MABLETON, Ga. — The race for the city's first-ever mayor appears to be headed to a runoff. Unofficial results show that the candidates weren't able to get over the 50% plus 1 vote threshold, which triggers a runoff election.
The numbers show Aaron Carman and Michael Owens as the two candidates out of the four, who had the most votes.
11Alive sat down with each of them to learn a little more about them before the runoff on Tuesday, April 18.
Both Carman and Owens are fathers, working in the IT world, who have lived in the area for years. A striking difference is that Owens voted "for" cityhood, and Carman, "against" it.
“As someone who voted for the city, I believe in its viability," Owens said. "Not only the viability of the city but also the understanding and need for Mableton to have a city. Someone who voted against the city of Mableton innately does not have the belief in the city – than someone who votes for the city would have."
“Even though I disagreed with cityhood being the model to fix some of the issues, it doesn’t mean that in life things always go the way that I think they should," Carman explained. "To me, it was an opportunity to step forward and utilize some of the skills that I have to help try and build this correctly and make sure that it’s done well."
Carman adds that he has never been in politics and will be approaching the possibility of being a mayor from the lens of a resident and businessman.
"I don't perceive myself as being a professional politician. I don't have long-term aspirations to do anything beyond this. I'm a resident of Mableton, I've been in IT sales for 10-15 years. I've also built sales teams. So we built teams from scratch where we go after large markets," Carman said. "I think that ability to build teams, to coach, to lead and to inspire are things that I think will be very beneficial."
His focus includes bringing a downtown area to Mableton in the long term and bringing more transportation as well. Also, allowing residents to keep their garbage collectors while having the city partner with Mableton-based haulers to address littering.
"When we looked at the feasibility study and the four services that they were outlining, it was zoning and planning, code enforcement, parks and rec, and then trash was a part of it. I feel like if we include trash, we're going to spend the first year or two fighting over trash providers," Carman said. "To me, that doesn't really address some of the issues that the area has in regards to like dumping and littering, which are very major issues that we do face. As a city, we can partner with those trash providers to offer large trash item pickup days, where we have multiple locations throughout the city, where it's free to our residents to come and bring [large] items to throw out."
Owens said his focus is on affordable housing, getting rid of food deserts, bringing in new dining options and having affordable healthcare options.
“Whether that’s sidewalks, street lights, or whether it’s advocating for affordable housing. I’ve been doing the work," Owens said. "I want to make sure we preserve home values. I want to make sure that neighborhood grows and flourishes, but at the same time, I want to make sure that we continue to keep true to who we are as a community."
Owens said transparency is also important to him and adds he will be easy to access if he becomes mayor.
"I have made my cell phone number and my email address available throughout the duration of my campaign. I'll continue to do so and it'll be available from here as well," Owens added.
In November, 54% of voters were in favor of cityhood – with 46% opposed. However, on Tuesday night, nearly 36% of voters voted for Carman and 31% voted for Owens.
Both candidates spoke about their emotions on election night.
"I was fairly reserved around the fact that I knew we had done the work," Owens said. "I've been working in this community for almost two decades on connecting with people directly, locally leading efforts. People in the community know me. I have a strong track record of being there doing the work. So I had to just rely on that last night. But you never know... campaigns are always unpredictable."
"Last the night before the election, that was the first time in weeks where I felt like I could sleep peacefully and everything was just super calm," Carman said. "Around 3:00 in the afternoon, the jitters started happening. I have been surrounded by some amazing people in this journey. To stand back last night at the end of the night and see the results come in and watching the 50 people that have poured all their time and energy into supporting me, it's an extremely humbling experience."
Each candidate said they are ready to work with both sides of the aisle.
“I’m looking at this with a blank canvas and saying from a business standpoint, we’re building a new organization. That’s my goal. What I feel called to do is to help build this and then pass the baton on to other leaders and able to have them take it from there," Carman said.
"We have a fantastic opportunity for people to come here to visit, but also for residents that are here that want to kind of flourish and grow, to be able to raise kids in a safe environment, to have places where they can grow and even kids to come back," Owens added.
The decision for Mableton to become a city came with some contention with some residents against the move – and that dissension was apparent on Election Day. Some residents 11Alive spoke to said they were against the cityhood, while others were for it.
As for the Mableton council seats, some of those races are also projected to head to a runoff. However, in District 6, Debora Herndon ran unopposed after her opponent withdrew from the race in February. Unofficial results also show Ron Davis as the projected winner in the District 1 council race.
The elected officials will have two years to work with the governor and county leaders to help get the new city established. The mayor and six-member council will have to determine what services it will offer, create a budget and make other municipal decisions.