Residents in the newly approved city of Brookhaven have until Wednesday to decide if they want to run for office.
Four council seats, all representing individual districts, and a part-time mayor's job will be up for election as the north-central DeKalb County city makes its way to official cityhood on Dec. 17.
Qualifying for those elected offices takes place Monday through Wednesday. Candidates must file notice at the county's election office near Decatur between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. those days. Qualifying fees are $480 for mayor and $360 for those running for City Council.
Because of the city charter's requirement for staggered terms of office, and because Brookhaven's municipal elections are being held in an even-numbered year, the winning candidates will serve varying and shorter-than-usual terms upon being elected.
The mayoral term and those for Districts 1 and 3 will end in 2015, while those for council members for Districts 2 and 4 will end in 2013. All future elections will be for four-year terms.
Citizens have until Oct. 8 to register to vote in the November election.
In the meantime, Gov. Nathan Deal has appointed a five-member commission to find office space to lease for city affairs and to review resumes for posts such as city clerk, city manager, police chief and city attorney.
The commission also must help decide what services the city of Brookhaven will take on, as well as help plan how to privatize those services if the city follows the model that other new cities have developed.
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