'Change Gon’ Come' | Upcoming EP City Council election boasts a crowded field
After the recent gauntlet of landmark elections, the residents of East Point will now be faced with deciding their own fate this coming November.
**EP CITY-COUNCIL ELECTION**
Updated 09/08/21: For residents not only in search of information regarding the upcoming candidates but the potential issues that will be used for their platforms, you’ll be pleased to discover that the good folks behind East Point Votes have consolidated the info that prospective voters will need to know regarding the upcoming election. Click the hyperlink above or search for it on The Community of East Point FB page.
EAST POINT, Ga. — “It's been a long, a long time coming, but I know a change gon’ come, oh yes it will…”
The straightforward refrain from Sam Cooke’s timeless classic, ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ retains every ounce of its inspirational potency today as it did when Cooke’s soulful protest song was adopted by the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Flash-forward over half a century later, and the song's message still resonates throughout the community and city leadership of East Point.
While the residents of the city, particularly its African-American ones, have seen many strides since the days of Martin Luther King, Jr, John Lewis, and C.T. Vivian, like East Point’s first Black city council member, Celia ‘Ann’ Douglas, as well as the first female and African-American mayor, Patsy Jo Hilliard who served from 1993 - 2006.
Be sure to watch the ‘Change Gon’ Come’ video edition on Vimeo
East Point itself still struggles to overcome many of the socio-economic repercussions left by the one-two punch of White Flight, the steady decline of small-business entrepreneurship due to the onset of ‘big box’ consumerism like Greenbriar Mall over thirty years ago, in addition to the 2008 recession.
Not to mention the fact nearly 1 out of 4 East Point residents are either living near or under the poverty line, according to recent statistics listed on the U.S. Census.
The opinion on a subsequent change in the city of East Point vacillates greatly according to who and where you look.
Former East Point mayor, Joe Macon, had his own pointed thoughts about this very subject when he spoke with Vox Pop ATL a few weeks ago. When asked his opinion on the current status of East Point city leadership, Macon summed it up in one word — transformation.
“That's what East Point government is right now is transformation,” states the former civil servant who served as East Point mayor from 2006 - 2010.
“There have been so many changes, and so much growth in East point that a lot of people don't know about. If they knew where we were, compared to where we're at now, it kind of blows your mind a little bit.”
While it would hard to not have noticed the proliferation of campaign signs sprouting up like mushrooms in neighborhood yards around the city, not much hoopla has been made as to the extensive list of candidates vying for city-council positions, not to mention the ‘big seat’ of the Mayor’s office.
East Point Council-member, Nanette Saucier officially threw her hat in the ring as a mayoral candidate back on July 22nd.
“We've got all these amenities. We've got great people here, we’ve got great businesses, but they have to work together. Everybody can't operate in their own silos,” stated the Ward-C (At-Large) council-member at her campaign launch party and fundraiser.
“You have to be transparent. You have to show (citizens) what you're doing. The priorities have to be the business of the city, what the citizens want, and making all of these businesses here successful.”
Here’s the East Point candidate breakdown:
Mayor
Deana Holiday Ingraham
Nanette Saucier
Eddie Lee Brewster
Ward A (Center Park, Connally Estates, Frog Hollow, Conley Hills, Semmes Park, etc)
Sharon Shropshire (Incumbent)
Elijah B. Bankston
Ward B (Colonial Hills, Idlewood, Jefferson Park, River Park, Village of Egan, etc)
Karen Rene´ (Incumbent)
Anthony Williams
Chantaye McLaughlin
Marie (Terry) Williams
Ward C (Arrowood, Cherry Blossom, Holly Hill, Meadow Lark Estates, Oak Forrest, Oak Knoll, Piney Woods, etc)
T. Starr Cummings
Earnestine Pittman
Ward D (Grant Estates, Heritage Park, Lakeside Preserve, Sun Valley, Washington Road Neighbors, Williamsburg, etc)
Joshua B. Butler, IV (Incumbent)
Etrinda Castle
Mark Fields
Tremayne Mitchell
When asked about issues of consistency and gentrification, former Mayor Macon had these thoughts to share with Vox Pop ATL:
“I’ve been a resident of East Point since 1994, and to a whole lot of people that still means I'm a newcomer.”
“The things that you see in Decatur or any other ‘trendy’ neighborhood, guess what, they were planning that stuff 20 years ago, and it took him 20 years to get where they are now. So, it might take us 20 years to get where they are. It doesn't happen overnight.”
This upcoming election will be held on November 2, 2021, where at least half of the seats on the current city council will be up for re-election in addition to the mayoral seat.
So that means that the incumbent (At-Large) seats for all four wards (A, B, C & D) could potentially be electing a new council member.
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