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
