A proposal to eliminate DeKalb County's powerful CEO position failed to pass the Georgia General Assembly this year.
The bill didn't get a vote in the House of Representatives after legislators objected to it moving forward without agreement from the county's delegation.
The legislation, Senate Bill 378, called for the CEO job to cease to exist in 2019 and be replaced by a politically weak county commission chairman. The 6,000-employee government would have been run by a county manager who would have answered to the county commission.
House Minority Leader Stacy Abrams, D-Atlanta, said a citizen-led charter review commission should have reviewed DeKalb's form of government before voters are asked about whether they should abolish the CEO role.
“It’s putting the cart well in front of the horse,” Abrams said during a House Rules Committee meeting Thursday.
Sen. Fran Millar, R-Atlanta, sponsored the bill and said it was necessary to achieve reform in DeKalb. The bill passed the state Senate last month.
“Ninety percent of people in DeKalb County know there’s been problems with that position,” Millar said in a committee hearing earlier this month.
The charter review commission measure, Senate Bill 421, also didn't pass before the end of this year's legislative session.
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