City of Stonecrest prepares for March election of mayor and city council

Two months after the approval of the city of Stonecrest as a municipality, the newly incorporated city will hold elections for mayor and city council members on March 21st, 2017.

 

20 people are slated to run in a contested race with candidates of varied backgrounds including education, law enforcement, business, medicine, tech, and even one Yale University graduate student.

 

Stonecrest is a city of about 50,000 residents and includes most of southeast DeKalb County, and areas surrounding Lithonia and the Mall at Stonecrest. It sits along I-20.

The main goal of cityhood for Stonecrest is for the municipality to have economic autonomy. Supporters of cityhood believe that business goals can be more readily achieved as a city rather than as a part of DeKalb County. Elected officials will work to this end, promoting the economic interests of the city of Stonecrest.

 

A feasibility study conducted by the University of Georgia suggested that the Stonecrest could generate upwards of $2 million in tax surplus each year, with annual expenses at $7.9 million. Projected revenue for Stonecrest is more than $70,000 annually, according to a presentation from Dr. Alfie Meek, Director of the Center for Economic Development Research at Georgia Tech.

 

Elected officials will work towards developing three main government services: code enforcement, planning and zoning, and parks and recreation. Due to the expense of developing a police force, the municipality with remain under the jurisdiction of DeKalb County Police for now.

 

The mayoral and city council candidates are:

 

Mayor

 

Douglas E. Favors

Charles Hill

Jason Lary

 

City Council-District Post 1

 

Jimmy Clanton

Charles Ross

 

City Council-District Post 2

 

Plez A. Joyner

Bethel Morris

Gretchen Jones Torbert

Rob Turner

 

City Council-District Post 3

 

Jazzmin Randall

Eric Hubbard

 

City Council-District Post 4

 

Geraldine Champion

Jesse “Jay” Cunningham

Mary-Pat Hector

Jonathan “JP” Phillips

George Turner

 

City Council-District Post 5

 

Diane Daniels

Tammy L. Grimes

Lloyd Morrison

Richard Stone