DeKalb needs new, strong manager
An open plea to the DeKalb County legislative delegation: Please, change our form of government. Sunday’s AJC has an in-depth article about the culture of corruption in DeKalb government (“DeKalb woes more than just CEO,” Metro, Oct. 12). There is nothing new here, but it is terribly disheartening to see it all together as one huge looming problem. This isn’t just a commissioner (or two) or a single purchasing director or issues with a single department, but a rampant culture of lax oversight and acceptance of a “business as usual” that includes the worst practices.
The only way we are going to see the massive cultural change we need is with a strong, professional county manager. Is this the only problem? Of course not. Will this fix everything? No, of course not. We still need to see a changeover in the elected officials and a completely different attitude around transparency; but the first step, perhaps the most important step, is to put a strong, proven county manager in charge.
ROBERT WITTENSTEIN, DUNWOODY
Outsourcing jobs is economic reality
Columnist Kyle Wingfield understands how a free market economy works (“Nunn attacks Perdue over economic reality,” Opinion, Oct. 9). In 2014, with the Internet, markets and competition for raw materials, products, technology and labor have gone global. Just as I will choose one company’s product based on perceived value (cost, features, support, etc.), a company will choose labor based on perceived value relative to the competition. This necessarily means sometimes jobs are outsourced overseas. The stateside employees may face losing their jobs immediately due to outsourcing, or gradually due to the inability of their companies to compete on prices in the open market due to uncompetitive labor costs . Economic laws regarding competition for services apply whether the venue is local, regional, state, national or global.
BRIAN WILSON, ATLANTA
Ga. takes priority, not elected officials
In reference to Jay Bookman’s column “Outsourcing: wealth for some, poverty for others” (Opinion, Oct. 8), Georgia’s citizens should recognize that their votes will determine Georgia’s direction and values. My father, my brother and I together contributed a total of 100 years in building Georgia’s towns, roads and schools. We valued helping to build this state through our public service. In contrast, some major political candidates today seem more interested in using their political positions to serve their own self-interests, particularly their financial self-interests. Hopefully, Georgians will be astute enough to see this and wise enough to vote into power those candidates who will serve the people, communities and institutions of this state instead of serving themselves, primarily, in violation of the public’s trust.
ELIZABETH HARTLEY FILLIAT, ALPHARETTA
