The champion newspaper. (Decatur, GA) 19??-current, August 31, 2023, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextTHURSDAY, AUG. 31- SEPT. 6, 2023 www.THECHAMPIONNEWSPAPER.com VOL. 34 • NO. 10 e CHAMPION 50^ The official legal organ of DeKalb County, GA. "64116 UD0U1 FOOTBALL Youth sports, after-school programs offered by county PAGE 2 LOCAL DeKalb student, organizations recognized by congressman PAGE 7 SPORTS Local teams win double-digit games in consecutive weeks PAGE 11 LIFESTYLE New center relying on lottery for senior program PAGE14 VISIT US ONLINE @ THECHAMPIONNEWSPAPER.COM Candidates qualify for upcoming elections Local elections will be held Nov. 7. File photo BY CHRISTINE FONVILLE CHRISTINE@DEKALBCHAMP.COM The qualifying period has ended for the upcoming November elections, and some cities in DeKalb County will be electing new mayors and city council members. Residents of Brookhaven and Pine Lake will be casting their ballots for their city's next mayor as John Ernst, who was elected in Brookhaven in 2015 and re-elected in 2019, and Melanie Hammet, who was elected in Pine Lake in 2016 and re-elected in 2020, have reached their term limits. Those running to become Brookhaven's next mayor include former councilmember H.J. "John" Park (who resigned his post at the city's last council meeting to run for mayor) as well as Lauren Kiefer, Hilerie Lind, and Mark Douglas Frost. In Pine Lake, residents will cast ballots for Brandy Hall or Moira Nelligan as the city's next mayor. The city of Stonecrest's incumbent Mayor Jazzmin Cobble will face challengers on the ballot this year, including Dele Lowman (who received praise from local and state leaders before stepping down as the chair of the board of elections earlier this year) and Diane Adoma. SEE ELECTIONS ON PAGE 6 Controversial project gains more than 100K signatures, officials release next steps BY CHRISTINE FONVILLE CHRISTINE@DEKALBCHAMP.COM Atlanta officials released an outline of next steps now that an organized group of detractors of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, which is under construction on land in DeKalb County, have collected more than 104,000 signatures to place a referendum to vote for or against the project on the November ballots. In an email from the office of Atlanta's municipal clerk, Atlanta officials stated there would be four steps to "unequivocally ensure the integrity and the security of the verification process," with City Clerk Emeritus Foris Webb III helping to supervise the process. Those steps include: Canvassers collect petition signatures at the Grant Park Farmer’s Market. Photo by Stephanie Salyer 1 A petition intake process where the city clerk will establish how many boxes of signature pages have been turned in and seal them in front of the petitioners before then taking the sealed boxes to a secure vault in the clerk's office where they will be kept until they are scanned. A scanning process where each box will be individually opened and its contents scanned to make an electronic image of each page (the petitioners will be provided with a full copy of the scanned documents, stated officials). A manual review and verification process where "completed lines will be reviewed to determine a) whether the name and other information present identifies and corresponds to a uniquely qualified Atlanta voter and if so b) whether those signatures match that of the unique voter." This review will rely on the state voter registration database, according to officials. A public comment/inquiry process where "the city will not comment on the review once it begins," stated officials. "Once the SEE PETITION ON PAGE 6 [JJtJub Social DEKALBCHAMPNEWS

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The champion newspaper. (Decatur, GA) 19??-current, August 31, 2023, Image 1