CBA Results

CANDIDATES PRE-INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRES

HOW THE EVALUATION PROCESS WORKS

To provide the best possible information on issues important to voters, CBA developed a detailed questionnaire for the Fulton County Commission election and conducted personal interviews that probe candidates about high-priority community concerns. You can find the candidates' responses to the questionnaire on the CBA web site.

Committee members used a scale for scoring the responses to the questionnaire and the interviews, and an average was calculated for each candidate: 88 or higher is considered “excellent;” 79 to 87 is “well qualified;” 70 to 78 is “average;” and below 70 is “not qualified.”

CBA strives to make the evaluation process as fair as possible and only takes into account responses provided to the questionnaire and in the interview process. Interviewers were provided extensive training to ensure consistency in evaluating candidates. Prior voting records were not considered for this purpose but may be included in future CBA processes.


WHAT WE LOOK FOR IN A CANDIDATE

Vision
What is the candidate's vision for Fulton? What does the candidate want to do while in office and what problems must be addressed in order to achieve those objectives?

Qualifications and experience
Why is the candidate running for elected office? What makes the candidate qualified for holding an office? Who is supporting the candidate?

Ability to implement initiatives
Having a clear vision of the future is important, but it means nothing if the candidate cannot accomplish anything. How would the candidate tackle the problems he or she has identified as critical for the county? What opportunities does the candidate see in working with other cities and counties in the metro area and how would they define their role in county government?

ISSUES WE EXPECT TO BE ADDRESSED

Lowering the Temperature in North Fulton
The greatest threat facing Fulton County government is the possibility that the former Milton County might be reconstituted in North Fulton County. Last year, the University of Georgia and Georgia State University studied the viability of a new Milton County and concluded that a new county government and school system could support themselves, although the study did not address capital requirements (such as building a courthouse) in detail. More importantly, the analysis did not look at the impact that reconstituting Milton County might have on Fulton County. What is the candidate’s position on Milton County, how can the Commissioners create a positive relationship with leaders and citizens in Fulton County and what would their plan be for Fulton County if Milton County is created?

Finding a Way Forward for South Fulton
A substantial portion of the county’s area depends on Fulton County for municipal services such as police, fire, emergency services, parks and community development. But only 5 percent of the county’s population live in unincorporated South Fulton, along with an even smaller percentage of Fulton’s tax base. And since state law prohibits Fulton County from using taxes from one part of the county to pay for municipal services in another, South Fulton must pay its own way. How will the candidates serve the needs of unincorporated South Fulton in the years ahead – and what do they see as the eventual solution for this part of the county?

Establishing an Effective Role for County Government
With 95 percent of its citizens living in cities that provide all or some municipal services, Fulton County government must redefine the county’s relationship with its municipalities. By state law, some services must be provided by county governments but many services, from water and sewer to public libraries may be provided by a county or city. Ultimately, this will come before the Board of Commissioners, which will decide which services – again, beyond the state-mandated ones – Fulton County can provide better than most or all of its municipalities, and which ones should be handed over to the cities.

Making the Right Choices for Transportation
We are starting down a new path in planning and funding transportation in the Atlanta region with the Georgia Transportation Investment Act of 2010. The new law allows the 10-county region (and other regions of Georgia) to agree on a set of transportation projects and seek the voters’ approval to raise the sales tax by 1 percent to pay for it. The projects will be decided by regional roundtables and must match a set of criteria developed by the state Department of Transportation. If the projects are approved by the voters in 2012, the 10-county region will see an estimated $750 million a year from the new tax which could translate into $7.7 billion a year for the region’s transportation system. With so much at stake, what would the candidates say are the transportation projects of the highest priority?

Becoming a Player in Economic Development
Fulton County does have some economic development assets, such as the Development Authority of Fulton County, the Land Bank Authority and the Economic Development Corporation but we rarely hear of them. The Development Authority has been useful in providing tax-exempt bonds to businesses looking to relocate or expand. But what the Authority lacks is an overall strategy and a clearly defined role. We need candidates who can talk about how the Development Authority and other county agencies can work with other organizations and government agencies in building Fulton County’s economy and its tax base.