Possible pull-out quotes:
“In the past eight years, our local leaders were in concert with each other. But it was only at the regional level. What we need to focus on is the big picture of three counties right here. The climate changes when you go north. When you’re dealing with a county that’s got 300, 400,000 people and you’re dealing with only 300, 400,000 in three (southside) counties, their needs are not the same as ours. The regional level is good but you can’t only focus on that. The citizens expect an equal balance. They let it be known that their first priority is home..”
- Henry County commission chairman-elect Tommy Smith.
“The people of my county voted for me because they wanted change. They want to know what are you going to do for Clayton county? That’s a priority for me is the citizens of Clayton county but again if you’re not growing you’re dying. So you have to look at what can Fayette County do for me? What can Henry County do for me? What can we do together?”
- Clayton County commission chairman-elect Jeff Turner
CLAYTON COUNTY
Jeff Turner
Title: Chairman-elect, Board of Commissioners
Age: 48
Residence: Riverdale
Background: Master’s degree from Columbus State University in Public Administration, May 2010; has more than 20 years in law enforcement; appointed Clayton County’s first African-American police chief in March 2007.Graduate of the FBI National Academy where he received a certificate in executive leadership and managerial practices in 2005.
Family: He and his wife of 25 years, Darlene, have four children.
Top 3 priorities: Economic development, bringing more jobs to Clayton and rebranding Clayton’s image.
FAYETTE COUNTY
Steve Brown
Title: County commissioner
Age: 48
Residence: Peachtree City
Background: Journalism management degree from the Grady College of Journalism at the University of Georgia; co-founder of the Metropolitan Atlanta Mayors Association. Held numerous posts with the Georgia Muncipal Association and served on the policy cabinet of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. Mayor of Peachtree City, 2002-2006.
Family: He and his wife of 17 years, Anne Marie, have two daughters in high school.
Top 3 priorities: Building better access to I-85; working with the school board and trying to return the school system to better financial health; creating ways to build better efficiencies in county government.
HENRY COUNTY
Tommy Smith
Title: Chairman-elect, Board of Commissioners
Age: 66
Residence: Hampton
Background: Retired air traffic controller with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Family: He and his wife of 46 years, Gayle, have four grown children and eight grandchildren.
Top 3 priorities: Raise pay for county employees, enhance opportunities for small businesses and focus more on Henry County’s transportation needs.
In an anti-incumbency sweep that defined southside politics in 2012 dissatisfied voters emphatically cleaned house.
Those voters will see the first inkling of their mandate for change next month when Clayton, Henry and Fayette counties install new leadership. Clayton and Henry elected new commission chairmen, Jeff Turner and Tommy Smith respectively. Fayette is slated to name a new one too, most likely County Commissioner Steve Brown.
The trio said they will bring a new voice to the area as they serve on the Atlanta Regional Commission, where they say the southside has been ignored.
But not before they tackle more pressing problems at home - a lesson made clear by the thunderous defeat of the multi-billion dollar transportation referendum known as TSPLOST. That referendum ultimately cost incumbents Eldrin Bell in Clayton and Elizabeth “B.J.” Mathis in Henry their seats.
“In my first year, I’m gonna focus on local issues,” said Smith who opted for store-bought food purchased by family and friends for his Dec. 20 inauguration instead of using money traditionally set aside by the county for such events. “The present administration was more focused on regional issues than local issues,” he said. “The local people said enough is enough. We’re going to have to take care of our own home first. We’ve got to do that.”
Turner, Smith and Brown recently met at Dolce, a Peachtree City resort, with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, marking what is believed to be the first time in recent memory of southside leaders gathering to discuss mutual concerns and ways they can help one another set the southside on a definitive path.
While the southside has been the stepchild regionally, it hasn’t fared much better in its own backyard. Clayton, a mostly black, Democratic county, is sandwiched between the more conservative and white counties of Fayette and Henry. Each has operated as, what Clayton’s Turner called, separate “silos,” motivated by their own agendas and rarely reaching across county lines.
“It shouldn’t be like night and day going through each county,” Turner said.
That approach isn’t going to work going forward, the three men acknowledged during the hour-long session. Aside from rebuilding trust within their own communities, they say cross-county cooperation is essential, especially when it comes to dealing with transportation and education. Clayton and Fayette, for instance, are both looking for new school superintendents and each county struggles with how best to fix traffic bottlenecks. In Henry, motorists traveling where I-75 and I-675 converge end up navigating what Smith calls the “Bermuda Triangle” of traffic annoyances.
Collectively, they view the southside as a future development rival to the northside. Aside from its proximity to the world’s busiest airport, they cited the southside’s capable workforce and affordable, comfortable lifestyles. Brown says those enticements are made even more attractive because available land for building on the northside is growing scarce. The southside still has relatively more land to offer to future developers, he said.
But the offerings are tempered by problems.
Clayton’s struggle to move beyond the legacy of its 2008 school accreditation loss coupled and overall lower property values could cast a long shadow over the southside if they’re not addressed. Additionally, economic development around the airport, which has begun to pick up, remains relatively sparse.
“If you look at other cities, you’ll find great economic development around their airports,” Turner said. “We’re severely under- represented.”
Recent developments during the past two years offer some economic hope for the southside.
In May 2011, Porsche announced it would move its north American headquarters and hundreds of jobs from Sandy Springs to the former Ford Motor Co. plant near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Porsche’s move appears to have helped spur other development on the southside — earlier this month, Triumph Motorcycle relocated its North American headquarters from Newnan to a facility near the airport.
“Porsche is just the beginning of development around the airport,” Brown said. “They’ve broken the glass ceiling there. You’re going to start to see business developing especially in (Clayton) county.” At the same time, counties like Fayette and Henry will benefit. Brown, for instance, envisions Fayette as a place where top executives of those companies will live.
“We work off of each other,” Brown said.
As for future get-togethers? It’s not likely - at least not anytime soon.
“The first six months for me are going to be hairy,” Smith said, looking over at Turner. “He’s got to pull Clayton out of the mud and I’ve got to pull Henry County out of the mud.”
About the Author
