By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
SEPT. 29, 2020 | The year 1984 was a turning point in Gwinnett politics. That was the year Republicans won 17 of 18 Gwinnett County races. The Democrats elected only an incumbent unopposed Probate Judge, and in effect, Republicans have been in charge in Gwinnett ever since.
For 2020, it is the Republicans who are endangered, as Democrats have fielded a full slate of candidates, many of them first class candidates. Both sides have also put up some poor candidates, who are making waves that sound like they could send Gwinnett down an unfortunate path in coming years.
One Democrat has won the party’s nomination for District 5 on the School Board. She is Tarece Johnson, who has no Republican opposing her in the General Election. She defeated longtime incumbent Louise Radloff. The three Democratic women seeking the School Board seats include Karen Watkins, Tanisha Banks and Johnson. Already sitting on the Board for another two years is another Democrat, Everton Blair, while the other member not on the ballot this year is Republican Steve Knudsen.
Let us point out something most voters know: Gwinnett in the past 10-20 years has had not just a good public school system, but a superior one, winning nationwide honors, and graduating highly qualified students to go on to higher honors. Two Republican board members, Carol Boyce and Mary Kay Murphy, seek re-election.
We regret to report that, surprise, politics is getting dirty here. Interesting, some of this degradation into pure politics is coming from outside Gwinnett.
An internet site that doesn’t fully indicate who posts it, Gcps.info, looks like it is from the Gwinnett County Public Schools (see the “gcps” similarity?) But it is not a governmental site. Some say it is a right-wing, Tea Party site stirring up trouble. It is registered in Wyoming. Go to this site, “Great children in public schools,” or Gcps.info. It’s not peaches and cream here, for sure.
The site concentrates on the candidate who has already won the Democratic nomination, Tarece Johnson. She told GwinnettForum that she is in these videos, though the Tik Tok one shows her in an “acting capacity” which had been altered. “Remember, I am an artist. It is me, but I am acting. But it is not my voice.” She also told GwinnettForum she removed an unaltered Tik Tok video from another site before the primary. She adds that “the gcps site perpetrates hate, causes issues and divides people. It misconstrues what is reality.”
Ms. Johnson also says that the site incorrectly lists her campaign manager. She told GwinnettForum earlier in 2020 that the campaign manager is Zavier Pace, different from what the “gcps.info” site maintains.
It’s unfortunate to see such a site. The Internet is wonderful. But it is not always accurate.
Should two more Democrats win seats on the Gwinnett School Board, with Tarece Johnson almost certain of being seated, the board would shift from Republican to Democratic control. Would it continue to run smoothly? We would be concerned to see it make substantial shifts from the smooth and efficient operations it has long been known to employ. We’ll see in 2021.
It’s exciting that in highly-diverse Gwinnett that we will see more minorities on elected boards. For instance, in the race for the Gwinnett County Commission, we expect to see three Democrats elected this year, which will mean that the entire board is made up of minorities. And it was only two years ago that the first minorities were elected to this board. We expect that come January 1, 2021, this all-minority commission will function smoothly, and bring distinction to the county.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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