COMMUNITY
WELLNESS
INSIDE
The rebirth on Wesley Chapel Road took another step forward this week when Kroger began construction of fuel pumps on the former Scores site. A3
Teens and preteens must meet new immunization requirements before they can enroll in school this year. A5
Lots of information, prizes and entertainment will be available July 26 at the CrossRoadsNews Family & Backto-School Expo. Section B
Getting pumped up
New shot rules
Prepping for school
EAST ATLANTA • DECATUR • STONE MOUNTAIN • LITHONIA • AVONDALE ESTATES • CLARKSTON • ELLENWOOD • PINE LAKE • REDAN • SCOTTDALE • TUCKER
July 19, 2014
Copyright © 2014 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.
www.crossroadsnews.com
Volume 20, Number 12
Interim District 5 appointment brings out a crowd The number of candidates seeking the interim District 5 commissioner appointment is now down to 19 after one of the 20 applicants, removed himself from consideration. In a July 16 email to the county, Pierre Louis of Lithonia asked for his name to be removed. “Thank you for the opportunity, and I look forward to serving my community in the close future,” he said. The remaining 19 applicants are Markus Butts, Geraldine A. Champion, Harmel Deanne Codi, Faye Coffield, Tarnisha Dent, Charles Smith Hill, Gina Smith Mangham, Randal Mangham, Kamau K. Mason, Melvin D. Mitchell, Angela Moore, Belinda M. Myers, Joscelyn C. O’Neil, Wendolyn Peters, Kathryn T. Rice, Kenneth R. Saunders, Jacqueline Tumbling, George Turner Jr., and Andre R. Please see CANDIDATES, page A4
Markus Butts
Melvin Mitchell
Harmel Codi
Faye Coffield
Belinda Myers
Joscelyn O’Neil
Geraldine Champion
Angela Moore
Tarnisha Dent
Charles Hill
Kathryn Rice
Kenneth Saunders Jacqueline Tumbling George Turner Jr.
Gina Mangham
Randal Mangham Kamau K. Mason
Andre White
New push for city of South DeKalb kicks off Dr. Kathryn Rice, an economic development expert, addresses a South DeKalb cityhood meeting on July 16 at New Life Baptist. She says a city of South DeKalb makes sense.
Group to pursue initiative in 2015 legislative session By Jennifer Ffrench Parker
A city of South DeKalb is definitely on the table for the 2015 Georgia Legislature. With a show of hands, a majority of the 70 residents at a meeting exploring the proposed city voted July 16 for organizers to pursue the initiative in the southern end of the county. After the vote, 31 of those same residents signed up on committees to spread the word, do research and lobby legislators. Dr. Kathryn Rice, one of the movement’s coordinators, said she has joined forces with Stonecrest City Alliance President Jason Lary to push for the new city in the 2015 Georgia Legislature. She told the audience in an auditorium on the campus of New Life Baptist Church on Flat Shoals Parkway in Decatur that this is the best time to push for a city of South DeKalb. “If we do not introduce our city now, our next opportunity will be 2017,” said Rice, a Stone Mountain resident and co-founder of the South DeKalb Improvement Association. Rice said a city of South DeKalb makes sense. “There is no other place in the metro Atlanta region that is as well-situated or has as much potential as south DeKalb County,” she said. Rice pointed to the area’s close proximity to the busiest airport and the city of Atlanta and its access to the major transportation nodes of I-285 and I-20 and to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and centers of learning like Emory and the University of Georgia. “We have proximity to all of the things that businesses are going to need,” she said. “We have available developable land at
Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews
“We have so much to offer. We have all the ingredients. We just need a good cook to put them together and present to the world that we have the best cake in the world for you to taste. Come taste.” Dr. Kathryn Rice, Coordinator of the proposed City of South DeKalb
Stonecrest mall. When they come in and see the beautiful homes in South DeKalb at the incredible ridiculously low prices that we have, our population may change. “The question should be, We have so much to give, how come we haven’t gotten more than we have right now?” The room broke into spontaneous applause.
Rice has broad and deep roots in economic development. She is the founder and president of Building Quality Communities, a firm that consults with corporations, governments, nonprofits and church groups, and she has worked in economic development for the city of Atlanta’s Empowerment Zone. She is also a former director of the Center for Economic Development at the Georgia Institute of Technology and was an instructor in economic development and urban affairs at Georgia State. Rice said that she has joined forces with Lary because they both believe in economic development for South DeKalb. Lary’s attempts to create a city of Stonecrest during the 2014 Legislature failed because that proposed city would not generate enough revenues to cover its operations. The proposed city of South DeKalb would include both the city of Stonecrest
and the City of Prosperity proposed during the 2014 state Legislature. At Wednesday’s meeting, residents heard presentations from Jim Skinner, a researcher from the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Research and Analytics Division, on two scenarios – a city of South DeKalb south from Memorial Drive and a city from U.S. 78 that would include unincorporated areas of Clarkston. Rice told the meeting that the state Legislature is poised to vote on the cities of Lakeside and Tucker when its new session starts on Jan. 25. “If we wait to put forth the issue of the city of South DeKalb to a later date, we miss being included with the cities they have to make a decision on,” she said. “If we miss this, they will have approved four cities in the Please see CITYHOOD, page A4