ROSWELL, Ga. — Allen Sells was elected to the Post 2 seat on the Roswell City Council, defeating Michael Dal Cerro by 540 votes in a special runoff election Dec. 5.
A total of 7,874 Roswell residents voted.
Sells received the endorsement of three councilmembers: Christine Hall, Lee Hills and Mike Palermo.
In the Nov. 7 municipal election, three candidates qualified to run for the Post 2 seat currently held by Palermo who is stepping down after two terms.
Sells is a 28-year Roswell resident, certified public accountant and financial executive. Councilwoman Sarah Beeson defeated him in a runoff election for the Post 1 seat in 2022.
Dal Cerro is a lifelong city resident, graduate of Roswell High School and the owner of a small business specializing in real estate and recruiting services. He had previously lost a bid for the council in 2021 when Councilman William Morthland defeated him in a runoff election for the Post 5 seat.
Dal Cerro had received the endorsement of new Post 4 City Councilman David Johnson.
Marisa Periera received 22 percent of the vote Nov. 7, which failed to qualify her for the runoff.
While Periera said she campaigned for Sells in 2022, she endorsed Dal Cerro for the Dec. 5 runoff.
“In Georgia, municipal level elections are supposed to be nonpartisan,” Periera wrote in her endorsement. “Secret dark money was used to lie about one of my opponents, Michael Dal Cerro, referring to him as an extreme liberal with a progressive agenda.”
While the platforms of both candidates are similar, Dal Cerro and Sells criticized each other throughout the lead up to the Dec. 5 runoff.
“This runoff was particularly contentious because the general political atmosphere in Roswell has turned up several levels over the past few years in particular,” Dal Cerro said after the runoff.
Specifically, Dal Cerro took issue with “at least five mailers and several texts that were funded by an unknown source,” which he attributes to Sells’ campaign.
While Dal Cerro supported an increase in housing options for young professionals, Sells used the hashtag #DontAtlantaMyRoswell throughout his campaign to convey his stand against high density residential.
Both candidates advocated for attracting mixed-use development, increasing walkability and balancing lower property taxes with the expense of city projects.
The main difference between the candidates’ platforms is the degree to which they support density in the city.
In 2022, the Roswell City Council made a significant update to the development code, eliminating stand-alone apartments.
While Dal Cerro pledged Nov. 18 to oppose standalone apartments, Sells pointed to his opponent’s opposition to the 2022 update to Roswell’s development code.
Sells said Dal Cerro spoke in opposition to development code updates at two public hearings in 2022, which Dal Cerro confirmed he did at least once.
While the updates eliminated stand-alone apartments, Dal Cerro said he did not advocate for more stand-alone apartments. Instead, Dal Cerro said he advocated against changes to the development code.
Both candidates claimed one another spread misinformation about their platforms.
“I hope all the candidates and their supporters can set aside divisive rhetoric questioning opponent’s motives… assuming they act with evil intent,” Sells said Dec. 6. “And that we can remain friends and neighbors, dedicated to improving our city.”
Councilwoman Sarah Beeson, who did not endorse a candidate in the 2023 municipal election, held her Nov. 7 election night party at Sunny & Ranney on Oak Street with the supporters of Lyndsey Coates and Dal Cerro.
“Although Allen and I obviously disagree on some perspectives,” Beeson said. “I have congratulated him on his win last night and hope that we can find commonalities to work together to best serve Roswell.”
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