DeKalb election results: Mixed message on school board
Interesting results in the DeKalb County where voters seemed to deliver conflicting messages on their satisfaction with their current school board.
DeKalb voters in District 2 turned out incumbent Don McChesney for parent and activist Marshall Orson by a decisive margin, 62 percent to 38.
But many District 4 voters still support incumbent Paul Womack, who, with 47 percent of the vote, fell short of the percentage needed to win outright in a field of four candidates. He is now in a runoff with parent activist Jim McMahan, who won 28 percent vote.
There is also a runoff for Tom Bowen’s District 6 seat between former school system employee Melvin Johnson and ative PTSA member and parent Denise McGill.
Incumbent Pam Speaks retains her District 8 seat, although her opponent — who ran a fairly low-voltage campaign — drew an impressive 48 percent of the vote.
Here are the results:
District 2
Marshall Orson 7,214 62%
Don McChesney (I) 4,396 38%
District 4
Paul Womack (I) 6,705 47%
Jim McMahan 4,019 28%
Tom Gilbert 2,001 14%
Jim Kinney 1,617 11%
District 6
Melvin Johnson 4,973 39%
Denise McGill 3,807 30%
Latasha Walker 2,551 20%
Terrilyn Rivers-Canon 1,262 10%
District 8
Pam Speaks (I) 23,102 52%
Michelle (Mimi) Jenkins-Clark 21,618 48%
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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100 comments Add your comment
d
August 1st, 2012
10:49 am
Enter your comments hereI really hope Jim McMahon can pull out district 4. Another two years of Mr. Womack will be a tragedy for DCSD.
no great choice
August 1st, 2012
11:16 am
If Melvin Johnson wins, DeKalb is toast. He is clearly biased and supported by former central office employees who are so angry at the changes that Atkinson is making. They wanted the status quo of the system being a jobs program friends and family It is a shame that he is even in the race and doesn’t bode well for the system if he were to win.
Facts
August 1st, 2012
11:24 am
N@nogreatchoice you are right. He will join the Walker team to get Dr Atkinson for getting rid of his eyes and ears the the school system. Walker wants to run the school system and he will use Melvin to do it. Maureen what hasn’t anyone done anything about that crazy board. What is the elephant in the room because anyone can see that they are down right incompetent and embarrassing. The kids are suffering because of their selfish acts,
Tired
August 1st, 2012
11:26 am
Darn straight I voted against McChesney.
Beverly Fraud
August 1st, 2012
11:31 am
Gee Kasim you used your election mandate to prop up Beverly Hall (going so far as to try to strong arm the school board to keep Hall’s chief lack in power as board president) and now you find out you have ZERO credibility when you join with Nathan Deal (oh yeah, there’s another paragon of ethics) and try to foist another $7.2 billion in taxes on the public?
Not this time…
Rockerbabe
August 1st, 2012
11:34 am
I voted the way I did and enacted my own form of term limits. It is possible to get more diversity and more reasonableness by just changing the players every now and then. I still do not vote republican, but a change in the dems does change thinking and doing.
Crawford Lewis
August 1st, 2012
11:46 am
Does anybody know when the runoff will take place? If Melvin Johnson and Paul Womack win there will be another runoff…this time it will be the teachers trying to run out of the school system…..
oldtimer
August 1st, 2012
11:48 am
I am very surprised all the the ones with an (I) beside their names were not thrown out!
oldtimer
August 1st, 2012
11:50 am
On another issue…I see Clayton county wants a shorter day on Wednesday…to use for training. I wonder how that will go over with parents???
Jim McMahan
August 1st, 2012
11:57 am
The runoff is August 21. Three weeks from yesterday. Please visit my website, http://www.votejimmymac.com for more information regarding my campaign. Thanks to all my supporters and for my fellow candidate, Jim Kinney for endorsing my campaign. Thanks for joining my campaign and together we can make a difference, we need new leadership on the school board!
Jim McMahan
District 4 DeKalb County School Board Candidate
Maureen Downey
August 1st, 2012
12:00 pm
Runoff is Aug. 21
http://www.sos.ga.gov/elections/election_dates.htm
Pardon My Blog
August 1st, 2012
12:06 pm
I will definitely be there August 21 with a vote for McMahan. I can’t believe Womack got that many votes especially after he said he supported Lewis 100%, etc., etc. Well, he did state the he is “god” so…..
Ole Guy
August 1st, 2012
12:11 pm
I would hazzard a guess that mixed messages are de reguer/par for the course within educational “leadership”. Failings within the educational community can probably be traced directly, in one form or another, to “mixed messages”.
ADUH ADUH ADHU…THAT’S ALL, FOLKS!
Relax, “mixed messages” seem to be the rage within school boards across the country…why be any different?
Pardon My Blog
August 1st, 2012
12:11 pm
Now if we could have a special election to get rid of Eugene Walker, Sarah Copelin-Wood and Jesse Cunningham (not to mention a non-renewal of the current superintendents contract), DeKalb Schools may stand a chance!
Happy St. Pat's
August 1st, 2012
12:25 pm
Losing incumbents could have avoided that result if, as in Clayton County, their legislative delegation had “forgotten” to forward legislation for redistricting after the 2010 census. No incumbents rejected in Clayton, because a judge won’t even let them hold school board elections. Perfect (for incumbents).
no great choice
August 1st, 2012
12:28 pm
oldtimer
Pam Speaks opponent was horrible and send the most divisive mailer I have ever seen in a school board race. What is frightening is that the race for that seat was as close as it was.
Crawford Lewis
August 1st, 2012
12:31 pm
@Pardon my blog…..amen!!!!!!
Unhappy DCSS Parent
August 1st, 2012
12:50 pm
My goodness!! When is jay Cunningham’s term up? he may very well be the emabrrasmment of the entire school board.
NO Thanks
August 1st, 2012
12:51 pm
@Pardon my blog Noone wants to come take that job which is why it took two years to get someone. Lets be honest and understand that we voted these boardmembers in office and have to take some responsibility for the actions that have taken place as a result of it. Dekalb County has how many residents? I bet if Tsplost was not on the ballot no one would have come out to vote for school board elections.
Dekalbite
August 1st, 2012
1:01 pm
There is rarely a revolution in U.S. politics. Nancy Jester and Donna Edler were new BOE members in 2010. Orson is new in 2012. Perhaps McGill and/or Womack will be new in 2012 as well after the runoff.
Donna Edler trailed Zepora Roberts in the general election by 7% (about the same as Denise McGill trails Melvin Johnson right now) but won in the runoff with 74% of the vote. Nancy Jester was only 7% ahead of Jim Redovian in the general election but won with 67+% in the runoff compared to his 33%. Runoffs can produce very different results from the general election.
If one or new members win in the runoff, that would be 4 or 5 members that are new out of 9. Shorter of revolution, but faster than evolution.
Crawford Lewis
August 1st, 2012
1:23 pm
@DeKalbite —- Revolution? DCSS needs its own version of the Boston Tea Party…..
no great choice
August 1st, 2012
1:27 pm
But Edler and Jester are consistently on different sides of issues and Orson is going to find it difficult to figure out which side to be on — he publicly criticized Jester on several occasions and clearly wants to spend on special programs, so to me he will more aligned with Walker et all than Jester and Speaks.
If Johnson wins, we really are in trouble. At the end of the day, what McMahan offers is a different temperament than Womack, I suspect they will vote virtually the same.
AtlNubian07
August 1st, 2012
1:41 pm
@ Pardon My Blog: AMEN!!!!!
DBlanks
August 1st, 2012
1:57 pm
Jim McMahan will bring a new voice, a different voice, to the
board. Womack is eighty years old…. it’s just a fact that his time
has come and gone. Thanks for the service, but it’s well past time
for new ideas and perspective.
@pardonmyblog
August 1st, 2012
2:20 pm
You must be working on Melvin Johnson’s campaign as well as being one of Walker’s surrogates who attack Atkinson. She needs to be able to complete the overhaul of the school system. It is really scary to see the retired administrators who are on Melvin Johnson’s campaign team. All part of the Entrenched Friends and Family Network now headed by Dr. Gene Walker whose only goal seems to be getting rid of Atkinson so the F & F Network can reassertion itself and continue the ruin of the DCSS while they feed at the public trough.
LOGIC
August 1st, 2012
2:31 pm
The torture continues with the 8/21. I am still floored that Speaks won by such a narrow margin when she is one of the few qualified and normal individuals on the Board. I am glad McChesney lost, but we all need to watch Orson and his special interest groups. He has yet made one comment showing that he is in it for the county. Walker knows that he can throw him the Fernbank bones and get him to side with him to do things that are detrimental to the county as a whole. If McMahan (up until a few months ago a District 2 representative) could very easily be swayed by Orson and that is a dangerous bloc on the Board. Womack has made sense on a good number of things, but can’t overcome the stupid acts of supporting Lewis and Heery Mitchell.
My biggest overarching concern is the support Johnson got in District 6. The entire county needs to rally around Denise McGill and do a grassroots campaign to ensure he doesn’t win. He is part of the worst Old Guard and “Friends & Family.” We have do everything we can to avoid his placement on the Board.
So, I hope the strategy is to start breaking up this Board. The executive compensation discussion from Monday shows how dysfunctional and crooked these people are.
old school doc
August 1st, 2012
2:35 pm
off topic–
What happened in the referendum (?sp) about state charter schools?
Maureen Downey
August 1st, 2012
3:02 pm
@old doc, The binding referendum is in November. Democrats had a non-binding question on their ballots: Should the Georgia Constitution be amended to allow the state to override locally elected school boards’ decisions when it comes to the creation of charter schools in your county or city?
YES-44% NO-56%
Crawford Lewis
August 1st, 2012
3:02 pm
I am even willing to donate a small amount of my teacher salary to Denise McGill and Jim’s campaign to ensure that these clowns do not make it back onto the Board. Is is against Board policy for teachers to contribute to the campaigns? I surely don’t want the Friends and Family to find out that an employee donation went to undermine their agenda
Will Thomas
August 1st, 2012
3:07 pm
Pam Speaks is by far the most trustworthy, dedicated and complete member of this BOE. Had her opponent not used such lowly, racist tactics against her, then Pam would have had a much more solid victory. The opponent wouldn’t even show up at forums, but had the audacity to send racist and politically charged mailers.
Fred ™
August 1st, 2012
3:20 pm
I did my part. I voted AGAINST every incumbent I could. Shame on you who didn’t.
Pumpkin
August 1st, 2012
3:41 pm
I tried to post this on DSW but that blog is really going downhill and will only post from people who support their narrow view so I’ll give Maureen’s blog a go.
There was a man as near Fernbank as he could get waving a McChesney sign around. He was approached by one mom with her kids and when she told him he was there illegally he gave her a single-finger wave. He told another lady to shut up. Don’t know who he was, but I’m glad he made it out because he really solidified the vote against McChesney. Thanks for the making the effort.
McChesney only carried 3 precincts in district 2 – he won Sagamore by 2 votes and Briar Vista by one. Marshall Orson won north Avondale, Medlock and Laurel Ridge by a wide margin. Whether people voted FOR Marshall or AGAINST Don, the numbers sent a pretty strong message in district 2.
Hopefully the run-offs will turn out equally well in favor of Jim and Denise; the DSW endorsement didn’t help Don a whole lot.
@pardonmyblog
August 1st, 2012
3:59 pm
At least give Jay Cummingham credit for being the only BOE member to stand up publicly to Walker and his bs. This should also be a wake up call for Pam Speaks who normally votes whichever way McChesney votes.
no great choice
August 1st, 2012
4:02 pm
Had Dr. Speaks faced a legitimate opponent she might have lost as well. McChesney’s loss has nothing to do with how he votes, he had everything to do with the gerrymandering of the lines for Marshall Orson plus the fact that voters in N. DeKalb seem the most likely to hold incumbents accountable. His constituents didn’t want a tax increase, didn’t like the budget, etc and he voted against all those things.
Teacher Reader
August 1st, 2012
4:13 pm
I am sad that Orson won, as he has always appeared arrogant and it in the race to keep the special programs going, that we simply can’t afford. I fear that he will side with Walker and we don’t need anyone else voting like Walker and crew.
DeKalb has many issues brewing in the background, that many citizens will be very angry and probably not surprised when they come to light, but will most likely end up costing children and classrooms.
To me the School Board elections are frightening, especially the run offs. I never thought DeKalb could get worse, but it really is possible and most likely to happen.
Ned
August 1st, 2012
4:28 pm
What’s the status of plans to reduce the board to 7 or fewer members?
I couldn’t agree more with the comments about Dr. Speaks’s vile opponent. I think it was at least partially because of a general anti-incumbent attitude that she did so well–and that Mr. Orson won.
Old timer
August 1st, 2012
5:02 pm
No great choice….I do feel your pain. It is so sad there are not more qualified people to run in school board races. Our future depends on it. I used to work and live in Clayton County. I know what unqualified people can do to a school system. Then , for a while I lived in TN…..they did much more with less money. So I know it can be done. TN has no state income tax and very low property taxes…compared to my home now in Cobb.
GTCO-ATL
August 1st, 2012
5:12 pm
Why is the media overlooking the huge victory for the parents and residents who have fought to keep cell towers off school grounds? http://www.GETtheCELLoutATL.org
More than 60% of the voters answered “No” on what many considered to be a “trick question” that didn’t work out for the telecomms the way they had expected!
Once Again
August 1st, 2012
5:17 pm
Changing the clowns running the circus won’t fix the problem, but I made a point of voting against every incumbent for every race where there was one. I am sure the opponent will be just as horrible as the incumbent, but the incumbents need to know that their time is up. Glad to see the opponents did as well as they did. Shame the incumbents will still have jobs. Shut the entire system down and give the free market an opportunity to reward success and punish failure. That is the only way education will get better for everyone.
Dunwoody Mom
August 1st, 2012
5:27 pm
This school board has been made up for a long time of people whose primary goal is to promote their own special interests, i.e., special programs, jobs for families and friends, etc., There has been little though to what is best for the students of this district – and it has shown in the academic data. Yesterday’s results do not change this one iota. I have given up hope….I will continue to support those schools in my area, but that’s it. If voters in this county want to continue with the status-quo of a sub-par education for their children, well, then they’ve made their choice. I am not sure what else can be done to wake them up.
Clean House
August 1st, 2012
5:46 pm
The school board should be the ultimate instrument for oversight of what is happening in Dekalb Schools, An 85 million deficit should not have been “a surprise”. The board also supported two past superintendents that were inept and, in Lewis’s case, criminal. They should be holding the leaders responsible and accountable, and let the buck stop with them. So now, the local schools are bearing the brunt of their poor management and oversight. Taxpayers should be furious that Dekalb schools are now making the county an undesirable place to educate children-thereby lowering property values even more. They give themselves raises and everyone be d———. It appears that the same old system of nepotism is continuing and we all know where that has gotten us.
Dara
August 1st, 2012
5:52 pm
Womack does not deserve to sit on the board of education as he has explicitly disrespected his constituents by approving, rather pushing through cell tower construction on school grounds, without properly informing applicable communities, and once such communities were advised in his district, he did not care to even listen to what are suppose to be his constituents.
Womack must go!!!!!!!!!
Vote McMahon!!!!!!!
d
August 1st, 2012
5:57 pm
Just a note that I tried to post a correction on DSW but they wouldn’t actually show it – even if you did not vote in the primary, you are permitted to vote in the runoff. If you did vote in the primary, you must vote the same party ballot in the runoff, but if you did not vote in the primary, you may select any of the available ballots for your precinct. Please vote August 21 so we can try to move the DeKalb County School District forward!
No thinking person takes DSW2 seriously
August 1st, 2012
7:01 pm
No one should be surprised at DSW’s biased slant and editing of opposing remarks. It is a mouthpiece for Jester and McChesney, short on facts, but long on innuendo, slander, libel, and character assassination. One of the reasons McChesney list is that DSW endorsed him so strongly. I know, I live in District 2. Let’s all hope that their endorsements of McGill and McMahon don’t kill them off. DSW is just a small group of dysfunctional idiots with little influence outside of their clique. Marshall Orson and the people of District 2 proved that. Paalleease! McChesney carried only one precinct by a substantial margin, and one his other two by one and two votes. The people who support DSW are marginal idiots! People with a brain ignore the morons who are their regular posters. Just think what would happen if they invested the time and energy they spend posting ignorant statements on DSW in the schools. They might actually make a positive difference. Advice to McGill and McMahon, put as much distance as possible between you and the idiots on DSW if you hope to win. Case Closed.
catlady
August 1st, 2012
8:46 pm
Local voters flexed their muscles and reacted to the seeming-disinterest of the citizens’ views for the 3 SB positions–voted every one of the incumbents out! Really unusual for around here.
Dekalbite@Pumpkin
August 1st, 2012
9:29 pm
“McChesney only carried 3 precincts in district 2 – he won Sagamore by 2 votes and Briar Vista by one. Marshall Orson won north Avondale, Medlock and Laurel Ridge by a wide margin”
Where did you get your information on the precinct votes. Do you have a link? I would like to see the precinct votes since I’m interested in where we need to concentrate our efforts in District 4. Many thanks for the information.
Mandella1099
August 1st, 2012
11:07 pm
@Dunwoody Mom
As almost always, you are spot on with your view – but keep in mind this includes Nancy Jester as well. She should give up the “one of my constituents contacted me” line at every Board meeting – grandstanding at its best!
Denise McGill
August 2nd, 2012
12:08 am
Good Evening everyone, I am catching up on email as well as reading blog comments…
I was endorsed by DeKalb School Watch II- and I feel this was a wonderful accomplishment as I did not realize the number of people who are involved with this site. Some subject content can appear one-sided, but there are years of knowledge and history in that group that is invaluable. I have also been endorsed by the following organizations:
Georgia Association of Black Women Attorney’s
eduKalb
All are equally important to me as they represent multiple sectors of DeKalb county. I am extremely proud to have received those endorsement. Although there is no true Teacher Union here (ODE does not count)- MANY of the educators support me, and have done so financially. I have been blessed by their generosity. @ Crawford Lewis- Donations 100 and under are not reported by name. The teachers in my community know what I am about, they have seen me in action, and I support them every way I can. I am proud to know that they support me and are behind me.
I DO NOT have any political endorsements- I am HAPPY to not have any association of that level behind my name.In my opinion, a political endorsement equates to speculation…. that speculation leaves you open to scrutiny.
It is my hopes that people look at me, my integrity, and my service in my community over the last 15 years- Knowing that I am the pwrson who keeps her word and works in the best interest for all,,,,,
No thinking person takes DSW2 seriously
August 2nd, 2012
12:17 am
To dekalbite-any intelligent and informed citizen knows that election results by precint are available at the county elections office.
Dunwoody Mom
August 2nd, 2012
6:59 am
http://web.co.dekalb.ga.us/Voter/pdf/Results_07312012.pdf
BOE results start on Page 876.