A low point in Fulton County politics will come to a close next Tuesday when two candidates square off for a Fulton County Commission seat in a runoff race.

Local businessman Bill Edwards faces Khadijah Abdur-Rahman to determine who will fill former Commissioner Michael Hightower's post on the commission. Abdur-Rhaman led the pack of 13 candidates in the Nov. 7 General Election with 13 percent of the vote, while Edwards garnered 11 percent.

Abdur-Rhaman has maintained a relatively low profile in the race and did not attend a recent forum sponsored by the South Fulton Chamber of Commerce or respond to questions from the League of Women Voters. She also has not returned phone calls from The Citizen.

Edwards has spent his time talking to various groups around the county and emphasizing that the commission and the Fulton County Board of Education must work closer together to bring up test scores for South Fulton students.

The race has been fairly clean and has not shown any sign of divisiveness. Many of the candidates leading up to the primary emphasized that they were honorable and would not be tempted like Hightower was to accept bribes for favorable treatment by the commission.

Hightower pleaded guilty to a criminal information charge that in September 1999, he accepted cash from a county contractor.

According to information presented in court, Hightower acknowledged that he accepted cash from George Greene on several occasions during 1998 and 1999, totaling approximately $25,000.

During the time Hightower was accepting cash from Greene, Greene's company, Sable Communications Corporation of Georgia, was a participant in a number of multi-million-dollar contracts with Fulton County, including the Y2K computer compliance contract and the Criminal Justice Information System contract.

The federal statute to which Hightower pled guilty, Title 18, Section 666 of the United States Code, makes it illegal for officials and employees of local governments that receive federal funding to accept or solicit corrupt payments in connection with government business.

South Fulton residents have been represented by Chairman Mike Kenn and Commissioner Karen Webster since Hightower resigned.

The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.