Longtime elected official DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond knows how to confront challenges head-on. When it comes to solutions, he says he encourages up-and-coming leaders to spend time leveraging their assets with deficits to net positive outcomes.
In 2017 when CEO Thurmond took office, he pledged that it was a new day for one the most diverse counties in the southeast. A big part of Thurmond’s overarching mission was to restore trust in county government. Over the course of nearly eight years, Thurmond has faced a number of challenges, including navigating an ongoing water and sewer crisis as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Thurmond is credited with balancing the county’s budget, championing the county’s summer youth employment program, and appointing the county’s first woman police chief.
On Monday’s edition of “Closer Look,” Thurmond talked with show host Rose Scott about his tenure as CEO and what’s next for him. He also shared his perspective about not being able to mitigate the violence that he says is plaguing Black communities and what he thinks about the incoming U.S. presidential administration.
