In January, Rev. Ed Johnson will be sworn-in as Fayetteville’s first black mayor. The 60-year-old Democrat’s win in Tuesday’s nonpartisan, at-large election makes him the first black person ever to serve as mayor of a city in Fayette County, a Republican stronghold.
The retired naval commander talked with Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Tammy Joyner about his win, his goals for Fayetteville and the county’s ongoing legal fight to return at-large voting to the county level. Here’s what Johnson, pastor of Flat Rock AME Church, had to say.
Q. What do you think led to your election as mayor? Was it different from your city council bid in 2011?
A. Back then, it was a collaborative effort working with all of Fayette’s political entities. This time, there was a group that wanted the incumbent but the grassroots community recognized this was an opportunity for some change. The grassroots included churches and primarily citizens who needed some confidence that the progress of the city was going to continue growing.
Q. What does your election as mayor mean to you?
A. I believe the victory represents the citizens’ desire for new leadership and diversity in their representation.
Q. As mayor, what do you hope to achieve?
A. My first objective is to get more citizens involved in government decision-making. Over the last four years that I’ve been a city councilman, most of the decisions have been made in a vacuum. We have very little attendance and citizen input at meetings. The majority of citizens have what I call ‘the bedroom mentality’. They don’t work in Fayetteville. They normally work outside the county. They come home and want to do more family-oriented activities and not necessarily get involved in political decision-making.
Q. How do you hope to change that?
A. Through small group town hall meetings where we can have citizens tell us what they feel the city needs or is lacking.
Q. What are your other goals?
A. Taking advantage of the positive economic atmosphere we’re in now as opposed to the 2012 atmosphere when the economy was suffering. I’d like to see the existing Tax Allocation District attract more business. I also want to improve citizens’ confidence in law enforcement.
Q. You were elected mayor in an at-large election. How does your election speak to the county’s current lawsuit over at-large voting?
A. Fayetteville’s at-large nonpartisan elections demonstrate in a small-city atmosphere that at-large voting can produce fair and equitable elections.
Q. Does your election validate the use of at-large voting at the county level?
A. I don’t know that. I think people vote their conscience. In a small-city election, they look at the quality of the candidate.
Q. Are you for at-large or district voting?
A. I prefer not to answer that. It’s still in litigation.
Read this coming Sunday’s paper for more about Johnson’s historic win.
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