SERVING DEKALB, FULTON, GWINNETT, HENRY AND ROCKDALE COUNTIES VOLUME 18 NUMBER 16
NAACP to examine Election Day problems
T
By Valerie J. Morgan
he DeKalb NAACP is asking voters who had problems or witnessed them on Election Day to share that information with the organization. DeKalb is assisting John Evans the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP in gathering data about voting irregularities and suppression activities in DeKalb and throughout the state. “We have to challenge and strengthen the system where it’s needed,” said John Evans, president of the DeKalb NAACP. “The information will be used to determine future action to ensure that voting is conducted properly.” Evans said the Georgia State NAACP plans to compile all information it receives to determine what action is appropriate on the state level. The data will be shared with the organization’s national office for a comprehensive report. During the 2008 Presidential Election, the NAACP responded to more than 100,000 calls from voters around the nation who had problems casting their ballots. Voting in Georgia is of particular concern to the civil rights organization. NAACP officials say the state had widespread voting problems during the Primary Elections in July. Calls poured in to the NAACP’s 866-OUR-VOTE hotline from voters in the 4th, 5th, 11th and 13th congressional districts, which include parts of Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton and Henry counties. The majority of callers cited long lines and delays due to insufficient voting machines and problems associated with the enforcement of Georgia’s mandatory voter ID law. Mississippi is another Southern state the NAACP is monitoring closely. An unknown number of voter registrations are missing in Hinds County, Mississippi. The NAACP had held a massive voter registration drive, adding some 10,000 new voters to Hinds County registers. Many of the names, however, were never added to the voter registration database, sparking an outcry on Election Day. Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson insists the registration forms were turned in before the Oct. 6 deadline and should have been processed in time for the Nov. 6 elections. DeKalb voters who had problems should e-mail their complaint to: naacpdek@comcast.net or send mail it to: 3011 Rainbow Drive, Suite 180-A, Decatur, GA 30034. The complaint may be faxed to 404-751-2743 or turned in at the DeKalb NAACP’s general membership meeting on Saturday, Nov. 17, 10 a.m., at Piedmont Technical College, 495 N. Indian Creek Drive, Clarkston. INSIDE
Community News............. P 3 Business.................... P 10 Classifieds................. P 11 CONTACT THE NEWSROOM Phone: (678) 526-1910 n Fax: (678) 526-1909 n E-mail: editor@ocgnews.com
WWW.OCGNEWS.COM
NOVEMBER 15, 2012
Historic Win
FREE
Rockdale’s ‘Slate of 8’ topples Republican stronghold By Valerie J. Morgan
CONYERS—Rockdale County rewrote history on Election Day and is now preparing for a new chapter that will begin in January. Voters in the 141-year-old county elected Democrats to offices that have been held by Republicans for more than two decades. Democrats won in every local race—from the Rockdale Board of Commissioners to county coroner. The elections changed the political face of Rockdale overnight from three to eight African Americans holding top offices. The county is one that has been changing for the last five years. Rockdale, which has a population of 85,215, is 51.1 percent black and others and 48.9 percent white, according to the 2010 Census. “The win is truly the result of Democrats in Rockdale working together,” said Tisa Smart Washington, who chairs the Rockdale Democratic Party. “From the very beginning we said it’s all or none. Our mission was to elect Democrats to every
Sheriff-Elect Eric Levett gives a supporter a hug.
office and we did that. ” Rockdale returned CEO Richard Oden,
Photo by Glenn L. Morgan/OCG News
Commissioner Oz Nesbitt and Clerk of Courts Ruth Wilson to second terms.
Newly-elected to office were Phinia Aten as Chief Magistrate Judge; Charles Mays as Probate Judge; George Levett, Coroner; and Eric Levett, who won as Sheriff. George Levett is Eric Levett’s uncle, and both are longtime Rockdale residents. Eric Levett faced a tense battle against Sheriff Wigington, who has served 16 years in the position. After two recounts, Levett edged ahead with 32 votes—18,759 votes to Wigington’s 18,727 votes. Elections officials certified the numbers on Nov. 13. Deborah Anderson, who acted as a consultant, pulled the so-called “Slate of 8” together, opening up her Rockdale home to the candidates. There, they mapped out strategies and put their plans into action. “We knew we could accomplish a whole lot more by working as a team. This election was much bigger than any one person,” said Anderson. “We had seasoned officials working with those
See Newly, page 6
City proposes changes to improve PARKatlanta’s customer service
R
By Joshua Smith
esponding to a flood of complaints, the Atlanta City Council is looking at amending its contract with PARKatlanta, the private company that runs Atlanta’s on-street parking program. Since late 2009, angry motorists have complained that the company was setting up traps by having parking signs that were not clearly visible and fraudulently issuing tickets. In some instances, the company’s officers were issuing tickets before the meters had actually expired. One person was issued a ticket six minutes after he got out of his car, even though he still had 20 minutes left on the meter. “We have to get this issue addressed. I look forward to working with council members, the administration and PARKatlanta as we roll out enhancements to help address PARKatlanta officers write out a ticket for a driver in downtown Atlanta. some of the challenges citizens currently have with the parking enforcement program,” Willis said. “I shared these City’s parking program,” said City Council President Ceasar concerns with the Mayor’s administration as they continue to Mitchell. “I firmly believe that we can improve the program fine-tune our agreement with PARKatlanta.” and customer experience through equipment upgrades and Mitchell said he is concerned that the city’s oldleveraging technology.” fashioned coin meters are difficult for customers to use. He Under the existing contract, PARKatlanta, a subsidiary wants PARKatlanta to make upgrades so that people can pay of Milwaukee-based Duncan Solutions, pays the city $5.5 by phone and credit and debit cards at parking meters. million annually. But Council members say they want to The City Council plans to present the proposals to reduce that amount so that the company can beef up customer Mayor Kasim Reed over the next few weeks. service, improve signage and fix broken parking meters. The Anderson Moore, PARKatlanta’s vice president of city in turn would accept $5.3 million annually, a 3.6 percent operations, said the company wants to do everything it can reduction, under a proposed new contract. to improve customer service and increase transparency and Council member H. Lamar Willis says improving accountability. customer service is imperative. Willis is pushing for “The goal is to create a simpler experience for drivers,” legislation that would require PARKatlanta to provide an online process for filing complaints on its website and for the said Moore. “We will continue to meet to develop specific yet company to respond to those complaints within two days. implementable measures to improve our city’s parking “I’ve met with residents and businesses throughout the enforcement program,” said Mitchell. city who have expressed their concerns about our current