I’ve checked in with all the current commissioners up for reelection in the fall earlier today.  We’ve just learned that Mayor Baskett will not run.

Commissioner Drake has also replied to us, confirming that he will run for his northside seat in the fall.

Photo courtesy of Scott Drake’s Facebook page

Rail lovers and transit wonks take note.

At Monday’s City Commission meeting, Commissioner Scott Drake mentioned a revision under consideration by the Clifton Corridor committee that “wasn’t on the table a month ago”.

The committee is now considering an option that would extend the transit line all the way down North Decatur to Suburban Plaza, instead of the previous plan to tunnel under Clair/emont Ave/Rd and then turn east onto Scott Boulevard to Suburban Plaza.  While the changed route would be less costly (no tunneling/shorter route), it would limit the impact the transit line would have on Decatur to just that little North Decatur/Superior Ave nub at the north end of the city.

Commissioner Drake said that there’s one more meeting of this committee before it pushes forward with a final plan.

Without a direct connection to downtown Decatur, it’s easy to see how the committee might not see the cost-benefit of extending the transit line barely into Decatur and just turn left and head right on out of the city again.

• Scott Drake reported that he had attended a homeowners meeting at the Renaissance condo building about “problems they’re going to be having with some construction issues….very similar to what happened at the Artisan where they had to scaffold the whole building and slowly make some repairs.
• Mayor Baskett spoke to the fact that at his request he and the City Manager had a meeting with Superintendent Phyllis Edwards and Board Chair Marc Wisniewski to discuss the upcoming Beacon Hill renovation and the planned apartment developments downtown.  Then the mayor added, “No where in that discussion did they mention that they were going to be voting on a bond issue tomorrow night or do those large construction plans at the high school and middle school, but maybe I guess we still have work to do on your communications.”
• “We need to think about our decision from last December…Yes, there’s a sense that there wasn’t enough public engagement for this project.  It was our thought that there had been plenty of public engagement for the project, because in addition to all that, we had a task force working on a number of issues including that for more than a year.  And they had had several public input sessions in which those very issues were raised.  All of that, we had tight enough guidelines that we could proceed doing that permit.  Having said all of that, there is not a person sitting up here who doesn’t have some kind of concern about the way this worked and we’ll be having discussions about that. I can tell you that that’s going to happen.  Whether it’ll lead beyond that or not, I can’t say. But there will be discussions.” – Mayor Jim Baskett responding to a 335 resident who spoke about the 315 West Ponce approval process during the “Requests and Other Business” portion to a meeting

UPDATE:  A bit more detail.  If you know where to look on the state’s website you can find more detailed info on the vote.

Absentee by Mail Votes

2 – Coleson

2 – Drake

Advance in Person

10 – Coleson

5 – Drake

Clairemont East

234 – Coleson

186 – Drake

Clairemont West

159 – Coleson

169 – Drake

Glenwood

53 – Coleson

100 – Drake

Ponce de Leon

67 – Coleson

77 – Drake

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Wow.  Georgia’s Election Results website shows that Scott Drake beat Greg Coleson by just 14 votes to take Bill Floyd’s seat on the Decatur City Commission, with a final tally of 539 to 525.  That means that Drake received 50.66% of the vote to Coleson’s 49.34%.

The seat’s term runs through 2015.

Today’s the day to cast your vote in the special election to fill Bill Floyd’s vacant seat on the Decatur City Commission.  Two Decatur residents, Greg Coleson and Scott Drake, are up on the ballot.  Use this open thread to report issues at your polling precincts, any wait times to vote, or just complement your polling station volunteers!

If you still don’t know where you need to vote, you can access the State’s voter webpage to pull up the address of your assigned precinct.  Happy voting Decatur!

Scott Drake’s campaign just sent out the following announcement…

Former Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd announces his support for Scott Drake for City Commission in the upcoming Special Election. “I have worked with Scott for the past 15 years. Scott is committed to Decatur and its neighborhoods. Scott has the experience and vision our community needs to take advantage of the opportunities and meet the challenges that we will face as we move forward,” said Bill Floyd in his endorsement. Mr. Floyd resigned from the City Commission in January 2013. “Mr. Floyd’s approach, personality, actions, and service have shaped our city and we owe him a great deal of gratitude for his service. I am excited to have the endorsement of former Mayor Floyd and, if elected, I look forward to working with him, the current Mayor and Commissioners, our great City staff, and my neighbors,” said Scott Drake.

Organizers of the Decatur District 1 Candidates Forum are seeking questions to pose to and topics of conversation to discuss with Greg Coleson and Scott Drake at this Saturday’s Forum and Meet & Greet.  You can post your questions/topics below or email them to [email protected]

What would you like to hear discussed?