The soon-to-be city of Brookhaven took another step Thursday toward defining itself.
A standing-room-only crowd of nearly 200 gathered at St. Martin’s Episcopal School for the Brookhaven commission’s first meeting.
The five-member panel appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal is tasked with setting the groundwork for DeKalb County’s newest city. Brookhaven will officially become a city Dec. 17. Before then, the city must elect a mayor and a commission and decide which services the city will extend its residents.
Thursday, the commission started the path to cityhood by naming an acting city attorney, Bill Riley, a veteran of launching new Georgia cities. The commission also agreed on the time future meetings would start – 8 p.m. And it gave commission chairman Ben Vinson the authority to create and appoint committees.
The committees, which will be comprised of at least one commissioner and citizen volunteers, is where the major decisions will be made.
J.D. Clockadale, a member of the commission, urged residents to get involved with the committees.
“It’s the best way to get your voice heard,” Clockadale said.
Vincent Vinson said he would ideally like to appoint five committees, with citizen members who have sharp ideas about how the city should operate and who can work under the pressure of looming deadlines.
“We will be looking for people with the desire, time and motivation to do that,” he said.
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