DeKalb Ethics Board brought to full strength
The overhaul of the DeKalb County Board of Ethics is finally complete.
DeKalb's state legislators voted unanimously Thursday to appoint Shermanetta Carter, a certified public accountant, to serve as the Board of Ethics' last member.
With a full seven-members, the board can now move toward resuming hearing complaints about unethical behavior by DeKalb government officials and contractors.
The DeKalb Board of Ethics' membership was replaced as part of a restructuring approved by 92 percent of voters in November. The initiative removed the power to appoint board members from the DeKalb Commission and CEO, instead having them appointed by seven groups.
The board’s membership was supposed to be filled by Dec. 31, but DeKalb’s delegation to the Georgia General Assembly wasn’t ready to make its appointment until after this year’s legislative session began.
Legislators said they chose Carter because she could be independent and objective, and she has never run for political office.
Carter runs her own firm, Integrity Accounting Services. She previously worked as a revenue agent for the IRS and as a photojournalist for the U.S. Army Reserves, according to her resume.
The other members of the Board of Ethics are:
- Scott Bonder, an attorney appointed by the DeKalb Bar Association
- Brian Deutsch, an attorney appointed by DeKalb Probate Court Judge Jeryl Rosh
- Daniel DeWoskin, an attorney appointed by Leadership DeKalb
- Greg Russell, a financial adviser for Edward Jones Investments, appointed by the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce
- Lawrence Schall, the president of Oglethorpe University, appointed by six local universities and colleges
- Robert Tatum, an IBM contractor serving as a contract management analyst, appointed by DeKalb Superior Court Chief Judge Tangela Barrie
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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.
