DeKalb County CEO race | Look at candidates [Video]

DECATUR, Ga. — A lively contest is currently underway for the elected office that will lead DeKalb County’s government.  

Three elected commissioners are vying to replace current CEO Michael Thurmond, who is retiring after eight years on the job. 

“I think our CEO, Michael Thurmond, is a transformational leader,” longtime commissioner and current candidate Larry Johnson said during an Atlanta Press Club debate that aired on GPB this week.

Thurmond is a former state Labor Commissioner who steadied DeKalb’s sometimes erratic leadership over most of the last decade. In that same televised debate this week, Johnson noted that one of Thurmond’s great successes in office was rebuilding the county’s aging water and sewer infrastructure.

“He made (water and sewer) a cabinet-level opportunity. I would do the same thing by making an office of violence prevention,” Johnson added.

But while Johnson touted himself as a continuing Thurmond’s legacy, rival candidates Stephen Bradshaw and Lorraine …