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The CHAMPION
The official legal organ of DeKalb County, EA Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Dora*, Mvootty, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker, Stonecrest and Stone Mountain, j 50C
NOVEMBER 12 - 18, 2020 www.THECHAMPIONNEWSPAPER.com VOL. 30 • NO. 20
2020 ELECTION RESULTS
Former Doraville
councilman unseats District
1 county commissioner
Gulshan Harjee said Clarkston Community Health Center altered its practices during the pandemic, but she and
her staff are busier than expected.
Clarkston clinic aiding vulnerable
communities during pandemic
BY ASIA ASHLEY
Asia@dekalbchamp.com
With all precincts
reporting and a few
absentee ballots remaining
to be counted, it appears
that former Doraville
councilman Robert Patrick,
a Democrat, defeated
incumbent Republican
Nancy Jester for the
DeKalb County District 1
commission seat.
Patrick received 54.86
percent, or 40,060 votes, and
Jester received 30,026 votes
as of Nov. 7.
“I am forever thankful
Robert Patrick
to have been of service to
the good people of DeKalb
County.” Jester stated on her
SEE DORAVILLE ON PAGE 9
BY JAY PHILLIPS
Jay@dekalbchamp.com
Clarkston Community
Health Center (CCHC) is a
volunteer-based health clinic
that aids DeKalb County
community members who
are 200 percent or more
below the federal poverty
line.
CCHC cofounder
Gulshan Harjee’s practices
at CCHC earned her a
nomination for the 2020
L’Oreal Paris’ Women of
Worth Awards and a $10,000
award for the nomination.
Harjee said aiding the
impoverished, immigrants
and refugees is as important
as ever dining the pandemic.
“The disparities in the
access to healthcare were
clearly declared during the
pandemic. We saw [that]
minority communities were
affected almost four times
more than others,” said
Harjee.
Harjee said CCHC has
altered its practices during
the pandemic, and that the
clinic is busier than she
and her staff and fellow
Clarkston Community Health Clinic
cofounder Gulshan Harjee was
nominated for the 2020 L’Oreal
Paris’ Women of Worth Awards
and a $10,000 award for the
nomination. Photos provided by
Gulshan Harjee
volunteers imagined.
“Before we hit the
pandemic, we used to
have face-to-face visits
six days a week with our
eight collaborators. When
the pandemic came, we
pivoted almost overnight
to telemedicine. Almost 90
percent of our visits are now
digital,” said Harjee. “We
got really busy. We actually
got busier than we thought.”
She said patients with
internet access are offered a
secure video call, and those
without internet can call
CCHC on a secure telephone
line.
“The second thing we
did when the pandemic hit
is, we started doing free
COVID testing on Sundays
in collaboration with
DeKalb Board of Health.
We’ve screened more
than 1,000 people,” said
Harjee. “The third thing we
started to do was drive-thru
clinics. Now we dispense
prescriptions and insulin by
drive thru. We’re getting
pretty good at this.”
CCHC is also providing
aid to community members
who get sick.
“We’ve been able
to deliver food packages
and hot food plates to our
patients who have to be
quarantined. For 14 days,
we deliver food and aid
to patients who are bed
bound,” said Harjee.
CCHC is located at
3700 Market St., Suite
E, and is accessible to
Clarkston’s refugee and
SEE CLARKSTON ON PAGE 9
Voters bring back DeKalb
ethics board with 80 percent
support of new ethics code
BY ASIA ASHLEY
Asia@dekalbchamp.com
After a revision to the DeKalb County ethics code was
voted down in 2019, voters supported the 2020 version
of changes to the ethics code, which will soon reactivate
functions of the ethics board.
The ethics board, which hears complaints against
county officials, has been inactive since Aug. 2018 when a
judge ruled that its membership was unconstitutional since
members were appointed by non-elected entities.
Vote totals from the Nov. 3 General Election show
80.88 percent, or 300,178, of voters supported the change—
proposed in House Bill 1243—which allows three ethics
board members appointed by the DeKalb County legislative
delegation in the Georgia House of Representatives; three
appointed by the DeKalb’s legislative delegation in the
Georgia Senate; and one appointed by the DeKalb County
SEE DEKALB ON PAGE 9
64116
00001
Book tells story of East Lake
Country Club and its famous golfers
PAGE 3
2020 Election results
PAGE 8