Governor names panel to set up Brookhaven
The five-member commission tasked with how the pending city of Brookhaven will set itself up was named Friday, a day before the deadline and just three and a half months before the north-central DeKalb County city is slated to open for business.
Gov. Nathan Deal announced his selection in a media alert, after spokespeople in his press office had left for the long holiday weekend. However, because of the short time frame for work, the commission is expected to begin meeting sometime next week.
The members are:
- Benjamin Vinson, chairman. Vinson is an attorney at McKenna Long & Aldridge, having previously served as majority caucus counsel in the state House of Representatives. He also helped defend Deal against the ethics commission complaints that the governor recently settled.
- J.D. Clockadale, District 1 representative. Clockadale is the marketing director for RaceTrac gas stations who also chairs a private security patrol of off-duty DeKalb police officers in Brookhaven. A member of Brookhaven Yes, Clockadale withdrew his name as a candidate for the district's City Council seat days after qualifying.
- Todd Lantier, District 2 representative. Lantier is a sales manager for MassMutual Financial Group/Capstone Financial Partners who also serves as president of the civic group Brookhaven Community Connection. He is also an advisory board member of Friends of Brookhaven Park.
- Jed Beardsley, District 3 representative. Beardsley is a real estate and tax attorney and shareholder in the law firm Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. He is president of the Board of Historic Brookhaven Neighborhood Association and is on the group's board of directors.
- Kim Gökçe, District 4 representative. Gökçe is a technical project manager for AT&T and a founding director for both the Brookhaven Community Connection and the Cross Keys Foundation, which supports public education. He also was a founding member of the Cross Keys Sustainable Neighborhood Initiative.
The group is charged with finding candidates, even on an interim basis, for city manager, city attorney, clerk and finance director.
It also is expected to set up citizen task forces, to help recommend services and plan whether, like previous new cities, Brookhaven outsources nearly all government programs to private companies.
Voters will choose from a crowded field of 25 candidates — 21 alone for the four City Council seats — for the city’s first mayor and council on Nov. 6.
Runoff elections are expected with so many candidates, creating the possibility that a council may not be seated until after a Dec. 4 vote. Brookhaven officially becomes a city on Dec. 17.
