The newest municipality in Northeast Georgia now has most of its first city council set after elections held Tuesday night.
Numbers reported by the Gwinnett County Elections Department Wednesday morning showed Tim Sullivan, Robert Michael Coker, Kyle Shields and Michael Rudnick as the winners of their respective district races. A total of 15 candidates were running for the five city council seats.
District 5 appears headed to a runoff between Doug Ingram and Michelle Sims after no candidate gained a majority of the votes there. Kevin Arocha was also running in that district.
The city remains the subject of numerous legal challenges from both public and private entities. Resident Steve Hughes has issued several lawsuits seeking to have the city's creation struck down while Gwinnett County's government has also recently filed suit in Fulton County seeking the same goal. Both cite concerns of the constitutionality of Mulberry's charter, primarily over it not allowing the city to levy property taxes.
While the Gwinnett County lawsuit against the city is still outstanding and Hughes is challenging standing rulings that prevented his lawsuits from being successful, the city council elections were allowed to continue Tuesday night after rulings from multiple judges including the Georgia Supreme Court.
The city council elections were nonpartisan. Mulberry consists of the northeastern portion of Gwinnett County, stretching from the Hall County line and the town of Braselton to nearly the city of Dacula.
The city was voted into existence in the May primary elections with a transition team appointed by Governor Brian Kemp largely consisting of state representatives from the area guiding the city's creation.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2024/11/1270670/four-winners-declared-in-first-mulberry-council-elections-one-headed-to-runoff