Another Challenger Emerges for Gwinnett District 1 Seat

Another Suwanee figure intends to join the election field for the Gwinnett District 1 Commissioner seat in 2012.

Laurie McClain, a CPA with an office in unincorporated Suwanee, said Thursday that she will run for the seat currently held by Shirley Lasseter of Duluth. , also has announced his intention to seek the District 1 seat.

McClain said Thursday that she has been considering the move for about three years. She was a member of the citizens review panel for the Gwinnett commissioners' 2012 budget process.

"I caught the bug," she said. "The more involved I get, the more interested I get. I decided to go ahead and go for it."

As a member of the citizens panel, he had a special insight on the process. Currently, the commissioners have developed a $1.3 billion budget for 2012, with a formal vote scheduled in January. However, the proposed budget includes the use of reserve funds, meaning additional cuts will be necessary after the budget is approved.

"You have to be on the inside looking out to enumerate" how the budget could be trimmed further, McClain said.

Brooks reiterated his desire Thursday to seek the District 1 post. A member of the Suwanee City Council since 2002, Brooks cited the city's track record in recent years.

"I've got a proven record as a conservative for lowering taxes and attracting jobs," he said.

Brooks is a wealth manager, and he feels it is not a coincidence that this race has attracted two challengers with a financial background.

(The budget) is the greatest challenge that the county faces," Brooks said.

Said Lasseter: "The more people that run, the better. It will give the public choices, and I do believe that is the democratic process."

McClain also was a member of the Leadership Gwinnett class of 2007-08, a Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce program. She is becoming divorced and has three children.

Newly redistricted District 1 includes all of Suwanee, Sugar Hill and Duluth, as well as parts of Buford, Norcross and Lawrenceville. 

Qualifying for political party and non-partisan candidates would be May 23-25, 2012.

Duluth Patch editor Faye Edmundson contributed to this report.