DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — After serving the DeKalb County community for decades, Tuesday was DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond’s last day on the job.
He sat down with Channel 2′s Sophia Choi to reflect on his journey from being a poor, underprivileged kid on the outskirts of Athens.
“My dad could not read or write. We were sharecroppers. No indoor running water until I was 16. But we had love. We had hope. We had prayer,” Thurmond described. “The difference between my dad the sharecropper and Mike Thurmond, the CEO, is just education.”
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Thurmond used his education to become a lawyer before becoming a state representative in 1986. He then ran DFCS before being elected Georgia’s Labor Commissioner during the Great Recession.
More than helping people get back to work, Thurmond says his proudest moment as labor commissioner involved kids with disabilities at a school in Warm Springs.
“I visited that school shortly after I was elected and I left in tears. It was such a horrible place,” he recalled.
So, he raised $20 million to build a new school. In 2013, Thurmond became superintendent of DeKalb County Schools. In two years, he turned around the district facing big debts and the loss of accreditation.
“We eliminated a multi-million dollar deficit. We obviously restored hip accreditation, improved graduation rates and achievement of standardized tests,” Thurmond said.
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In 2016, DeKalb County elected Thurmond as CEO, charging him with getting rid of corruption and debt. He spent two terms, tackling long-delayed projects like sewer spills and broken water mains.
“Isn’t it ironic, though? The kid who grew up without a bathroom was put in charge of all bathrooms in DeKalb County,” he said.
He was also in charge of a large workforce, including the sanitation department. He started a program for workers to get a GED, which was a requirement to get promoted.
“I am a living, breathing example of the power of education,” he said.
Eight years ago, Thurmond inherited a $27 million deficit. Now, he’s leaving behind a $140 million surplus.
But what he really wants is downtime.
“I want to reflect. I want to rest and then we’ll see what the future holds,” he said.
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