Hello Citizens:
Keep on Zooming!
As you know, DCAC is committed to educating DeKalb citizens about county governance issues and advocating for greater citizen engagement. Our recent work includes reviewing and researching county boards to better understand among other things:
how and why they function,
how they are appointed,
how their meetings are made accessible to the public, and
how transparent they are with their discussions and decisions.
For the past six months we have been attending virtual meetings of these independent boards: Audit Oversight Committee, the Board of Ethics, and the Board of Registration and Elections. Recently we added the Decide DeKalb Board meetings and the Watershed Customer Service and Billing Advisory Board meetings. We think it is critical that these boards know that members of the public are paying attention to what they are doing.
Having board meetings available via Zoom has made public attendance much more convenient and accessible to the public. To date, we are only aware of the Decide DeKalb board returning to in-person meetings. Unfortunately, for their July meeting and their upcoming August 12th meeting, this board is not offering a zoom link for the public to view their meetings.
As boards begin to consider returning to in-person meetings we have encouraged the Board of Commissioners and the Administration to call upon all county boards to continue to use Zoom technology as an additional means of ensuring access to members of the public.
Georgia’s Open and Public Meetings Act provides for teleconferencing to be used throughout the duration of any emergency conditions involving public safety. We are concerned about what happens after those conditions end. Should this Act be revised to allow local governments to provide virtual access to the public as a matter of course? This could be one positive outcome resulting from the pandemic.
And Kudos to DCTV and the Department of Innovation & Technology!
DeKalb TV has done a spectacular job of live streaming and archiving video of many board meetings so that the public can access these meetings in real time or after the event. We are not sure if boards are prioritized for such coverage or if live streaming and archiving video of meetings can be made available to more boards. We know scheduling must be complex and we assume there are limited resources available. We are asking the CEO and Commissioners to review with DCTV their policy of coverage to ensure more boards are made aware of DCTV’s capabilities to connect with the public.
As we were going to press with this newsletter, we learned that the Department of Innovation & Technology won national recognition as leader in the innovative use of technology for the fifth consecutive year, including its response to the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years.
We agree with CEO Michael Thurmond that this department, under the leadership of John Matelski, is the “unsung hero” in the county’s fight against COVID. One of the department’s enhancements has been digitally transforming citizen engagement channels, increasing participation and transparency. We hope we can keep this momentum going.
News from Recent Board Meetings
While we will be preparing a report on our board research findings and recommendations later this fall, we thought it important to provide these board updates now:
Audit Oversight Committee
Regrettably, DeKalb’s Chief Audit Executive John Greene announced at the June meeting of the Audit Oversight Committee that he will not be seeking a second term in office.
Mr. Greene’s successful service as the first Independent Internal Auditor for DeKalb County is an example of the type of professionalism and independence the county should be seeking in his replacement. The Office of the Independent Internal Auditor for DeKalb County has helped the county and its residents by ensuring transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds and by adding value to the administration and operation of county government.
A national search was instrumental in identifying Mr. Greene, and in light of his decision to not seek reappointment, we are calling for a national search to be conducted once again to identify the next Chief Audit Executive to carry on the work of this vital function.
Per the establishing legislation, the auditor shall be appointed by a majority vote of the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners from a list of candidates provided to the board by the Audit Oversight Committee. That list of candidates, in our opinion, should be the result of an open process that attracts the best and brightest from around the nation.
A copy of the letter we sent to the DeKalb Audit Oversight Committee and the Board of Commissioners asking that a national search be conducted for his replacement can be found at this link: https://dekalbcitizens.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Letter-to-Audit-Oversight-Committee.pdf
The Committee is still awaiting a replacement for one member whose term has expired. We were impressed with the Board’s process for identifying and reviewing candidates for the position. Three highly qualified candidates have been forwarded to Senator Emanuel Jones who has the authority to appoint this member.
Board of Registration and Elections
We congratulate new board members Nancy Jester and Karli Swift, as well as the new leaders of the board, Dele Lowman Smith (Chair) and Nancy Jester (Vice Chair). The election of these two officials was conducted with a civil discussion of each candidate’s qualifications followed by a public vote.
New members Swift and Jester agreed to work with the Board of Commissioners “ad hoc” committee studying election policies and procedures. This committee essentially re-establishes and continues the work of the previous working group. Serving on the committee are three members of the Board of Commissioners: Ted Terry, Lorraine Cochran-Johnson, and Mereda Davis Johnson; two members of the Board of Registration and Elections: Nancy Jester (who served on the previous working group) and Karli Swift; additional appointments coming from the DeKalb Municipal Association (1 member) and the Democratic and Republican Parties (2 members each), and staff from the Office of Voter Registration and Elections.
We also appreciate the preparation occurring behind the scenes to improve the board’s communications with the public. Consultant Eric Burton of Profile Marketing & Public Relations is working with the staff and board to develop a communications plan employing the latest communication tools, including a revised website and innovative voter information kiosk (first in the state of GA), and programs supporting increased community outreach.
We are confident that the members of this board and the staff of the Voter Registration and Elections office will serve the voters of this County with the professionalism, fairness, and diligence our democratic election process requires.
