Morrow councilwoman who backed multilingual ballots running for mayor

Morrow City Councilwoman Van Tran, who was called “un-American” after backing multilingual ballots for the south metro community, is running for mayor of the south metro community.

Tran has qualified to run against incumbent Morrow Mayor John Lampl in the November 7 general election, one of several contests for office coming up this fall in Clayton County cities.

Tran and Lampl have clashed in Morrow City Council meetings, most notably in the weeks since Councilwoman Dorothy Dean in July said she was offended by Tran’s suggestion that Morrow print ballots in English, Vietnamese and Spanish in future elections to reflect the city’s growing diversity.

“You have failed in your oath of office,” Dean said to Tran. “You have failed as a citizen of this country. You disregarded and you dishonored the oaths that you took as an American citizen. I would like to say that is un-American and inexcusable. Shame on you, Van Tran.”

Dean earlier this month, however, introduced a resolution to include a question on multilingual ballots on the ballot in November.

Credit: City of Morrow

Credit: City of Morrow

Tran also was censured by her colleagues earlier this month on allegations of “unacceptable behavior and inappropriate actions towards city employees,” according to the censure document. The councilwoman called the censure retaliation “for trying to do my job for the citizens of the city of Morrow.”

Incumbent Morrow Post 4 Councilman faces Tracy Talbert and Oscar Lanza Menjivar for his seat while Sylvia Redic and Hue Nguyen will compete for Post 2 on the body.

In Jonesboro, incumbent Mayor Donya Sartor will face challengers Arlene Charles and Pat Sebo-Hand for her job.

Six people are running for three open spots on the Jonesboro City Council. They are incumbents Alfred Dixon and Tracey Messick and Penny Fauscett, Charles L. Forsyth Sr., Cameron Dixon and Asjah Miller. Incumbent Jonesboro City Councilman Ed Wise is not seeking reelection.

An’cel Davis and Geffry Tate qualified in their bid to unseat incumbent Mayor Evelyn Wynn-Dixon. Incumbent District 2 Councilman Frank Cobbs Jr. will take on challenger Rodney Lawrence while incumbent District 4 Councilman Kenny Ruffin will face Thomas Mitchells Jr. for his seat.

In Forest Park, city councilmembers Hector Gutierrez (Ward 3), Latresa Akins-Wells (Ward 4) and Charles Allan Means (Ward 5) are running without opposition.

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Leon Stafford covers south metro government

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