Tipping the scales of government
Voters to decide on potential power shift
by Andy Phelan
andy@dekalbchamp.com
State Sen. Emanuel Jones. |
Voters in DeKalb will now have the chance, if they so choose, to shift a few power chips away from the CEO and shift them to commissioners.
It comes after the General Assembly passed on its last day of the session Senate Bill 52, which would allow commissioners to set their own agendas and run their own meetings.
Some say it will make the balance of government just right.
“This is potentially a new day in DeKalb,” said Sen. Emanuel Jones [D-Ellenwood], author of SB-52. “This is not business as usual. It would be a seismic shift from the way the county is currently governed and return balance to the system.”
Jones, no relation to the current CEO, held five public meetings on the issue in 2006, where residents told him they wanted a chance to change the way government is run.
He said at the time that “I’m finding consensus” on the public’s desire for a change.
The strong CEO, weak commission system that runs DeKalb government – the elected executive – is the only one of its kind in Georgia.
The CEO not only runs the day-to-day operations of government, controls department heads and their employees, has near monopoly control of how contracts and purchasing are awarded but also sets the agenda and presides over board meetings.
Some say the power over the agenda and meetings is akin to Gov. Sonny Perdue presiding over the General Assembly or President George W. Bush over Congress. The separation of powers Americans hold so dear in their national and state governments – executive, legislative and judicial – do not exist in local government.
The debate over whether the CEO has too much power goes back at least a decade.
“For the past 10 years, a majority of commissioners have wanted this,” said state Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield [D-Atlanta], one of 11 DeKalb lawmakers to sign the legislation in the House. “Hopefully this will help smooth a system dominated by strong personalities.”
Former District 5 Commissioner Bill Brown, who had an eight-year tenure on the board from 1993-2001, was so convinced the system needed to change he wrote what he called a “manifesto” on the subject in 1998.
Called “Democratize the Structure of the Government of DeKalb County,” Brown called the CEO system akin to a dictatorship and described commissioners as virtually powerless to help their constituents with problems.
Brown used the term “czar” 10 times in his 27-page report.
“The day-to-day management and operation of DeKalb County, for the most part, is a dictator/czarist structure,” he wrote. “It needs to be reviewed with an outlook toward democratizing its management and operation.”
One of Brown’s main prescriptions for achieving that balance was to allow the commissioners to set their own agenda and run their meetings.
Retired city planner and county resident John Steinichen, who has often been critical of the county’s form of government, supports the possible change but expressed reservations as well.
“It makes me nervous when things are being done based on personalities,” said Steinichen. “This is a half-ass effort at reforming local government. What they need are more commissioners. A balance of power should supersede the firewall division of power. ”
Steinichen said even if the change were made, the Organizational Act would still prohibit commissioners’ influence over staff.
Sen. Jones disagreed.
“If the voters make the change, I foresee more cohesion, more accountability from the executive branch and department heads more responsive to commissioners, who after all, are closer than the CEO to their constituents.”
Jones said the executive’s ability to preside over the legislative branch was a last-minute concession in 1982 made by state lawmakers for the godfather of DeKalb politics Manuel Maloof.
“Even the legislators who crafted that admit it was a mistake,” said Jones.
District 3 Commissioner Larry Johnson, whose support of SB-52 was crucial to its passing under the Gold Dome, agreed it’s time for change.
“It’s a great first step,” said Johnson of the possibility of board’s new power. “This would make us a true legislative branch. Now is the time for the board to run our own meetings.”
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