Doug Thompson announces that he's in it to win it for District Three Dunwoody representative.

DOUG THOMPSON TO RUN FOR DUNWOODY CITY COUNCIL

It is with great excitement and with the support of my family, friends, neighbors and colleagues that I announce my candidacy for the local District 3 City Council post with the City of Dunwoody. Tom Taylor has done a wonderful job in this position before stepping down to run for State office and has agreed to endorse my candidacy.

I will shortly begin the process of fund raising and campaigning.

Having run for this position in the inaugural election, I am well aware of the financial and time commitment required.

I look forward to your support and the opportunity to serve the citizens of Dunwoody.

Doug Thompson
www.douglasthompson.blogspot.com
(770) 396-3661-w

City of Dunwoody Prepares to Elect New City Council Member - Dunwoody Press Release

Dunwoody –April 30, 2010 – The City of Dunwoody will hold a Special Election on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 to elect a representative to fill the vacant Council seat for District 3, Post 3.

The qualifying period opens on Monday, May 10, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. and closes on Friday, May 14, 2010 at 4:30 p.m. The hours of qualifying each day are 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Any person desiring to run for office shall qualify in the office of the City Clerk by filing a Notice of Candidacy. The qualifying fee for a Council post is $360.00 (three hundred sixty dollars.)

The qualifications to run for office include: candidate must be a resident of the City of Dunwoody for a continuous period of at least 12 months immediately prior to the date of the election; candidate must continue to reside in the City of Dunwoody during their period of service; candidate must continue to be registered and qualified to vote in the municipal elections of the City of Dunwoody. In addition, no person will be eligible to serve as a council member representing a council district unless that person has been a resident of the district they seek to represent for a continuous period of at least six months immediately prior to the date of the election and continues to reside in their district during their period of service.

The last day for voter registration in the 2010 Special Election and, if necessary, Runoff Election, is Monday, June 21, 2010. Registration forms are available at Dunwoody City Hall, 41 Perimeter Center East, Suite 250, Dunwoody, Georgia 30346, through the Chief Registrar of DeKalb County, Georgia or through the Georgia Secretary of State website: www.sos.georgia.gov/elections.

The polls will open for the July 20, 2010 Special Election at 7:00 a.m. and will close at 7:00 p.m. at your designated voter precinct. If no candidate receives a majority vote, then a runoff election will be held on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at the same precinct locations.

Voters will be allowed to vote by absentee ballot by making application for an absentee ballot; reasons for voting absentee are not required. The application must be in writing using the application form provided by the State or by written request and may be made in person, by mail, or by fax. The form can be found at: www.sos.georgia.gov/elections.

Advanced/early voting begins on Monday, July 12, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. and closes on Friday, July 16, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. at the DeKalb County Voter Registration and Elections Office, 4380 Memorial Drive, Suite 300, Decatur, GA 30032.

For questions or for more information please contact Sharon Lowery, City Clerk, at 678-382-6711 or Sharon.lowery@dunwoodyga.gov.

Dunwoody to hold city council election July 20 - qualifying starts May 10

Dunwoody will hold a special election July 20 to replace Tom Taylor, who resigned to run for the state House.

City Clerk Sharon Lowery said qualifying will be May 10-14 at city hall. Only voters in District 3 will cast ballots.

Mayor Ken Wright said the city council considered delaying the election until Sept. 21 or Nov. 2.

"The overall consensus was to not leave the seat vacant that long," Wright said.

Lowery said the DeKalb elections office won't charge the city much because the election will be held in conjunction with the General Primary. Numerous legislative seats will be voted on that day.

http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/dunwoody-to-hold-city-509623.html

City Councilman Tom Taylor Sets Sights on State House - Dunwoody Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dunwoody – April 30, 2010 – On Monday, April 26, Tom Taylor, Councilman for the City of Dunwoody, announced his qualification for the Georgia House of representatives District 79 House Seat previously held by Representative Fran Millar. Today, Taylor announced he has vacated his District 3 City Council seat.

“Tom has been an integral part of the formation and development of the City of Dunwoody,” said Mayor Ken Wright. “His contributions helped make our City what it is today. He will be missed as a Council member.”

The City of Dunwoody will hold a special election on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 to fill the vacancy on Council, with residents of District 3 voting to elect a new representative. For those interested in the position, the qualifying period opens on Monday, May 10, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. and closes on Friday, May 14, 2010 at 4:30 p.m. The hours of qualifying each day are 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., with the exception of Friday. Any person desiring to run for office shall qualify in the office of the City Clerk by filing a Notice of Candidacy. The qualifying fee is $360.00 (three hundred sixty dollars.)

For more information please contact Sharon Lowery, City Clerk, at sharon.lowery@dunwoodyga.gov or at 678-382-6700. Media Contact: Edie Damann, Marketing & PR Manager, 678.382.6712

Dunwoody City Council Seat may be available. Are you interested in serving or know someone who would be a great Dunwoody representative?

District Three Map

Monday night I missed my first Dunwoody City Council meeting since being sworn in because of a week long business trip and unfortunately that also meant I missed Thursday night's special called meeting whereby the Mayor added a last minute agenda item to discuss a Special Called Election to fill a vacancy.  Though I missed the meeting, Rick Callihan attended and you can read his recap here.

The need of a Special Election is being proposed because Dunwoody Councilman Tom Taylor "qualified" to run for the State Legislature on Monday to fill Fran Millar's vacant Georgia house seat and it appears that the Georgia State Constitution, shown below, states that Taylor's Dunwoody City Council seat is now vacant and that a City election should now be held. Councilman Taylor states that the Dunwoody Charter is not in agreement with State Law and that he is obtaining an outside legal opinion and will be stepping down if is the proper thing to do.

"The office of any state, county, or municipal elected official shall be declared vacant upon such elected official qualifying, in a general primary or general election, or special primary or special election, for another state, county, or municipal elective office or qualifying for the House of Representatives or the Senate of the United States if the term of the office for which such official is qualifying for begins more than 30 days prior to the expiration of such official's present term of office. The vacancy created in any such office shall be filled as provided by this Constitution or any general or local law. This provision shall not apply to any elected official seeking or holding more than one elective office when the holding of such offices simultaneously is specifically authorized by law."

Waiting on the formal resignation of Councilman Taylor and/or a decision of the City Clerk, Ms. Sharon Lowery to announce the seat vacant based on the legal interpretation of the City Law Department; the residents of District 3 who live on the East Side of Dunwoody should be aware that the City of Dunwoody may be looking for a candidate to step forward to serve as the local representative. If an election is to be held to replace Councilman Taylor, only the residents of District 3 will be voting in this special election in order to elect the local district representative who also lives in the same district.

City Hall has been aware of this situation since last Monday night and I am sure they could pull off the July 20th election with a qualification period happening the week of May 10th.

This weeks two council meetings were both held with the minimum quorum of only four members, therefore I am in favor of an election as soon as possible in order to assure that future city meetings are not negatively affected by a lack of quorum.  I am also aware that our City Charter does not allow a tie breaking mechanism therefore a three / three tie among the reduced six city council members could easily hamper the movement of city business.

If our Dunwoody City Election were held on July 20th, the date of the general election primary and there were three evenly supported candidates causing a runoff because no candidate received 51% of the vote, then I believe the runoff would move to the November general election date.  If we wait until November to hold our election, there is a possibility that a runoff election if needed wouldn't occur until January 2011 and I don't think we can wait that long.

Please help me find a qualified community leader who currently lives in District three shown above (which basically correlates with the Dunwoody North, Kingsley, Four Oaks, DeKalb Highlands, Fontainebleau, Brooke Farm, or Waterford subdivisions) and is willing to serve the residents of Dunwoody.   If there are any residents who are interested in running and have questions, please feel free call me at (678) 348-0234 and I will do my very best to answer what I can regarding the position. I have pulled a few tidbits of information that people may be interested in and posted links below.  Thanks, John

City Wide Results from 2008

2008 Election Citywide breakdown by precinct for my at-large post.

No Ambulance Available in Dunwoody?

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