Voters in the mood for a new slate of city leaders

EAST POINT  - The dust is settling after the city election.

Four incumbents ran. None of them won.

Mayor Earnestine Pittman Jannquall Peters

Ward A Sharonda Hubbard  Sharon Shropshire

Ward C Marcell Reed Nanette Saucier

Ward D J. Slaughter-Gibbons Dina H. Ingraham

 

Hubbard, a one-term incumbent, sent out this news release:

Good Evening,

Please allow me to thank each and every one of you that voted for me and supported my campaign this year. I have often said that having the opportunity to represent you on Council has been both humbling and one of the greatest honors of my life. Over the past four years I have come in contact with exceptional citizens in our Great City, many of whom I now proudly call friends.

I have always put my faith and trust in God and look forward to continuing my journey in life and living according to his plan. I will always look back on my tenure on Council with pride and warm thoughts knowing I did my best to represent the interests of East Point's citizens.

I congratulate all of East Point's newly elected Council Members and Mayor and wish them the best. I, along with you, seek the success of every member of Council, as the success of East Point depends on it. I remain ever optimistic that East Point will continue to move forward and will reach its full potential in the coming years.

Thank you and God bless!

Councilwoman Sharonda Hubbard

And from the outgoing mayor, Pittman

THE ELECTION THAT MONEY DID NOT BUY!!!
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS!

Although the voters’ turnout was low it was more than enough to end an eight year stranglehold on the Council and the City. The residents swept out all the incumbents including me and I am very happy! Now is the time to end the campaigning and talking about the misdeeds of those who will no longer be on the Council after December 31, 2013. It is time for a new beginning for the residents, the Council and the City. What can we expect from the new Council?

Before anyone attempts to answer that question, we should let the Council of 2014 know that they have the support of the residents as well as the support of the former Council Members who can still serve the City that we love by leaving the newly elected Mayor and Council Members alone unless they seek us out. I do know that the Council of 2014 is faced with a challenging Budget and financial woes that will require a lot of time and effort as well as assimilating a lot of information in order to make the best informed decisions.

I am not going to discuss the 2014 Budget tonight because I do not want to put a damper on one of the best election results in the forty years that I have lived in the City. Again, congratulations to all the newly elected Members of the East Point City Council. I pray that your tenure will be successful and rewarding to you and the City. God bless all of you!
EAST POINT CITY COUNCIL OF 2014
Mayor-Elect----------------------- Janquelle Peters
Ward A at-Large- Elect— Sharon Shropshire
Ward B at-Large- Elect-------------- Karen Rene
Ward C at-Large Elect -------- Nanette Soucier
Ward D at-Large Elect--- Dena Holiday-Ingram
To the residents of the City of East Point, I want to thank you again for the privilege of serving you for the past ten years. Now I bid you Happy Holidays and on December 31, 2013, a fond and prosperous farewell!

Sincerely,
Earnestine D. Pittman
Mayor of the City of East Point, GA

Voters overwhelmingly choose Peters as East Point mayor, along with two new council members

East Point Election Results

Awaiting official election results.

 

Help turn those campaign signs to art

Tired of looking at campaign signs? Wondering what to do with those campaign signs you posted in your lawn?  Well, the East Point Preservation Alliance has a message for people:

Attention candidates and residents: We want your used campaign signs!! The East Point Preservation Alliance will be accepting any and all campaign signs (with permission) that are otherwise headed for the landfill. The EPPA will be painting over whatever image is presently on the sign, and using Banksy style stencils to turn the signs into an advocacy campaign to help the EPPA save East Point's historic buildings, and return them to practical use by the people of East Point, for whom they were built. Help us to get a little more use out of each sign before it heads off into the abyss. We greatly appreciate any help we can get.

What is a Banksy style stencil you ask? Like this:



 

Voters support new leadership in East Point

Residents will decide who will serve as the the city of East Point's mayor in the December run-off election.

Jannquell Peters and Clyde Mitchell will be vying for votes. Incumbent Mayor Earnestine Pittman lost her seat when she came in third.



Two city council seats are also remain a toss up.

In Ward A, the race is between Shardona Hubbard, the incumbent, and Sharon Shropshire.

In Ward B, it's between incumbent councilwoman Jackie Slaughter-Gibbons and Deana Holiday-Ingraham

 

East Point mayor ousted at the polls.

You can find all the final, unofficial results for the city election here.

 

 

Election Day blog

I'l be posting update throughout the day and evening as voters in East Point cast ballots and decide the city's future.

Look at what haunts Bryan Avenue on Halloween?

Here's a cast of ghouls that haunt Bryan Avenue from Halloween's past:

Halloween on Bryan Ave. brings out the zombies

 

More than 20,000 - yes, that is 20,000 21,768 - pieces of candy have been delivered to the good residents of "Scary" Avenue as it becomes Woodbury, a central location in the Walking Dead  TV show. Mayhem and carnage will be delivered, have no doubt.

Trick or Treeting starts at 6 p.m. and wraps up at 9 p.m. Police will block the road  at 5 p.m.

There's also the popular:

• Jefferson Avenue Baptist Church's Trunks of Treats Halloween Festivities


• Thursday, October 31,


• 5 to 7 p.m. at the corner of Jefferson Ave. and Jefferson Terr.

Mayoral hopefuls interviewed by Neighbor Newspaper

The Oct. 4 issue of the Neighbor Newspaper ran a 400 word story about the four residents who want to lead East Point as its mayor.

Each of them talked about their priorities:

• Andrew Korta: "Korta said if elected, his main priorities would be to hire a skilled city manager and improve public safety.


• Clyde Mitchell: "Mitchell said financial stability and improved public safety are two of his priorities if elected."


• Jannquell Peters: "Peters said if elected, her priorities include community growth through small business incentives and lowering crime."


• Earnestine Pittman: "Pittman said her priorities if re-elected include expanding the city’s property tax base and downtown development."

You can read the full story here.

Here's a word cloud from the news story.



 

Two candidates aiming to oust the incumbent mayor talk about East Point's future

Mayoral hopefuls Andrew Korta and Jannquell Peters came out to a candidate forum hosted by the Jefferson Park Neighbors Association in early October.

Here are two reports, a Tweeter feed and at the bottom, a recording posted on Youtube.

 

 

There's a four-part video about the event. Please watch all of the forum here.

Here's the first 15 minutes of the event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quxMVB3IdcI

A voter guide to help residents make the decision at the polls

Residents can check through a voters' guide prepared by The League of Women's Voters for November's municipal elections.

Reports around metro Atlanta suggest turnout will be lackluster on Nov. 5. Informed voters casting ballots will be important as the city of East Point sets a direction for itself.

Learn how candidates for city offices lay out their vision for the future. Please click here to go to the another site and learn.

Election tab organizes East Point voting information

There's a new organizational tool above the header. Click the tap to see the election information on The Jefferson Park Hub.

What's the East Point ballot look like?

Here's what you'll see when you grab your ballot at the polls on Nov. 5.

Sample balllot for the City of East Point

Activities in downtown East Point

News from the city's City of East Point Economic Development:

2013 Destination East Point Fall Carnival & Farmer’s Market is this weekend!

All your favorite midway games and rides, food vendors and more!

Location: Downtown Commons, 2757 East Point Street (behind the East Point Library, across from City Hall)

Schedule of Events:

Friday, Oct.18, Carnival from 5-10pm
Saturday, Oct. 19: Carnival from 12 noon – 10pm + Farmer’s Market from 9am-12noon

Sunday, Oct.20: Carnival from 12 noon – 10pm

Election forum on Tuesday

From the Jefferson Park Neighbors Association:

JPNA is proud to sponsor the 2013 Mayoral Debate Tuesday October 15th at Jefferson Avenue Baptist Church.

The event, a debate/forum hybrid will commence promptly at 7:15 PM.  The incumbent mayor has declined to participate.

Also check out the League of Women Voters site for a side-by-side comparison of candidates in a voter's guide.

Here's a map for Tuesday's forum: [mappress mapid="80"].

 

 

 

Racial Dot Map of East Point shows where we live

 An interactive map accounts for each person in the United States with one of 308,745,538 dots, where each person was counted in the 2010 Census. And each dot is colored to represent a person's race and ethnicity.  The Racial Dot Map was done by a demographic researcher at the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.

The image above shows most of the Metro Atlanta area. It is plain to see the racial makeup of the community.

The map is interactive to show more detail, from seeing from coast to coast or zoom in to see the details at the block level. Below is a large part of East Point. (To enlarge the map, click on it, which gives you a thumbnail size and click again to blow it up.)

 

Interesting.

Anything surprise you about the map?

Jefferson Park neighborhood yard sale Saturday

It's the time of the year for the community yard sale.
Poke around your neighbors' stuff, meet and greet new people, have fun.

Make sure to stop by 2668 E Woodland Circle, dubbed YARD SALE HQ. You can get a map where you can search for treasure and grab a refreshment.

 

 


View Jefferson Park fall 2013 yard sale in a larger map

East Point's form of government

East Point voters in November will decide who sits on the city council.

The community is run in a city council-city manager form of government. In short, the council is to make policy and the professional city manager is to implement those decisions.

This Youtube video explains the whole situation. (Start at the 3:10 minute mark and go to about six minutes to understand that form for government. If you are feeling wonky, watch the whole thing. It was created in Michigan, so all the material may not be relevant to Georgia cities.)

http://youtu.be/kbZlrXW2BJg?t=3m10s

Election Season in East Point

It's election season in East Point.

City voters will decide who will represent them in four at-large city council seats and as mayor.

Here's the names of the qualified candidates and contact information.