2025 Tucker tales
Dec. 26 — It’s Cathy and Stephanie from Rough Draft with our weekly newsletter on Tucker. It’s the day after Christmas, when your visiting relatives are creeping ever closer to violating the fish rule, your stretchy pants are feeling just a little too snug, and you are wondering if your once-fresh tree is going to make it to New Year’s Day. On the bright side, January is coming in all its glory.
🤔 As promised, this issue will highlight some of our favorite Tucker stories of 2025. From efforts to curb Main Street crime to electing a new mayor to new initiatives that have been met with various degrees of support or dissent, the city certainly has a story to tell.
Next week, we’ll take a look at 2026 as it relates to Tucker.
🔔 Have a great weekend,
Cathy and Stephanie
Lerner succeeds Auman as Tucker’s second mayor
🗳️ It was not much of a surprise when Anne Lerner and the District 1, 2, and 3 incumbents coasted to victory on Nov. 4.
Lerner, a communications professional and two-term Tucker City council member, dominated with 57.52 percent of the votes (4,299) with all precincts reporting.
Her closest contender, Noelle Monferdini, who also served on Tucker City Council, drew 24.91 percent of the votes, with more than 1,803 voters casting their ballots for her. Beverly Williams, an Army veteran, snagged more than 1,500 votes (17.57 percent).
➡️ Next week, we will have an interview with Lerner regarding her goals for Tucker when she takes the reins in January. In the meantime, here’s a wrap-up of the election.
Wrap Up a Year Full of Surprises
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Tucker Town Green opens
🏞️ Tucker Town Green’s lush two-acre park opened Nov. 14, debuting as a new place for play, connection, and entertainment for downtown Tucker.
“We see the Green as the heart and soul of downtown Tucker,” City Manager John McHenry told Rough Draft Atlanta. “Now, that the park is complete…we see this as a catalyst.”
After years of envisioning it, Tucker Mayor Frank Auman said it’s a gift to see the park come to life as his tenure is coming to a close. City officials and Mayor-elect Anne Lerner, who was also a council member during planning, will ensure the space can be a boon for commerce and community gathering.
🎀 Here is Stephanie’s story about the grand opening.
Tucker crime/police department top of mind
After many break-ins along Main Street retail establishments, it seemed only natural that the idea of a dedicated Tucker police department has been gaining momentum.
However, DeKalb County officials pushed back with promises of increased patrols and a new real-time crime center at the Tucker precinct.
💵 DeKalb CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson also said that the estimates for building a Tucker police force did not take a lot of things into account.
Safety concerns sour council on pickleball location
🤨 In yet another surprise twist in a year of surprise twists, the Tucker City Council at its Sept. 22 meeting voted 6-1 to kill the bid process for a 12-court pickleball complex at Tucker Recreation Center – but not for the reasons that have bitterly divided the community.
Mayor Frank Auman made the motion after the panel listened to a two-hour presentation made by representatives from Pickleball Sound Mitigation Consulting, who had been hired to do a study about the effects of pickleball noise at Henderson and Rosenfeld Parks, as well as the Tucker Recreation Center.
The study, among other recommendations, said the installation of 12- or 14-foot barriers around the TRC courts would effectively reduce sound levels emanating from courts to 52 decibels.
👎🏽 Here is Cathy’s story on the decision.
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