Brookhaven residents are returning to the polls to elect a mayor and District 1 city council member in the Dec. 5 runoff election.
Check the Dekalb County Voter Registration website for details on early voting, which continues through Dec. 1. To find your polling location, visit www.mvp.sos.ga.gov.
Candidates participated in a debate hosted by the Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce and Rough Draft held on Oct. 5. For the runoff election, each candidate was asked to summarize their campaign.
District 1 City Council
Linley Jones (Incumbent)
Jones has served as the District 1 City Council member for eight years. Jones is welcoming voters to join her on Dec. 5, election night, at There Gastropub. She can be reached at linley@linleyforbrookhaven.com.
What is your campaign strategy for the runoff?
“My campaign strategy is to continue meeting with constituents and receiving input on the community‘s ambitions for the next four years! I’ve enjoyed knocking on doors, going to gatherings, and talking with folks about how far we’ve come with our city, our top-notch police department and our fantastic parks… and I’ll keep this up throughout the runoff and beyond as I remind voters how much progress is at stake in this election.”
What are your thoughts on the overall election season in Brookhaven?
“This election season has really demonstrated citizens’ love for the city of Brookhaven and its bright future. So many people have become informed, active and involved. It’s my hope that this interest and involvement continues beyond election season. Citizen involvement has always been one of the ingredients of our city’s success.”
Michael Diaz
Diaz is a former member of Brookhaven’s Planning Commission. While he is not planning campaign events, he said, “We are prioritizing direct interactions with voters, rather than participating in less personal, major events. I want to have meaningful conversations with the residents of Brookhaven, ensuring every voter is heard and valued.”
What is your campaign strategy for the runoff?
“Nothing has changed. Our strategy for the runoff is to continue engaging with our community at a grassroots level. We continue to be frugal with our expenditures as I will with taxpayer dollars when I’m on the council. We believe that personalized, face-to-face interaction is key to building trust and conveying my commitment to the people of Brookhaven.”
What are your thoughts on the overall election season in Brookhaven?
“This election season has been incredibly dynamic and inspiring. It’s heartening to confirm, firsthand, what I suspected all along, that we all want the same thing from the city – fiscally responsible, transparent, and responsive governance. This election is not just about choosing a council member; it’s about reengaging our residents and shaping the future of Brookhaven together. Regardless of the outcome, I hope this election inspires more citizens to get involved in our community’s affairs and work together towards a prosperous and responsive Brookhaven.”
Mayor of Brookhaven
John Park
Former District 2 City Councilmember John Park is not planning to hold events before the runoff. He said he’s hosted a few grassroots events and focused on outreach to voters directly.
What is your campaign strategy for the runoff?
From my first days on the city council to my current campaign for mayor, the people of Brookhaven have always been at the core of my mission. Together, we improved parks, paved our roads and worked on fixing our infrastructure issues … while maintaining the lowest millage rate and cutting homestead property taxes, without compromising efficient services.
My vision for the city of Brookhaven, as we become a mature city, is to keep Brookhaven an efficiently run city for the best value for taxpayers, including maintaining our stellar finances with surpluses every year, continue providing property tax cuts, and keeping the coveted Double AAA bond rating, which is a better credit rating than the U.S. government.
I want to shore up vulnerable infrastructure and I want to work to connect our city to reduce traffic, improve our quality of life and to increase connectivity between residents, visitors and businesses.
What are your thoughts on the overall election season in Brookhaven?
“It’s been a very active election season and I have enjoyed engaging with the citizens of Brookhaven. Brookhaven is at a crossroads and so much is on the line. From my time on City Council, I have a proven track record of clearly defining goals and delivering for the people of Brookhaven. Not many people vote in runoff elections historically, so this runoff election is incredibly important to choose the future of our great city: continue to move in the right direction with my experienced leadership, or return to the ways of DeKalb County with a newcomer with strong ties to city of Atlanta, and who wishes to spend residential taxpayer money unnecessarily. It is critical everyone makes their voice heard by Dec. 5.”
Lauren Kiefer
Kiefer is the former chair of the Brookhaven Arts and Culture Commission. Kiefer said due to the short window between the general and runoff elections, she is trying to reach voters by phone and by knocking doors.
What is your campaign strategy for the runoff?
“My campaign strategy for the runoff is much like the strategy we used for the general election. I’m knocking on doors and making phone calls to connect with voters. This time around it’s all about reminding people that there is a runoff election and encouraging them to go out and vote again.”
What are your thoughts on the overall election season in Brookhaven?
“Because our municipal elections are in ‘off’ years, there’s always a challenge to get voters to polls, and even more so for any municipal runoffs. All runoff elections are expensive and burdensome to hold, and they usually result in even lower voter turnout than in general elections. For these reasons, I’d love to see Georgia change our state law so that we don’t have runoff elections anymore.”
