expand and create higher-paying jobs; lower the cost of government without sacrificing services by putting a major emphasis on technology.
Jeff Turner (I), 52, lives in Jonesboro
Job: Chairman, Clayton County Board of Commissioners
Top priorities: Create jobs, develop work force, encourage economic development.
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
District 2
Gail Hambrick (I), 66, lives in Riverdale
Job: Retired from the State of Georgia in 2007 after 34 years of service.
Top priorities: Focus on economic development to attract top-drawer businesses, hotels and restaurants; create better housing; push for the construction of a new library and police precinct in the northern part of the county.
Robert Johnson
Couldn’t be reached for comment.
District 3
Eric Bell II, 24, lives in Jonesboro.
Job: Substitute teacher
Top priorities: Improve education; encourage economic development. “I want to restore the village.”
Oscar Blalock, 73, lives in Jonesboro.
Job: Retired administrator with the city of Atlanta’s water department
Top priorities: Encourage economic development and improve public safety.
Jodie Chambers, 55, lives in unincorporated Clayton County.
Job: Retired from the health care industry.
Top priorities: Expand school-based health care services; expand MARTA bus service in Clayton; create more jobs.
Jason D. Etheridge, 38, lives in Hampton.
Job: School guidance counselor
Top priorities: Grow the economy; engage the community; support education.
Willie Jones, 68, lives in Hampton.
Job: Assistant pastor at Servants of Christ Nondenominational Church in Union City. Retired manager for BellSouth.
Top priorities: Cut Clayton’s unemployment rate and create a police-community partnership.
Elon Rodney, 23, lives in Riverdale.
Job: Community organizer
Top priorities: Encourage economic development and focus on young men who have traditionally been overlooked.
Nia Walker, 22, lives in Hampton.
Job: CEO of YBF Publishing LLC
Top priorities: Provide incentives for businesses to return to or stay in Clayton; promote entrepreneurship and support small businesses, especially those owned by people ages 18-32; increase civic engagement among the younger generation through positive interaction and community building.
Felicia Franklin Warner, 41, lives in Jonesboro.
Job: Owner of Franklin Warner Consulting, a company that specializes in business development and employee benefits.
Top priorities: Improve the economy and communication among all community and government agencies.
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