DEL.ICIO.USBarnes-Sutton could alter balance of DeKalb commission
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The New Year brought a new political era for DeKalb County, when Burrell Ellis succeeded Vernon Jones as chief executive officer of the government. Perhaps less noticed was Sharon Barnes-Sutton, who succeeded Ellis in his old south DeKalb County commission post, altering the balance of power.
Ellis was a key player on the legislative body, leading a four-member bloc that opposed Jones on major issues, such as the budget and public safety. Barnes-Sutton could prove pivotal if she sides with the three commissioners on the seven-member body who previously were in the minority and who tended to vote against Ellis.
Jason Getz/jgetz@ajc.com
Sharon Barnes-Sutton gets a hug from DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis at his inauguration ceremony.
The mother of three in Stone Mountain started public life in an elementary school parent-teacher association. As her children grew up, she took on larger roles, becoming secretary of a county-wide PTA umbrella group, then serving on a legislative committee for the state PTA and working as legislative chair for the Organization of DeKalb Educators.
Barnes-Sutton, 49, teaches online business to county high school students. She said she will represent DeKalb’s 4th commission district differently than Ellis, an attorney who worked at a national law firm in Atlanta.
“I think Burrell cares about the community,” she said, “but I’m more involved in the community.”
She joins the commission as it gains more independence from the CEO’s office, and has more clout in shaping county policy. Jones set the commission’s agenda and presided over its meetings, but a voter-approved referendum last year removed his successor from the legislative process.
Public safety is Barnes-Sutton’s top priority. Her district runs along Memorial Drive, from Avondale Estates to Stone Mountain. It was a vibrant corridor when she moved there two decades ago, but has deteriorated. She wants to rejuvenate the area. She said wants to reduce crime so more businesses will locate there.
She said she’s not in a position to judge the performance of Police Chief Terrell Bolton, with whom Ellis has been embroiled in a public spat. But she said the chief ” did a great job of connecting with the community,” and she questions Ellis’ proposal to hire a public safety director to oversee the chief. She said she wants evidence the new position would improve the quality of policing.
As the new chair of the commission’s public safety committee, her opinion matters. Larry Johnson, the commission’s new presiding officer and a member of what used to be the minority bloc, granted the freshman commissioner positions on that and two other key legislative committees. Meanwhile, a couple of her more experienced colleagues who were in the majority last year now appear marginalized with one committee assignment apiece.
It’s unclear how well the commission will work together and whether it will support or oppose most of Ellis’ initiatives. But Barnes-Sutton said she will try to change one thing: She knows the commission’s history of bickering and said she hopes that era has ended.
“I’m hoping that even though we can’t agree on an issue that won’t mean that we have to hold grudges and fail to work together,” she said, “because everybody is just tired of that.”
Services »
