Politics
Politics

DeKalb Ethics Board gets final member amid investigations

By Mark Niesse
June 20, 2014

DeKalb County Interim CEO Lee May replaced an inactive member of the Board of Ethics on Friday, days before the board considers several complaints against county commissioners and employees.

May appointed Robert Blackman, a Vietnam War veteran and a member of the county Code Enforcement Advisory Committee, to replace board member Isaac Blythers.

Blackman’s appointment fills out the seven-member board, which would need five votes to reprimand, suspend or remove an official from office.

Ethics cases are pending against Commissioners Elaine Boyer, Larry Johnson and Sharon Barnes Sutton based on complaints that they used their county purchasing cards to buy personal items.

The Ethics Board plans to meet Tuesday to review the progress of investigations into Boyer, suspended CEO Burrell Ellis, suspended Purchasing Director Kelvin Walton and former county secretary Nina Hall.

Blackman will serve a seven-year term, and John Ernst will remain the board’s chairman.

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.

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