Businessman Enters Decatur Commission Race For District 1 Seat

DECATUR, GA -- The race to replace retiring District One Commissioner Fred Boykin is heating up this week as another candidate has thrown his hat into the ring. Tim Martin, a Decatur businessman, announced his intention to run for Boykin's seat on Monday, Patch has learned.

Martin's entry makes three candidates, along with Melissa Manrow and Kelly Walsh, who have declared for the District One seat. Martin has been very involved with a number of local organizations, including the Rotary Club, Clairmont Presbyterian Church and the Decatur Business Association.

“I’ve done a lot of listening over the past few months,” Martin says in a news release, according to Decatur Metro. “Working to understand how people feel about Decatur. What they love but also the issues that concern them.”

Martin, a resident of the city since 1999, says he will build on the common ground that Decatur residents all share.

“We as a community share similar values,” he is quoted as saying. “A desire to be heard. Protecting what works and fixing what doesn’t. Working together, being responsible stewards of shared resources. These are things you can expect from me, in anything I do.”

Boykin, who has held the District One seat, since the beginning of the century, said that he expects a competitive race.

“I guess I’m not surprised a lot of folks are coming forward,” Boykin told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’stough in Decatur to beat an incumbent unless the incumbent is totally incompetent. Which doesn’t happen often.”

Manrow, a Decatur resident since 1989, works as a director at the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office. On her campaign website, she says, "This race should not be about who has the highest profile in the neighborhoods of District 1, or who can raise the most money. "

A Decatur resident since 2005, Walsh works for Keller Williams Realty and has been on the Decatur Active Living Citizen’s Advisory Board since 2012, serving as chair in 2013-14, according to her campaign website.

Image via Tim Martin for Decatur District 1 Commissioner / Facebook