A task force has abandoned the idea of changing DeKalb County’s unique CEO form of government, deciding Wednesday that the effort wasn’t politically feasible.
DeKalb is the only county in Georgia with a powerful chief executive elected to run government operations alongside a county commission that sets policy and budgets. Many other counties rely on an unelected manager — who answers to a commission — rather than an independent CEO.
Interim CEO Lee May had supported eliminating his position, and he had formed the task force to evaluate the effectiveness of DeKalb’s governance structure.
Opponents of CEO leadership have said it gives one person too much political authority and leads to corruption.
But members of the DeKalb Government Operations Task Force said they lacked enough support among the county’s state legislators to make a change.
“Based on what I’ve seen in the past from the DeKalb delegation in the General Assembly, there’s no appetite to change it,” said Sen. Fran Millar, R-Atlanta. “I do think the public would like to see us address it, but we’re not going to.”
Bill Floyd, a former mayor of Decatur, said the county government needs an overhaul.
“In order to look at changing the culture in DeKalb County, you’re going to have to look at changing the structure somehow,” said Floyd, a member of the task force and executive director for the DeKalb Municipal Association. “Maybe the easiest way to do that might be changing the structure of government.”
The co-chairman of the task force, Vaughn Irons, said the group should focus on other issues such as service delivery, ethics and transparency.
“We should spend our time focused on the balance of powers” between the legislative and executive branches of government, said Irons, chairman of the DeKalb County Office of Economic Development.
The task force will continue evaluating government structure, cityhood movements and taxation issues until December, when it could make recommendations to the state Legislature.
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