Tuesday, August 21, 2012
McMahan finished with 65 percent of the vote, compared to Womack's 35 percent.
Jim McMahan defeated district 4 incumbent Paul Womack on Tuesday night in the DeKalb school board runoff. With all 26 precincts reporting, McMahan defeated Womack 65 percent to 35 percent. During the campaign, McMahan sent Patch a clear message about where he stood, saying: "For the fourth year in a row the school system has spent more money than the school board approved. If you feel like the school system is on the right track for academic success, vote for the incumbent. If you want your board member to get your school a cell tower, then vote for the incumbent. But, if you want the school system to focus on the students first, vote for Jim McMahan!" Womack, the District 4 incumbent, told Patch: "I've spoken to a great many people and …
Polls are open from 7 am to 7 pm.
DeKalb District 4 school board incumbent Paul Womack faces challenger Jim McMahan on Tuesday in a runoff. District 4 includes much of the North Druid Hills and Briarcliff communities, as well as a small eastern portion of Brookhaven, the Skyland precinct. Patch will have a complete wrapup of the election once results come in.
Monday, August 20, 2012
A local voter and Patch blogger endorses Jim McMahan in the DeKalb County Board of Education's District 4 runoff race Tuesday.
If you live in the DeKalb County Board of Education's District 4 – or even if you know someone who does – please make a note that this coming Tuesday, Aug. 21, is a very big day. It is the date of the runoff election between two candidates for the board of education, the incumbent, H. Paul Womack, and his challenger, Jim McMahan, a parent with children at Sagamore Hills Elementary School. Here are the area voting precincts: Briarlake Elem, Brockett, Brockett Elem, Dresden Elem, Embry Hills, Evansdale Elem, Hawthorne Elem, Henderson Mill Elem, Hugh Howell, Lakeside High, Livsey Elem, Midvale Elem, Midvale Road, Montreal, Northlake, Oak Grove Elem, Oakcliff, Pleasandale Elem, Rehoboth, Sagamore Hills Elem, Skyland, Smoke Rise, Tucker, Tucker…
Friday, August 17, 2012
"A majority of voters voted for non-incumbents," DeKalb school board District 4 candidate Jim McMahan said. "People wanted some new leadership … going forward, I hope for a similar outcome."
School board District 4 voters will go to the polls next week to cast a vote for Paul Womack or Jim McMahan. Those voters will either get someone – McMahan – or a DeKalb County Board of Education veteran they've long voted into his seat at the polls. McMahan said he thinks its going to be him, according to a story this week in Neighbor Newspapers. From the story: "A majority of voters voted for non-incumbents," McMahan said. "People wanted some new leadership … going forward, I hope for a similar outcome." Here's some of our coverage of the election: The Neighbor Newspapers story also includes analysis regarding the District 6 runoff featuring Melvin Johnson and Denise McGill.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Womack received less than 50% in Tuesday's primary.
Three contenders were vying to unseat District 4 incumbent Paul Womack in Tuesday's election for the DeKalb County Board of Education, but it looks like a runoff in three weeks will decide the issue. Womack, who was first elected in 1981, received 6,705 votes and 46.60% percent, compared to his closest challenger Jim McMahan, who received 4,019 votes. All 189 precincts have reported, and early, in-person votes have also been counted. The Board of Elections has started the process of counting more than 5,000 absentee-by-mail ballots. Speaking to Patch after the results came in, Womack said, "Well, there's going to be a runoff. On the whole, people sort of voted for 'out with the old, in with the new'." He also faced challenges from Tom …
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
The DeKalb County Board of Education voted 5-4 Tuesday against asking the governor's office to investigate the school system's finance and human resources departments.
Paul Womack, the DeKalb County Board of Education's District 4 member, has been fighting to launch an investigation of the school system's fianance and human resources departments. The school board decided against that Monday night, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It was a 5-4 vote. From the story: The motion seemed to take board Chairman Eugene Walker by surprise. "Beg your pardon?" he asked. Womack confirmed that he wanted the governor to investigate whether budget cuts ordered by the school board in past years were implemented, prompting Walker to call the move "ludicrous in the extreme" and "ridiculous." The board also voted to approve a tax rate increase. Read the rest of the AJC story for that information. Commenters …
Sunday, July 8, 2012
The DeKalb County Board of Education member representing District 4 wants someone to look into school system finances.
DeKalb County Board of Education member Paul Womack is calling for an investigation of the school system's finances due to a systemwide budgetary descent from a projected surplus last year to its current $6 million deficit. The District 4 representative first called for the investigation when the school board passed its $760 million budget last month. From a story in Neighbor Newspapers about Womack's concerns: “We were told at the beginning of 2011-12 there would be a $93 million operating surplus at the end of this year,” said Womack. “Then we were told we’d have $53 million … now we’re projected to have a deficit of minus $6 [million]. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that something’s wrong.” He said he's already …
Monday, September 26, 2011
DeKalb County Board of Education member Paul Womack sat down with Briarlake Elementary School parents over the T-Mobile cell phone tower coming to their school late last month. An interesting read.
Don Broussard
6:09 pm on Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Congratulations to Jim McMahon. We need a strong advocate on the board for our area and filling Paul Womack's shoes will not be easy. We will be watching closely to see if Jim follows through on his promises: that the Board's budget limits will be obeyed by the Superintendent; whether further criminal investigations need to take place; and if Jim will stop any of the cell towers at school sites. … more ›