Record Number of Candidates to Seek Office in South Fulton

The charter of the new city of South Fulton doesn’t take effect until May 1 at 12:00 am and plenty of folks have lined up to lead it. A whopping 71 residents have qualified to run. With 62 council district candidates and nine mayoral candidates this appears to be a process that will last well into mid-April with run-offs.

Districts 2 and 4 has garnered the most attention with 11 candidates each as District 6 has the fewest - five candidates. Those seeking office include a College Student, Community Organizers, Attorneys, IT Professionals, Consultants, Entrepreneurs and Retirees to name a few. Most are political novices and a few have run campaigns before while even fewer have held office.

Each voter will choose a mayor and district council person in the City of South Fulton Special Election slated for March 21, 2017. The Early Voting will start February 27, 2017 at the Wolf Creek Library and South Service Center. An additional location may be added at the discretion of the Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections.

Lively debates are expected in each race. Hopefully candidates will limit debates and campaigning on Nextdoor.com as they attempt to get traction on their issue(s). It’s up to the voters to educate themselves on each candidate and what they bring to the table. On Southfultonliving.com space is being made available for all candidates, go to the home page and select mayoral candidates or your district to review profiles and bios.

In a few weeks, candidates will be sent a questionnaire to get more details about what they see as the primary issues and solutions for our communities. Why questionnaires? With so many candidates it’s difficult to conduct debates or forums. As politics goes someone always seeks to be the “attention getter” monopolizing the time. That tactic prevents voters from hearing solutions. Besides written responses with limited space require the candidates get to the point.

In the coming weeks, more information will be gathered for our readers on each of the candidates as work begins on getting answers to some pointed questions related to operating and leading a new city. Hopefully the answers will assist folks in choosing wisely.

**The Knight in the meme is from “Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade”