Who deserves your vote for mayor of Athens?

By Michael H. McLendon

It is imperative that you vote on in the runoff election on June 16^th ! Even if you did not vote in the May primary you can vote in the June election! The stakes are high for the Classic City and for you.

Athens is in a mess. It is a battlefield littered with the consequences of bad decisions over the past 8 years. This election is about who has the skills and seasoned leadership experience to successfully get Athens out of the mess and restore the luster of the Classic City.

In 2018, only 28.3% (18,844) of registered voters (66,501) voted in the mayor and commission races that elected a progressive mayor and politically progressive commission. Kelly Girtz was elected mayor, receiving 10,924 votes (6.4% of registered voters). Election by apathy.

The Mess

The hallmarks of the progressive Girtz administration red flag warnings. The number of red flags is large: secrecywith decreasing public transparency and deliberate actions to impede diverse active civic engagement; divisiveness; upside down budget priorities prioritizing wants over needs; out of control development and traffic; poorly managed TSLOST/SLOST/TAD processes and projects;  fiscal irresponsibility along with the waste and abuse of federal, state, and local tax dollars; reliance consistently tapping into financial reserves to balance the annual budget, conflicts-of-interest...

These governance failures have created a bow wave of unfunded infrastructure needs with an unknown price tag by kicking the $ can down the road while spending tax $ to satisfy near term wants not needs. In the City Manager’s remarks to the Commission regarding the FY27 budget, he stated it well when he stated these trends are not sustainable.

Rather than reign in the cost of government to right size priorities, the mayor’s progressive priorities continue adding to the future financial bow wave in his FY27 budget set for a final commission vote on 9 June. Athens does not have a revenue problem but a spending problem, but he recently stated his plans to place a 1% Floating Option Sales Tax on the November ballot so City Hall can waste more $.

This new tax would raise ACC’s sales tax to 9%, makingAthens even less affordable and competitive. This tax will have the greatest impact on low-income Athenians already financially stressed due to the unaffordability of living in Athens.

These failures have eroded the integrity of local government, public confidence, and the traditional character of the Classic City. The traditional Classic City is being replaced with monolithic concrete gulags. This failure of leadership and governance is not what citizens envisioned thirty-five years ago when they voted for unification. The promises made then to gain voter approval for unification remain unfulfilled, now replaced by an ideological driven agenda rather than reflecting the needs of citizens.

The Candidates: Starke Differences

The candidates for mayor are who they are; their history is their history. Now the question is, which candidate – Denson or Fisher – can best deal with this mess and instill confidence in the pubic to earn their trust? Who has the skill and seasoned leadership experience to change course and solve these problems, replace divisiveness with unity, get our fiscal house in order, and focus on needs not ideological driven wants.

Tim Denson. Denson came to Athens in 2010 after receiving his Associates of Arts degree in 2003. A self-described activist and avowed Democratic Socialist, his Facebook page states that “he welcomes the comparison to America’s favorite mayor”...New York Mayor Mamdani. The Athens Area Democratic Socialist of America endorsed Denson’s campaign describing him in as a “Longtime Comrade.”  

He was a member of the Occupy Athens group formed in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement. And he co-founded the progressive group Athens for Everyone which describes itself as a “Left-progressive political organization fighting for social and economic justice and transformational change...”Transformational”is code for altering the way a society, organization, or government operates. The goal is to achieve a fundamental rethinking of values, processes, and structures to create a new future. In this case, fundamentally changing the Classic City.

Before running for a commission seat in  2018, he was a labor organizer for United Campus Workers and unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2014. In a 2021 Facebook post, Denson compared the Georgia Board of Regents COVID mask policy to past opposition to racial integration. Then in 2024 he publicly criticized UGA, the economic engine of Athens,  an  “oppressive” institution on social media.

Since 2023 he has worked for Advantage Behavioral Health Systems as a Homeless Housing Specialist and more recently as Team Lead at the Homeless Day Service Center.

As a commissioners he led efforts to defund the police in order to reduce the size of the ACC PD by 50% over 10 years. After significant public push back, this proposal was defeated. He also voted to use the government’s power of imminent domain to acquire private property for the Firefly Trail and supported the mayor’s progressive agenda.

In 2022, he was elected to the CCSD School Board. His record on the school board was unremarkable as the CCSD has continued to rank near the bottom statewide relative to other school districts in performance.

His current campaign strategy for mayor emphasizes a progressive “wants” agenda. This agenda highlights new zoning policies to effectively eliminate single family zoning which would enable high density housing. He has proposed implementing government owned grocery stores, subsidized childcare, and providing more $ for the homeless and social programs. On his campaign web site, he has stated that he would “Protect Athenians from Unlawful Activity of ICE and Other Federal Entities.”

He has not specified how he plans to fund his progressive “wants” policies only stating he proposes generating more revenue through “creative” means without providing any details. His creative revenue schemes will likely fall the hardest on low income Athenians.

Denson’s actual employment career in the workplace is limited. His experience does not evidence substantive, direct leadership and management experience involving large organizations with significant $M budgets and associated execution responsibilities.

It is fair to say that Denson has cultivated an image more in line with being a radical given his history.

Dexter Fisher. Fisher came to Athens in 1988 to pursue his MBA at Piedmont College after graduating from Mars Hill University. Fisher’s career has centered on public service and the community.

He held a senior leadership position in the Clarke County School District as Director of District Services. In this role he was responsible for the planning, financing, and execution of major Education Special Local Option Sales Tax funded construction projects.

He retired from UGA after 31 years as Director of Facilities Management the largest department reporting directly to the Vice President for Finance and Administration. At UGA, he led a staff of 800  managing, operating, and maintaining landscapes, buildings, and infrastructure with total responsibility, authority, and accountability for planning, fiscal management, and execution. In this role he was a member of numerous UGA committees and governing groups.

He was a member of the Athens Piedmont Hospital Board & Authority, an active member of the Athens Community Foundation and Athens Rotary Club, and past president of the UGA Retiree Association representing the equities of retirees.

He is an ordained Deacon and serves on the Deacon Board of Ebenezer Baptist Church-West. He has been recognized for his service in being awarded the Changing the Picture for Athens Children Award (2018) by Athens Family Connections-Communities and the Spirit of Athens Award (2022) by the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce.

Fisher was elected District 5 Commissioner in 2022 and has served as Mayor Pro Tempore since 2025. He has challenged what he sees as bad policy and fiscal proposals such as the 1400 student housing project downtown,  unconstrained development and lack of infrastructure funding, ineffective governance, and has advocated balanced budgets without tax increases.

As commissioner, he voted to increase funding for the ACC Police Department to address critical needs and to implement the Real Time Crime Center. He also voted to address the underfunding of the Sheriff’s Office. Fisher e also led a $3.8M effort to open four new community centers at Athens Housing Authority properties. He has been a proponent of creating incentives to build workforce housing and partnering with the business, and education communities to build a skilled workforce to foster economic growth.

Not a Time for Voter Apathy...Again!

Much is at stake for the future of Athens in this election and citizens can no longer be apathetic about voting in mayoral races as they have in the past.

You can vote in the June 16^th runoff election if you did not vote in the primary! You still have time to request an absentee ballot. You can vote early on 8 – 12 June. Elections Department  | Athens-Clarke County, GA – Official Website

Do not sit out this election. The choices offer a stark contrast. The risk and consequences are high. Determine who is best qualified to lead and restore the luster to the Classic City.