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DeKalb Board Candidate
Seeks Stricter Ethics Code
BY RITA McINERNEY
A Catholic wife and mother from South
-DeKalb ousted a 14-year veteran of the
DeKalb County Commission in the July
17 primary election.
- Democrat Jacqueline Scott, 49, in her
first bid for public office, won decisively
over incumbent Robert Lanier for one of
the two at-large commission seats. The
'vote was 41,283 for Scott and 33,900 for
Lanier. He had been mentioned as a
successor to Manuel Maloof as chief
^executive officer of the commission in
1992.
Mrs. Scott, a longtime member of Sts.
Peter and Paul Church in Decatur, faces
another political newcomer, Republican
Pete Brown, a retiree living in Doraville,
in the November election.
' She entered the race because of a long
time feeling that “the commission wasn’t
as responsive to community concerns as
.1 wanted it to be.” Her decision, she
says, was crystallized after passage of an
ordinance May 22 which would permit
biomedical waste incinerators in some
areas of the county.
Her displeasure was mainly based on
the fact that “residents were unaware,
before it was passed, of something that
would have such a major impact on the
community. There was no discussion,”
she adds, before the commissioners voted.
“Potentially, we could have them
bringing in medical waste from all over
the country.”
On July 24, the commissioners voted,
7-6, to rescind the measure.
. As a candidate for the at-large commis
sion post, she plans to focus on the need
for more openness in government and on
“tightening up” the ethics code, particu
larly in the area of conflict of interest.
In taking her campaign to every section
of the county she found many active,
interested people. “Whenever I was invit
ed, I would go. I wanted to find out their
concerns.”
Her campaign was low budget and
grassroots, with no money for newspaper
or television advertising. She did just one
mailing, to the 5th District in South
DeKalb.
Thankfully, she says, “there were lots
of volunteers” to help her, both old
friends and new ones made as she took
her message around DeKalb County.
In the weeks of showing up at neigh
borhood and civic association meetings,
she encountered Lanier at two sessions.
One was an open forum sponsored by the
Greater Lithonia Alliance. Interest here
was intense since there is a private firm
seeking to build an incinerator in the area.
While she is a newcomer to politics,
her husband Tom served eight years, from
1976 until 1984, in the state Senate. He is
a systems coordinator with Norfolk
Southern Corp.
As they always do, the couple and their
three children sat down together and
discussed her entry into the race. ‘ ‘Every
thing we do, we do as a family,” she
explains.
Daughter Susannah, 18, a June graduate
of St. Pius X High School bound for
Mount Holyoke College, accompanied her
mother to campaign appearances. Son
John-Thomas, 15, is a Pius student and
Christopher, 12, attends St. Thomas More
School.
At Sts. Peter and Paul she is involved
with the Women’s Council. At one time
she served as president of the school
board and as a member of the parish
council.
As a Catholic she does not expect
abortion to be among issues she will have
Sister Claims A Victory
6 Homeless Activists Fined
. Sister Carol Schlicksup, CSJ, and Sister
JoAnn Geary, CSJ, were among six
homeless activists found guilty in Atlanta
Municipal Court July 18 of disorderly
conduct for occupying the abandoned
Imperial Hotel in downtown Atlanta.
The two-week occupation by eight
members of People for Urban Justice
ended July 3 with a promise by Mayor
Maynard Jackson to create 3,500 rooms
for Atlanta’s homeless by 1994.
Municipal Court Judge Andrew Mickle
suspended the $75 fines imposed on the
Six after they promised not to occupy the
hotel again and to donate $75 to a cause
of their choice.
* Sister Schlicksup claimed victory for
the group’s effort.
“The issue is out there,” the Religious
'said. “Shelters are not the answer. We
couldn’t get that (admission) before the
Imperial. And we have a promise in
.writing. I think we’ve gotten a lot.”
The agreement with the city includes
subsidizing 1,000 units to rent for $7 a
day or $49 a week. The remaining units
are to be kept as close to that rent specifi
cation as possible, Sister Schlicksup said.
“That’s more than we had,” she ob
served. “We have involved this city in
dealing with homeless people. But the
business community has still to come
forth,” she added. “We know the city
can’t do it alone.
“I think we’ve made a beginning. We
will continue to take an advocacy role
and keep this issue burning. Ground (for
a single-room occupancy apartment build
ing) is to be broken Sept. 1. It had better
happen.”
Shirley Franklin, an aide to Mayor
Jackson, said the Mayor presented legisla
tion to the Atlanta City Council to com
plete the city’s share of single room
occupancy units in Bethlehem House
located just south of 1-20. This was ap
proved by Council. He also recommended
a bill to allocate $400,000 for the city’s
share of the 3,000 to 4,000 SRO units to
be built.
- By Paula Day
PAGE 15 - The Georgia Bulletin, August 2, 1990
SCOTTS IN RACE - Jacqueline Scott is shown with her husband Tom
and children, John-Thomas, Susannah and Chris in their South DeKalb
home.
to deal with if elected.
She works part-time as a customer
service representative at Origami, Inc., a
distributorship for business consumables
which also handles Coca-Cola promotion
items. Caroline Aitken, office manager
and active parishioner at St. Benedict’s in
Duluth, says “the company is very proud
of her. She’s an on-the-ball person, very
knowledgeable and with a lot of integri
ty.”
A native of the Catskill Mountain area
of New York state, she graduated from
Trinity College in Burlington, Vt. She has
been a resident of South DeKalb for 21
years.
Former Atlanta Detective
In Cherokee County Race
BY PAULA DAY
JJ. Biello, a member of
St. Catherine of Siena
parish in Kennesaw, won a
clear majority in the July
primary, gaining a place
on the November ballot for
the Cherokee County
Board of Commissioners.
Biello, a Republican,
beat out four opponents for
the Second District spot,
eliminating the need for a
runoff. He will face Dem
ocrat Ron Miller in No
vember.
The 14-year resident of
Cherokee will represent
the southeastern section of
the county if elected. His
constituents will be from
both the urbanized south
side and the rural north
side where farming is the
principal industry. Biello
recognizes that this diver
sity offers a challenge to
whomever is elected.
The candidate cited
several other important
challenges the commission
will need to deal with after
the election. Among them
are the problem of disposal
of solid wastes, the main
taining of 800 miles of
paved highways in the
county, and providing
J. J. Biello
adequate recreational facil
ities for the growing coun
ty population. The 60-
year-old county courthouse
needs attention and this
issue will be placed on a
voter referendum, Biello
said.
A former detective on
the Atlanta police force,
Biello says he plans to
dedicate himself to the
commission work “on a
full-time basis even though
it’s a part-time job.”
“Of course I don’t want
anyone to call me at three
o’clock in the morning,”
he added, “but I am very
determined to do a good
job." He points to the 12
to 14 hours a day he put
into his primary campaign
as an indication of his
determination. “A wheel
chair hasn’t stopped me
yet," he observed. Biello
is paralyzed from a gun
shot wound inflicted by a
burglar in an attempted
robbery three years ago.
The 39-year-old Biello
and his wife Barbara have
two sons, Alex, 14, and
Ross, 11. He estimates the
ratio of Democrats and
Republicans in Cherokee
County to be “about 50-
50."
“I’ve been living here
14 years, and I really want
to get more involved,”
Biello said, explaining his
decision to run for the
commission post “I want
to help shape the county’s
future, and I’m the best
candidate,” he added
confidently.
Cherokee County’s
present population is ap
proximately 95,000 ac
cording to outgoing county
commissioner, Gene
Hobgood, up from 51,700
in 1980. Projections are
for the population to reach
190,000 by the turn of the
century.