A number of political candidates were given a few moments during the recent CID owners’ meeting to share information about their interests in seeking public office.
Frank Auman, leading candidate for Mayor of the newly-formed city of Tucker, said that his campaign began as an effort similar to that of the CIDs.
“I started nearly three years ago as part of an organization called ‘Tucker Together’ in part to protect our community but also in part to address the same sort of issues the CID addresses,” Auman said. “As a city, Tucker will be responsible for code enforcement, zoning and parks, and there’s a lot of overlap between using those things to protect and increase property value and bring quality economic growth to the whole city, just as y’all do here at the CID.”
Auman also thanked the CID owners for their support of Tucker’s cityhood efforts, which helped secure a 74% “yes” vote for incorporation last November.
Former Labor Commissioner and former DeKalb Schools Superintendent Michael Thurmond also spoke of the optimism created by positive leadership and a “can-do” attitude. Thurmond recently announced his campaign to become DeKalb County’s next Chief Executive Officer.
“When I was elected to Labor Commissioner, there was talk that the organization was too far gone, and that a turnaround would be impossible. When I was appointed DeKalb Schools Superintendent, they said the very same thing about DeKalb schools,” said Thurmond. “But in both cases, my response was ‘let me try,’ because nobody had ever tried. People say I was successful, and I think I was, but not because I was so great –it was because no one had ever tried to do it my way,” he said.
Elections for Mayor and City Council of Tucker will be March 1, with any runoffs necessary on March 29, while the election for DeKalb CEO will have a primary on May 24 and a General Election on November 8.