Dirty Political Flyer Not From Redefine DeKalb Group: Commissioner

DECATUR, GA -- A grassroots DeKalb County group said Tuesday that it is not the author of a potentially damaging mailer that targeted a candidate in the Stonecrest mayoral race.

A flyer that circulated days before Tuesday's vote claimed that Charles Hill II was a "bipolar manic depressive" and insinuated that he was not fit for governing the newly formed city of 50,000 people.

In a news conference Monday, Hill slammed the mailer as a new low in dirty politics. "I have no mental illness and have never been diagnosed as such," Hill said in a statement addressing the allegations.

Read more: Stonecrest goes to the polls in historic inaugural election

The mailer, which also contained a naked image of a man shot and killed by DeKalb police in 2015, was credited to a group called Blueprint to Restore DeKalb.

DeKalb County Commissioner Kathie Gannon said Tuesday that Blueprint to Redefine DeKalb is an organization she helped convene in 2014 to restore ethics, accountability and transparency to county government. Her organization, which has a similar name to the one in the flyer, is in no way affiliated with the mailer or an attempt to besmirch a candidate in the Stonecrest elections, she said.

“Recently a political flyer has been circulated that smears a candidate in the Stonecrest city elections. The individual who circulated this flyer uses the term ‘Blueprint to Restore DeKalb’ in the organization’s name. I want it to be crystal clear: There is no relationship or connection between that smear political mailer and the Blueprint to Redefine DeKalb, which accomplished so much,” Gannon said in a statement.

Stonecrest voters went to the polls Tuesday to elect a mayor and a five-member City Council.

Image via Facebook / Charles Hill Campaign