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Published Since April 1995
Serving DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale Counties
APRIL 5, 2019
OCG News Celebrates 24 Years
“What wakes me up in the morning is the resilience I was taught by my parents.” – Stacey Abrams.
Stacey Abrams discusses standing in the face of adversity Contractor installs new water meter.
DeKalb’s “New Day Project” begins replacing 102,000 water meters The four DeKalb County women lauded as trailblazers include: Right to left: DeKalb County Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson, who was honored for her work in government; Katerina Taylor, named the first woman president and CEO in the 81-year history of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce’s, received the Small Business award; Valerie J. Morgan, co-publisher of On Common Ground News, was honored for her work in media communications; Teresa Hardy, president of the DeKalb branch of the NAACP, was honored for volunteerism in the community; Antioch members who were honored include Dana Pride Jones, who was honored for her in Media Communications; Anna Ugochukwu, who received the Small Business Award; and Paula Lucy Adams was honored for Volunteerism.
By Valerie J. Morgan Democrat Stacey Abrams, who has risen to national prominence as the first African-American female gubernatorial candidate since her bid for Georgia governor in November 2018, hinted that she might seek a higher office in 2020 during a recent visit at Antioch AME Church in Stone Mountain. “I stood for election thinking that my opportunity was to become governor and instead, I’m now having to argue about whether I want to be Vice President of the U.S.,” Abrams said during the church’s March 31 celebration honoring her and a group of local female trailblazers as part of the church’s month-long celebration of National Women’s History Month. Abrams, who narrowly lost to Republican challenger Brian Kemp in a bid for Georgia governor, is being courted by Democrats to run for a higher office. “…When God creates opportunity, He doesn’t do it in small measure,” said Abrams, igniting the crowd who applauded her throughout her message. On Common Ground News was granted exclusive access to cover the event, where Abrams spoke for about 30 minutes. Rhonda Taylor, who cochaired the event, presented Abrams the “Woman on the Move Trailblazer Award,” along with other local women. Taylor also was honored for advocacy for her services with several civic, political organizations and ministries including the Board of directors of Women Voters Georgia, Georgia Democratic Party, the Rockdale Newton National Council of Negro Women, and the Social Action Ministry at Antioch. “It was such an honor to recognize Stacey Abrams and the other
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Stacey Abrams delivers message to packed house at Antioch AME in Stone Mountain. Photos by William E. Thomas/Special to ocgnews
DeKalb County began installing new water meters on April 2 as part of the New Day Water Meter Exchange and Upgrade Initiative, a three-year program to replace 102,000 aging and potentially defective water meters. “DeKalb County has worked tirelessly to address the longfestering problems in our water and sewer billing and meter reading processes,” said CEO Michael Thurmond. “With new state-of-theart meters, water customers can expect accurate billing and meter reading, increased customer service and restored trust.” All 194,000 DeKalb County water customers have received a letter from Thurmond announcing the initiative and results to date of the New Day Project. From this initiative water customers can expect accurate billing and meter reading, increased customer service and restored trust. The water meter replacement initiative will be implemented in several phases over the next three years. Phase One starts this month with 30,000 meters scheduled for replacement. Water customers receiving a new meter will be notified with door hangers on their residences. Upon completion, another door hanger will notify them of the successful installation. Specially trained and identifiable work crews will install the new meters. A robust communications strategy will ensure that all affected customers will receive frequent, accurate information through myriad channels including: billing inserts, the county website, social media, news media, the weekly county newsletter, DCTV, Nextdoor social network and yard signs where meters are being replaced. For more information, visit www. dekalbcountyga.gov/newdayproject or call 404-378-4475.