ABOUT THE CITY

Area: 12 square miles

Location: Northwest DeKalb County

Population:  49,000

– White: 52 percent

– Black: 11.4 percent

– Hispanic: 30.2 percent

– Other: 7 percent

Park space: 271 acres

Park space by district:

– District 1: 201.5 acres

– District 2: 39 acres

– District 3: 30.32 acres

– District 4: 0 acres

Median household income: $56,231

Poverty rate: 12.2 percent

Neighbors: 

Western border:Sandy Springs and Atlanta

Eastern border:  Chamblee

Northern border: Dunwoody

CITY GOVERNMENT

Number of Districts: 4

Mayor

Term: 4 years

Term limit: Two terms

Salary: $16,000

Powers and duties:

– Presides over city council meetings and sets the agenda

– Ceremonial head of the city and city’s official representative

– Sign legislation, contracts and other items approved by the council

– Votes only when there’s a tie vote among council members

City Council

Term: 4 years, staggered (two city council elections every two years.)

Term limit: None

Salary: $12,000

Powers and duties:

– Votes on ordinances, rules, resolutions and regulations.

– Establishes, merges, or eliminates offices or departments not specified in the city charter and assigns duties for departments.

– Three council members form a quorum and all action items require three yes votes for approval

VOTER TURNOUT

July 31 referendum:

Total votes cast: 10,871

Number of “yes” voters: 5,942

Number of “no” voters: 4,929

Nov. 6 general election:

Total votes cast for mayor: 16,071

Total votes cast in council races: 15,354

Dec. 4 runoff election:

Total votes cast for mayor: 6,371

Total votes cast in council races for Districts 1, 3 and 4: 5,077

– Sources: DeKalb County Election Commission, City Charter, Governor’s Commission on Brookhaven Reports, Carl Vinson Institute of Government Brookhaven study. 

Dan Whisenhunt

Dan Whisenhunt wrote for Reporter Newspapers from 2011 - 2014. He is the founder and editor of Decaturish.com