Clarkston, GA — The vacant seat on the Clarkston City Council will be filled by Mark Perkins. He won the special election after receiving 174 out of 308 votes on Tuesday, March 16.

Perkins will fill the remainder of Y.T. Bell’s term that expires on Dec. 31, 2021. The seat became empty when Bell stepped down to run for mayor.

The results will be certified by DeKalb County on Friday, March 26, and Perkins is set to be sworn in at the City Council’s work session on Tuesday, March 30, he said.

“On Tuesday my friend John Williams and I braved the rain and the cold to wave signs, and while we were out there I had some time to reflect on the race and was overcome with gratitude at the number of great people I’ve been able to meet and the conversations I’ve been able to have with neighbors in different parts of the city,” Perkins said.  “I was preparing myself for a loss, and am still absolutely blown away by the outcome.”

Perkins owns a for-profit company, Leadersolve, which he founded about two years ago. In this role he helps organizations increase their value and impact. He also works for a nonprofit that assists communities that are experiencing oppression or marginalization.

Perkins has lived in Clarkston since 2014 and appreciates the city’s diversity as he grew up overseas in Argentina, Bangladesh, India and Thailand.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I’ve been anywhere in the U.S. where it’s like I get a little picture of all the places that I grew up,” he previously told Tucker Observer.

Perkins plans to leverage his experiences working on diverse teams and in complex situations to help Clarkston through the current crisis, according to his campaign website.

Some of Perkins’ areas of focus are the COVID-19 pandemic, small businesses, renters assistance and continuing some work of the police department regarding cultural sensitivity.

“The next several months will involve a lot more listening and learning, and I hope to keep that as a baseline however long I serve,” Perkins said.  “I’m looking forward to compiling the input and ideas I’ve received over the last several months and building them out into collaborative projects, and I’m also excited to explore how we can best use the $4 million in [federal] relief funding we are receiving to serve our community.”

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