DECATUR, Ga. – By executive order, DeKalb Interim CEO Lee May, with the support of the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners, has created a charter review commission to study various aspects of DeKalb County government.
The DeKalb County Charter Review Commission is one of the final recommendations of the DeKalb Government Operations Task Force (OTF) created by Interim CEO May in 2014. The OTF advised the DeKalb County delegation to establish a charter review commission to evaluate the county’s organizational act. That legislation was introduced but failed in the 2016 session of the Georgia General Assembly.
“Although Senate Bill 421, which provided for the creation of a charter review commission, failed to advance through the 2016 legislative session, it is important that we establish a platform for the citizens of DeKalb County to engage in a deliberate discussion related to the county’s governance structure,” said Interim CEO May.
Under the executive order, the commission will be comprised of 17 members: Three appointed by the interim CEO, two of which will serve as co-chairs of the commission and one of which will represent the now-vacant county commission District 7; one appointed by each member of the Board of Commissioners for a total of six members; two appointed by the DeKalb Senate Delegation; one member appointed by the DeKalb House Delegation; one appointed by the DeKalb Board of Education; one appointed by the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce; one appointed by the Georgia Municipal Association; and one appointed by the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia.
The commission shall convene for its organizational meeting from 6:30 – 8 p.m., on Sept. 22, 2016, at the Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur.
Final recommendations from the commission must be submitted no later than June 30, 2017, to the DeKalb Governing Authority, each member of the General Assembly from DeKalb County, the governor, the lieutenant governor, speaker of the House and chairpersons of the Senate State and local governmental operations committee and the House governmental affairs committee.
The members of the DeKalb County Charter Review Commission are as follows:
| Commission member | Organization | Representing | Appointed by |
| Rahn Mayo | Honeywell | Countywide | Interim CEO Lee May |
| Ann Hanlon | North Fulton CID | Countywide | Interim CEO Lee May |
| Robert Miller | The Miller Group | District 1 | Comm. Nancy Jester |
| Dean Vanderbilt | Retired | District 2 | Comm. Jeff Rader |
| Bobbie Sanford | Sanford Realty | District 3 | Comm. Larry Johnson |
| Stan Pritchett | Morris Brown College | District 4 | Comm. Sharon Barnes Sutton |
| Kathy Register | Cong. Hank Johnson | District 5 | Comm. Mereda Davis Johnson |
| Jim Grubiak | Attorney/Retired | District 6 | Comm. Kathie Gannon |
| Jerome Edmondson | Entrepreneur Dev. Network | District 7 | Interim CEO Lee May |
| Delores Crowell | AT&T | Countywide | DeKalb Chamber of Commerce |
| Dr. Melvin Johnson | DeKalb Co. Board of Ed. | Countywide | DeKalb Co. Board of Ed. |
| Michele NeSmith | Assn. of Co. Commissioners | Countywide | Assn. of Co. Commissioners |
| Mayor John Ernst | Brookhaven, Georgia | Countywide | Georgia Municipal Assn. |
| Carla Smith | Signature Healthcare | Countywide | DeKalb Senate Delegation |
| Naomi Godfrey | Attorney/Retired | Countywide | DeKalb Senate Delegation |
| TBD | TBD | Countywide | DeKalb House Delegation |
1300 Commerce Drive Decatur, GA 30030
404-371-2000