The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SOUTHSIDE: A six-term mayor has been ousted in a runoff,
In two firsts, College Park elects black woman as mayor.
‘Voters wanted change; they wanted a new direction. I’m incredibly humbled they selected me.’ Bianca Motley Broom College Park mayor-elect
Bianca Motley Broom became the first woman and first African American to be elected mayor of College Park on Tuesday after defeating six-term incumbent Jack Longino in a runoff election.
Broom took 70% of the 1,472 votes cast. The 42-yearold said she was “so excited” to be entrusted to lead the city of about 15,000.
“I hope we move from being the hidden gem to the Hope Diamond,” she said.
“I’m so filled with promise that we can actually meet
that potential now.” Broom, a mediator, arbi- trator and former Fulton County magistrate judge, said she intends to lead by getting more resident input
into projects like Airport City, a $1.5 billion proposal that would remake more than 300 acres.
The city recently opened a new arena and has been planning the Airport City project to bring develop- ment and residents to Col- lege Park. Broom said she was grateful to Longino for his leadership but wanted to be more upfront with resi- dents about what was happening in the city.
Longino, 66, did not respond to several phone calls seeking comment.
Orlando Strozier, a College Park resident who voted for Broom after support
ing another candidate in the general election, said he supported her vision for the city. Longino had been good for College Park, Strozier said, but he was ready for a leader who would think outside the box.
“College Park should have been thriving,” he said. “It’s time for new blood.”
Strozier is a fan of the new arena and anything that can “drum up interest, change the narrative” of the city, which has a poverty rate of 35%. But he said the current administration “just kind of did what they wanted to do.”
“It wasn’t really a community effort,” he said. “We should have some say.”
Kenneth Jenkins, who voted for Longino, said he hoped Broom was careful as she took over major projects in the city. He said he thought College Park was running smoothly and hoped
that would continue under Broom’s leadership.
“They just wanted somebody new in,” he said of his fellow residents. “We have a lot of division in the city.”
Broom said she hopes to bring a new perspective to city leadership. Nearly 80% of the city’s residents are black; Longino is white.
Broom said that she had a lot to learn before she takes
over the top elected role, but she’s looking forward to it.
“Voters wanted change; they wanted a new direction,” she said. “I’m incredibly humbled they selected me.”