Sandy Springs, only 16 years old, has a lot going for it. Consider: Money and Safewise magazines label it one of America’s safest cities (overall crime has dropped every year since 2013), 24/7 Wall Street named it the best Georgia city to live in and it qualifies for a coveted Moody’s AAA credit rating. However, its mayoral and City Council elections (as in many other Georgia cities) provide a snapshot between candidates with radically different visions of issues ranging from public safety to neighborhood integrity.
Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul
Rusty Paul, a former chairman of the state Republican party, has been mayor for eight years and boasts that property tax rates are capped, and assessment increases are limited to the rate of inflation or 3 percent, whichever is lower. He says he’s “committed to keeping these rates low.” Paul also wants to continue a “family-friendly environment,”
His opponent, Dontaye Carter, is a Democrat who is accused of wanting to raise taxes to support his programs and break up single-family neighborhoods in the name of “affordable housing.” Carter began his campaign with proposals on his website that would undercut effective law enforcement, although some of that messaging has now been removed due to many residents of various political stripes appearing to appreciate the policing policies of Paul and Police Chief Ken DeSimone.
Dontaye Carter
Crime is a major issue, as it is in many Georgia cities, and first-time Sandy Springs City Council candidate Jeff Howe stresses that support for the police department is his major priority. Howe seeks to upend an incumbent and also stresses “preserving neighborhoods and fostering strategic growth,” as well as “holding the line on taxes.”
These competing visions—support for law enforcement or undermining it, keeping taxes low or raising them, preserving neighborhood integrity or destroying single-family neighborhoods— are increasingly evident and divisive. And this is true not only in Sandy Springs but also in Atlanta as well as in far flung locales ranging from Augusta to Brunswick.
That leads political pundits to ask the big question: Which vision will voters opt for on November 2nd?
