Fresh Loaf

By an interesting coincidence, Fulton and DeKalb counties could both see their forms of government tweaked somewhat in the upcoming General Assembly – but in radically different directions.

In Fulton’s case, the push is to expand the authority of the commission chairman, who has no more real power than a district commissioner. And there’s talk of shrinking the governing board from seven commissioners, including the chairman, to a leaner five members to reflect that most of the county is now contained within cities.

In DeKalb, it’s just the reverse. The elected CEO has so much power that the board of commissioners can sometimes seem irrelevant. And so there are competing bills from both parties to shift some of the CEO’s power back to the commission. There’s also an initiative to expand the commission from seven members to nine to provide more attentive representation to the largely unincorporated county.

But the two efforts do have one thing in common: They could live or die on the personalities and political baggage of the affected office-holders.

One of the reasons the Fulton government has been so dysfunctional in recent years is that it has an extreme version of the “weak chairman” system. Although elected county-wide, the chairman’s only power perks are that he presides over meetings, gains an automatic seat on the Atlanta Regional Commission and submits a first draft of the county budget – for what that’s worth. When it comes to actually getting anything done, the chairman is only one vote out of seven. Michael Lomax was the last Fulton chairman able to command a consensus on the commission; he left office in 1993.

A bipartisan legislative committee tasked with studying the structure of Fulton’s government is leaning heavily toward strengthening the chairman’s hand by giving him the ability to appoint the county manager and various department heads, as well as the power to nominate members of other county boards and authorities. There’s even discussion of turning the very part-time chairman’s post into a full-time job.

But there could be a catch. Republican lawmakers haven’t forgotten the racially divisive radio ads that Fulton Chairman John Eaves used to beat GOP opponent Lee Morris. In one ad, Congressman John Lewis warns that having a “right-wing Republican” head the county could be worse than “fighting off dogs and water hoses in the ’60s.”

It doesn’t help that Eaves recently announced that, despite that Fulton ended the past year with a budget surplus and is supposed to be trimming municipal services, he wants to raise county taxes. It wouldn’t surprise us if some of the more partisan pols might chafe at giving Eaves more authority, even if it helps stabilize Fulton County.

Any discussion of DeKalb, of course, takes place in the shadow of the Emperor Jones. County residents weary of their CEO’s imperious attitude and many peccadilloes are ready to rein in some of the clout invested in the post since the days of Manuel Maloof. In addition to overseeing all county departments and running the government on a day-to-day basis, the county CEO sets the commission agenda, can cast tie-breaking votes and has veto power over board decisions – even unanimous ones.

Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-Atlanta, says Vernon Jones’ recent veto of an ordinance imposing earlier bar closing times has proven to be the last straw with many of his constituents.
“I think DeKalb is ready for some change,” he says.

The county CEO post is the focus of no fewer than three competing bills brought by DeKalb legislators.

The first is Senate Bill 52, by Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, which eliminates the CEO’s control over the commission agenda and strips him of his vote. The bill, which passed the Senate last year, faces an uphill battle in the House. Even if it succeeds, it must be approved by voters county-wide.

Introduced last week, House Bill 894, by Rep. Kevin Levitas, D-Atlanta, would do all of the above, plus it would give the commission subpoena power to compel witnesses to testify at meetings. Levitas says he wasn’t motivated by any antipathy toward Vernon.
“This bill isn’t about any particular person,” he says. “This process of reform actually began back when Liane Levitan was in office. Right now, the system is tilted too heavily in favor of the CEO; we need to restore some balance.”

Both his and the Senate bills are local legislation, however, meaning they must be approved by the DeKalb House delegation – and therein lies the challenge. Delegation chairman Rep. Stan Watson, D-Decatur, has already announced his intent to run for CEO next year and is likely to fight any effort to diminish the job’s authority.

Which brings us to HB 899 by Jacobs, a vocal critic of the current CEO who is twisting the knife by titling his legislation the “County Chief Executive Officer Accountability Act.” Jacob’s bill would go a step further than the other two by also taking away the CEO’s veto power. As general legislation, however, it can bypass the county delegation in favor of a floor vote by the entire House – a body that includes not a few Republicans who might like to knock a Democrat-dominated elected post down a few pegs.

The irony of each of these bills is that much of the community support for limiting the CEO’s power is likely to be focused at Jones. Because all three bills are subject to a county referendum, however, Mr. CEO will be long gone before the changes could take effect.

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Tags: DeKalb-County, DeKalb-County-Board-of-Commissioners, Rep-Mike-Jacobs, Vernon-Jones.