DeKalb County interim CEO Lee May said Saturday that he will try to remove Vaughn Irons from the Development Authority, along with the rest of the board.
The move comes days after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News revealed Irons’ company, APD Solutions, did business with the county government after an invalid, possibly forged legal document showed up in the contracting department. The document purporting to be from the Ethics Board said he had no conflict of interest, overturning an assistant county attorney’s ruling that he could not be a member of the government and a government contractor too.
Irons has said neither he nor his company had anything to do with the document being turned in, and he’ll take an independent polygraph test to prove it.
The AJC/Channel 2 investigation also found Irons has been paying Commissioner Stan Watson $500 per month for consulting services, while Watson used his public office to assist APD in its business dealings.
After the revelations, May believes the Development Authority board needs a fresh start, his spokesman, Burke Brennan said. The seven-seat board currently has five members, all with expired terms.
They will continue serving until the County Commission approves May’s recommended replacements. May has already begun interviewing candidates, and he will submit names to the commission within the next month, Brennan said.
Commissioner Nancy Jester called for Irons’ resignation on Friday, along with an FBI investigation.
Read more about the AJC/Channel 2 investigation at MyAJC.com.
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