A citizens group that led a successful two-year campaign against commercial passenger flights at Briscoe Field will soon take up another cause: reforming Gwinnett County government.
Citizens for a Better Gwinnett rallied hundreds of people to protest a company's plans to launch passenger flights at the county airport near Lawrenceville. It hopes to generate similar passion for its quest to reshape a County Commission rocked by corruption charges.
Founder Jim Regan said the group hasn't settled on a specific plan. But it might take its lead from a special grand jury that suggested reshuffling the commission to combat corruption. Among the jury's ideas: making commissioners jobs full-time or expanding the five-member board to lighten the workload on the part-time commissioners.
Efforts to remake the County Commission have failed in the past and likely would meet stiff resistance again. State Rep. Tom Rice, R-Norcross, who leads a Gwinnett legislative delegation that would have to approve any plan, said recent turnover on the commission may have made a restructuring unnecessary.
"If you have the right people in place, the situation's going to be well-managed," Rice said.
But the resignations of three commissioners amid corruption allegations have convinced Regan the problem is more than just a few bad apples.
"The corruption is systemic from the way we've designed [the commission]," he said. "We've got part-time people running a full-time business. It needs to be updated."
In 2010, a special grand jury charged Commissioner Kevin Kenerly with bribery, saying he accepted or agreed to accept $1 million to arrange for the county to buy land from developer David Jenkins. Kenerly resigned his post but denied the charge, which is still pending.
Grand jurors also considered a perjury charge against Commission Chairman Charles Bannister for allegedly giving false testimony before the jury about a meeting and an appraisal involving a land deal. They decided not to indict him when he offered to resign.
On May 31, Commissioner Shirley Lasseter resigned and pleaded guilty to bribery. She admitted accepting $36,500 from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for her vote on a real estate deal.
To combat such corruption, the grand jury recommended Gwinnett adopt new ethics rules and land-buying procedures. Last year, commissioners did both.
Under new ethics rules, companies that do business with Gwinnett must disclose their financial ties to elected officials. And anyone spending more than $100 a year on county officials must disclose the expenses.
But a grand jury recommendation to remake the commission has languished.
The commission consists of a chairman elected countywide and four commissioners elected by district. The full-time chair (starting pay: $58,342) takes the lead on many policy issues and proposes the county budget. Though technically part-time (starting pay: $29,800), district commissioners often work long hours.
When it comes to land purchases, zoning changes and other decisions, commissioners usually defer to the judgment of the commissioner whose district includes the land in question — a practice called "district courtesy."
The grand jury determined the practice gave too much power to individual commissioners.
In 2011 the Gwinnett legislative delegation appointed a committee to review the organization of county government, including the commission's structure. But the review never happened.
Rice said redistricting and other issues have occupied lawmakers' time. He said he wants to "get past the next election and see who's in place [in county government] and move from there."
The legislator said he prefers part-time commissioners who have "a foot in the real world, trying to operate a business or earn money in their job."
As for expanding the commission: "As we just went through reapportionment, I'm not sure anybody in the Legislature has a desire to take that up again," Rice said.
Citizen activist Bob Griggs, who helped lead an unsuccessful effort to expand the County Commission a decade ago, thinks any such effort is doomed to fail.
"It's not going to happen unless there's some overwhelming need," Griggs said. "At least politically, there's no great impetus to do it."
Regan said the recent scandals have shown the need to reform the commission. He said his group is waiting until after the election to settle on a specific proposal and to begin its push.
Regan said the fight could take years. But so did the battle over Briscoe Field.
"I'm advocating change," he said. "What we're doing hasn't worked. It's time to try something different."
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