CrossRoadsNews, October 29, 2016

EAST ATLANTA • DECATUR • STONE MOUNTAIN • LITHONIA • AVONDALE ESTATES • CLARKSTON • ELLENWOOD • PINE LAKE • REDAN • SCOTTDALE • TUCKER

Copyright © 2016 CrossRoadsNews, Inc.

October 29, 2016

Eye on Crime

A consumers guide to public safety in south DeKalb County

Volume 22, Number 27

www.crossroadsnews.com

A ballot full of important issues

Crime can happen anywhere but increasingly it’s happening close to home for many South DeKalb residents.

In this special report, we look at how some of our neighbors are fighting back, and we provide tips and lists of contacts to help you protect your home, family, neighhorhood and community.

Ironically, as we were completing this report, hours away from going to press, our special contributor Donna Williams Lewis, who reported and wrote the report, was by her alarm monitoring company. Her Stone Mountain home had been broken into and burglarized. It was not the first time.

– Jennifer Parker, Editor/Publisher

All elections are important and this one is no different.

On Nov. 8, voters will decide whether businessman Donald Trump or former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be moving into the White House.

For DeKalb County, the most competitive local race on the ballot is for the DeKalb Board of Commissioners Super District 7 seat. Five men and three women are competing to win the seat, each promising to help usher in a new era on the scandal-tainted BOC. Pick wisely so that we can put behind us the litany of ethics complaints.

Then there is Amendment 1, which would allow the governor to take away control of local schools, and affected voters will decide the fate of the proposed city of Stonecrest.

Section B, Inside

a crossroadsnews special report

Crime shattering residents’ sense of well-being South DeKalb neighborhoods feel vulnerable

The blue lights of the Police investigating crime are a common sight for many residents.

At left, the police respond to a call on Candler Road on Oct. 11. Candler, Bouldercrest and Glenwood roads are called crime hot spots.

By Donna Williams Lewis

February 2013 is a time that Bari Martin will never forget.

She arrived home to her Mainstreet community in Stone Mountain after work and walked to her backyard, something she doesn’t normally do.

Right away, she noticed that her laundry room window was broken.

Inside her home, drawers had been yanked open. Furnishings were tossed around. Televisions and jewelry were gone.

“I can’t even describe the devastation,” Martin said. “As far as sleeping that night, I can’t tell you that I did.”

The burglary set a lot of things in motion for Martin. She got an alarm system. Then, she organized a mini-Neighborhood Watch on her street and one street over, gathering contact informaton from people who told her they had sensed that something wasn’t right at her house that day but never called about what they saw.

Despite all of those efforts, her home was broken into again, in July 2015.

“I wanted to do bodily harm. I was so angry,” said Martin, who has lived in her home for 20 years. “I’m past that now.”

Martin, a medical technologist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, didn’t have to look farther than her own street to find others who had gone through a burglary or knew someone else who had.

A burglary occurred every 20 seconds in the U.S., 2015 FBI’s Crime Clock statistics show.

Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews

In south DeKalb County, residents who never used to feel threatened by crime now say they, too, feel vulnerable.

Robert Blackman, a Neighborhood Watch Block Captain in The Meadows subdivision in Stone Mountain, said t hat when he moved to the county in 1984, the only intruders in his neighborhood were stray cows from a nearby dairy farm.

“People left their doors unlocked, their garage door open and their lawn mowers in the back,” said Blackman, who has lived in in the subdivision off Young Road, for 19 years.

“Now, we got motion detectors, burglar

alarms and all that good stuff,” he said.

Blackman said crime started intruding in his neighborhood in 2008 with the housing crash that resulted in people renting their homes to Section 8 tenants.

But if the numbers are any indication, DeKalb County has become safer over the past year.

Violent and property crimes are down significantly, according to year-to-date statistics released this month by the DeKalb Police Department.

For the nine months through Oct. 8, the South Precinct, which covers southwest DeKalb, shows a 6 percent decline in both

violent and property crimes from the same time range last year.

Violent crime is down to 781 incidents so far this year from the 827 reported in 2015.

Property crime, which includes burglaries and car break-ins, dropped to 3,436 year to date from 3,649 for the same time last year.

In southeast DeKalb, the East Precinct showed a 10 percent decrease in both categories. Violent crimes decreased to 590 incidents this year from 653 last year. Property crimes also declined to 3,440 incidents from 3,825 in the first nine months of 2015.

Please see CRIME, page 4

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October 29, 2016

“You should know your next-door neighbors on both sides and across the street. It takes a village to keep it safe.”

Residents of the Parks of Stonecrest near the Lithonia mall have magnetic Neighborhood Watch signs they can place on their vehicles when they ride through their streets.

2346 Candler Rd. Decatur, GA 30032 404-284-1888 Fax: 404-284-5007 www.crossroadsnews.com editor@crossroadsnews.com

Editor / Publisher Jennifer Parker General Manager Curtis Parker Assistant Editor Brenda Yarbrough Staff Writers Jennifer Ffrench Parker Ken Watts Front Office Manager Catherine Guy Multimedia Editor Sharif Williams CrossRoadsNews is published every Saturday by CrossRoads­News, Inc. We welcome articles on neighborhood issues and news of local happenings.

The opinions expressed by writers and contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher, nor those of any advertisers.

The concept, design and content of CrossRoads­News are copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner without the written permission of the publisher.

Advertisements are published upon the representation that the advertiser is authorized to publish the submitted material. The advertiser agrees to indemnify and hold harmless from and against any loss or expenses resulting from any disputes or legal claims based upon the contents or subject matter of such advertisements, including claims of suits for libel, violation of privacy, plagiarism and copyright infringement.

We reserve the right to refuse any advertisement.

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

Communities find security through Neighborhood Watch

By Donna Williams Lewis

When J.W. Eady moved to the Parks of Stonecrest community about nine years ago, burglars were kicking in doors and stealing televisions off walls.

These days, he says the Lithonia neighborhood of 196 J.W. Eady homes near the Mall at Stonecrest, off Turner Hill Road, is very quiet, and crime is rare.

“We don’t have any problems because neighbors are watching out for neighbors,” said Eady, who retired from Prudential Insurance.

“The most important thing of all is to organize and get neighbors to know each other.”

Police say Neighborhood Watch programs prevent crime and reduce fear by fighting the isolation that crime both creates and feeds upon.

“You should know your nextdoor neighbors on both sides and across the street,” Eady said. “It takes a whole village to keep it safe.”

Eady is one of 32 volunteers from across the county currently participating in the Police Department’s VIP program, a non-confrontational neighborhood patrol program.

He’s also a member of DeKalb County Public Safety’s Community Emergency Response Team, which enables him to help neighbors until professionals can arrive.

Residents in his community take safety seriously and let each other know when they will be away

Circulation Audited By

How to start a Neighborhood Watch program n Contact the public education specialist at your precinct to schedule an organizational meeting. n The public education specialist will provide crime prevention tips and information on how to report suspicious activities and crime statistics for your neighborhood. n Appoint a Neighborhood Watch coordinator who will maintain a list of block captains and stay in communication with them on crimerelated issues and other neighborhood concerns. n Block captains maintain a current list of assigned homes and share news of incidents with the coordinator and residents of the assigned homes. n Neighborhood Watch community meetings should be held at least twice a year, and at least two community activities should be planned, such as in conjunction with National Night Out, Red Ribbon Week or Crime Prevention Month.

from home for a while.

They have magnetic “Parks of Stonecrest Neighborhood Watch” signs they can place on their cars when they ride through their streets.

They put up security storm doors and added outside sirens to their home alarm systems so neighbors are alerted and can take appropriate action if an alarm is tripped.

Across town, consultant Marjorie Clay has personally experienced the value of neighbors looking out for each other in her townhome community off Panthersville Road in Decatur.

In summer 2015, she left keys in a car her niece wanted to borrow.

Her niece, nephew and a friend were in the car looking for the key when police rolled up, Clay said.

“They hadn’t seen a soul,” she said. “But neighbors saw them.”

Police got calls from people in four nearby houses who thought

they were stealing the car.

“We’re going to keep an eye on each other,” Clay said. “Do we have block captains? Everybody is a block captain. If you ride through here more than two times, we call the police because we think you’re casing the joint. By agreement, that’s how we live. We’re not going to tolerate that in our neighborhood.”

Chapel Lake resident Henry Dorsey recently reactivated his community’s Neighborhood Watch with the help of S. O’Rear, the DeKalb Police South Precinct’s public education specialist.

The Chapel Lake neighborhood, off Wesley Chapel Road, has had a few break-ins. Recently, a thief entered a homeowner’s garage while she was unpacking her groceries and stole her pocketbook out of her car.

To improve security, the subdivision has placed a surveillance camera at its entrance. The neigh-

boring Summit community has had a camera at its entrance for two or three years, said Dorsey, a BellSouth retiree.

“The police can’t do it by themselves,” he said. “We have to have the community involvement for them to even begin to do their jobs.”

Dorsey strategically located 10 block captains for his community of 99 homes, specifically seeking men in an effort to get them more involved in the neighborhood. The block captains are led by Neighborhood Watch Chair Curtis Brown.

Some of the block captains walk through the neighborhood daily.

Others jog or drive their streets, carefully observing the neighborhood along the way, he said.

Getting some of his neighbors signed up for Neighborhood Watch proved to be a challenge, initially, for one of the block captains, Dorsey said.

But the neighborhood has gotten past that point, he said.

Mailboxes were used to make contact with some of the residents who were tough to catch at home.

Community activities and regular neighborhood meetings also have helped to build bonds, he said.

“Now, everything is all set up,“ Dorsey said. “We can involve some of our ladies to add more of a social aspect.”

Dorsey reminisced about growing up in a small community in Kentucky, in a time when people never locked their doors and always just left their keys in their cars.

“I think it’s critical for people to understand that times have changed,” he said. “We’ve got to convince perpetrators to move on down the road.”

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October 29, 2016

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“I can’t gripe about anything that’s going on if I’m not willing to be part of the solution.”

Armed carjacking turned neighbor into community advocate

By Donna Williams Lewis

Marjorie Clay loves living in her townhome community off Panthersville Road where she said she has “South DeKalb’s best neighbors.”

Clay said her “sleepy little Decatur community” of 16 years was relatively crime-free until July last year when there was an armed carjacking in the neighborhood.

“That’s what sent me flying to the South De­Kalb Marjorie Clay precinct, demanding to know what is Maj. K.D. Johnson going to do about the crime going on in the community,” Clay said.

Clay said Johnson turned the question back to her, asking: “What are you going to do to stop crime in your community?”

Johnson invited Clay to a community outreach meeting at the precinct, where she listened to him talk about the social ills he wants to address in his effort to fight crime.

She realized then how isolated she’d been.

“While I was over here living my middleclass life, a lot of things were going on in my community that I knew nothing about,” Clay said. “I was just so moved, I made a decision I was going to start working in the community. I’ve been solidly committed from that point on.”

Clay is now the South Precinct’s official “ambassador” and works with Johnson to lead the precinct’s community outreach group.

The group has partnered with the precinct and area businesses to do coat and toy drives and has hosted book bag giveaways.

Together, they’ve held cookouts and cleanups and done social work with the residents of Ember Drive, a notoriously crimeridden street off Candler Road at I-20.

Over the past month, with the group’s help, eight colorfully painted pianos donated to police by the Pianos for Peace organization were delivered to senior facilities and schools in the precinct.

Clay said residents need to get involved … and be consistently involved.

“Everybody thinks somebody else is going to do it,” she said. “I can’t gripe about anything that’s going on if I’m not willing to be part of the solution.”

The DeKalb Police East Precinct recruited mentors from the community last summer to partner with them in a youth initiative involving eight middle and high schools.

East Precinct’s commander, Maj. K.D. Banks, said the continuing program targets kids identified by their principals as likely to benefit from such a program.

The mentors, called “community ambassadors,” have taken youth to the movies, to lunch and out on field trips, among other activities.

The program got off to an interesting start when a boy arriving for the kickoff meeting jumped out of his mother’s car and took off running when he saw the police.

After that rocky start, the boy ended up becoming one of the better players in the precinct’s basketball program.

The East Precinct also has partnered with the Boys and Girls Club at Redan Community Center to speak with kids and parents on topics such as drinking and driving, texting and driving, “and the importance of law enforcement being your friend,” said Officer E. Jenkins, the East Precinct’s public education specialist.

Both precincts hold special events throughout the year. The following are some of the ongoing ways South DeKalb police and the community are partnering.

Social media The police share news, crime prevention tips and information about their events on social media.

South Precinct community specialist S. O’Rear tries out a piano delivered to Flat Shoals Elementary School, along with Officers K. Tyson and J. Sutton.

Ameer Muhammad / Pianos for Peace

Ken Watts / CrossRoadsNews

Maj. K.D. Banks, East Precinct commander, and other officers had lunch with students at Salem Middle School on Oct. 19.

n Facebook: Search for DeKalb County Police Department and the name of the precinct you’re looking for. n nextdoor.com: Sign up to learn about what’s going on in your neighborhood and surrounding communities and to join conversations with your neighbors, your police precinct and other participating agencies.

Community initiatives n Quarterly community meetings.

South Precinct’s next meeting is Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. at the South DeKalb Senior Center, 1931 Candler Road in Decatur.

The East Precinct holds its next meeting on Nov. 14 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Stonecrest Library, 3123 Klondike Road in Lithonia.

Holiday safety tips will be discussed. n Other quarterly meetings. The police meet regularly with business managers and apartment managers to work toward crime prevention. n Basketball. From basketball camps to midnight basketball, young kids and teens are bonding with police across South DeKalb in recreation centers and churches. For more information, check with your precinct and the DeKalb County Police Athletic League. n Coffee With a Cop. Monthly gatherings with local police representatives are held at different locations. South Precinct’s next event is Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. at the South DeKalb Senior Center, 1931 Candler Road in Decatur. The East Precinct holds its next event on Nov. 9 from 8-10 a.m. at Bojangles’, 2695 Panola Road in Lithonia. n Lunch With a Cop. Police are partnering with schools to have lunch with kids in school cafeterias. East Precinct officers had lunch with students at Salem Middle School on Oct. 19.

More South Precinct initiatives n Community Outreach Group. The South Precinct’s community outreach group meets at the precinct on first and third Tuesdays monthly from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Meetings are

open to the public. n Karate. South DeKalb Police Precinct Community Outreach, the Atlanta Masjid and Flat Shoals Elementary School have partnered to offer free beginner’s karate classes from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. on Thursdays through Dec. 8 for kids in grades 3 to 5. n Movie With the Major. Maj. K.D. Johnson, South Precinct commander, joins the community for a free “Movie With the Major” each month at Satellite Cinemas at the Gallery at South DeKalb mall. The event is recommended for kids ages 12 and under, who must be accompanied by adults. n Library. A mini-bookstore in the precinct’s

lobby offers free, donated books for kids and adults. Additional donations are welcome. n Craigslist meeting place. Buyers and sellers can handle their business in the South Precinct parking lot and can request to have an officer present. n Community walks. On request, police will walk or bike through your neighborhood with you and your neighbors.

For more information, contact a public education specialist. South Precinct – S. O’Rear. 404-286-7955; email: scorear@ dekalbcountyga.gov. East Precinct – Officer E. Jenkins. 770-482-0330; email: ejenkins@ dekalbcountyga.gov.

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October 29, 2016

“I think if the police can get a handle on the drug element, I think that’s what’s causing the shooting.”

DeKalb Police target hot spots, get community more engaged from page

While most burglaries are never solved, a suspect is in custody for Martin’s burglary.

Martin believes that he committed both burglaries at her home and others in her area.

Martin said the suspect lived just a few houses away.

“He’s been terrorizing all of us for years,” she said.

‘They’re our first line of defense’ Crime is in the spotlight in October, which was designated in 1984 as Crime Prevention Month by the National Crime Prevention Council.

The monthlong observance promotes awareness of issues such as victimization, volunteerism, and creating safer, more caring communities.

Maj. K.D. Johnson, commander of the South Precinct since April 2015, attributed the decrease in crime to several factors.

“We’re paying more attention to our hot spots and being more responsive and getting the community more engaged,” Johnson said.

Among the hot spots he mentioned – Candler Road, Bouldercrest Road and Glenwood Road.

“We have a lot of gun violence we’re trying to address,” he said, and prostitution and drugs are among top concerns.

In southeast DeKalb, auto thefts are fluctuating at the top of the radar, according to the East Precinct’s new commander, Maj. K.D. Banks.

Crime is up by 5 percent in the East Precinct with 922 vehicles stolen year to date compared to 878 in 2015.

In the South Precinct, car break-ins are up 15 percent with 1,014 vehicles broken into this year. For the same period last year, there were 879 car break-ins.

Many local residents say teenagers are a big part of South DeKalb’s crime.

The majors don’t disagree.

“Juveniles are definitely an issue with property crimes,” Banks said.

To help tackle crime, local police are doubling down on their efforts to build bridges with kids and all aspects of the community.

They’re going beyond community policing to community involvement, doing everything from creating outreach groups that address social ills to having lunch with kids in school cafeterias.

“We’re trying to give them an opportunity to know us and talk about what’s on their minds,” Johnson said. “We want to focus more on getting officers to be more approachable. Officers are more on K.D. Johnson edge because some feel they aren’t supported. It’s a two-way street. It’s us [and the public] working together.”

At an Oct. 12 meeting at the South Precinct in Decatur, managers of four apartment complexes shared crime prevention techniques and talked about the possibility of sharing information on evicted, problem tenants.

All 37 complexes in the precinct had been invited to discuss their concerns. Wesley Club, Rainbow Forest, Columbia Place and Woodridge showed up.

Wesley Club representatives expressed concern over the impact of criminal activity at a neighboring gas station and a hotel in the Wesley Chapel Road/I-20 area.

Cristal Favors, Rainbow Forest Apartments assistant manager, said things are going well at her 156-unit community.

In the East Precinct, auto thefts are fluctuating at the top of the radar.

Crime is up by 5 percent with 922 vehicles stolen so far this year compared to 878 over the same period in 2015.

S h e said they choos tenants carefully and declines people who have been evicted from other places. The community off Rainbow Drive has surveillance cameras that work and it hosts regular events help residents get to know each other and share concerns.

“It’s about getting our community tighter knit,” Favors said. “I like to do functions for the kids because they’re our first line of defense.”

‘Refuse to be run out of our homes’ Across South DeKalb, neighbors are banding together to try to preserve their communities.

Johnny Cole said his Creekwood Hills community off Boring Road is “still a very quiet neighborhood,” but problems have recently developed.

He said people have been coming through the neighborhood firing guns. There also have been break-ins recently and a couple of shootings and armed robberies in the past six months.

“Even if police ride through every hour, that won’t solve the problem because they have lookouts. That’s what makes Neighborhood Watch so important,” said Cole, a cofounder of his community’s Neighborhood Watch.

“I know it’s very hard,” Cole said, “but I think if the police could get a handle on the drug element, I think that’s what’s causing the shooting.”

Sharon Newby, a volunteer “community ambassador” in the East Precinct’s youth initiative, lives in the Chester Hills subdivision across from Stephenson High in Stone Mountain.

She asks police officers to stop to talk with kids when they’re driving through the neighborhood to try to build relationships.

Newby says she stops and talks with kids too, but sometimes for a different reason.

She takes pictures of well-dressed kids who appear to be skipping school and lets them know the pictures will be emailed to the principal of Stephenson High.

“We have to be on top of it,” Newby said.

“You can’t see things and do nothing about it. If you keep ignoring them, they’ll think this is a place to hang out.”

Residents in the Doris Drive community off Flat Shoals Road in Decatur do community cleanups and have a back-to-school program for parents who can’t afford backpacks.

They walk their streets in neighborhood T-shirts.

Magnolia Circle Senior Community Neighborhood Watch coordinator Sylvia Walk “We don’t have a spray. Walker, with her pepper above, said she is armed with defensive spray a lot of burglaries, car break-ins and robberies like we used to,” said Peggy Mitchell, who helped organize their Neighborhood Watch. “We just refuse to let people run us out of our homes.”

Blackman, the Meadows Neighborhood Watch block captain, said his community has 129 homes and five streets and he knows every homeowner.

His cul-de-sac is calm and quiet, and he says he defends his street and his neighborhood fiercely.

An ardent advocate of higher pay for police, Blackman walks and jogs his neighborhood daily and he calls police about anything that looks even halfway suspicious.

He advises his neighbors to keep their homes well-lit, to use alarm systems and pay attention to people walking down the street.

“You got two reasons to be in my cul-desac,” Blackman said. “You live here or you’re visiting somebody here. If we see somebody, we ask them who they’re visiting. … I’m an old combat veteran, so I fear nothing but God and me.”

Types of crime* Blackman said he is just trying to survive South Precinct 2015 2016 % Chg in DeKalb County so he doesn’t have to Homicide 20 22 +10.0% move away.

Aggravated Assault 271 255 -5.9% “I don’t want to be buying a shotgun Robbery-Pedestrian 380 357 -6.1% when we got a police department, but it Robbery-Business 66 71 +7.6% might come to that,” he said.

Robbery-Residential 49 42 -14.3% Sylvia Walker said some residents in her Rape or Attempt 41 34 -17.1% Magnolia Circle senior living community off Burglary-Residential 1,454 1,224 -15.8% Rainbow Drive in Decatur are prepared and Burglary-Business 249 293 +17.7% ready to deal with intruders. The community Auto Theft 1,067 905 -15.2% of 84 units has had about five break-ins of Entering Autos 879 1,014 +15.4% homes and cars over the past few years, she

said.

East Precinct 2015 2016 % Chg “We’re surrounded by forests and we Homicide 14 15 +7.1% have a lot of homeless people in the area,” Aggravated Assault 181 174 -3.9% said Walker, a Neighborhood Watch coorRobbery-Pedestrian 342 295 -13.7% dinator.

Robbery-Business 38 36 -5.3% She said her gated community’s gate often Robbery-Residential 37 46 +24.3% doesn’t work and there are lots of dark areas Rape or Attempt 41 24 -41.5% and bushes that are far too high.

Burglary-Residential 1,477 1,163 -21.3% “These are seniors, most of them,” she Burglary-Business 209 210 +0.5% said. “So, some of them are packing.”

Auto Theft 878 922 +5.0% Walker doesn’t own a gun herself because Entering Autos 1261 1,145 -9.2% * Year to date through Oct. 8, 2016 Continued on page A5

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“Our challenge here is that the don’t have enough police officers. They’re spread out very thin.”

Neighborhood Watch has been senior community’s lifeline

Ken Watts / CrossRoadsNews

In the area covered by the South Precinct, car break-ins are up 15 percent this year with 1,014 vehicles broken into. For the same period last year, there were 879 car break-ins.

ker said she and her neighbors are “packing.” She doesn’t have a gun but she packs pepper and keep in touch with neighbors through calling post and a community newsletter.

Magnolia Circle resident Sylvia Walker coordinates a community meeting on Oct. 19. The gated community has had home and car break-ins over the years.

Be in the know

Find out what’s going on in your area with CRIMETRAC. Log on to dekalbpolice.com and click on the icon for “crimetrac” to search for crimes by specific address or within a radius, by type of crime, and by specific date or range of dates.

Ken Watts / CrossRoadsNews

Crimes by precinct* DEPARTMENT Violent Crime Property Crime

2015 2016 % Chg 2,325 2,083 -10.4% 12,125 11,226 -7.4%

NORTH CENTRAL PRECINCT Violent Crime 319 311 Property Crime 2,327 2,191

-2.5% -5.8%

TUCKER PRECINCT Violent Crime 526 Property Crime 2,324

401 -23.8% 2,159 -7.1%

SOUTH PRECINCT Violent Crime Property Crime

781 -5.6% 3,436 -5.8%

827 3,649

EAST PRECINCT Violent Crime 653 590 -9.6% Property Crime 3,825 3,440 -10.1% * Year to date through Oct. 8, 2016

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

Robert Blackman, a block captain in The Meadows subdivision, off Young Road in Stone Mountain, said crime began intruding in his neighborhood in 2008.

Neighborhood Watch has been the community’s lifeline. Residents keep in touch with a calling post and a community newsletter established with a Neighborhood Fund grant.

Continued from page A4 “I think, as a community, we’ve done a lot of stuff,” Walker said. “We just want more her kids won’t allow it, but she has something for patrolling. Our challenge here is that they any intruder she encounters. don’t have enough police officers. They’re “I pack pepper spray,” she said. spread out very thin.”

DeKalb County currently has 747 officers and 160 openings for police recruits. They’ve had fewer burglaries to investigate this year compared to the same time range in 2015.

In the East Precinct, residential burglaries have declined by 21 percent, with 1,163 incidents so far this year, down from 1,477 for the same period last year. In the South Precinct, burglaries are down by 16 percent to 1,224 from the 1,454 burglaries in the first

nine months last year.

Stepped-up security measures helped Bari Martin suffer less loss the second time her Stone Mountain home was burglarized.

The thief nabbed a television and a new wristwatch before making his exit.

Martin is grateful a suspect was arrested, and she plans to seek restitution.

But in her new normal, her house doesn’t feel like home anymore.

These days, in their spare time, she and her husband are cleaning their garage and making home repairs. Martin’ has moving on her mind.

“I’ve done all that I can,” she said. “I can’t let a third time be the charm. I’m thinking about getting a fence, for the next people who live here.”

DeKalb District 5 Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson, who represents Lithonia and Stone Mountain, said she understands the frustration of residents impacted by crime.

She, too, has suffered burglaries.

“People want to feel safe in their communities and safe in their homes,” she said. “ I do, too.”

Davis Johnson, who lives in Lithonia and is a 35-year resident of DeKalb, said she understands that there is less crime in some areas but that crime can happen anywhere.

She said South DeKalb is a great place to live. She encourages neighbors to get to know each other, develop Neighborhood Watches, and share their concerns with police and their elected officials to try to work toward solutions.

“I would say never give up,” Johnson said.

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“If you call [911] for the wrong reasons, you could delay help for someone with a real life-threatening emergency.”

Frivolous or non-emergency calls to 911 put other lives at risk “What is the nature of your emergency?”

A staff of about 20 operators per day asks that question to an average of 3,200 callers daily in DeKalb County.

You should dial 911 to report any incident that requires immediate dispatch of police, fire or an ambulance and any time life or property is endangered.

If you don’t know whether your situation is an emergency, call 911, police say.

Calls to 911 and to police non-emergency numbers are received at the same location by the same operators, but 911 calls are answered first, said Marshall G. Mooneyham, director of the county’s Emergency 911 Communications.

“So if you call for the wrong reasons, you could delay help for someone with a real lifethreatening emergency,” Mooneyham said.

Some of those “wrong reasons” include these below, which are featured in DeKalb 911’s flier of some real-life 911 calls.

Here’s a sample: n What is today’s date? n The speed limit keeps changing on 285. n Can you unlock my phone? n How do I get to …? n How much is my ticket? n Is the trash being picked up today? n Are you all hiring?

When to dial 911: n Medical emergency n Fire n Motor vehicle accidents n Suspicious vehicles or people n To report incidents of auto theft, burglary, rape, arson, robbery, shoplifting, disturbances, theft, domestic violence, fights, missing persons, shootings, stabbing, destruction of property, all crimes in progress or crimes that just occurred n To report road hazards, drunk drivers, reckless drivers, wires down and tornadoes

Calls to 911 and to police non-emergency numbers are received at the same location by the same operators, but 911 calls are answered first. You should dial 911 to report any incident that requires immediate dispatch of police, fire or an ambulance and any time life or property is endangered.

n Lost or stolen items and theft from ve- is dispatched to your address to ensure your hicles safety. n Harassment by phone n Abandoned vehicles Did you know? n When calling 911 from a cellphone, coSome 911 don’ts: ordinates of your location are acquired but operators won’t get an exact location. You’ll n Don’t call 911 for weather reports or for need to tell the dispatcher the location of the school reports such as closings. emergency. Leave your cellphone on in case n Don’t hang up when you call 911 in an they need to call you back. emergency. If you get the recording, stay on n By signing up for Smart911, you can make the line until the dispatcher answers to avoid critical information about yourself, family When to dial 404-294-2911, the delay in answering your call. members, your home, pets and vehicles imnon-emergency number: n Don’t hang up when you dial 911 by ac- mediately available to 911 when you make an n To report non-urgent incidents that re- cident. Dispatchers have to call your number emergency call. The free service is provided quire a police response such as loud music back. If no contact is made, a police officer by DeKalb County. Visit smart911.com.

Other helpful numbers: n 211 – United Way. Connects people with community resources. n 311 – DeKalb County Citizen Help Center. Operators answer phones for Animal Services, Sanitation, Roads and Drainage, Watershed and other county departments. n 511 – Georgia Department of Transportation. Use this number to get traffic conditions, airport information, report traffic hazards or stalled vehicles on expressways, and to contact the H.E.R.O. motorist help unit.

Source: DeKalb County Police. http://web. dekalbcountyga.gov/DK_Police/pol-911com. html

October 29, 2016

Eye

on

Crime

CrossRoadsNews

A7

If you hear prowlers outside your home, dial 911, give the dispatcher all the requested information and leave the phone off the hook.

These safety tips could make you less vulnerable to crime Here’s a list of some of the safety tips provided by DeKalb County Police Department Crime Prevention and the National Crime Prevention Council, www.weprevent.org.

Exterior lighting near porches, garage doors, and other points of entry help deter wouldbe burglars.

Lights placed high above the ground protect bulbs from being removed or broken.

Addresses Your address should be visible on your house and/or mailbox and able to be read from the street, especially at night, to expedite the arrival of emergency personnel.

Landscaping n Keep shrubbery cut below eye level so burglars don’t have a secluded place to operate from. n Light areas of dense shrubs and trees that could serve as hiding places. n Cut back tree limbs that could help thieves climb into windows. n Keep fences low enough to avoid giving criminals places to hide.

Doors n Exterior doors should either be metal or solid wood and equipped with peepholes. For added security, use strong door hinges on the inside of the door, with non-removable or hidden pins. n Install deadbolt locks on entrance doors. n Sliding glass doors can be made more secure with a piece of wood or metal in the track to prevent opening. For added security, you can install keyed locking devices or take other measures that secure the door to the frame. n Cover decorative glass panels on garage doors. n Always keep garage doors closed and locked. n Outside doors that lead to garages and doors that lead from garages into living areas should be secured in the same way as any other entry door. n Video doorbells link to your Wi-Fi network to enable you to see and speak with people at your door on smartphones whether you’re at home or away. Equipped with night vision and motion detection, they can alert you to a visitor even if they don’t ring your doorbell.

Ring, one of the companies selling video doorbells, is offering DeKalb County residents a $25 discount on its products.

Visit ring.com and use promo code 2dekalbnno16.

Lighting n Install exterior lighting near porches, rear and side doorways, garage doors, and all other points of entry. Entryways to your home should always be well-lit. n Place lights out of reach from the ground so the bulbs cannot be removed or broken. n Aim some lights away from the house so you can see if anyone is approaching or install motion-sensing lights. n Leave lights on inside home while away.

Consider using automatic timers.

Safety at home n If someone knocks or rings your doorbell, answer with a response. (Do not open door.)

n If you hear prowlers outside your home, dial 911, give the dispatcher all the requested information and leave the phone off the hook. If alone, call out as though someone is with you. Turn on lights in several rooms to make it look as though there is more than one person at home.

More tips n Leave a radio playing a talk show when you’re away. n Don’t hide a key outside. n Store regularly used valuables in a closet secured with a deadbolt lock with pinned hinges. n Let a trusted neighbor know your home Safety on the street will be unoccupied when you’re going to be n Walk in busy areas with good lighting, and away for a while. with others when you can. n Always keep your purse by your side and keep it closed. n Be aware of your surroundings at all times and trust your instincts. n If you feel you are being followed, change your direction or pace. n Walk with confidence, shoulders back and head up. n If someone approaches you and demands your purse or wallet, give it to them. It’s not worth risking your life.

Vehicles n Lock your doors and close your windows. n Never leave your keys in your car. n Don’t leave valuables in your car. n Place valuables out of sight before you reach your destination. n Park in busy, well-lit areas. n Don’t leave spare keys in or around your vehicle. n If you sense you are being followed, change direction, find a well-lit, all-night location and dial 911. n When approaching red lights, maintain adequate distance between vehicles to allow for maneuvering. n When approaching your parked car, be alert to suspicious strangers. Have your door key ready and check car’s interior.

n Keep an inventory of your valuables and mark any potentially easily stolen items with an engraver. This makes them hard to be disposed of by burglars and able to be traced back to you.

Mark items such as televisions, computer equipment, tools, bicycles and stereo equipment. n Engravers can be checked out at DeKalb County Public Library branches.

CrossRoadsNews

A8

October 29, 2016 Dated: Aug. 09, 2016 Name: Joel Lee Domingues Georgia State Prison 2164 Georgia Hwy 147 Reidsville, GA 30499 10/15, 10/22, 10/29, 11/05

Legal Notices 10/08, 10/15, 10/22, 10/29

Notice OF PUBLICATION in the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Civil Action Case Number: ++16FM6943-6++ Candisha L. Williams Plaintiff Vs. Anthony D. Foster Defendant To:

By ORDER of the Court for service by publication dated Jun. 24, 2016, you are hereby notified that on Jun. 22, 2016, the above-named Plaintiff filed suit against you for Divorce. You are required to file upon the plaintiff’s attorney: Candisha Williams, 3901 Rockcrest Ct., Conley, GA 30288. Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of Jun. 24, 2016.

Witness the Honorable J.P. Boulee, Judge of the DeKalb Superior Court.

This the 27th day of Sept., 2016 10/08, 10/15, 10/22, 10/29

Notice OF PUBLICATION in the Superior Court of DeKalb County

State of Georgia

Civil Action Case Number: ++16FM10096-7++ LaQuinda Patrick Plaintiff Vs. Rodney Adams Defendant To: 523 Creekstone Ln. Stone Mountain, GA 30087

By ORDER of the Court for service by publication dated Sept. 23, 2016, you are hereby notified that on Aug. 26, 2016, the above-named Plaintiff filed suit against you for Divorce. You are required to file upon the plaintiff’s attorney: LaQuinda Patrick, 564 Creek Valley Ct., Stockbridge, GA 30281.

Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of Sept. 23, 2016.

Witness the Honorable Daniel M. Coursey, Jr., Judge of the DeKalb Superior Court.

This the 23rd day of Sept., 2016 10/08, 10/15, 10/22, 10/29

Notice of Petition to CHANGE Name of ADULT in the Superior Court of DeKalb County

State of Georgia

Civil Action Case Number: ++16FM10123-8++ Kiiresti Rihannah Tarrell Whitaker filed a petition in the DeKalb County Superior Court to change name from: Kiiresti Rihannah Tarrell Whitaker to Kiiresti Rihannah Barnes. Any interested party has the right to appear In this case and file objections within 30 days after the Petition was filed.

Dated: Sept. 01, 2016 Name: Kiiresti Rihannah Tarrell Whitaker 1001 Leslie Oaks Dr., #3003 Lithonia, GA 30058 10/08, 10/15, 10/22, 10/29

Notice OF PUBLICATION in the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Notice of Petition to CHANGE Name of MINOR CHILD(REN) in the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Stone Mountain, GA 30087

By ORDER of the Court for service by publication dated Sept. 23, 2016, you are hereby notified that on Aug. 26, 2016, the above-named Plaintiff filed suit against you for Divorce. You are required to file upon the plaintiff’s attorney: LaQuinda Patrick, 564 Creek Valley Ct., Stockbridge, GA 30281.

Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of Sept. 23, 2016.

Witness the Honorable Daniel M. Coursey, Jr., Judge of the DeKalb Superior Court.

This the 23rd day of Sept., 2016 10/15, 10/22, 10/29, 11/05

Notice of Petition to CHANGE Name of ADULT in the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Civil Action Case Number: ++16FM10275-1++ Joel Lee Domingues filed a petition in the DeKalb County Superior Court on Aug. 09, 2016 to change name from: Joel Lee Domingues to Joel Leee Bensing, Jr. Any interested party has the right to appear In this case and file objections within 30 days after the Petition was filed.

Civil Action Case Number: ++16FM10096-7++ LaQuinda Patrick Plaintiff Vs. Rodney Adams Defendant To: 523 Creekstone Ln.

Civil Action Case Number: ++16FM10470-8++ Natalie Galiotto filed a petition in the DeKalb County Superior Court to change name following minor child(ren) from: Rumi Angelo Haroon to Rumi George Galiotto. Any interested party has the right to appear In this case and file objections within the time prescribed in OCGA 19-12-1(f)(2) and (3).

Dated: Mar. 01, 2016 Name: Natalie Galiotto 702 Dancing Fox Rd. Decatur, GA 30032

publication dated Oct. 07, 2016, you are hereby notified that on Oct. 07, 2016, the above-named Plaintiff filed suit against you for Divorce. You are required to file with the Clerk of Superior Court and to service upon the plaintiff’s attorney whose address is: Caleshia McClurkin, 490 Glenn St., #B422, Atlanta, GA 30312. Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of Oct. 07, 2016, Witness the Honorable Jack M. McLaughlin by designation for the Honorable Daniel M. Coursey, Jr., Judge of the DeKalb Superior Court.

This the 10th day of Oct., 2016 10/22, 10/29, 11/05, 11/12

Notice OF PUBLICATION in the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Civil Action Case Number: ++15CV11334-7++ Caleshia McClurkin Plaintiff Vs. William Mann Defendant To: William Mann 2089 Black Oak Lane Ellenwood, GA 30290

By ORDER of the Court for service by

Civil Action Case Number: ++16FM9044-3++ Evelyn L. Armwood Plaintiff Vs. Norman E. Armwood Defendant To: Norman E. Armwood 2148 Riverbrook Rd. Decatur, GA 30032

By ORDER for service by publication dated Oct. 11, 2016, you are hereby notified that on Aug. 22, 2016, the abovenamed Evelyn L. Armwood- Pro Se filed suit against you for Abandoment. You are required to file with the Clerk of Superior Court and to serve upon the plaintiff’s Evelyn L. Armwood- Pro Se an Answer in writing within sixty (60) days of the first date of publication.

Witness the Honorable Clarence F. Seeliger, Judge of the DeKalb Superior Court.

This the 11th day of Oct., 2016

BENEFITS

FINANCIAL

10/22, 10/29, 11/05, 11/12

Notice OF PUBLICATION in the Superior Court of DeKalb County State of Georgia

Marketplace MARKETPLACE RATES Place your MarketPlace line ad here – up to 20 words for $25. Additional words are $3 per block of five words (maximum 45 words). Boxed Ads (with up to 3 lines bold headline): $35 plus cost of the classified ad. Send ad copy with check or credit card information and contact phone number (if different from ad) to MarketPlace, CrossRoadsNews, 2346 Candler Road, Decatur, GA 30032, or e-mail to marketplace@crossroadsnews.com. Our deadlines are at noon on the Friday one week prior to pubication, unless otherwise noted.

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October 29, 2016

www.crossroadsnews. com

B1

Critical issues fuel surge in early voting

Presidency, amendments, local races spur heavy turnout

Ken Watts / CrossRoadsNews

Election season is in the homestretch for the Nov. 8 elections. Through Oct. 26, 68,862 DeKalb County voters had cast ballots in the spirited and often vicious race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump for the U.S. presidency, Georgia’s controversial school takeover amendment and other races. On the local level, voters in DeKalb’s Commission Super District 7 will elect a new commissioner in a special election.

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

Jennifer Ffrench Parker / CrossRoadsNews

Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews

Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews

Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews

B2

Vote 2016

CrossRoadsNews

October 29, 2016

Even as they head to the polls, residents are divided about the proposed city of Stonecrest.

Voters finally get their say on proposed city of Stonecrest

By Ken Watts

Four years after organizers proposed a 29-square-mile city of Stonecrest, residents in portions of unincorporated Lithonia are finally voting on a Nov. 8 referendum to create the city.

Early voting for the 2016 presidential and general elections got underway on Oct. 17 and will continue through Nov. 4. The referendum’s results will be available Nov. 8 after the polls close at 7 p.m.

Even as they head to the polls, residents are divided about the proposed city.

Supporters say a new city will allow them to manage their own destiny and handle things like beautification and economic development, but in an unprecedented move this week, District 5 Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson, who represents the area, purchased newspaper advertising to urge constituents to join her in voting no to it.

She said a new city is unnecessary and will not, in and of itself, achieve greater commercial growth. “Citizens living in the proposed city would not only incur county taxes but city taxes to support a duplicate bureaucracy,� said Davis Johnson, who is also a resident of the proposed city of 50,000.

George Turner, a 30- George Turner year resident, plans to vote for the city on Nov. 8. He says it’s viable and could be good

The proposed 29-square-mile city of Stonecrest would take in neighborhoods around Panola, Evans Mill and Turner Hill exits along I-20.

for the county. “Stonecrest cityhood could help DeKalb because it allows us to focus on a part of the county that has been pretty much ignored,� said Turner, a retired MARTA rail supervisor who lives in the Hunter’s Run 2 community near Salem Road. “We have some chal-

lenges in the Stonecrest mall area, Lithonia Industrial Boulevard and DeKalb Medical Center Parkway that can be addressed by cityhood.�

Turner said the new city would include Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area and other parks and could help draw business and tourism to DeKalb.

But not all residents are so enamored.

Businessman Gregory Baranco, a longtime Lithonia resident, said he is absolutely voting against the city of Stonecrest. “Why add another Gregory Baranco layer of government?� he said Oct. 24. “We have some outstanding leaders coming in. Why not work with the new CEO and the new district attorney to fix things.�

Dollie Barkley, who has lived in the Hunter’s Hill subdivision for 24 years, couldn’t wait to vote against the city of Stonecrest.

On Oct. 17, the first day of early voting, she was among the first 7,636 voters to cast ballots. Barkley said a major factor in her decision was the prospect of new leadership in the CEO’s office. Former DeKalb Schools Superintendent Michael Thurmond won the May 24 Democratic primary, is a former state labor commissioner and is well-respected.

Because Democrats greatly outnumber Republicans in DeKalb, Thurmond is expected to defeat Republican Jack Lovelace

on Nov. 8.

Barkley said Thurmond offers hope. “If we pull away from DeKalb now, we might miss out on improvements in the county,� she said. “I’d like to try Thurmond’s leadership and see what happens.�

Barkley also worries about the cost of operating a city. “I’m concerned that a city of Stonecrest might not have enough and taxes would have to go up,� she said.

Lavelle Thornton, a retired IBM programmer and resident of Hunter’s Hill for 31 years, also plans to vote against cityhood for Stonecrest on Election Day. He said the cityhood effort seems like an idea based on following the crowd. “The thinking was they got cityhood up in North DeKalb, so we should try it here,� he said. “Plus we just don’t have the tax base to make it work.�

J.W. Eady, a resident of Parks of Stonecrest off Turner Hill Road, said Oct. 20 that he is “still a little bit undecided.� “I want to see this area become more developed, but I see things like beautification that DeKalb County is not doing. I see how Turner Hill Road looks. That is a sin.�

Eady, a retired insurance salesman, has lived in his two-story brick home near the Mall at Stonecrest for nine years. He said that even though it might cost more to be part of a city, he is OK with it if they can make the necessary improvements. Still, he said that he is not entirely convinced that they need a city to improve things. “If we could get what we want with the new CEO, we really don’t need a city.�

Pat Smith, a 28-year resident of Lithonia, is waiting to vote on Election Day. She wouldn’t reveal how she will vote but says she has doubts about incorporation. “Will the city be able to afford to buy police and fire services from DeKalb long enough for revenue from other supposed economic development to kick in?�

Smith, president of the Hunters Communities Home Owners Association that represents four subdivisions along Salem Road, said she is not alone in her thinking. “I think a lot of people still have some concerns,� she said Oct. 19.

But Smith said the Stonecrest Alliance, organizer of the cityhood movement, has been making some last-minute gains and was able to win new support from residents at an Oct. 18 community meeting at the Browns Mill Recreation Center.

She said many residents left that meeting less skeptical than they had been before.

Denise Majors, president of the Lionshead Home Owners Association, is a definite supporter of the city. She has a Stonecrest Yes! sign in front of her house, one of 80 homes in the subdivision located near the intersection of Rock Springs and Thompson Mill roads. “I’ve been watching Dunwoody and Brookhaven in North DeKalb and I like the way their governments function,� she said. “I think cityhood would be good for us here.�

If voters approve the referendum, the city of Stonecrest will take in neighborhoods around Panola Road, Evans Mill Road and Turner Hill Road exits along I-20.

For more, visit www.crossroadsnews. com.

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October 29, 2016

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CrossRoadsNews

B3

Moving forward to make things right.

We are deeply committed to serving you and your financial needs. We know we did not live up to that commitment. We want you to know that we’re making things right and that we’re even more dedicated to serving you and making sure you know where you stand. There is nothing more important than for you to experience the very best from us.

That’s why we’ve already taken action: Putting your interests first: We have eliminated product sales goals for our Retail Banking team members who serve customers in our bank branches and call centers. This means that their focus will be on meeting your financial needs, not meeting sales goals.

Proactively communicating with you: We send a confirmation after you open a new consumer or small business checking, savings or credit card account so that you know what is happening and can tell us if anything we’ve confirmed is different than what you expected.

Full transparency: You can always see your eligible accounts any time when enrolled in Wells Fargo Online.® Fixing what went wrong: We have provided full refunds to customers we have already identified and we’re broadening our scope of work to find customers we may have missed. If we have any doubt about whether one of your accounts was authorized, and any fees were incurred on that account, we will contact you and refund fees.

If you have any concerns about your accounts or any aspect of your relationship with Wells Fargo, please come into a branch or call us on our dedicated hotline ��/� at �-���-���-����.

The trust you place in us means everything and we will work hard every day to earn it back.

© 2016 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Member FDIC.

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CrossRoadsNews

B4

October 29, 2016

38 candidates in 15 contested races Six more early voting sites open Oct. 31

Memorial Drive, Suite 300, in Decatur. There are two areas for voters with one exclusively for senior and disabled voters. Hours are 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday to Nov. 4; 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 29; and noon-5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 30. n South DeKalb – The Gallery at South DeKalb, 2801 Candler Road in Decatur. 9 a.m.-8 p.m.

Monday-Friday to Nov. 4; 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29; and noon-5 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 30. n North DeKalb – Tucker Recreation Center, 4898 LaVista Road in Tucker. 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

Monday-Friday to Nov. 4 and on Saturday, Oct. 29; no Sunday voting at this site. n In North DeKalb, the Chamblee Civic Center, 3540 Broad St. in Chamblee, opens on Sunday, Oct. 30 from noon-5 p.m. Weekdays, its open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.

All 196 DeKalb County polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 8.

Voters who did not cast early ballots must vote at their regular assigned precinct.

Early voting continues at: For more information, visit http://web.dekan Voter Registration & Elections Office, 4380 lbcountyga.gov/Voter/default.html.

From the US Presidency to the DeKalb County Super District 7 seat, there are 38 candidates in contested races on the Nov. 8 ballot.

To help people vote early, six more DeKalb voting sites will open on Oct. 3 .

They will bring to 10, the number of early precincts open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Nov. 4.

They new early precincts are: n East DeKalb – Berean Christian Church Community Center, 2440 Young Road in Stone Mountain. n Stonecrest – Stonecrest Library, 3123 Klondike Road in Lithonia. n Downtown Decatur – Clark Harrison Building, 330 W. Ponce de Leon Ave. in Decatur. n Dunwoody – Dunwoody Library, 5339 Chamblee Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody. n Brookhaven – Brookhaven City Hall, 4362 Peachtree Road N.E. in Brookhaven. n Atlanta – Coan Recreation Center, 1530 Woodbine Ave. S.E. in Atlanta.

For President of the United States

DONALD J. TRUMP President MICHAEL R. PENCE Vice President Republican

HILLARY CLINTON President TIM KAINE Vice President Democrat

GARY JOHNSON President BILL WELD Vice President Libertarian

U.S. Representative (4)

Public Service

PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS - 1 - Provides greater flexibility and state accountability to fix failing schools through increasing community involvement.

Senate Resolution No. 287 Act No. 309 Ga. L. 2015, p. 1498 “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing public schools in order to improve student performance?”

VICTOR ARMENDARIZ Republican

HENRY C. “HANK” JOHNSON, JR. (Incumbent) Democrat

TIM ECHOLS (Incumbent) Republican

YES / NO

- 2 - Authorizes penalties for sexual exploitation and assessments on adult entertainment to fund child victims’ services.

Senate Resolution No. 7 Act No. 306 Ga. L. 2015, p.

1497

“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow additional penalties for criminal cases in which a person is adjudged guilty of keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, pandering, pandering by compulsion, solicitation of sodomy, masturbation for hire, trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, or sexual exploitation of children and to allow assessments on adult entertainment establishments to fund the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund to pay for care and rehabilitative and social services for individuals in this state who have been or may be sexually exploited?”

YES / NO

Board of Commissioners (4)

For Chief Executive Officer

WILLIE J. WILLIS Republican

JACK LOVELACE Republican

STEVE BRADSHAW Democrat

- 3 - Reforms and reestablishes the Judicial Qualifications Commission and provides for its composition, governance, and powers.

House Resolution No. 1113 Act No. 537 Ga. L. 2016, p. 896

MICHAEL “MIKE” THURMOND Democrat

DEKALB COUNTY SPECIAL ELECTION Fo

(To Fill the Unexpired Term

“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to abolish the existing Judicial Qualifications Commission; require the General Assembly to create and provide by general law for the composition, manner of appointment, and governance of a new Judicial Qualifications Commission, with such commission having the power to discipline, remove, and cause involuntary retirement of judges; require the Judicial Qualifications Commission to have procedures that provide for due process of law and review by the Supreme Court of its advisory opinions; and allow the Judicial Qualifications Commission to be open to the public in some manner?”

YES / NO

- 4 - Dedicates revenue from existing taxes on fireworks to trauma care, fire services, and public safety.

Senate Resolution No. 558 Act No. 530 Ga. L. 2016, p. 895

GREGORY ADAMS Democrat

State Senate (40)

DIANE DANIELS ADOMA Democrat

GEORGE CHIDI Democrat

State Senate (42)

FAYE COFFIELD Democrat

State Sena

“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to provide that the proceeds of excise taxes on the sale of fireworks or consumer fireworks be dedicated to the funding of trauma care, firefighter equipping and training, and local public safety purposes?”

YES / NO

FRAN MILLAR (Incumbent) Republican

TAMARA JOHNSONSHEALEY Democrat

KENNETH BRETT QUARTERMAN Republican

ELENA PARENT (Incumbent) Democrat

JANICE VAN NESS (Incumbent) Republican

CrossRoadsNews

October 29, 2016

B5

All 196 polls open Nov. 8 • 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

For United States Senate

CITY OF DECATUR SPECIAL ELECTIONS City of Decatur Homestead Exemption Senate Bill 339, Act No. 382

“Shall the Act be approved which provides a homestead exemption from City of Decatur ad valorem taxes for municipal purposes in the amount of $25,000.00 of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of the City of Decatur?”

YES / NO

City of Decatur Homestead Exemption Senate Bill 340, Act No. 383

JOHNNY ISAKSON (Incumbent) Republican

JIM BARKSDALE Democrat

“Shall the Act be approved which provides a homestead exemption from City of Decatur ad valorem taxes for municipal purposes and from City of Decatur independent school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes in the amount of $50,000.00 of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of that city who are 62 years of age or older and whose income does not exceed $25,000.00, and which provides a homestead exemption from City of Decatur ad valorem taxes for municipal purposes in the amount of $10,000.00 of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of that city who are 65 years of age or older?”

ALLEN BUCKLEY Libertarian

YES / NO

City of Decatur Homestead Exemption Senate Bill 341, Act No. 384

“Shall the Act be approved which repeals an obsolete homestead exemption for residents of the City of Decatur?”

Commissioner

YES / NO

U.S. Representative (5)

City of Decatur Homestead Exemption Senate Bill 342, Act No. 385

“Shall the Act be approved which provides a homestead exemption from City of Decatur ad valorem taxes for municipal purposes except for ad valorem taxes levied to pay interest on and to retire municipal bonded indebtedness in the amount of $15,000.00 of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of that city who are 62 years of age or older and whose income does not exceed $50,000.00?”

YES / NO

City of Decatur Homestead Exemption Senate Bill 343, Act No. 386

“Shall the Act be approved which provides a homestead exemption from City of Decatur independent school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes for five years in the full amount of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of that school district who are 65 years of age or older?”

YES / NO ERIC HOSKINS Libertarian

DOUGLAS BELL Republican

JOHN R. LEWIS (Incumbent) Democrat

For Sheriff

STONECREST SPECIAL ELECTION

CITY OF PINE LAKE SPECIAL ELECTION

Stonecrest Incorporation Senate Bill 208, Act 328

“Shall the Act incorporating the City of Stonecrest in DeKalb County according to the charter contained in the Act and the homestead exemptions described in the Act be approved?”

City of Pine Lake Package Sales

“Shall the issuance of licenses for the package sale of distilled spirits be approved?”

YES / NO

”

HAROLD DENNIS Republican

YES / NO

JEFFREY L. MANN (Incumbent) Democrat

or Board of Commissioners District 7

CITY OF ATLANTA SPECIAL ELECTIONS

m of Stan Watson, Resigned)

City of Atlanta Transportation-Special Purpose Local Option Sales and Use Tax (TSPLOST) Referendum

“Shall an additional 0.4 percent sales tax be collected in the City of Atlanta for 5 years for the purpose of transportation improvements and congestion reduction?”

YES / NO

RANDAL MANGHAM Democrat

ate (43)

TONYA P. ANDERSON Democrat

EDWARD PATTON Democrat

RITA ROBINZINE Democrat

State Senate (55)

ANNETTE DAVIS JACKSON Republican

GLORIA BUTLER (Incumbent) Democrat

JOHN E. TOLBERT, JR. Democrat

State Representative (81)

LANE FLYNN Republican

SCOTT HOLCOMB (Incumbent) Democrat

State Representative (91)

CARL ANUSZCZYK Republican

VERNON JONES Democrat

B6

Forum: Vote 2016

CrossRoadsNews

October 29, 2016

“We stand for something in DeKalb County – education with rigor, relevance and relationships.”

Why I am opposed to creating a city of Stonecrest

By Mereda Davis Johnson

I respectfully ask that you vote “no” on the city of Stonecrest.

A new city is unnecessary and will not, in and of itself, achieve greater commercial growth. Citizens living in the proposed city would not only incur county taxes but city taxes to support a duplicate bureaucracy.

As DeKalb’s demographics have changed, the county is now fragmented. Dunwoody incorporated around MARTA and took the commercial hub of Perimeter Center. The trend continued with Brookhaven, also incorporated around MARTA with well over 1 million square feet of retail/office space. Last year Tucker was created, taking with it more of DeKalb’s tax base. These cities became vi-

DeKalb’s 5th Commission District, which covers the boundaries of the proposed new city, is very unique. It features abundant green space amid an urban, suburban and rural setting. It is home to Mereda Davis Johnson Arabia Mountain and the historic Flat Rock community. able at the expense of DeKalb County.

The city of Lithonia is listed on the NaThe proposed city has no MARTA rail tional Register of Historic Places. Georgia service and its most vibrant commercial clus- State University Perimeter College and Georter is Stonecrest mall, which is not as mature gia Piedmont Technical College anchor the as the commercial sectors of Brookhaven and district, along with libraries, medical instituDunwoody. Stonecrest backers claim that if tions and the Lou Walker Senior Center. you create a city, then businesses will come.

DeKalb has appropriated $4.3 million to However, the “build it and they will come” build the new Lithonia Senior Citizens Centheory has been repeatedly debunked. ter and also approved $3 million for a study

“Stonecrest backers claim that if you create a city, then businesses will come. However, the ‘build it and they will come’ theory has been repeatedly debunked.”

to bring MARTA to Stonecrest mall.

New businesses have relocated to the 5th District, including One Source, Silas-Almex, Acuity Brand and Food Chef, a meal-preparation company. Altogether, they are creating more than 1,500 new jobs. DeKalb’s Office of Economic Development is effectively marketing the county to the world as one of the last areas close to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport with abundant industrial space and open land.

I am confident that under the leadership of our new CEO and district attorney, much better days are ahead. Rather than be divided and fragmented … it is time for us to work together!

Mereda Davis Johnson is DeKalb’s 5th District commissioner.

Who do you want teaching and looking out for our children?

By R. Stephen Green

Been there, fought that … and won: Why the attempted state takeover of public schools is personal for me. I have said it before, and I’ll say it again now: I am opposed to any state takeover of local schools no matter what it is called.

For me, the state of Georgia’s effort to take control of 27 DeKalb County schools … and schools elsewhere … is déjà vu all over again.

When I became superintendent of the Kansas City (Missouri) Public Schools in 2011, my team and I found ourselves in a desperate fight for survival and for control of public education. An appointed Missouri state employee was attempting to take over

“The names are different, and the titles of the people who want to take over schools are different, but the goal is still the same – seize local control of public education. ” R. Stephen Green

the school system under a conspiratorial smokescreen – by creating a special statewide district for low-performing schools.

Sound familiar?

In Georgia, the state wants control of schools it has stigmatized as “failing,” based on standardized testing. This takeover effort comes despite strong evidence that standardized tests can’t fairly take into account … or

accurately measure … the extreme complexity of teaching and learning in a district like DeKalb County, with 135 schools and 102,000 students from 180 nations and with 144

languages.

We fought … and won … the battle to keep schools in Kansas City under control of parents and professional educators and out of the hands of politicians. I am probably the only school superintendent in the state of Georgia to lead a system through this unique experience. Key members of today’s DeKalb schools leadership team also worked beside me in Kansas City. These academic professionals are battle-tested in holding onto local control of schools.

Striking parallels can be seen between the struggle in Missouri and ours in Georgia.

The real issue in Kansas City involved powerful, ambitious officials exploiting a political situation rather than working with local school systems to address root causes of underachievement and provide what schools needed to succeed.

It was ruthless aggression – like predator and prey. A rapacious state political system wanted to take over the weakest, most vulnerable schools.

Georgia feels painfully similar. We see racial, socio-economic, and political parallels. The names are different, and the titles of the people who want to take over schools are different, but the goal is still the same – seize local control of public education.

The Missouri education commissioner attempted her takeover as soon as my predecessor left the superintendent’s post. This predatory commissioner perceived me, my team (the Cabinet, principals, and teachers), and the School Board as new and vulnerable.

The state considered inconsequential the positions of parents, the American Federation of Teachers, the NAACP, and other organizations knowledgeable on the advantages of local school control.

Still, we fought the takeover.

We knew how high the stakes were. We’d seen the failed results of state takeovers of local schools in New Orleans and Memphis.

(After being unable to take over schools in Kansas City, the Missouri commissioner did manage to take over the school system in nearby Normandy. That state-controlled education experiment failed miserably – students performed more poorly under the state regimen than under local control.)

It was also abundantly clear to us that too much power and secrecy concentrated in the hands of a detached, uninformed, faceless state bureaucracy would ultimately fail students, schools, and society.

Media investigated the Missouri state takeover effort. They found hidden plans and bid-rigging concerns in state dealings with

schools. The Missouri education commissioner eventually retired, suddenly and sensationally, following a scandal that involved a contract to overhaul public schools.

Local control doesn’t mean loss of quality.

In Kansas City, all we needed to fix our problems was time and the support of our stakeholders. Within two years, our district score jumped from 22.5 to 84 points on the Missouri Annual Performance Report, with the highest statewide gains in college/career readiness, attendance rates, and graduation rates. Our overall academic achievement rose nearly 43 percent.

The following year, our Missouri Annual Performance Report scores soared even higher – to 94.5 points. We shed the shackle of being unaccredited, and we regained respect.

This progress came by design – our team made strategic, systematic, intentional, student-by-student improvements. The key?

We built a foundation of trust and a sense of purpose among parents, school leaders, teachers, and the community.

Here in DeKalb, our own progress in just two years using this same model has already earned national and international attention.

Of the specific 26 DeKalb schools targeted for takeover, 15 are within five points of the 60-point threshold.

Ten others need more intensive support, and we’ve launched strong remedial measures. In all schools, we’re laser-focused on the classroom experience, where any lasting improvement in education must start.

There are no quick fixes, no short cuts.

Turning around schools takes deep, hard, intimate work. It means fighting poverty and all that it brings. It means helping new arrivals to our country anchor lives and hopes to our communities and country. It means giving special needs and preschool students and others among our most vulnerable the schooling, security, and stability that allows them to be their best.

That’s the kind of work going on right now with our most challenged schools and at others all through our system.

We stand for something in DeKalb County – education with rigor, relevance, and relationships.

Our goal is nothing less than to be recognized nationally for academic excellence and for world-class service to kids, caregivers, and communities.

In my opinion, you’ll look far and wide before you find a politician in Georgia who goes to bed at night and gets out of bed in the morning with this same ambitious goal.

In DeKalb, we have 15,000 teachers and staff who work 365 days a year to reach our goal of excellence. We are professional educators … not predatory politicians.

Who do you want teaching and looking out for our children?

Dr. R. Stephen Green is superintendent of DeKalb County Schools.

October 29, 2016

Vote 2016

CrossRoadsNews

B7

“Is there nothing that you own in the county. Was that an error or what is going on?”

DeKalb Super District 7 candidates talk transparency, experience

By Ken Watts

On the Nov. 8 ballot, no local race is more hotly contested than the DeKalb Commission Super District 7 seat.

The three women and five men seeking the office vacated by beleagured former Commissioner Stan Watson, have been on the campaign trail since April.

Candidates Gregory Adams, a police officer and bishop; business woman Diane Adoma, Pine Lake city councilman George Chidi; business woman Fay Coffield, attorney and former state representative Randal Mangham, Realtor Ed Patton, high school teacher Rita Robinzine; and GM manager John Tolbert all claim that they can be counted on for honest, transparent representation.

Although not required for the special election, which is nonpartisan, all say they are democrats.

At an Oct. 10 forum in Lithonia co-hosted by CrossRoadsNews and First Afrikan Presbyterian Church Community Action Team, the words, and past actions of some candidates did not match their declarations on financial disclosure forms they filed with the election office.

Though both homeowners, Adams and Tolbert, did not declare any ownership in any real estateor any fudiciary interest in any group or organization.

Adoma, who is on her third run for public office, has run as a Democrat, a Republican and again as a Democrat.

Randal Mangham, while a state representatives amassed $11,337 in tax and water liens on properties that he owned in Atlanta, and a $5,000 fine from the State Ethics Commission for failure to file some campaign disclosures.

Candidates (from left) Gregory Adams, Diane Adoma, George Chidi, Faye Coffield, Randall Mangham, Edward Patton, Rita Robinzine and John Tolbert shared their goals for Super District 7 at a forum at First Afrikan Presbyterian Church.

Curtis Parker / CrossRoadsNews

CrossRoadsNews editor and publisher Jennifer Parker, who moderated the twohour discussion, asked Adams about the blank financial disclosure form he filed even though in his opening statement to the audience, he said he owned two businesses.

“I closed Adams Transportation and sold a second company, A&G Transportation, to a partner,” he said.

“Is there nothing that you own in the county,” Parker asked. “Was that an error or what is going on?”

Adams said it was not an error.

“Do you own the home you live in?, Parker asked?

“I listed my P.O. box,” Adams said.

Tolbert said that when he made changes to affidavit, he thought he added property information to the disclosure form.

“I’ll go back and make sure that the form says we own a house in DeKalb County,” he said.

Mangham said he paid all his outstanding

taxes before the information made media headlines in 2009.

“I was on the front page of the AJC with Speaker of the House Terry Coleman,” he said. “That episode was a political message from my political opponents in the legislature to keep me in line.”

Mangham denied ever being fined for failure to file campaign disclosure.

“I don’t know where you got that information but that is incorrect,” he said.

Despite flip flopping on her political affilation, Adoma said she is Democrat.

“I am a conservative Democrat,” she said.

The candidates told the more than 60 voters attending the forum that they all have full-time jobs.

Asked how they plan to balance their full-time jobs with the demanding duties of a county commissioner that includes meetings, work sessions, constituent services and many other duties, they all said they will

make to time.

Adams, an Emory University police officer, pastor and presiding bishop of Restoration Ministries International, said his duties won’t prevent him from serving.

“I’ve already talked with the command staff at Emory and they’ve said they’ll work with me about the meetings and duties at the BOC,” Adams said. “So I’m ready to do the job.”

Adoma said she can balance community service and running her business.

“I do tons of volunteerism,” she said. “I can navigate those hours and be efficient on the board.”

Chidi, who works for the Atlanta Downtown Improvement District, said, he plans to go to a part time schedule.

Coffield, a retired Atlanta Police Officer who owns a private detective agency, said she has attended more than 150 BOC meetings.

“My hours are set by me,” she said.

Mangham said he successfully balanced his law practice and his General Assembly duties for 10 years while a state representative.

“So service on the BOC would be somewhat of a vacation,” he said.

Patton and Tolbert said they both work flexible schedules and will be able to balance their time to attend BOC meetings. Robinzine said she plans to teach in DeKalb’s new online academy when it opens.

“That will allow me to arrange my classes and lectures around my schedule,” she said.

Jerome Edmondson, whose name is also on the ballot, withdrew from the race.

If none of the candidates get 50 percent plus one of the votes on Nov. 8, the two highest vote getters will meet in the runoff election on Dec. 6.

CrossRoadsNews

B8

October 29, 2016

Here’s what the amendments on Nov. 8 ballot will do Even though there has been a lot of talk about Amendment 1, there are three other amendments to Georgia’s Constitution on the Nov. 8 ballot.

They address education, government financing, the state judiciary and taxes.

Amendment 1: School takeovers by the state This amendement addresses state intervention in public schools deemed be “chronically failing.” It is seeking to authorize for the General Assembly to provide for the

creation of an Opportunity School District supervised and managed, by the governor and his appointed superintendent. It would take control of public schools away from local elected school boards.

Amendment 2: Funding for child victims’ services This amendment seeks to create the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund, to provide rehabilitative and social services to children who have been sexually exploited. It would draw those funds from a

new $2,500 fine for convicted sex traffickers, three commission members, now made by and from an annual $5,000 fee on strip clubs the State Bar of Georgia, and give one each to the governor, lieutenant governor and and other adult entertainment businesses. speaker of the House.

Amendment 3: Judicial watchdog makeover Amendment 4: This amendment would allow state Re-direct Fireworks taxes to fund trauurlawmakers to recreate and re-establish the ma care Judicial Qualifications Commission, the This amendment would dedicate an watchdog agency that polices the state’s existing 5 percent sales tax on fireworks judges and investigates allegations of judicial toward the state’s trauma care network, and impropriety and has the authority to remove to fund training and equipment for Georgia judges. It would take the appointments of firefighters.