VOLUME 23 NUMBER 4
FREE
APRIL 21, 2017
Published Since April 1995 Serving DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale Counties • www.facebook.com/ocgnews
Chick-fil-A outside Stonecrest mall celebrates renovations
DeKalb CEO Thurmond hires Rhinehart, Keyes Fleming to oversee county’s infrastructure
Ted Rhinehart
Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming
DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond announced two key hires to focus on enhancing and improving the county’s infrastructure. Ted Rhinehart has been hired as deputy chief operating officer for infrastructure. Rhinehart will serve in this top supervisory L-R: Diane Adoma, Jazzmin Cobble, Jimmy Clanton, newly-elected to the Stonecrest City Council, Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary, Chick-fil-A owner/operator Sam West and his wife, Diann West, shared the role for Watershed Management, Sanitation, Roads and Drainage, spotlight at the restaurant’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. Photos by Glenn L. Morgan/ OCG News. Transportation, Public Libraries, Fleet Management and Recreation he Chick-fil-A outside the Mall at Stonecrest held a ribbon cutting ceremony on April and Cultural Affairs, Cooperative Extension and the Beautification 20 to showcase renovations the restaurant has made to enhance overall customer Unit. service. Rhinehart formerly worked for DeKalb in 2002 as Public Newly-elected officials of the city of Stonecrest and other community stakeholders Works Director and then in 2009, as deputy COO of Infrastructure. helped perform the ribbon cutting ceremony. Miller Grove High School’s band performed He has more than 27 years of experience in municipal government during the morning celebration, which included free samples of food for customers and the management and most recently served as the deputy city adminisChick-fil-A cow greeting those in attendance. trator for Augusta, Georgia. Rhinehart also worked for the cities of “We are fulfilling a commitment to re-investment in the community,” said Sam West, who became owner and operator of the store on Oct. 1, 2016. “We stripped everything down Bloomington, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, Indiana. He has speto the walls and expanded the back of the store. We enhanced our technology so that we can cialized in the areas of water and wastewater utilities, public works, better serve customers whether they are ordering inside the store or outside in our drivethrough,” said West, adding the renovations took about five weeks to complete. See DeKalb hires, page 6 West said the celebration was especially significant because the Chick-fil-A location is the 1,000th store in the chain’s history.
T
Run-off elections complete Stonecrest’s Centennial Olympic Park to restrict first government access during renovation
Rob Turner
George Turner
Diane Daniels Adoma
Voters in the newly-formed city of Stonecrest have decided who will lead their first government. They elected Rob Turner, District 2; George Turner, Jr., District 4, and Diane Daniels Adoma, District 5 in the April 18 special election runoffs, wrapping up elections in the city. The two Turners elected to the five-member Stonecrest City Council are not related. In one of the most hotly-contested and nationally publicized races in the special election, Mary-Pat Hector, a 19-year-old Spelman College sophomore, narrowly lost her challenge to George Turner, a retired MARTA executive. Hector received 845 votes. Turner received 867. In February, Turner had challenged Hector’s eligibility to run, saying she was not 21. The DeKalb Board of Registrations and Elections, however, ruled to allow her name to be placed on the ballot after Hector and several supporters spoke during the board’s packed hearing. In addition to supporters who spoke at the hearing, Hector, who is the Youth Director for the National Action Network, drew support from the Rev. Al Sharpton, who heads the network. Hector placed second in a five-way race on March 21, which resulted in a run-off when none of the candidates received more than 50 percent of the vote. The date has not yet been set for the swearing-in ceremony for the three run-off winSee Run-off, page 6
The Georgia World Congress Center Authority is embarking on a $17 million makeover of Centennial Olympic Park following the conclusion of the park’s 20th anniversary capital campaign. Although the park will remain open to the public while the work is in progress, public access will be restricted at times. The Fountain of Rings, playgrounds, and some monuments will be impacted as areas in the park become active work sites. Prior to visiting the park, visitors should get updates on public access restrictions by visiting gwcca.org/park or calling 404-222-PARK (7275). As outlined in the Authority’s 2020 Vision strategic plan, the renovations include creating a pedestrian plaza on Andrew Young International Boulevard, establishing new gateways into the park to the north, strengthening the park’s Olympic heritage with new features, and revamping the Southern Company Amphitheater. Renovations are scheduled to be completed by January 2019. Spring and summer events at the park – including the Sweetwater 420 Festival (April 21-23), Shaky Beats (May 5-7), Shaky Knees (May 12-14) music festivals, and the annual Wednesday WindDown and Music at Noon concert series (throughout the month of June – will take place concurrently with construction, but there will be no further public programming in 2017 beyond the annual 4th of July Celebration. Also, the park is not accepting new bookings See Renovations, page 6