COMMUNITY
Council elections reveal divided city
PHOTOS BY JOE EARLE
At left, Councilman Denny Shortal and wife Meredy celebrate Shortal’s re-election to the District 1, Post 1 seat on City
Council. At right, Lindsay Ballow, left, congratulates Councilman Doug Thompson on his re-election in District 3, Post 3.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
woody,” Thompson said. “I
think the election showed the
issues we’re dealing with are
very close in citizens’ minds.”
Only about one in five of
Dunwoody’s registered voters
showed up at the polls to de
cide the three council seats up
for election. But the election
drew eight candidates for the
three seats, including three
newcomers who announced
they would run together as
a slate to oust sitting council
members in a “clean sweep”
of Dunwoody government.
The sharp divisions shown
during the election campaign
spilled over in Dunwoody
City Council’s meeting Nov.
12. Shortal said “the negativ
ity in the last election was a
little bit hard.”
“I think it’s time for all of us
to get together,” Shortal said.
But Councilwoman Adri
an Bonser, who did not seek
re-election to her District 2,
Post 2 seat, said the election showed
a large number of voters rejected “the
elitists in the city.”
“It does not appear the ‘clean sweep’
candidates had much of an impact,
but they did,” Bonser said. “Fifty-one
percent of the voters voted against the
status quo.”
On Nov. 5, “clean sweep” candidate
Jim Riticher took 52 percent of the
votes in the District 2, Post 2 race to
claim that council seat over two oth
er candidates, Hey
ward Wescott and
William A.J. Mer-
cier.
Riticher and fel
low “clean sweep”
candidates Hen-
ly Shelton and
Sam Eads said they
wanted to change
the direction of
Dunwoody’s city
government, which
had produced loud
complaints from
residents who op
posed several city
projects.
Residents op
posed to the city
projects, including a proposal to re
build Dunwoody Village Parkway and
a design for a multi-use trail in Brook
Run Park, organized a group called
Save Dunwoody, who attended city
meetings and posted yard signs critical
of the projects.
Riticher said he thought he could
make a difference as the sole newcom
er on the council. “I can keep them
on their toes,” Riticher said during a
celebration party on Election Night.
“We’ll try to shine lots of light.”
After the election, Save Dunwoody
member Jim Dickson said the vote to
tals “verify the continued disconnect
between the Dunwoody City Council
and Dunwoody residents.”
On Nov. 5 each council district
was treated as a separate election, with
voters within a district voting only on
the seat representing that district. But
Dickson, like Bonser, argued that add
ing all the votes cast together showed
half the city’s residents cast their bal
lots for candidates who did not sup
port the city’s current direction.
“These election
results are signifi
cant since the three
coalition candi
dates were against
the experienced
politicians and
others who make
up the Dunwoody
political establish
ment, the private
club of insiders,”
Dickson said.
But Thompson
said he thought
the election results
meant city officials
would continue in
their current direc
tion. “I think Dun
woody will contin
ue the course it’s on,” he said.
But he said city officials will have
to pay closer attention to their constit
uents.
“Nobody is going to sit here and
say we’ve got a real majority going for
ward,” Thompson said.
In the race for the District 1, Post 1
seat, Shortal collected the largest per
centage of votes cast of any of the can
didates. With 58 percent of the vote,
he handily outpolled Shelton, who
collected 39 percent, and the third
candidate in the race, David Davis,
who received 3 percent.
After the votes were reported,
Shortal said he planned to try to bring
the city together again. “My idea is to
move forward ...” Shortal said. “This
is our city. We all need to stand to
gether.”
Dunwoody votes
Here are the results of the Nov. 5
Dunwoody City Council elections:
Votes
Percentage
Turnout:
# of votes cast
% of registered voters
District 1, Post 1
David Davis
49
3%
Henly Shelton
609
39
Denis Shortal (I)
906
58
Total
1,568*
18%
District 2, Post 2
William Mercier
154
7%
Jim Riticher
1,137
52
Heyward Wescott
887
41
Total
2,179*
24%
District 3, Post 3
Sam Eads
776
49%
Doug Thompson
811
51
Total
1,595*
20%
Total votes cast
5,342
Total registered voters
25,863
Overall turnout:
21%
*includes write-ins
Source: DeKalb County Voter Registrations and Elections
“These election results are
significant since the three
coalition candidates were
against the experienced
politicians and others who
make up the Dunwoody
political establishment, the
private club of insiders.”
- JIM DICKSON
SAVE DUNWOODY
6 | NOV. 15—NOV. 28, 2013 | www.ReporterNewspapers.net
