DeKalb economic development board gains new members
The DeKalb County Commission on Tuesday approved the appointments of two more members to the county's economic development board, a step in the process of replacing its leadership.
The commission voted to fill two seats on DeKalb Development Authority board by confirming Miranda Mack McKenzie, an executive with Atlanta Technical College, and Baoki Vu, an investment strategy executive. Two other new board members were confirmed last month: Don Bolia, a partner for Peachtree Government Affairs lobbying firm, and Tyrone Rachal, the president of Urban Key Capital Partners.
Vaughn Irons, the CEO of APD Solutions, remains the board's chairman for now while the commission considers nominees that would replace him and another board member.
Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May said earlier this year that he wanted to remove the authority's current board after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action News exposed a document that allowed Irons' company to receive a $1.5 million county contract. The document purporting to be from the DeKalb Board of Ethics said Irons had no conflict of interest to bid on a housing rehab contract while also serving on the Development Authority.
Irons has said he didn’t know the Board of Ethics never voted on the issue.
About the Author
Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.
