DeKalb County: ask the CEO about greenspace dollars, annexation, cityhood and education

The AJC reports that DeKalb County's Interim CEO Lee May will host six community meetings during the month of August. The topics will cover "accomplishments and issues, including cityhood and government structure." Lee May (County Commissioner for District 5) was appointed interim CEO by Governor Deal in July 2013 when then CEO Burrell Ellis was suspended following his indictment on felony charges.

The meetings are scheduled to run from 7:00 - 8:30pm on

Aug. 7  at Derwin Brown Memorial South Precinct (2856 H F Shepherd Dr., Decatur, GA 30034),
Aug. 12 at Stonecrest Library (3123 Klondike Rd., Lithonia, GA  30038),
Aug. 14 at St. Timothy United Methodist Church (5365 Memorial Dr., Stone Mountain, GA 30083),
Aug. 19 at Tucker-Reid H. Cofer Library (5234 LaVista Rd., Tucker, GA  30084),
Aug. 21 at Welcome Friend Baptist Church (3198 Bouldercrest Rd., Ellenwood, GA 30294), and
Aug. 26 at the Maloof Auditorium (1300 Commerce Dr #5, Decatur, GA 30030).

Please attend or email the Commissioners with your thoughts and concerns. Their contact information appears at the end of this post.

Recently, CEO May released a document reviewing his first year in office as interim CEO. "A Retrospective Look Back, A Progressive Move Forward" outlines accomplishments in public safety, police and fire services, disaster response, infrastructure, sustainable communities, development, leadership and youth services.

July 2014: AJC map shows overlapping 
cityhood proposals.

Hopefully, the above meetings will offer a chance to get answers on topics not covered by this annual report such as


Cityhood:  Some folks in Druid Hills are exploring annexation to the City of Atlanta. In early July, leaders of the overlapping Lakeside and Briarcliff proposals announced a collaboration, but no updates have been issued.  Our neighborhood's fate in these deliberations remains unknown.

Schools: A Druid Hills annexation raises questions about what would happens to DeKalb County public schools located in Druid Hills neighborhoods. Meanwhile, the Druid Hills Charter School Cluster proposal (created in response to dissatisfaction with how DeKalb County schools are administered) continues to meet resistance from the DeKalb Board of Education and Superintendent.

Greenspace funds: It makes more
sense to invest in existing commitments
via Commissioner Kathie Gannon

Greenspace funds: For several months now, the Civic Association Network (CAN) and our Commisioners Rader and Gannon have actively questioned a proposal to use $5 million greenspace dollars to purchase the South DeKalb YMCA. The Board of Commissioners' agenda for August 12 includes a vote on this purchase. Please see this Decaturish.com item summarizing Commissioner Gannon's reasoning that the County is better off investing in facilities it already owns and that are in need of maintenance and development.

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Commissioners' emails ready for cut/paste: ecboyer@dekalbcountyga.gov, jrader@dekalbcountyga.gov, larryjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov, sbsutton@dekalbcountyga.gov, lmay@dekalbcountyga.gov, kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov, stanwatson@dekalbcountyga.gov

Commissioner   (District)	Assistant(s)	Phone	Email
Elaine Boyer (District 1)	Bob Lundsten Courtney Townsend	404-371-2844	ecboyer@dekalbcountyga.gov
Jeff Rader (District 2)	Caroline Enloe	404-371-2863	jrader@dekalbcountyga.gov
	Debbie Schneider
Larry Johnson (District 3)	Margaret Britton	404-371-2425	larryjohnson@dekalbcountyga.gov
	Ingrid Butler
Sharon Barnes Sutton (District 4)	Judy T. Brownlee	404-371-4907	sbsutton@dekalbcountyga.gov
	Marguerita M. Lance
Lee May (District 5) Interim CEO	Latrese Young	404-371-4745	lmay@dekalbcountyga.gov
	Edmond Richardson
Kathie Gannon (Super District 6)	Corrin Wagnon	404-371-4909	kgannon@dekalbcountyga.gov
	Davis Fox
Stan Watson (Super District 7)	Kelly LaJoie	404-371-3681	stanwatson@dekalbcountyga.gov
	Tiffany Campbell