When voters decided four years ago to form Dunwoody, shrugging off what they viewed as the inefficient and petty governance of DeKalb County, they expected the new city to run better.
Now, some residents say they are embarrassed by infighting on the City Council, much of it over an internal investigation that has dragged on for months with costs topping $80,000 and no end in sight.
"Though Dunwoody can tout many accomplishments, it's hard to overlook the city's black eye," resident Joe Hirsch said. "I'm not happy with the costs associated with the investigations, but it's a consequence of bad leadership."
Hirsch said he thinks the investigation — which centers on how information was leaked from a closed City Council meeting in February — is an unfortunate but necessary expense.
Mayor Mike Davis, who took office in January, acknowledged the matter has garnered a lot of negative public sentiment, but the ethics problem has been festering for some time. He says protecting the sanctity of closed meetings is important for taxpayers.
"Sometimes you've got to show leadership, and people think we've gone off the rail," he said. "I hate that, but we have to do what we have to do."
The recent strife is far removed from the elation back in 2008, when Dunwoody residents voted by a ratio of more than 2-to-1 to incorporate and free themselves from service inadequacies they perceived in DeKalb's government. Since then, the city's net value has climbed steadily while its tax rate has remained unchanged.
But the past six months have tarnished its image as a model among Georgia's young municipalities.
The problems began when details from the closed council meeting in February were published in a local newspaper and by a local blogger. Although no formal vote was taken, the city hired former DeKalb District Attorney Bob Wilson to investigate the leak.
Wilson's 40-page report, released in mid-May, named Councilwoman Adrian Bonser and City Attorney Brian Anderson as sources for the leak. Wilson's tab for the investigation was $49,829.
Though he denied the accusation, Anderson resigned later that month, agreeing to a severance totaling $29,178.
But the matter did not drop there, and neither have the expenses.
In early June, Davis and the remaining council members signed an ethics complaint against Bonser, who responded by filing ethics charges against the mayor and council, City Manager Warren Hutmacher and Anderson.
Resident Bob Wolford said he'd like to see the infighting end.
"We want the government to work for us," he said, "not fight against each other."
Despite concerns about expenses already accrued in the investigation, Dunwoody's ethics board — which has never heard an ethics complaint in its four years of existence — voted this week to hire an attorney as an adviser at $150 per hour. It also is considering hiring a hearing officer.
The City Council did reject a request by Bonser to have the city pay for her legal counsel and the counsel for others involved in the ethics complaints. The vote was 5-2 with Bonser and Councilman Douglas Thompson voting in the minority.
Bonser, who denies leaking the information, claims the charges are politically motivated and the investigation was biased from the start. She said, based on information in Wilson's report, the closed session included discussion of the sale of city-owned property, a subject not allowed under Georgia's Open Meetings law at the time.
She also said the investigator used taxpayer money to go through her phone records, emails and texts and turned up no evidence she leaked confidential information.
"I'm embarrassed to be a member of the council," she said. "All I ever wanted to do was help my little part of the world."
Councilman John Heneghan, speaking at a June 26 City Council meeting, said he wants the whole matter put behind him.
"I'm disheartened with the money wasted on this process," he said, "and even more disappointed that this subject has distracted this city government from actually doing the people's work."
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