Author: On Common Ground News

DeKalb County voters rejected a referendum restructuring the county’s ethics board on Tuesday night. Early results showed that 61.33 percent of voters (33,555) opposed the proposal.  The measure received  21,160 yes votes (39 percent. Proponents said the referendum was needed to change the makeup of the board to more fairly reflect the diversity of the community and replace the ethics director position with an administrative position, among other things. Their stance was bolstered by a Georgia Supreme Court ruling that the way the Ethics Board members are selected was unconstitutional.  Critics said, however, the referendum would have reduced some of…

Shameka Reynolds swept the Lithonia mayoral race Tuesday, soundly defeating challenger Cindy Thomas. Reynolds, who served on the City Council for eight years, won the election with 245 (60.95 percent) votes while Cindy Thomas garnered 157 (39.05 percent) votes in the two-way race, according to early results which must be certified. The crowd cheered at Reynolds’ victory party, which was held at the Stone Manor event center. “I feel great. I thank God for the victory. The Devil tried it, but he didn’t win. I want to thank the city of Lithonia for supporting me. We are about to make…

Pictured: Mayor Jason Lary and his wife, Debbie, at his victory celebration. Tammy Grimes, Dave Marcus headed for run-off in District 5 City Council race Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary scored the winning touchdown Tuesday in his bid for re-election, defeating Charles Hill, II and Diane Adoma. Lary won with 3,049 votes (55.48 percent), while Hill placed second with 1,294 votes (23.54 percent) and Diane Adoma came in third place with 1,131 votes (20.58 percent), according to early results from the DeKalb County Elections office. Lary dominated the playing field, leading four of the city’s 17 precincts early…

The DeKalb County Sanitation Division will deploy 46 new automated side loader (ASL) sanitation collection trucks by December 2019. Operated by a single driver, the technologically advanced garbage trucks increase efficiency, reduce costs, and allow the county to service a growing number of customers. “With the support of the Board of Commissioners, DeKalb County’s sanitation division fleet now includes more efficient, cost-effective trucks that will help to reduce workplace injuries,” said DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond. DeKalb County’s Sanitation Division will deploy new automated side loader collection trucks. In the past 10 months, the cities of Pine…

State Rep. Doreen Carter (D-Lithonia) will serve as a guest speaker at the Veterans Day Breakfast at Ousley United Methodist Church, 3261 Panola Drive. The program will be held on Saturday, Nov.  9, 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. The Veterans’ Day breakfast will provide a free breakfast to honor veterans ahead of the holiday. The event is free, but seating is limited. To register and for more information about the event, click here.

The DeKalb County Sanitation Division will offer free residential bulky item curbside collection from Nov. 22 through Dec. 21. Residents within the Sanitation Division’s service area will have an opportunity to place bulky items, including furniture and large appliances, curbside for collection. Collection schedules will be based on residents’ designated sanitation service day as follows: • Residential customers whose regularly scheduled sanitation service day is Monday will be serviced on Friday, Nov. 22, or Saturday, Nov. 23. To prevent collection delays, items should be placed at the curb no later than 7 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 22. • Residential customers whose regularly scheduled sanitation service…

The Columbia Alliance Sustainable Neighborhood Initiative (CASNI) and DeKalb Metro Housing Counseling will host an informational meeting featuring DeKalb Tax Commissioner Irvin J. Johnson’s Office on Nov. 9, noon to 4 p.m., at Columbia Drive United Methodist Church, 2067 Columbia Drive, Decatur. The community is invited to come out and learn about the services provided by the Tax Commissioner’s Office including basic homestead exemption, tag and titles, veteran exemption, disabled veteran, local exemptions, registration, renewals disabled placards,  senior waiver,  and more.  For more information, visit www.DeKalbTax.org. 

L-R: Cindy Thomas and Shameka Reynolds With the Nov. 4 elections just days away, the mayoral race is heating up as the Georgia Secretary of State’s office launches an investigation into the residency of Cindy Thomas who is challenging Shameka Reynolds, who has served eight years on the City Council. Deborah Jackson is not running for re-election as mayor of the city. Lithonia council members Ric Dodd and Amelia Inman filed a challenge to Thomas’ residency with the DeKalb Board of Registration and Elections at the beginning of the election cycle. Thomas appeared before the board on Sept. 12 to…

L-R: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Rev. James Woodall, State President of the Georgia NAACP State NAACP vows to challenge removals   Georgia voters who haven’t participated in elections in years could soon lose their right to vote.  About 330,000 inactive Georgia voters will be removed from the rolls ahead of the 2020 elections, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has announced. Raffensperger said the updates are required by federal and state law in order to ensure the state has the most up-to-date voter information and to cut down on fraud. Election officials plan to begin mailing…

The DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the two people who died in the single-engine plane crash into some townhomes near Chamblee on Oct. 30. Leslie Csanyi, Jr., 59, and Scott Robert Lowrie, 60, both residents of North Carolina, were aboard the plane when it took off around 10:30 a.m. from the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, authorities said. The small plane, identified as a Piper PA-28, crashed shortly after leaving Runway 21, the FAA said. DeKalb County government officials and the DeKalb-Peachtree Airport issued a statement extending its sincere condolences to the families and friends of Csanyi and Lowrie. At On…