Tuesday’s municipal election was supposed to be a time for change in Decatur. It sort of was.

Kent Lawrence, a soft-spoken businessman with very little political experience, was picked by voters as the city’s next mayor on Tuesday night. He beat out longtime Decatur City Councilman Billy Jackson, 54 percent to 43 percent.

“It’s very exciting, very humbling,” Lawrence told reporters shortly after declaring victory. “It will be my job to sit down with everyone and actually listen. I want to bring people together–that’s what the city needs.”

The division within the city has been well documented over the last two years, following the Sept. 2023 alleged murder of Steve Perkins by Decatur Police officer Mac Bailey Marquette. Perkins was essentially ambushed by police in his front yard during

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