DORAVILLE, Ga. — On Thursday, the CEO of one of metro Atlanta’s biggest counties gave a farewell address of sorts.
DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond said when he sought the job, DeKalb was rife with what he called foolishness and craziness.
Civic leaders said he leaves DeKalb at the end of this year with a lot less of that.
LaVista Road is often referred to as the unofficial dividing line between mostly white north DeKalb and mostly Black south DeKalb.
Thurmond said that, ultimately, that dividing line brought DeKalb to what he called "the brink of destruction."
"Poverty still stalks the homes of decent men and women. There are neighborhoods where gunfire is all too common," Thurmond told about 700 people at a giant movie studio in Doraville. He said there’s plenty left in DeKalb County that needs serious attention.
Aside from crime, there are infrastructure and water system flaws that require costly upgrades. Thurmond identified them from his job as CEO of DeKalb County. Voters gave him that job after backers said he successfully reined in an assortment of issues in DeKalb County’s troubled school system as superintendent.
"The governor had to replace board members, budget deficits. (They were) on the verge of losing their accreditation," recalled state Rep. Billy Mitchell (D-Stone Mountain) of the school system's woes. "(Thurmond) turned that around, and did the exact same thing in the county. You can’t help but emphasize Michael Thurmond was a transformational leader."
Unlike two of his DeKalb CEO predecessors, Thurmond spent no time facing criminal charges.
During an upbeat state-of-the-county speech, Thurmond noted he was not among the numerous candidates facing voters this year.
"All the folks running for office. And I don’t care what they say. Y'all ain't crazy," Thurmond said to laughs.
Thurmond hinted he might run for office yet again. Before he became a local politician in DeKalb, he had been, as labor commissioner, the last Democrat before 2021 elected statewide. His backers said he did it by putting accomplishment ahead of ideology.
"His shoes will be hard to fill," Mitchell said.
Asked if he might run for office again, Thurmond sidestepped.
"If there might be some way for me to serve going forward, I’ll entertain it," he said.
Democrats will be seeking, among others, a candidate for governor in 2026.