It came across as a clownish game of tug of war, but the struggle over the Fulton commission’s microphone mute button started as an attempt to improve the image of the county government.
Mindful of the rampant discontent with a commission that has direct governance over less than 10 percent of the county’s population, Chairman John Eaves has been trying to limit some of his colleagues’ long-winded speeches and often tedious grandstanding in televised public meetings. With Fulton facing a shortfall of more than $100 million next year, and with a tax hike among the options on the table, Eaves thinks the county needs all the goodwill it can get.
But so far, his efforts have only stirred resistance, doing little to generate any positive public relations. In trying to enforce 10-minute speaking limits, Eaves has been publicly insulted and had his orders to staff countermanded.
The spat over the microphone kill switch — in which Eaves spent $714 in county funds having the button rewired to his chair at the dais, only to have Commissioner William “Bill” Edwards order it moved back to the clerk’s desk — has highlighted how little authority Fulton’s commission chair holds, and how that plays into a perception of dysfunction.
“I believe that perception is, for some people, reality,” Eaves said. “We have a good government, and meetings need to reflect that.”
But Charlie Kelly, a retired corporate executive who lives in Johns Creek, described the board as inept and said he quit watching the meetings on Fulton Government Television because of the bloviating.
“None of them are serving us well,” Kelly said. “If the chairman is trying to restore functionality to the meetings, then give him the mute button.”
Fulton County has long had an image problem in Kelly’s part of the county, culminating in the formation of three new cities in 2005 and 2006, which has north Fulton entirely incorporated. Residents still complain that the county government treats them as a cash cow, funneling their tax dollars to Atlanta and south Fulton.
As for who’s drawing out meeting lengths, a report from the commission clerk’s office shows Vice Chair Emma Darnell to be the chattiest by far. During the past 12 months, the report shows, Darnell has talked for nearly 19 hours during meetings, followed by Edwards with 8 1/2 hours and Robb Pitts with almost four hours.
Darnell said it’s not how long she talks that chafes some commissioners, but what she’s saying. She frequently launches passionate diatribes on issues involving senior services, Grady Memorial Hospital, MARTA and employee spending.
Eaves ordered the mute button rewiring last month after he and Darnell squabbled over time limits. Eaves ordered the clerk to cut off her microphone when she went over. He then butted heads with other commissioners later in the meeting, with Pitts comparing him to a character on the TV show “Amos ‘n’ Andy.”
Both Darnell and Edwards have questioned why Eaves isn’t more strict on Tom Lowe, who they say interrupts and makes rude comments, but is often part of a voting bloc with Eaves. Lowe spoke for 3 hours and 5 minutes during the past year, the report shows.
“We’re not going to let Mr. Eaves’ agenda, whatever it is, interfere with the conducting of business,” Darnell said. “Nobody who looks at our meetings can conclude that we don’t have orderly meetings, but there can be no stars, the chairman included.”
With four votes, Eaves could have the button moved back to his seat, which he said he’ll probably take up later this month. It would give him an ability his counterparts don’t have in DeKalb, Cobb or Gwinnett. But even if he succeeds, state Rep. Kathy Ashe, D-Atlanta, said she doubts much will change on Fulton’s board. Currently, the chairperson is essentially an at-large commissioner with no more authority than his six colleagues.
“I think it won’t work until that position has expanded power to actually be a commission chair, and not just preside at meetings,” she said.
Ashe reintroduced a bill in March that would make the chairman a full-time position, with power to hire and fire the county manager and department heads, make appointments to committees and authorities, and set meeting agendas. She said she will make a serious push for it in next year’s legislative session, adding language so that it wouldn’t take effect until 2015, after the next chairman election.
Dianne DeVore, a Roswell resident and member of the North Fulton and Friends Tea Party, said commission meetings are “a farce,” and the best solution is to re-form Milton County.
“Right now, I’m not sure what would improve the image of the Fulton County Commission,” she said. “And it’s that way for a lot of people.”
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