An unlikely showdown is deepening in DeKalb County, where the CEO and Board of Commissioners are battling over, of all things, how to best reach the public.
At issue is up to $150,000 in taxpayer dollars, the possibility the county's cable-access channel could go dark and potential harm to the county's reputation for being able to serve the very people both sides say they want to reach.
"It's frustrating for them to be fighting," said Miya Moore, an insurance sales representative who lives near Decatur. "Why not just put meetings online and give people the convenience of watching when they want to, and then maybe that gives more money to the libraries or improving our roads."
The latest round hit Tuesday, when the commission voted 5-2 to override Chief Executive Burrell Ellis’ veto of the board’s move to set up its own public information office.
The $75,000 for that effort for a half year doesn’t move from the CEO’s office to the board until July 1, creating a small window for the two sides to agree on the key issue of how to record and broadcast commission committee meetings.
But if the transfer stands, it also means the total amount annually will be $150,000 -- about the same amount the county spends in salary for three people to run DeKalb County TV, the cable-access channel also known as DCTV that airs government meetings.
“We will need to take prudent steps to mitigate this potential budget hit,” Ellis spokesman Burke Brennan said.
The scuffle dates to late last year, when commissioners asked that committee meetings reviewing the budget be aired on DCTV.
The administration declined, saying it did not have the capabilities. Commissioner Elaine Boyer had a staffer buy an inexpensive video camera to record the meetings, which have since been shown on a website her office set up at www.dekalbboc.com.
Boyer is adamant that the public be given a way to see what happens in "where the work is done" in committee meetings.
But if a handful of residents at county offices Tuesday to pay their water bills are any indication, no one would watch the DCTV coverage of those meetings.
"Those are the channels I pause at but keep going to find something on," said Tanya Whitaker, a stay-at-home mom from central DeKalb.
Commissioner Kathie Gannon, who voted against the original transfer and dissented on the override with Commissioner Jeff Rader, said she supports the Web streaming of meetings. But she said those meetings also could be added to the On Demand options on cable without transferring the money.
Gannon added that commissioners have office budgets to handle their own public outreach, such as newsletters or public meetings.
“We don’t need another $75,000,” she said. “We spend $100,000 on our library funds for books, so $75,000 goes a long way.”
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