Dear Leafmore Civic Association Members;
The following announcement is from a press release this week about the DeKalb Blueprints effort by concerned private citizens who have been working voluntarily all year to improve DeKalb’s governance and restore the trust and confidence of DeKalb residents in their local government. A core study group has produced some good recommendations and position papers to:
1) strengthen the Board of Ethics
2) improve procurement processes to be more in line with professional business practices and more transparent
3) hire an Internal Auditor with the authority to audit and question any expense for every department in the county government including expenditures by Commissioners and the CEO
4) include a straw poll on a future general election ballot to gauge the support by DeKalb’s citizens for term limits on members of the Board Of Commissioners and Board of Education, and look at implementing non-partisan elections to fill these positions to increase voter participation
Please visit the website, check out the position papers, and take the survey. Your input is very helpful and the survey results will be used to guide future discussions on these important topics as we look to ‘fix’ DeKalb county. Thank you!
Ted Daniel
LCPHCA VP/Sec
DeKalb Blueprints- Elections
DeKalb Citizens Group Calls for Reforms
In the wake of swirling charges of corruption, a group of engaged DeKalb citizens is bringing forth recommendations to reform DeKalb County government. The diverse group of neighborhood leaders has been working since February to draft theBlueprint to Redefine DeKalb County. The Blueprint is a framework for reform - it addresses: procurement policies, ethics, inefficient operations and the stale political environment. Today the Blueprints Leadership team called a public meeting and launched a website www.BlueprintsDeKalb.org
“The voices of citizens must be heard to change the direction of DeKalb County,” said Patricia Killingsworth, a member of the Blueprints Leadership Team. “We hope citizens from across DeKalb County – north, south, in cities or outside – will use this current crisis as an opportunity to press for meaningful reforms, and that our elected officials will engage and take their responsibility for promoting ethics and transparency in DeKalb County government seriously.”
“DeKalb needs comprehensive solutions that are as big as our problems,” said Gil Turman another member of the Blueprints Leadership Team. “Many levels of government must be involved and our business and private sector leaders must also press for change.”
www.BlueprintsDeKalb.org contains:
- The original Blueprint showing the group’s principles
- A progress report to the Operations Task Force
- A survey to obtain feedback from the public
- Draft position papers written by citizens
The position papers include recommendations to ensure more accountability, transparency and efficiency. Among the recommendations are:
- · An internal audit watchdog that reports to an independent body
- · Ethics reform, including removing Board of Ethics appointments from the CEO and Board of Commissioners
- · Greater transparency in purchasing, budgeting and operations to allow citizens to more carefully monitor County government
- · A straw poll to consider term limits and non-partisan elections
The Blueprints Leadership Team will review these reforms in a community meeting on September 30th at 6:30 PM in the Maloof Auditorium in Decatur.
For more information contact BlueprintDekalb@gmail.com
