My County it was gone
Dekalb County is in trouble. People are beginning to compare it to Bill Campbell’s Atlanta. Not good.
A lot of these problems swirl around County CEO Vernon Jones. In full disclosure, I voted for him, but now I am very concerned.
While it’s possible that some of Mr. Jones’ trouble has resulted from his political competitors making the most of his follies, his follies had to be there for his competitors to use.
Among his troubles? Use of county employees to service his personal needs, the resignation of Dekalb’s police chief with the caveat from his wife that it was at the CEOs request, the County Attorney was found dead of a gun shot wound, one of Mr. Jones’ Staff Chiefs is charged with false imprisonment of a 19 year girl. Then there is a charge that Mr. Jones did not think many of the department’s management was ‘dark enough’ and when supervisors in the parks and recreation department stood their ground to hold on to qualified people, they were fired.
Mr. Jones has acknowledged making some mistakes. The key question is whether he is a leader who is willing to come fully clean about his mistakes and work to run a cleaner, more transparent ship or whether he will learn to cover his tracks better leading to another federal indictment 5 years from now?
As much as it pains me to say this, Governor Perdue and Attorney General Baker need to impanel citizens lead by a special prosecutor to examine misconduct in the Dekalb County Government. This panel needs subpoena power and the authority to turn their findings over to the public and to Mr. Baker who can get grand jury indictments if wrong doing is found. Further, Mr. Jones needs to make sure his detractors are on this panel. Jackie Scott needs to be on it. Jean Williams needs to be on it. Cynthia Tucker needs to be on it.
If Mr. Jones is guilty, indict him. If his management practices are lousy and need adjustment, make clear recommendations that have to be followed. If he is getting shafted by opponents, they too need to be called out.
In the mean time, Mr. Jones needs to focus on making Dekalb County life better. Dekalb is developing some of the most affluent African American communities in the nation. Mr. Jones needs to work with developers and builders so that these communities get the services and businesses they want without the gridlock that plagues the northside.
The schools need fixing. Every year great teachers leave the Dekalb county schools because they feel no backup from the Jones administration.
Lastly, Jones needs to show that he is a bold political thinker. Work with companies, cities, and the county to create an affordable first rate educare system that lets single mothers work more and when he feels pressure on his back it will only be because people are patting him on it.
September 16th, 2004 at 2:25 am
Vernon, rightfully so, is under heavy scrutiny from the media. A couple of things I’d point out though:
- The county attorney, Charles Hicks, killed himself as a result of divorce proceedings that sucked the life out of him and had nothing to do with the county or Vernon.
- One of Vernon’s former aides who despises the man — who shall remain nameless here but whom I’d identify in an email because I got the information second hand — said the lawsuit against the county re: not being “dark enough” is frivolous.
The bodyguard stuff from last year, the rift with Moody, and Lance Robertson’s run-in with the law are troubling though. Vernon’s problem isn’t policy, it’s personality. Cynthia Tucker had a good column about it.
October 13th, 2004 at 7:47 pm
So the Governer should create an powerful investigative panel stacked with all of Jones’ political opponents to look into any “misconduct”? That sounds fair enough. Can we do the the same to George W. Bush? I’d nominate Ann Richards, Gloria Feldt, and Al Sharpton/Gore (whichever one is available). Oh and for the media representative we have to get Molly Ivans.
October 18th, 2006 at 12:46 pm
I would like to see a better Dekalb Co.,but it would take a joint effort between the C.E.O., the Sheriff,and cChief of Police. I have some useful information concerning crime and corruptio througout the County. Please respond to this comment in order to bring back Dekalb County back to order.
December 11th, 2006 at 1:22 am
“Mr. Jones has acknowledged making some mistakes.”
And they keep happening, and they are the type of mistakes that cost taxpayers millions upon millions…
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2006/12/10/1211meshspills.html
DeKalb get major fine for more than 200 sewage spills
Errors, old pipes cited as problems
DeKalb County has received one of the largest fines ever imposed by the state for spilling raw sewage more than 200 times into rivers and streams from clogged and broken pipes and equipment failures.
The worst was a 10 million-gallon spill directly into the South River last January.
The 18-page consent order that accompanied the $265,875 fine found problems beyond an aging sewer system prone to overflows. Agreed to last month and signed by DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones, the order details human errors and repeated violations of state regulations. Among the violations: failure to properly report spills, clean up spill sites or fully report the severity of the spills.
The order describes a sewer system in which the people running it are as much a part of the problem as leaking pipes.