11 minute read
► PAGES
Fulton County Elections: Meet the candidates
Candidates: Robb Pitts (Incumbent), Sonya Russell, Jewel Johnson
Note: Rob Pitts and Jewel Johnson did not submit responses to Appen Media’s questionnaire.
Profile: Tell readers a little about yourself.
Russell: I am a 25-year law enforcement leader, who now owns a small business. Served 10 years at the APD, and 15 as a federal agent before retiring. I am a dedicated wife, mother and grandmother and I’m ready to give Fulton County a fresh start.
Question 1: What do you see as the county’s greatest challenge near-term, and have you any ideas on how to address it?
Russell: The greatest challenge will be to unite the county: north, south and Atlanta in between. While doing this, we must work to reduce crime so people feel safe to go to school, go to work, and improve their quality of life. I believe my background in law enforcement makes me uniquely qualified to work collaboratively with all the different law-enforcement agencies and social organizations to prevent crime and achieve our overall goal: to improve the quality of life in Fulton County for everyone. I will establish new and improved cooperative partnerships in the private and public sector to achieve these goals.
Question 2: Which policy or project facing the Board do you feel most passionate about, and how will you work to pass/complete it?
Russell: The Board under the current chairman has shown a failure of leadership. There is no election director; the chairman misapplied federal rescue dollars, and he was recently scolded by a judge for passing an unlawful election rule (that was overturned). On day one i will introduce a measure to clean up corruption and provide open, transparent leadership. From talking to constituents and local city councils, developing K-8 STEM/STEAM home zoned schools that feed into schools like Innovation Academy and Global Impact Magnet high schools as well enriching our existing middle and high schools with some elements of those magnet schools would be very attractive to keeping and increasing enrollment.
Question 3: With rising costs of living making many voters’ everyday lives more expensive, what would you do to promote economic stability in Fulton County?
Russell: A Chairman Sonya Russell will reintroduce the Rescue Implementation Plan that the current chairman refused to support. It allows for millions in home mortgage assistance, summer youth jobs and training and provides small businesses with grants to help them come out of the pandemic fiscally strong. I will not only talk about helping our businesses during election season; I will work every day to promote economic stability in Fulton County.
RUSSELL Seat: Georgia Senate District 48
Democrat Josh Uddin is running unopposed in the primary. Party: Republican Candidates: Kevin Grindlay, Shawn Still
Note: Kevin Grindlay did not submit responses to Appen Media’s questionnaire.
Profile: Tell readers a little about yourself.
Still: Shawn is a 20-year resident of Johns Creek, successful entrepreneur, and father of three girls, who currently serves Finance Chair of the Georgia Republican Party. He employees over 100 Georgians through the largest pool plastering company in the Southeast.
Question 1: What do you see as your district’s greatest challenge nearterm, and have you any ideas on how to address it?
Still: The issues in my district vary by county, in Fulton County, the two largest issues that I plan to address as your next State Senator is improving infrastructure to accommodate the influx of traffic and addressing the stormwater runoff issues across the county. I believe that my prior experience in the pool construction industry and with the Atlanta Regional Commission makes me uniquely qualified to address the stormwater runoff issue. I will work with local jurisdictions on improving existing watersheds, and I will work tirelessly with the state and Army Corp of Engineers for any available funding to improve infrastructure.
Question 2: Which policy or project facing the House do you feel most passionate about, and how will you work to pass/complete it?
Still: Senate Bill 202, which was passed during the 2022 legislative session, was a good start on addressing election integrity. However, it fell short by not eliminating election drop boxes. In the State Senate, I plan to revisit the issue of election integrity to eliminate election drop boxes alltogether.
Question 3: With rising costs of living making many voters’ everyday lives more expensive, what would you do to promote economic stability in your district?
Still: Our district pays two thirds of the taxes for the county. We need to eliminate the state income tax. I plan to cut funding for services that we are paying for that we are not receiving. In 2021 our state over collected 1.2 billion in state taxes, and they are now redistributing that amount to Georgia families. Tat money should have gone directly back to the taxpayers that were overcharged and received no benefit for the taxes that they paid.
STILL
Fulton County Elections
Board of Commissioners
The chair of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners is an at-large seat, meaning all residents of Fulton County may vote for the seat, regardless of district. The seat, currently held by Robb Pitts, is up for reelection this year.
Johns Creek falls into Board of Commissioners District 1, represented by Liz Hausmann, who is not running for reelection.
Board of Education
Johns Creek falls into Fulton County Board of Education District 5. The district will have its nonpartisan general election May 24 between candidates Kristin McCabe and Kimberly Ware.
State Elections
State House of Representatives
Johns Creek falls into State House Districts 48, 50 and 51.
District 48 is currently represented by Democrat Mary Robichaux. District 49 is represented by Republican Chuck Martin. District 50 is represented by Democrat Angelika Kausche. District 51 is represented by Democrat Josh McLaurin.
State Senate
Johns Creek falls into State Senate Districts 14 and 48.
District 14 is represented by Republican Bruce Thompson. District 48 is represented by Democrat Zahra Karinshak.
Fulton County Elections: Meet the candidates
Seat: Georgia House District 50
Democrat Michelle Au is running unopposed in the primary. Party: Republican Candidates: Betsy Kramer, Narender Reddy, Jill Trammell
Profile: Tell readers a little about yourself.
Kramer: I am a 22-year resident of Johns Creek. Prior to running, I served the Fulton County Republican Party as the HD50 chair, first vice-chair and for a time as acting chair. My husband Steve and I just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. We have two adult children.
Reddy: I legally immigrated to America 40 years ago and built a successful career in commercial real estate. I have proudly served Johns Creek on the Board of GRTA for the past 18 years. I am running for State House to continue serving our community and preserve our shared values.
Trammell: Jill Trammell, MBA, has over 20 years of relevant experience as an entrepreneur, executive and volunteer. She has been a real leader, setting budgets, meeting strategic goals, building coalitions, and negotiating with state entities. Her record of helping others and service above self, makes her the best candidate in District 50.
Question 1: What do you see as your district’s greatest challenge near-term, and have you any ideas on how to address it?
Kramer: As I knock on the doors of voters in HD 50, my constituents are primarily concerned about traffic. Although it is not just specific to our district, it is a huge concern throughout Georgia.
There is no quick fix for HD50 traffic issues. We live in a city with only a few major roads in and out. We need to determine how to better use our funding for roads and our Intelligent Traffic System (ITS). The ITS, if properly utilized, will allow traffic to flow much better by controlling traffic lights and moving traffic through our cities.
Reddy: We face a critical decision of what kind of community we will allow Johns Creek to become. With crime on the rise in Atlanta and radical politics trying to creep into our education system, we must hold the line to protect the values we all hold dear about Johns Creek.
We must fully fund our local law enforcement and ensure that they have all the tools and resources necessary to hold the line against Atlanta’s crime problem from encroaching on our community. And we must keep politics out of the classroom and keep our teachers and parents to be in the driver’s seat of what is happening in our schools – not political activists.
Johns Creek continues to be known across the nation as being one of the best places to live, work, and raise a family – not only in Georgia, but in the nation. We need real leaders in power so that we can keep it that way.
Trammell: Our most immediate challenges will be dependent on the outcome of the governor and lieutenant governor’s race. However, there is one thing that won’t change no matter who is elected. The continued loss of our freedoms. Our pursuit of happiness is based on our God given rights. These freedoms are continually challenged, often hidden in bills that should never pass. We need to work on projects that protect our way of life in District 50 and steer our state away from socialism. The Democrat party and their money have left the moderates to back radical left candidates. We do not want radicals. We need strong representation to push back both sides of the aisle. I am a middle-right conservative and social moderate. A Republican who has proven she will be the people’s voice. I have been an advocate for vulnerable populations most of my adult life, experienced in reading legislation and writing policy. I stand up to fight the RINOs. The first week I am in office, I will create a local coalition. We will read, research, and discuss resolutions, bills and potential laws, to determine how they affect our personal freedoms and guide legislation, together.
Question 2: Which policy or project facing the House do you feel most passionate about, and how will you work to pass/complete it?
Kramer: SB202, our election integrity bill, which passed in 2021, is just the start in restoring integrity to our elections. As a member of the Georgia Republican Party Election Confidence Task Force since 2020, I will continue to work on election integrity for my constituents. Our elections must provide greater access to voting, by making it harder to cheat. In addition to working on the Election Confidence Task Force, I also have worked at the polls for Fulton County Elections for over 10 years. I am the only candidate in this race who will restore our elections.
Reddy: I have served under three governors on the Board of GRTA. Community growth, infrastructure, and transportations are a passion for me. I see what has happened in other communities that have hurt their own communities by over-developing. I will take my experience from GRTA and commercial real estate to ensure we champion economic development in Johns Creek by investing wisely in our infrastructure and ensuring that we grow responsibly to prevent our schools and roads from becoming overcrowded.
Trammell: I have always served the most vulnerable and want to provide the special needs community with college work training programs. Especially here in Johns Creek where there is nothing to do after aging out of high school. I will go after the state accrediting boards and their push of federal Dept. of Education plans parents oppose. I plan on tax dollars following our students, access to funding to build more private and state schools, employment for teachers and entrepreneurship. Collaborative funding for all people who are trying to get ahead, not just those who check a box for skin color or ethnicity.
Question 3: With rising costs of living making many voters’ everyday lives more expensive, what would you do to promote economic stability in your district?
Kramer: Our state must become more competitive for business investment and labor by intelligently eliminating the state income tax. HB 1437, which was just signed into law, lowers the current income tax rate of 5.75 percent to 4.99 percent by 2029. I will examine how the nine states without a state income tax earn revenues and also balance their budgets. I pledge to introduce a bill for Georgia that will study their best practices. A follow-up bill will put those recommendations into practice to eliminate the income tax.
Reddy: I am a successful businessman, and I started a national bank here in Georgia. I know what it takes to build a company, budget wisely, employ people and provide for families. The reckless spending from the Democrats is crippling our communities, and it’s going to bankrupt the American Dream I came to this country to achieve. We must stop Washington politics from threatening our way of life in Johns Creek. I will work tirelessly to keep our economy strong by spending responsibly. I will introduce policy that cuts through the red tape keeping our businesses from thriving, and I will lead the fight to reduce taxes for families who are struggling at the grocery store and at the gas pump.
Trammell: I believe we can help families do better by limiting that the governor giving everyone $500 -$1500 per family is the wrong move. Instead, provide economic incentive tax credits to state, just like the Federal EITC. I will also work to oppose the expansion of Medicaid and to lower insurance rates with state providers. We need public, private and insurance partnerships to expand services and to keep competition strong. This provides us with quality care. We will have nowhere else to go if we move toward a universal healthcare system.
KRAMER
REDDY
TRAMMELL
Important elections dates
May 24 Primary/Nonpartisan general elections
•May 13: Last day to submit an absentee ballot application •May 20: Last day of early in-person voting •May 24: Election Day; absentee ballots must be received by local elections office
June 21 Primary/Nonpartisan general runoff
•May 23: Last day to register to vote and be eligible to vote in June 21 runoff •June 10: Last day to submit an absentee ballot application •June 13: First required day of early in-person voting •June 21: Election Day; absentee ballots must be received by local elections office
