A crowd of DeKalb residents told state legislators Thursday their hopes for this year's lawmaking session, sharing their opinions on the county's form of government, cityhood and government oversight.
When the Georgia General Assembly meets Monday, it will again consider bills that directly affect DeKalb.
Legislators will review proposals to change the county's CEO form of government, which is unique in Georgia. Many counties use an unelected county manager to run day-to-day government operations instead of a CEO, who acts similarly to a city's mayor.
Several of DeKalb’s representatives appeared to favor a broad review of the county’s charter rather than only the CEO position. A charter review could evaluate the county’s leadership, the number of county commission seats or term limits.
As residents approached a podium to speak to their legislators, more opposed the proposed city of Greenhaven in South DeKalb than supported it.
Skeptics of Greenhaven said it would be too large, with a population of 300,000, and they feared their property values would decline. Greenhaven supporters said residents deserve a right to vote on cityhood, which would help them control their community’s destiny.
Legislation creating Greenhaven is pending in the House, and a separate proposal for a city of Stonecrest near Lithonia has already passed the state Senate.
Other citizens spoke out against Sen. Gloria Butler's removal of Harmel Codi from DeKalb's new oversight committee, which was formed to hire an auditor and bring greater accountability to government operations. Some of the crowd stood in support of Codi as speakers said Butler, D-Stone Mountain, tampered with a board that was supposed to be independent from poltical interference. Butler wasn't among the 13 legislators who attended the meeting.
Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, said she has asked Attorney General Sam Olens' office for a legal opinion. House Bill 599 said members of the committee had to be appointed by Oct. 31, and Butler rescinded her appointment of Codi on Dec. 28.
More than 200 people attended the meeting at DeKalb’s government building, speaking about a wide variety of other topics, including MARTA expansion, medical marijuana, crime prevention, potholes and fireworks.
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