DeKalb Alderman Scott McAdams remains on Tuesday election ballot under down-to-wire judicial ruling

DeKALB – A DeKalb County judge ruled Monday that DeKalb City Council Fifth Ward incumbent candidate Scott McAdams’ name will remain on Tuesday’s election ballot, upholding a DeKalb Electoral Board vote made hours before polls open.

The matter went before DeKalb Circuit Court Chief Judge Bradley Waller at 2 p.m. Monday after a 10 a.m. remanded hearing was convened of the city of DeKalb’s Electoral Board. Waller last week ordered the Board to hold a down-to-the-wire meeting to allow a city employee to testify live and recount her experience collecting McAdams’ candidacy papers when filed last December. The DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder’s Office issued a news release Monday confirming the fifth ward Council ballot will remain unchanged.

McAdams said it is a relief to have settled the questions about his candidacy.

“I feel much better knowing that it was weighed very heavily,” McAdams said after Monday’s ruling. “It was really examined. In the end, the truth prevailed.”

Waller said he believes the issue at hand has been addressed.

“In the courts view, the issue that was remanded has been cured,” Waller said. “I do not believe that the board effectively effectually [ruled.] ... Now that that’s been done, I’m of the view that due process has been served.”

Waller’s concerns had centered on how much weight and credibility should be afforded to the testimony of DeKalb city employee Ruth Scott, who accepted petitions, including McAdams’ filed by the candidates Dec. 12 at City Hall. McAdams’ spot on the ballot was first under contention in January, when petitions filed by McAdams’ political opponents – write-in candidate challenger Derek Van Buer and DeKalb resident Mark Charvat – alleged McAdams hadn’t properly bound his paperwork.

Scott had previously testified via a written affidavit in January, however, Waller said last week he wanted her live testimony.

Charvat said he saw some positives come out of the case, which is why he’s satisfied with the outcome.

“I think the important thing to keep in mind, even though we lost – you can’t win them all – we effectuated change as far as I’m concerned and that being the fact that the judge was none too happy with how Electoral Board handled the original hearings back in January by not allowing us to call a witness when we requested to call a witness,” Charvat said.

The January petitions by Charvat and Van Buer to oust McAdams were overruled by the city’s Electoral Board, a ruling Charvat and Van Buer have fought since. The city’s Electoral Board is made up of Mayor Cohen Barnes, the DeKalb City Council’s most senior alderman, Seventh Ward Alderman Tony Faivre and City Clerk Sasha Cohen. The clerk was absent from Monday’s Electoral Board hearing.

During the remanded Electoral Board meeting, Scott gave live testimony detailing her account of what transpired the day in which she accepted nomination papers from candidates such as McAdams. She reiterated that she’s been trained in handling the clerical duties of accepting nomination packets for nearly a decade. Scott has served as deputy clerk, and then recording secretary, through several clerks since hired in 2014.

The Electoral Board expressed support for Scott’s testimony and reaffirmed its January decision in a 2-0 vote.

City Attorney Matt Rose said he wanted to make clear that the clerk’s absence noted on the panel should not preclude the judge from making a decision.

“I did want to note that the third electoral board member was notified but was not present,” Rose said, referring to City Clerk Sasha Cohen. “We had a quorum.”