Thurmond Running for DeKalb CEO

Former Georgia Labor Commissioner and DeKalb school superintendent Michael Thurmond announced on Tuesday that he is running for DeKalb County CEO.

Thurmond enters the race as one of the leading candidates for the job, according to GeorgiaPol.

Interim CEO Lee May announced earlier this month that he would not seek election to the CEO position. May served as interim CEO for more than two years, taking over when incumbent Burrell Ellis was indicted on numerous corruption and bribery charges. Gov. Nathan Deal appointed him in July 2013.

May commissioned an ethics reports that was headed by former Attorney General Mike Bowers and Richard Hyde. The investigation cited widespread corruption and improper spending from many elected and appointed county officials, including local commissioners Kathie Gannon and Jeff Rader, and accused May specifically of hindering the report.

After the report’s release, May faced intense criticism and numerous calls for his resignation, including some from within his own party such as state Sen. Emanuel Jones. Deal himself has said he supports the idea to eliminate the CEO position from DeKalb County government.

State Rep. Scott Holcomb, whose District 81 represents portions of Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville and unincorporated DeKalb, has introduced a bill that would increase the number of commission seats from seven to eight, and eliminate the at-large seats. The bill would also redraw the current commission’s boundaries.

Thurmond took over a DeKalb County school system that had been placed on probation by the Souther Association of Colleges and Schools. More than half of the school board’s members had been suspended by Gov. Nathan Deal, and Thurmond led the system back into full accreditation.

Other candidates rumored to be considering a DeKalb CEO run are former DeKalb Sheriff Thomas Brown; former DeKalb commissioner and state legislator Connie Stokes; state Rep. Karla Drenner; Rader; and former CEO Vernon Jones.