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SERVING DEKALB, FULTON, GWINNETT, HENRY AND ROCKDALE COUNTIES
VOLUME 20 NUMBER 27
No Sunday voting outrages Rockdale Democratic Party By Valerie J. Morgan
The Rockdale Democratic Party is denouncing the threemember Rockdale Board of Voter Registrations for squashing a proposal that would have allowed voters to go to the polls on a Sunday. Tommy Plummer The Party is vowing to push for an even greater voter turnout since the Sunday voting measure was rejected on Sept. 28. Tommy Plummer, the Party’s chair, said getting as many people to the polls for the Nov. 4 General Election is critical with so many state offices on the ballot, along with local races in Georgia. Sunday voting, he said, would have provided an additional opportunity for people to vote early. Some counties such as DeKalb and Fulton have passed Sunday voting in the face of criticism from Republicans who opposed it, saying it is a partisan move that could be heavily supported by pastors who will push voting from their pulpits. “…When faced with the decision to provide citizens additional opportunities to participate in one of our country’s most important exercises in civic engagement, we believe the recent obstructive actions taken by members of the board run contrary to ensuring full participation in the voting process,” said Plummer. “We will use the disrespect shown to many Rockdale Citizens by the Board Chair, William Todd, to fuel an even stronger voter turnout.” The Party is especially upset with Todd. The former Rockdale judge was the swing vote. The motion in support of Sunday voting that was made by Karen James, a Democrat, died after Republican board member Johnny Brown opposed it, saying voting on a Sunday is against God’s will. Todd, who holds the non-partisan seat, failed to vote either way. “It’s right there in His word just as plain as it can be. The good Lord spent more time on the fourth commandment than any of the other nine,” Brown said during the board meeting. “Remember, the Sabbath day and keep it holy. We are not to work or do anything related to it on this day. Besides that, I don’t even think this should be an issue on our agenda because this was really popped up on us out of nowhere. This really was sprung on us.” The Rockdale Board of Elections has faced paralyzing infighting in the past. In 2011, former Superior Court Judge Sidney Nations removed all the members from the board, forcing the Democratic Party and the Republican Party to choose new representatives who were then tasked with selecting the non-partisan member. Rockdale pastors who attended the recent Elections Board meeting say they support Sunday voting and also plan to join in urging voters to go to the polls. Pastor Eric Lee of Springfield Baptist Church in Conyers said he is 100 percent behind Sunday voting and will encourage his congregation to get to the polls.
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Suspended DeKalb CEO takes stand in corruption trial
DeKalb Superior Court Judge Courtney Johnson
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By Joshua Smith
uspended DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis walked his defense team through hand-written notes he made, explaining how he called on county vendors for campaign contributions, putting “Xs” by those who didn’t give and check marks by those who did. Defense Attorney Craig Gillen had Ellis explain in his own words why, in a number of instances, he made several calls to the same person or company. Ellis said the calls were follow-up calls. He also explained comments he made with regards to contracts during secretly recorded conversations with vendors and the prosecutor’s star witness, Kelvin Walton, the county’s purchasing director. Walton testified earlier in the trial
Photos by Joshua Smith/OCG News
Suspended CEO Burrell Ellis explains his comments in a secretly recorded phone conversation on Oct. 2.
that Ellis told him to allow contracts to “dry up or expire.” Ellis stated on the witness stand he would never demand any vendor be cut off from doing business with DeKalb because they didn’t contribute to his campaign. He insisted he was frustrated over unreturned phones from vendors. Ellis took the stand in his corruption trial on Wednesday, Oct. 1, following
more than two weeks of testimony brought by state prosecutors, who rested their case on Tuesday, Sept. 30. Ellis is accused of pressuring county vendors for campaign contributions and threatening to take away county contracts from those who refused to See Ellis trial, page 6
Young activists organize Atlanta conference in response to Michael Brown’s death
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By Valerie J. Morgan
oping to address issues that have been raised nationally in the wake of the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Attorney Mawuli Mel Davis is working with an alliance of young activists to host an empowerment conference this month in Atlanta. The “Empowering Ourselves Now: Asserting Our Rights and Educating Beyond Ferguson” conference will be held Oct. 24 and Oct. 25 at the Interdenominational Theological Center (ITC), 700 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Atlanta. Davis, a partner of the Davis Bozeman Law Firm in DeKalb County, is co-chairing the event with Georgia State University student, Aurielle Lucier, of the #itsbiggerthanyou non-violent campaign. Davis recently traveled to Ferguson as part of a group organized by the National Conference of Black Lawyers to provide legal observer
Attorney Mawuli Mel Davis
Auriell Lucier
training to ensure the rights of demonstrators are protected. Several days of rioting and unrest erupted in Ferguson after the 18-year-old Brown, who was unarmed, was shot by a police officer during an altercation on Aug. 9. Since Brown’s death and that of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old Florida teen who was shot and killed by a Neighborhood Watch captain George Zimmerman in February 2012, supporters have called for justice and looked for ways to stop the violence that is claiming the lives of young African Americans, especially young
men. “When we organized nearly 5,000 young people to march from the CNN Center to the Civil and Human Rights Museum after Michael Brown was killed, we knew that the time for the young people to provide leadership is now,” said Lucier, who led the event. “This is our generation’s Civil Rights Movement and we are determined to make a difference.” Davis said several organizations and businesses have developed workshops that are designed to empower youths and adults in addressing the preventable deaths of African American men and women. The alliance of organizations involved in the upcoming conference include the Department of African American Studies at Georgia State University; Let Us Make Man; #it’sbiggerthanyou non-violent campaign; Jack & Jill of America Atlanta Chapter; Save OurSelves; See Activists, page 6