From 2007 up until this month City Schools of Decatur’s K-12 enrollment has grown by an almost inconceivable 57 percent, from 2,473 to the current (as of August 6) 5,723. As the district’s grown the city’s social media outlets regularly overflow with school-related grievances ranging from traffic (always popular), to class size, to the loudness of air conditioners connected to modular units.
But with qualifying for Decatur’s Nov. 5 elections closing on Wednesday (Aug 21), only three are running for school board seats and none are opposed.
By contrast all three commission races are competitive. Indeed Christopher Gagnon, seeing that Mayor Pro Tem Tony Powers was unchallenged, switched from running for District 1, Post B to running against Powers for District-At-Large. Gagnon hasn’t made it easier on himself, either, with Powers winning by a 4,300 to 609 count in Nov. 2015.
On the school board, incumbent Tasha White will get sworn in for her second four-year term in January, while James Herndon takes over District 1, Post B, held the last eight years by Garrett Goebel who is retiring Dec. 31.
Jana Johnson-Davis will claim the at large seat formerly held by Annie Caiola, who resigned effective August 1, and is currently held through December 31 on an interim basis by Marc Wisniewski. When Johnson-Davis takes over in January she will serve the final two years of the term.
Asked about the lack of contested races, Board Chair Lewis Jones replied with an email to the AJC saying, “I’m not worried … we’ve got terrific candidates … I am excited to have them on the board. The one thing I will miss, though, is the discussion about priorities that comes with a contested race. We make big decisions every month about education, taxes, and priorities, and we need our community to be engaged to help us make the right calls. Still, we have a great city and a great school system because people do step up in a thousand different ways, and I have no doubt that will continue.”
Here are all the races:
City Commission
District 1, Post B (the seat currently held by Scott Drake, who’s retiring): Erin Braden vs. George Dusenbury
District 2, Post B (currently held by Brian Smith who’s retiring): Chris Stirn vs. Phillip Wiedower vs. Lesa Mayer
At-Large: Tony Powers (incumbent) vs. Christopher Gagnon
School Board
District 2, Post B: Tasha White
District 1, Post B: James Herndon
At-Large: Jana Johnson-Davis
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