From Blueprint DeKalb leadership team members Patricia Killingsworth and Gil Turman, in an Oct. 23 AJC op-ed: "Until the cloud of corruption and lack of transparency in government operations are eliminated, county actions and decisions will be suspect. Citizens must demand DeKalb government move to an ethical and transparent higher ground."
From the Oct. 22 AJC, reporting on the mistrial in the criminal case of suspended DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis.
Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-Brookhaven: "It's a very difficult situation for the citizens of DeKalb." "The longer the position of CEO remains in limbo, the worse it is for the citizens. … I would hope for some closure at some point."
From Lithonia resident Faye Coffield, who thought Ellis was the "least guilty" among those accused of corruption and didn't believe evidence against him was enough to warrant a conviction: "I don't think he should have been the only one on trial." "It's the biggest mess I've ever seen. It's just plain, ordinary, outright madness."
Rep. Jacobs, in the AJC, Oct. 16, commenting on news that former DeKalb County Commissioner Elaine Boyer was granted her full county pension, after pleading guilty to federal corruption-related criminal charges: "That is absurd." "It is entirely appropriate for Elaine Boyer's pension to be docked as restitution to DeKalb County taxpayers … Losing the pension entirely seems like an appropriate penalty."
Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May, in the AJC, Oct. 8 after the resignation of former county Purchasing Director Kelvin Walton, who'd admitted during Ellis' trial that he'd lied under oath and accepted gifts. Walton had faced termination by the county: "It brought into question the ethical standards of our county, and we really believe much of the public's trust had been put in jeopardy." "We all knew that we were going to come to a position like today where we had to move forward and begin with a clean start."
DeKalb County resident Michael DeVoto, on the ongoing cityhood movement, from the Nov. 13 AJC: "I'd just like a little bit of local control."
