POTENTIAL FIXES
A special grand jury investigation into allegations of kickbacks and bid rigging in DeKalb County contracts helped lead to the indictment of CEO Burrell Ellis. Its report also calls for a shake-up of county government to eliminate what it found was a culture of corruption. Among recommendations:
- Eliminating the CEO form of government in favor of a full-time commission that hires/fires a professional manager. Status: In discussion for inclusion with the county's legislative wish list, though state lawmakers who would need to change the county charter have been reluctant to take up the battle.
- Granting the County Commission the ability to adopt local laws governing purchasing decisions. That power is now vested entirely with the chief executive but is not enshrined in law. Status: Local and state officials have agreed to award that power to the commission, and the effort will likely pass in the upcoming legislative session.
- Dropping the current seven-member ethics board in favor of a full-time ethics officer to oversee complaints about rule violations by elected officials and department heads. Status: The current ethics board is requesting additional funding to hire investigators to help with its work, though the County Commission has yet to vote on the request.
- Eliminating a purchasing program that gives special consideration for locally owned, often minority-run, small businesses. Status: Interim CEO Lee May and a majority of the commission have voiced support for keeping the program but are reviewing changes as part of an overall audit of county purchasing rules.
While serving as DeKalb County’s CEO, Burrell Ellis set the rules on how to spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars on contracts. He also could change those rules at any time.
With Ellis now suspended for allegedly abusing that purchasing authority, a growing chorus of state and local leaders is calling to take away the CEO’s control over awarding contracts. A grand jury report said that power is a key reason DeKalb is ripe for corruption. The change might even happen before Ellis goes to trial to answer charges of bid rigging, theft and extortion.
“At this point, I think it’s clear what happens when you govern with unlimited power instead of law,” Commissioner Jeff Rader said. “At minimum, it’s irresponsible. At worst, it’s criminal.”
The CEO’s control over contracts has long bothered DeKalb county commissioners.
But reeling in the CEO’s powers means changes to the county’s charter, which only the Legislature can do. And until now, lawmakers such as state Rep. Howard Mosby, who heads DeKalb’s House delegation, viewed much of the strife between the commission and Ellis and his predecessor, Vernon Jones, as power struggles. This year, that has changed.
The case against Ellis centers on allegations he hit up county vendors for campaign contributions and punished those who didn’t give. The first hearing in the 15-count indictment against Ellis, which had been scheduled for Thursday, has been delayed. Ellis has strongly denied wrongdoing.
The allegations, though, revived calls for an overhaul to DeKalb government. The setup of having an elected executive run daily operations is unusual in Georgia. Most counties, including the large ones in metro Atlanta, are governed by a county commission that hires and fires a professional manager.
Mosby, an Atlanta Democrat, has long argued that complaints about the government lie with personalities, not the system itself.
Still, he said when the Legislature convenes in January, he will champion a DeKalb charter change that loosens the CEO’s grip on contracts. That could come up for a vote, expected to pass, before Ellis begins his yet-scheduled trial.
“That is the one thing, if we only do one thing, that we know we need to do,” Mosby said. “You can’t argue for a CEO government because of checks and balances if you don’t also make sure you have that balance.”
It wouldn’t be the first time that lawmakers have tried tweaks to ensure balance. At the end of Jones’ tenure in 2008, lawmakers changed the county’s charter by removing the CEO from a spot on the County Commission.
The move allowed the board to set its own agenda — including pushing for the elimination of the CEO job — but did not grant it any new authority over the executive.
That lack of oversight is unusual in other counties run by executives. And cities with strong mayors also rarely vest such near-complete authority in one person, said David Shock, a political science professor at Kennesaw State University.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, for instance, wields little power over city contracts. By charter, the Atlanta City Council sets the rules on all elements of purchasing, from sealed bidding requirements to emergency contracts.
“Power in democracy is really measured by your ability to sway others to see your way,” Shock said. “In DeKalb, the CEO doesn’t have to work with anyone. It’s curious the state allowed that to happen.”
The special grand jury report released in August encouraged state lawmakers to adopt the more common commission-manager model to eliminate the culture of corruption it found in its yearlong investigation. DeKalb’s County Commission, too, has pushed for that change.
The apparent agreement to curtail the CEO’s powers has tamped down those demands, at least for now. Interim CEO Lee May, long an advocate of eliminating the job he temporarily holds, is now calling for an extensive review of the setup before advocating for major changes.
May and the commission will work out specifics as part of a legislative wish list to be unveiled in the next month.
Mosby said that review will last well past the upcoming legislative session — meaning changes to purchasing authority and other powers may be the only state action in store next year.
Those changes would still be significant in fixing problems, though, said Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton.
“Regardless of what we have, a CEO or a chairman, we can’t have unlimited power,” Sutton said. “I think we all can support that.”
About the Author
