The state’s top attorney has weighed in on the question of what can be done to fill the District 5 seat on the DeKalb County Commission: Nothing.
At least, not until the fate of suspended CEO Burrell Ellis is decided, according to a non-binding letter by Attorney General Sam Olens.
That’s because state and local law did not require the current interim CEO, Lee May, to resign his district commission seat when he replaced suspended Ellis in July.
And since there is no law allowing for an interim solution on the commission, the status quo should remain.
“The designation of Mr. May in that temporary role does not appear to remove him from his own office as District 5 Commissioner or make him the incumbent CEO under law,” Olens wrote.
The technical question of whether May could serve in both roles had been a concern for some other commissioners and county insiders.
Olens’ letter, his interpretation of the law but not a formal opinion, was in answer to questions from Commissioner Jeff Rader and state rep. Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta.
May has not been a voting member on the commission since June. That has created delays in zoning requests and public embarrassment when the six-member board failed to find four commissioners to agree on the routine measure of naming a presiding officer.
Those public problems are unusual given the county government that serves 700,000 people has largely handled operations as usual amid the upheaval of Ellis’ June political corruption indictment.
But it is May’s inability to vote on the commission – as CEO he votes only in a tie or with a veto – that has drawn an increasing number of complaints from some of the 145,000 residents who live in the southeastern swatch of DeKalb that May serves as commissioner.
“My concern is not that, if I have a complaint, no one is going to address it,” said Gina Mangham, an attorney who lives near Lithonia who acknowledged May has kept office staff for constituent calls.
“I’m more concerned about proactively moving this part of the county along,” she added. “But I guess for however long they monkey around with this case, we have no representation.”
May said he felt vindicated by the attorney general’s letter but also reiterated that he remains committed to both jobs.
He notes that he can still vote in some circumstances on commission business. More importantly, serving temporarily in the county’s top political job gives him a larger platform to push for his district.
For instance, the county recently announced the creation of the East Metro Community Improvement District. The self-taxing area encompasses a large chunk of May’s district and received renewed attention given his role in advocating for it.
May said he is trying to work more with the commission than Ellis did.
“I am trying to say this is an art of negotiation and compromise, and that’s new for DeKalb,” May said. “I’d rather get us moving in what we can agree is the right direction than get 100 percent of what I want.”
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