Torry Lewis and his RV nicknamed 'The Beast' gear up for campaign against Councilwoman Cleta Winslow
'It's hard to give someone four more years when we've given them 20 years'
- Courtesy of Torry Lewis
Atlanta City Councilwoman Cleta Winslow has faced her fair share of challengers over the years since she was elected in 1993 to represent part of Castleberry Hill, Mechanicsville, Pittsburgh, and West End. But Torry Lewis thinks that he has a strong chance to unseat the longtime incumbent in this November's election.
He says Winslow hasn't addressed the biggest needs in the neighborhoods that she represents. During her term, he says, parts of southwest Atlanta have not improved and remained a "black hole."
"It's hard to give someone four more years when we've given them 20 years," he says.
As the Atlanta native and "Grady baby" finishes his Ph.D. at Clark Atlanta University, he thinks his background in political science could help him win the District 4 seat. It's also not his first stab at politics; he lost a close Democratic primary against Pedro "Pete" Marin in 2006 for the state House seat representing Gwinnett County.
If elected, Lewis intends to focus on beautification efforts, which he says would help make the district more appealing and attract new businesses. He looks to other parts of Atlanta such as Old Fourth Ward and Buckhead, where he says the roads are maintained, city-owned property is kept good shape, and trash cans are prevalent.
"If you go to these other places and go down a main street, comparing Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard to Peachtree Road or 14th Street in Midtown, you see trash cans every couple hundred of feet," says Lewis. "The same thing goes for city property. If we can't give people an outlet to dispose of their trash, you can't expect it will be clean."