Click here for the Tucker Election Guide.

The forums were hosted by Rahul Bali of WABE. Cathy Cobbs of Rough Draft and Delaney Tarr of SaportaReport were the questioners.

Watch the forums below or on our YouTube page.

City Council District 1 (Post 1)

• Roger Orlando | Campaign Website
• Karen Peters-Rivers | Campaign Website

City Council District 2 (Post 1)

• Patrice Cosby Campaign Website
• Cara Schroeder (story) | Campaign Website

City Council District 3 (Post 1)

• Sam Ulrich | Campaign Website.
• Alexis Weaver | Campaign Website

The post Watch: Tucker City Council candidate forums appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta.

On Oct. 6, WABE’s Rahul Bali moderated the forums devoted to the Tucker mayoral, District 1, 2, and 3 posts, races, less than a month away from Election Day on Nov. 4. Cathy Cobbs, Rough Draft’s managing editor, and SaportaReport’s Delaney Tarr posed questions on hot-button issues like Tucker’s pickleball court developments, council relations with a new mayor leading the charge, and whether a dedicated police department in Tucker is the right next move for the city.

Tucker candidates got candid about everything from council civility to the possibility of a police department during Rough Draft Atlanta’s virtual Tucker Mayoral and City Council Candidate forum on Oct. 6. 

Pickleball volley 

Mayoral candidates Beverly Williams, Anne Lerner, and Noelle Monferdini all shared their desires for more community engagement when new developments, like a proposal to build pickleball courts, come along. Lerner said the contentious months-long debate became more about “politics and personalities” at one point, but she said as mayor she would ensure that all constituents would be heard and respected ahead of a major decision, unlike the previous plan to build pickleball courts at Tucker Recreation Center.

Monderfini added that as mayor she would encourage council to explore more options other than pickleball, mentioning indoor pools and youth recreation.

“We need to go back to the parks’ master plan and let our citizens decide,” she said.

Williams said communication and transparency could be improved for the next council and the mayor.

“We didn’t do a good job of communicating with the neighbors,” Williams said, adding that sending emails, making calls and going door-to-door would’ve been the best means of communicating with the community members.

During the District 3 forum with incumbent Alexis Weaver and contender Sam Ulrich, the pair discussed the pickleball issue and their commitments to Tucker. Weaver, who has lived in Tucker for 13 years, mentioned that affected residents were “intentionally left out of the conversation” about pickleball. 

“You know, one of the issues behind the pickleball was that even though there was a contract that required community engagement, that didn’t happen,” she said during the forum. “…The lessons learned are we should uphold the commitments that we say we are going to uphold as a city.”

Related story:

• Study says a Tucker Police Department could match or exceed DeKalb services

Parks plans

Ulrich, who has lived in Tucker for eight years, agreed that community involvement needs to be a priority. He added that the next mayor will have “pretty big shoes to fill” stepping in for the city’s first and only mayor, Frank Auman.

“They are also [going] to be guided by the master plan for the paths, the parks and all of these other things in our charter,” Ulrich said.

District 2 incumbent Cara Schroeder and competitor Patrice Cosby discussed future parks plans during their forum. Schroeder noted that if re-elected, she would continue to shepherd beautification projects along Lawrenceville Highway.

 “I have been focused also on Johns Homestead Park and making sure we have the resources to do that project,” she said. “It is underway and should be finished next spring, summer.”

Plans to improve and grow the city’s recreational services have been stalled, Cosby said during the forum. Her goal would be to expedite those plans if elected.

“The city is crying out for rec center and services,” Cosby said, “So, that would be my number one thing at city council is to get the rec center, and the overhaul plan for that moving forward.”

Tucker Police?

District 1 incumbent Roger Orlando and contender Karen Peters differed on their vision for handling emergency response times and crime issues in Tucker. Orlando, who said he is running for the last time, cited the Tucker CID feasibility study as proof that a city police department is needed.

“Having attended 95-plus percent of the DeKalb County crime briefings, the response times, both to the public’s perception and to the statistics, leave something to be desired,” he said. “The feasibility study by the Northlake-Tucker CID showed that it might be economically feasible.”

Peters, who is a lifelong Tucker resident, said looking at the cost of adding K-9 units and a brick-and-mortar building to Tucker doesn’t seem viable. Tucker residents are currently paying about $15.9 million in taxes for police services, according to DeKalb County police officials. The CID feasibility study estimates that a city-run department could be launched for about $10.7 million.

“I feel like DeKalb is doing a great job right now,” Peters said. “I personally don’t feel that a police station is what we need right now.”

Watch a replay of the entire Rough Draft mayoral and city council forum here.

The post Candidates at Tucker forum differ on need for dedicated police department, pickleball process appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta.

The Tucker City Council at its June 10 meeting voted 5-2 on second reading to approve a special land use permit that would allow a new restaurant to install double drive-through lanes.

Councilman Vinh Nguyen and councilwoman Alexis Weaver were the dissenting votes, while Mayor Frank Auman, Roger Orlando, Virginia Rece, Cara Schroeder and Amy Trocchi supported the SLUP application for Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q, which is under construction. The restaurant is located in an Northlake Mall outparcel at 4800 Briarcliff Road NE.

Jim ‘N Nicks, which began in Birmingham, AL. in 1985, has 48 locations throughout the southeast. Its menu features slow-cooked pork, turkey and beef, along with traditional homestyle side dishes.

The council had discussed the proposal at its May 13 meeting. City Planner Matthew Couper-Gardner again made a brief presentation to the council regarding the permit application.

Couper-Gardner said the restaurant is one of several new or relocated businesses around Northlake Mall. The double-drive through lane must adhere to several stipulations, including screening selected areas with either a hedge or wall.

Weaver mentioned during discussion that the proposal didn’t fit into the criteria defined in the city’s Town Center Character Area and the city’s comprehensive plan.

“I have really significant concerns around the precedents this sets around drive-throughs and around orienting to automobiles,” Weaver said.

“My sense is that it doesn’t meet with all the criteria, but it meets some of it,” Rece said. “Not every project fits exactly in the box.”

Nguyen concurred with Weaver, saying he has “wrestled with this back and forth.”

“We can all appreciate Jim ‘N Nicks going above and beyond, accommodating the pedestrian access and lighting to make the area safer,” Nguyen said. “But I want us to be cautious about future SLUPs of this type, especially in the Northlake area.”

One speaker, during public comment, said he opposed the application, saying it went against the original strategy of developing walkability in the area.

The council also passed on second read 7-0 the 2024-25 budget that had some minor adjustments after its first reading on May 28. Auman and several others thanked the city’s finance department for its hard work in developing and refining this year’s budget.

“This was a Herculean effort,” Orlando said. “For some reason this has been an especially difficult budget.”

In other action:

• the council heard that economic development department has awarded Incisive LLC a $25,000 contract to produce a written and digital pitch deck to promote the city and its activities.
• Auman recognized the city’s municipal court clerks for their service.
• the panel voted on first read a rollback of the millage rate by 2.096 to reflect a revenue-neutral tax digest.

The post Tucker City Council approves double-drive through lanes at new restaurant appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta.