Keep pushing in DeKalb

Any theatrics should not deter DeKalb from seeing completely through to wherever end the various probes into county government malfeasance may lead. Only by dragging fully into the open everything that may be amiss can the county then begin to repair both its government and citizen trust.

Given DeKalb’s recent (and not-so-recent) history of scandal, its citizens are well-justified in believing that governance is seriously, if not criminally, flawed in the influential county – Georgia’s fourth-largest.

Last week brought the latest episode as a hard-driving pair of special investigators delivered a letter sketching out snippets of alleged public corruption. Special investigator Michael Bowers, Georgia’s former attorney general, said he has found evidence that points to a county government that is “rotten to the core.” It’s hard to be more blunt than that.

That said, the letter to Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May amounted to more smoke than fire, given that a final, detailed report is still some weeks away – a point raised in May’s retort to investigators. Given the recent past in DeKalb, though, it’s unlikely that the initial broad-brush fingerpointing will prove to be a false alarm.

DeKalb’s elected CEO, Burrell Ellis, is a convicted felon, jailed after conviction on corruption charges. A former county commissioner has been sentenced to federal prison over misusing county funds. A host of other officials and employees have likewise been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, crimes, including a former superintendent of DeKalb schools and a former school district executive.

It’s understandable that much of DeKalb’s citizenry is now disgusted with a seemingly never-ending roster of corruption. This disgust helped fuel the push to create new cities as a refuge from a government seen as wasteful and crooked.

For our part, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution takes no joy in the ongoing watchdog reporting into DeKalb’s entrenched problems. Even so, our archives do provide some insights we believe are worth mentioning.

For starters, DeKalb’s problems are nothing new. Newspaper stories from decades ago reported county corruption that resulted in officials being hounded from office or hauled before judges. The county Superior Court clerk’s office was accused a quarter-century ago of diverting proceeds from coin-operated photocopy machines into what amounted to a six-figure office slush fund. In the 1980s, DeKalb police were accused of improprieties around a hotel allegedly used as the site of extramarital affairs and sundry partying by police officials. Other instances of chicanery dot the historical record — it’s an old story. More pointedly, for those inclined to focus on the wrong thing, DeKalb’s challenges predate the advent of African-Americans holding key leadership jobs in county government.

AJC reporting also has shown that DeKalb is not alone in being afflicted with significant governance failings. Corruption in Gwinnett County led to criminal charges, pleas and a resignation by former officials. While not of the same severity, Cobb County officials have at times been less than transparent in their efforts to create a new home for the Atlanta Braves. This history warrants consideration as DeKalb’s tragic saga unfolds.

While May had a point when he criticized the timing and extraordinary language used by the special investigators in their “rotten to the core” letter, he should take their broader message seriously. The CEO should continue to demand a full, timely accounting of just what’s afoot in DeKalb. That’s presumably what he was seeking when he hired Bowers and Richard Hyde in the first place. More importantly, he and the county’s district attorney or solicitor general are on the hook to act decisively on whatever the report unearths.

The Atlanta Public School cheating scandal provides helpful lessons. There, Bowers, Hyde and others persevered through official obfuscation and public pressure to deliver a comprehensive investigative report. APS, the Fulton County District Attorney and the court system were then able to act and see through the matter to a legal conclusion, even as the district continues to struggle in dealing with the harm CRCT test cheating caused.

The APS saga proves the merit of facing down tough truths and then moving toward informed solutions. This outcome was possible only because then-Gov. Sonny Perdue made it clear that he wouldn’t rest until the truth was known.

While no one in DeKalb has the power and authority of a governor, we urge the county’s leaders to show the same courage, focus and impatience with allowing the corrosive and divisive status quo to stand. Only then can the county find a fresh start with its citizens.