Ex-DeKalb County CEO Levetan is still a uniter

Liane Levetan is more than a cheerleader for “Team DeKalb,” her multiyear plan to unite government, business and residents that culminated in 1998 with the county’s designation as an All-America city.

DeKalb County’s first female commissioner, who led the county for eight years as CEO, remains a not-so-behind-the-scenes player in everything from talk of new development in south DeKalb to a charity run to raise money for youth programs at the Marcus Jewish Community Center.

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AJC File

Former DeKalb County CEO Liane Levetan (pictured in 1997) has stayed busy since her unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2004. This week, she heads to Hong Kong.

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in this series:

• State still courts major businesses for 1,500-acre property 
• Iraq war hero going back for third tour 
• Ex-DeKalb County CEO Levetan is still a uniter 
• Jim Axel, ex-WAGA-TV announcer, fighting cancer 

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And in the middle of it, she also has begun encouraging current county leaders to plan more projects that could earn the county one of the highest good governance awards out there for a second time.

“That’s what makes my life interesting, staying involved and finding ways to encourage collaboration,” Levetan said.

The 73-year-old served in the state Senate after term limits forced her out as DeKalb CEO in 2000. But she hasn’t bothered with public office since 2004, when she ran unsuccessfully for Congress.

Instead, she has focused on strengthening her ties to local groups and becoming more involved with the International Women’s Forum. As the group’s international treasurer, she leaves this week for a meeting in Hong Kong.

Levetan will return just in time to put the finishing touches on the June 7 Harris Jacobs Dream Run. The event, named after a late friend, is a fund-raiser for youth programs at the Marcus Jewish Community Center.

All the while, she will be pitching for private money to pay for county leaders to attend the National Civic League’s meeting in Tampa during the weekend of June 17.

The league will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the All-America award, and Levetan thinks it’s important that DeKalb be there to remind the group of its success as a community. Other county leaders agree.

“This is a positive thing,” Commissioner Larry Johnson told Levetan when she presented her plan to the County Commission. “We are in support of anything to show all that we have going on and what a great county we are.”

The county earned its honor in 1998 for three projects: creating a child care center with the YMCA in south DeKalb; building resource centers across the county to help link residents to government services and working with Post Properties and other businesses to revitalize Lynwood Park; and starting with a new community pool.

The county has since worked with the YMCA to build another child care center, and Lynwood Park has become a hot spot of gentrification.

Levetan stops short of suggesting what projects the county could now tackle to get those sorts of long-term rewards. But there is no shortage of challenges facing the county, which is facing the same sort of deficit as when she took over in 1993.

Levetan has talked up the need to work together to business leaders — from the likes of heavy weights such as Coca-Cola and AirTran — and political leaders such as current CEO Burrell Ellis.

She hopes the trip to Tampa will reinvigorate both sides and lead to more projects for her beloved DeKalb.

“I know things are tough right now, but with the economy the way it is, collaboration is more important than ever,” she said. “It has been an inspiration to me to see people’s willingness to be a part of the solution. You just have to ask.”