The Foolery of Lithonia Elections

DEKALB COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS

By Kazemde Ajamu, The Urban Politician

I am a strong advocate for local politics; it is there that we can make the most impact on our daily lives. I attended the DeKalb County Board of Elections meeting and had the opportunity to see just how dysfunctional local government can be. I will stipulate that the Board is understaffed due to how funds are allocated in the county. But that’s a discussion for another day.

Nov 13, 2018 Decatur: DeKalb County Elections Board members Samuel Tillman (from left), Anthony Lewis, Erica Hamilton, Voter Registration and Elections Director, and Baoky Vu along with other board members vote unanimously to certify it’s election results at the DeKalb County Elections office on Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2018, in Decatur. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

At these meetings, residents are allowed to challenge residency for registered voters in the county and challenge the residency qualifications for candidates running for office. To challenge the residency of a registered voter is quite easy. A citizen can arbitrarily gather a list of voters and challenge their residency, which consequently challenges their right to vote in their district or county. When the list is submitted to the Board of Elections, it becomes their responsibility to go through each one to verify and categorize each one into active, non-active or removal. For example, if you move but remain in your district without changing your address with the Post Office and Driver License you may end up on the non-active list or removed completely. Your status is left up to the five (5) Board Members or the Board of Elections where you reside. This can be a very thorough process yet maddening at the same time. I watched one particular Member Susan Motter (D) go as far as pulling property tax records in Maryland to prove a registered voter no longer lived in the property. Another registered voter changed her address with the Post Office and Driver’s License Bureau. This change triggered a notification to the Election Board and she still received a notice that she may be removed, only to find out she didn’t need to be there in the first place. If you move, it is ultimately your responsibility to ensure your paperwork is in order. Otherwise, you leave yourself open to confusion and possible removal from the voting rolls.

As to the reason I went to the meeting with the Board of Elections in the first place. My business is in the City of Lithonia, which is in DeKalb County. Although I don’t live in Lithonia, I am very active in its politics. I sincerely care about the residents in this city and I even serve as the Vice President of the Lithonia Business Association. Needless to say, I have a vested interest in Lithonia. 2019 is an election year in Lithonia. Mayoral and City Council seats are up. The candidates for Mayor are Two-Term Council Woman and Jacinda “Cindy” Thomas.

This piece will focus on the two Mayoral candidates. In order to run for elected office in Lithonia, you must establish residency for at least one year. So candidates running for office had to have lived here as of November of 2018 in order to qualify to run for office.

Lithonia is a small city, one square mile with a population of just over 2,000. Most of the residents have been here for decades if not centuries. The business community is small and close-knit but growing. The future is bright for Lithonia. News travels fast in Lithonia as in most small cities. In the business community, we know each other fairly well. We’ve created a family environment among business owners. We have developed such a fondness for each other that our lives connect well beyond business hours.

A Councilwoman who is running for mayor is a child of Lithonia, born and raised here. I’m a little old school and believe in the days when the community had a hand in raising all of its children. I first met the Councilwoman three years ago when I began attending Bi-Monthly City Council meetings. My initial impression was that she was quiet and polite, a product of good upbringing. I quickly learned to not let her quiet and polite demeanor fool you. She is a fierce advocate for what is right. A characteristic often spoken about but seldom adhered to. It wasn’t about political expedience with her. She actually sits back and listens to your concerns and moves on it. If it’s about the betterment of Lithonia’s residents and businesses, she has been all in. The Councilwoman really earned my respect when we disagreed on an issue. I was caught offhand with how strong she stated her position. I didn’t expect how she broke down her position with such clarity and how she almost changed my mind. I didn’t change my mind. However, in a subsequent conversation with her, she acknowledged that we both wanted what’s best for the city, and that’s a debate she doesn’t mind having. Watching City Council meetings over the last 3 years, I have observed that she is never the loudest voice in the room, but when she speaks, everyone listens. She became for me at least, the “Quiet Storm.” Not only is the Councilwoman quiet, steadfast, strong and articulate, she is also a lifelong resident, Councilwoman, and part-owner of a well-established business in Lithonia. She is perfectly positioned to fill the needs of the entire Lithonia Family.

There was a challenge to Mayoral candidate Jacinda “Cindy” Thomas’s residency qualifications by three Lithonia residents, City Council Members William “Ric” Dodd, Amelia Inman, and a local resident.

Cindy Thomas came to Lithonia sometime in late spring or early summer of 2018. She came to Green Love Kitchen with her Sister. During her visit, she met a local resident and business owner which gave her a tour of downtown Lithonia, something we pride ourselves in doing for people who have an interest in becoming part of our business family. When Cindy and the local resident developed a romantic relationship, we were all happy for him and his newfound friend. Cindy seemed to all of us to have it together, being bright, energetic, and motivated. The local resident had just recently purchased a building and was opening up an Arts Center in downtown Lithonia. Cindy was the catalyst to make it a reality. Unfortunately, the relationship between resident and Cindy soured and broke off in January of 2019. We barely saw Cindy through the winter and spring. Cindy started to reappear and the next thing we know she is running for Mayor of Lithonia. Practically every one of us in the business community is well aware Cindy does not fulfill the residency requirements to run for Mayor, or any seat in Lithonia, Georgia.

When it was time for DeKalb County Board of Elections to hear the challenge to Cindy Thomas’s residency, Ric Dodd and Amelia Inman contested that Cindy could not have lived at the rooming house on Swift Street because the building received their occupancy statement in late spring. No one could have imagined that Cindy and her attorney would attest under oath that Cindy lived at the local residency up until July of 2019. More importantly, the Board required no additional information to support Cindy’s residency, totally dismissing two City Council members’ claims. To add insult to injury, the attorney produced a sworn affidavit from her ex-boyfriend that Cindy did, in fact, live at his address currently. Now I’m not sure if the Board had already received copies of that affidavit, but not one Member asked to view it nor did the attorney hand it to them. So herein lies my issue with the Board. Just like they went the extra step to prove a voter lived in Maryland which is not required by law, they could have gone further and asked for a lease or utility bill to prove residency. The same rules should apply to both residents and candidates. This is exactly why people don’t trust the system, because when one is trying to do the honorable thing, no one takes it seriously. Yet, someone can compile a list of voters to purge, and everyone caught up in that list is subject to be removed. As I walked out of the hearing room, a woman who just witnessed the proceedings asked me if everyone feared that Cindy Thomas was going to win. I responded, “It’s not about winning and losing, it’s about the integrity of the process. How can we ever get the voting public to engage in their civic duties if all levels of government won’t hold to the very principles they require from us?”

When one wants to deceive the public, getting a driver’s license or an ex- boyfriend to sign an affidavit is easy. When we don’t hold elected officials accountable for their actions, we all lose. Sadly, while our communities are losing, these same politicians are profiting. One has to ask, why would someone go this far to deceive the same public she wishes to serve? We certainly don’t believe she has the public interest at heart.

It may seem obvious which way I’m leaning; however, it should be obvious to us all. We don’t let outsiders come into our homes to run our households. When you raise your children up to be leaders, you don’t look past them when it’s their time.

There is always a silver lining in all things. In the end, it is the voting public who decides. It is our job to make sure that the voting public makes decisions based on facts. An engaged and informed voting public maintains the power to elect and hold politicians accountable for their actions. We focus on Presidents, Governors, and Mayors during election season; however, it’s the U.S. Congress, State Houses, and City Councils that hold the power to pass laws and the power of the purse. Seldom do we focus on who sits on a Board of Elections and what laws and policies guide them. Governing laws and funding for the DeKalb County Board of Elections are managed by the DeKalb County Commissioners. If the Board of Elections lacks the proper funding to protect our vote and to ensure integrity in the entire election process, they should be held accountable. It doesn’t end there. No changes happen without each and every single one of us. We are the key to change. If we don’t like what we are seeing, it’s time to change the leadership; it’s time to vote people out of office. If you’re a registered voter that has moved or you haven’t voted in past elections, make sure you’ve completed a change of address with the U.S. Postal Service and changed your address with the Department of Motor Vehicles. For additional protection, while you’re at the DMV, update your voter registration card. These actions may not stop some unknown individual or group from challenging your residency and right to vote, but it will keep you safe from getting removed from the voting polls.