Candidate Q&A: DeKalb County Commission District 3

The election for the DeKalb County Commission District 3 seat features four candidates: incumbent Commissioner Nicole Massiah, Jakequeline 'Jake' Walls, Keyanna Jones Moore, and Tommy Travis. The election, set for May 19, will determine who faces Republican Andrea Bass Smith in November. A prominent issue in the campaign is the development of data centers within DeKalb County, particularly in South DeKalb. Candidate Keyanna Jones Moore, who resides in Decatur, explicitly states her top priorities include "stopping the spread of Data Centers into South Dekalb." She views the current draft ordinance for data center approval as "too weak," arguing it allows facilities too close to residential areas and should mandate a special land use permit for all data centers. Moore also criticizes the ordinance's provision regarding transit stops, suggesting it unfairly steers data center development towards South DeKalb, which lacks high-capacity transit. Tommy Travis, another candidate, conditionally supports data center campuses but believes regulations should be strong from the outset, requiring a Special Land Use Permit (SLUP) for every application. He proposes extending a data center moratorium until 2027 to allow for further study of their pros and cons. Travis also firmly advocates for the denial of a proposed data center campus in Ellenwood, citing its threat to surrounding residential subdivisions and arguing that its application pre-dates proposed county regulations. Jakequeline "Jake" Walls, who lives in an area potentially affected by data center proposals, also opposes data center campuses, especially those near residential areas. She emphasizes the need for a "hands-on approach to zoning" to limit "exploitative use of our land." Walls insists that all data center campuses should require a special land use permit and rejects their development on property zoned for housing and mixed-use. She contends that data centers do not necessarily improve surrounding areas and pledges to protect community investments.