The panel charged with evaluating how DeKalb County’s local government serves residents — and potentially recommending significant changes to its structure — will hold its first public hearing next week.

The charter review commission, which was reassembled earlier this year after a more than two-year hiatus, will meet at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 1. The meeting will be available to stream online but otherwise held in the Maloof Auditorium at the DeKalb County government complex, located at 1300 Commerce Drive in Decatur.

Social distancing with be observed and masks are required.

The commission, chaired by former state Sen. Steve Henson, has accepted public comments at previous meetings, but next week’s gathering will be the first dedicated exclusively to hearing from residents.

The executive order creating the panel requires that at least one public hearing be held in each county commission district.

The charter review commission is, among other things, charged with evaluating the county government and its organizational act to “ensure that it is representative of all citizens” and “responsive to the needs and demands of citizens.” That could include everything up to evaluating the county’s CEO position and the structure of the Board of Commissioners.

As currently written, the commission is expected to deliver its recommendations by the end of the year. But that deadline is likely to be extended.

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