Bob Ellis
Bob Ellis (Republican Party) is a member of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners in Georgia, representing District 2. He assumed office in 2014. His current term ends on December 31, 2028.
Ellis (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to represent District 2 in Georgia. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Ellis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Bob Ellis was born in Athens, Georgia. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia in 1992.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: Municipal elections in Fulton County, Georgia (2024)
General election
General election for Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 2
Incumbent Bob Ellis defeated Megan Harris in the general election for Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 2 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Bob Ellis (R)  | 54.5 | 51,289 |
 | Megan Harris (D) | 45.5 | 42,743 | |
| Total votes: 94,032 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 2
Megan Harris defeated Jennifer Phillippi in the Democratic primary for Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 2 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Megan Harris | 57.2 | 4,277 |
 | Jennifer Phillippi | 42.8 | 3,195 | |
| Total votes: 7,472 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 2
Incumbent Bob Ellis advanced from the Republican primary for Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 2 on May 21, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bob Ellis | 100.0 | 6,663 |
| Total votes: 6,663 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Ellis in this election.
2020
See also: Municipal elections in Fulton County, Georgia (2020)
General election
General election for Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 2
Incumbent Bob Ellis defeated Justin Holsomback in the general election for Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 2 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bob Ellis (R) | 53.7 | 47,865 |
 | Justin Holsomback (D) | 46.3 | 41,242 | |
| Total votes: 89,107 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 2
Justin Holsomback advanced from the Democratic primary for Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 2 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Justin Holsomback | 100.0 | 15,412 |
| Total votes: 15,412 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 2
Incumbent Bob Ellis advanced from the Republican primary for Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 2 on June 9, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Bob Ellis | 100.0 | 11,503 |
| Total votes: 11,503 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Bob Ellis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ellis' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I am blessed to be serving in my 10th year as a Fulton County Commissioner where I’ve served as Vice Chair multiple years and as interim Chairman in 2017. I’m passionate about expanding services for citizens, strong customer service, taking on tough problems, fiscal responsibility and transparency.
Professionally, I’m Vice President, National Product Leader for CNA Financial Corporation, a leading property and casualty insurance company. During my thirty plus year career in the insurance industry, I’ve held a variety of leadership roles where I’ve managed large teams, big budgets and worked with all types of companies from Fortune 50 to small nonprofits.
I serve or have served on the following Boards:
Chair of Fulton County Audit Committee Fulton Employee Retirement System Angie’s Kitchen Atlanta Fulton Recreation Authority Fulton Water Commission Veterans Empowerment Organization Fulton Library Board of Trustees Warrior 2 Citizen
I’m a long term member of Northbrook United Methodist Church where I’ve served in a number of leadership roles.- I believe that local government matters and approach my role as my constituent’s neighbor and representative charged with delivering responsible government which works to provide the services needed and required in our communities and delivering those in a way that is fiscally responsible and effective.
- I’m service oriented and result driven and have a record to show it, including:
-Fiscal responsibility focus has led to eight millage rate reductions (26% decrease) in nine years. -Spearheaded expansion of Mental Health services resulting in 600% increase in citizens served. - $400+ million in improvements to North Fulton water infrastructure to support growth and environmental sustainability. -Implemented a comprehensive internal whistleblower hotline, which has recently been expanded to general public.
-Provided long term tax relief and protection to Fulton homeowners by working to get legislation passed that provides for new exemptions, which capped property tax bills amid rising assessments. - I’m willing to take on problems and challenges, be they big or small, and believe government should be accountable to its citizens. Examples include: -Took on Fulton Tax Assessor and Georgia Department of Revenue over faulty, excessive assessments and won, saving taxpayers millions of dollars. -Led effort to establish Fulton as first Georgia county to take on opioid manufacturers and distributors, leading to Georgia and local governments executing a settlement for $636 million, which will be used to enhance drug treatment and prevention services. -Established benchmarks in 2023 to hold courts accountable, ensure timely due process, backlogs reduced and jails aren’t overcrowded, resulting in 25% reduction in jail population.
Property taxes and taxation: I believe strongly that homeownership is key to healthy communities and that local governments should always work to keep property taxes as low as they can, that assessments are fair and that appropriate exemptions are in place, including floating homestead exemptions and exemptions for seniors.
-Listening to and being responsive to your constituents.
-Being fiscally prudent and responsible with taxpayer money.
-Collaborating and finding common ground with other elected officials and stakeholders to find solutions to meet the needs and challenges faced by the communities they serve.
As a nearly 30 year resident of the District I represent, I know and care deeply about the communities I serve and have strong working relationships with the other local leaders, including school board members, mayors and city council members.
I’m a good listener, collaborative leader and independent thinker who can work with others to achieve common ground and consensus despite political or other differences.
Additionally, there are a number of entities within county government that the county commission has certain funding oversight of but does not have operational oversight of as the operations are controlled by other elected officials, namely court officials or tax officials. Fulton has had challenges in these areas and I’ve worked to foster accountability for citizens in these areas by establishing benchmarks and other accountability measures and reporting those in our public meetings and using those for decisional purposes as the Commission considers funding decisions.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2020
Bob Ellis completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ellis' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Elected to the Board of Commissioners in 2014, Ellis has served as Interim Chairman, Vice Chairman, member of the Board of Health and Library System. Presently, he serves as Chair of the County Audit Committee, member of the Fulton Employee's Retirement System, and board member of the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority and Water Resources Commission. Bob also serves on the Advisory Board of WellStar North Fulton Hospital.
Bob graduated from the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business and is a long-time resident of north Fulton County. Bob and his wife have three children and reside in Milton.
Bob is an active long-term member of Northbrook United Methodist Church in Roswell, GA where he has served in numerous leadership roles and teaches Sunday School.- Service Matters: Fulton government is ultimately about delivering quality service to citizens. As Commissioner, I have sought to expand services by bringing services closer to citizens via new services in more county facilities as well as more self-serve and digital offerings. Additionally, I have championed building a culture of customer service excellence in Fulton thru training, setting specific customer service expectations and key performance indicators and measuring and rewarding county employees relative to their performance against those standards.
- Collaborative Leadership is Critical: With 15 cities, 2 school systems and the capital city within its borders, Fulton's success depends on leaders who can collaborate with others, regardless of political persuasion, to deliver solutions for a large, diverse citizenry. As Commissioner, I have worked closely with Fulton leaders to deliver results, including significant property tax reform, funding for significant transportation and infrastructure improvements, and changes and improvements in behavioral health and public health services.
- Transparency and Fiscal Responsibility is Required: Citizens need to trust their money is being spent responsibly and delivers results. I created and now Chair Fulton's first Audit Committee and implemented a County hotline where suspected fraud and other issues can be reported, leading to significant internal control and operational improvements. I authored a new reserve requirement requiring Fulton to double its reserve fund and identified overhead and non-impactful programs that could be eliminated to facilitate investment in key areas of need. Fulton is great financial shape and has made significant investments in key areas of concern for citizens and has done this while also reducing the mileage rate in each of the past five years
- Overhaul of County model of Mental Health services, leading to doubling the number of citizens served.
- Working with Fulton schools to establish new mental health services for students including funding to ensure in-school mental health counseling in all Fulton schools.
- Engaging with stakeholders in the healthcare, civic and government sectors to battle the Opioid epidemic, both on the prevention and treatment front
- Collaborating with county staff, community partners and judicial officials to identify programs and services which reduce recidivism and foster long-term stability
Dedication to solving problems and delivering services to your constituents - your constituent's issues are your issues.
Ability to listen and learn - the issues you face will be numerous and complex. You have to be willing to roll up your sleeves and learn as much as you can and to be able to listen to multiple view points in order to make the best decisions for your constituents.
Discernment - you will have to make some tough decisions without perfect information. Ultimately, the ability to discern and make the best choices will determine your ability to lead.
Having lived and raised a family in the district I represent for over 25 years, I have a strong vested stake in ensuring that the issues of all citizens I represent are addressed. They are my neighbors, the kids I had the opportunity to coach in youth sports and that my wife taught in elementary school, the members of my church, local business owners, people I see at the gym and grocery store, and those who are working every day to make the communities I serve a special place. I ran for office so that I could be their voice and work for them.
Relevant, material professional experience that can benefit citizens - Prior experience such as board experience in the private or non-profit sector, managing people, overseeing and managing budgets that can be drawn upon are important if the individual is to be effective among a small governing body of 7 members.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate Fulton County Board of Commissioners District 2 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on July 5, 2020
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