DeKalb Commission

DeKalb Commission, District 2

Rader best bet for DeKalb County

The two candidates vying in the Democratic primary for Gail Walldorff's open seat have similar backgrounds. Both Jeff Rader and Don Broussard are urban planners with experience working with and for government. Both are active and well-regarded in their adjoining west DeKalb neighborhoods. And they are first-time candidates for public office.

We favor Rader for the astonishing breadth of his civic resume: He's served as director of planning for the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, worked with the Quality Growth Coalition, headed the Regional Business Coalition and consulted with the Trust for Public Land on the Beltline.

Rader is the rare greenie who works well with business leaders and has the temperament to be a consensus-builder on a sometimes contentious board.

DeKalb Commission, District 5 (Special election)

May tops crowded pack

This race is especially crucial since it ends in a nonpartisan special election with the winner taking office right away. Too bad none of the five little-known candidates has much of a track record in this south DeKalb district.

Voters can safely cross off Otis Marks II, a flaky motivational speaker and self-described "father of Psychoneurokinesthetics" (no, we don't know what it is, either). Personal-injury lawyer Michael Leeper and 78-year-old Mary Louise Freeman likewise don't seem quite right for the job. While retired educator Grady Yancy has experience in county politics downstate and served as president of the Georgia Association of Educators, he, too, has been curiously below-the-radar in his adopted county.

That leaves Lee May. The youngest candidate at 30, he has the most community involvement as a voter registrar and Democratic Party activist. May is sharp, hard-working and well-grounded. In this weak field, that's good enough.

DeKalb Commission, District 7

Sub Mosley for Stokes

Connie Stokes' recent political career has produced several red flags. After a decade in the state Senate, including a stint as one of then-Gov. Roy Barnes' floor leaders, she mustered only a feeble 5 percent of the vote in the 2004 congressional race won by Cynthia McKinney. She then jumped into the fray to grab the commission seat left open by the death of Lou Walker. Now everyone seems to think she has her eye on the DeKalb CEO post.

Stokes probably won't get much of a challenge from fellow Democrat Willie Mosley, a community activist running his first campaign. A member of the county parks and recreation board, Mosley may not have Stokes' experience, but his candidacy speaks to the frustrations that many feel with the incumbent's inaccessibility and sense of political entitlement. Metro Atlanta already has too many local career politicians; we recommend giving Mosley a try.

CL Endorsements: Drink up!

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