Likely District 6 Candidate Releases Formal Statement

Longtime Sandy Springs resident Sonja Tonpea says she intends to run for the District 6 seat on the Sandy Springs City Council along with environmental advocate Patty Berkovitz and Attorney and businessman Andy Bauman.

District 6 City Councilmember Karen Meinzen McEnerny has decided not to seek re-election. Qualifying for all candidates is Aug. 26-30.

Tonpea moved to Sandy Springs in 1998. She sent the following press statement to Sandy Springs Patch: 

Ms. Tonpea…has a proud history of community involvement. She is a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama and is the founder and president of Stewarts Village, PCH, Inc, a senior health care facility.  She has chaired Coats for Kids, volunteered for Camp Independence Dialysis, has been a PTSA Board member at Riverwood International Charter School in Sandy Springs, and Founder of the Alzheimer’s Support Group of Villa Rica, Ga.  Her concerns about public health have a global reach and she is the past President of NIMBA Educational and Medical Fund of Liberia. 

Her work with seniors and other marginalized individuals has given her a clear understanding of how communities need to support not only growing business concerns, but the people of the community as well.

Her spirit of public participation reaches beyond the health care industry, however, and her interests include organizations that serve the public. She demonstrates a high level of management, continuously examining administrative effectiveness and seeking better and more efficient procedures.  Her roster of memberships includes Leadership Sandy Springs (2009), Sandy Springs Rotary, United Way VIP Board and 100 Black Women, Metro Chapter. Ms. Tonpea is a member of the highly regarded Westfield High School Alumni Association, Atlanta Chapter.

Ms. Tonpea excels in isolating characteristics in need of improvement and would like to see a City Council that encourages open communications in order to achieve mutual understanding and higher levels of performance. Recognizing the financial implications of all management decisions she believes that the Sandy Springs City Council can and should effectively control costs through economical utilization of personnel, materials and time.

See also: 

Patty Berkovitz and Andy Bauman Will Make District 6 Race Interesting

Councilwoman Says Mayoral Run Requires Too Much Energy

Sandy Springs Resident Produces Film on Historic High School