DeKalb appoints 16 to Charter Review Commission

DeKalb ICEO Lee May has announced appointments to the DeKalb County Charter Review Commission, a diverse body of community leaders who will study various aspects of DeKalb County government and come up with ways to improve the charter.

The commission is expected to look at how appointments are made, whether the form of government should be changed to one run by a county-manager and other aspects of organization.

The DeKalb County Charter Review Commission is one of the final recommendations of the DeKalb Government Operations Task Force (OTF) created by May in 2014. The OTF advised the DeKalb County delegation to establish a charter review commission to evaluate the county’s organizational act. That legislation was introduced but failed in the 2016 session of the Georgia General Assembly.

“Although Senate Bill 421, which provided for the creation of a charter review commission, failed to advance through the 2016 legislative session, it is important that we establish a platform for the citizens of DeKalb County to engage in a deliberate discussion related to the county’s governance structure,” said May.

Under May’s executive order, the commission will be comprised of 17 members: Three appointed by the interim CEO, two of which will serve as co-chairs of the commission and one of which will represent the now-vacant county commission District 7; one appointed by each member of the Board of Commissioners for a total of six members; two appointed by the DeKalb Senate Delegation; one member appointed by the DeKalb House Delegation; one appointed by the DeKalb Board of Education; one appointed by the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce; one appointed by the Georgia Municipal Association; and one appointed by the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia. So far, 16 members have been appointed.

The Charter Review Commission will hold its first organizational meeting on Sept. 22, 6:30 – 8 p.m., at the Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur.

Final recommendations from the commission must be submitted no later than June 30, 2017, to the DeKalb Governing Authority, each member of the General Assembly from DeKalb County, the governor, the lieutenant governor, speaker of the House and chairpersons of the Senate State and local governmental operations committee and the House governmental affairs committee.

The members of the DeKalb County Charter Review Commission are as follows:

Commission member                                                                Organization            Representing  Appointed by

Rahn Mayo                          Honeywell                                     Countywide                 Interim CEO Lee May

Ann Hanlon                         North Fulton CID                        Countywide                 Interim CEO Lee May

Robert Miller                     The Miller Group                           District 1                       Comm. Nancy Jester

Dean Vanderbilt               Retired                                              District 2                       Comm. Jeff Rader

Bobbie Sanford                 Sanford Realty                               District 3                       Comm. Larry Johnson

Stan Pritchett                    Morris Brown College                  District 4                       Comm. Barnes Sutton

Kathy Register                  Cong. Hank Johnson                   District 5                       Comm. M. Johnson

Jim Grubiak                         Attorney/Retired                        District 6                       Comm. Kathie Gannon

Jerome Edmondson       Entrepreneur Dev. Network         District 7                      ICEO Lee May

Delores Crowell               AT&T                                                 Countywide                 DeKalb Chamber

Dr. Melvin Johnson        DeKalb Board of Ed.                      Countywide                 DeKalb Board of Ed.

Michele NeSmith              Assn. of Co. Commissioners      Countywide                    ACC

Mayor John Ernst           Brookhaven, Georgia                Countywide                 GA Municipal Assn.

Carla Smith                          Signature Healthcare                 Countywide                 DeKalb Senate

Naomi Godfrey                 Attorney/Retired                        Countywide                 DeKalb Senate

TBD                                          TBD                                                       Countywide                 DeKalb House