I’m a couple days late with this, as many other DeKalb blogs have already posted it, but due to its importance I’ll still follow through.

If you had wandered up to the Square last week, you may have thought you spotted protesters in front of the Old Courthouse. While you thought to yourself “what the heck are they protesting now?” you might have realized that they were actually supporters of the democratic candidates for DeKalb CEO, chanting the rallying cries of their candidate of choice, who were currently debating inside our esteemed Courthouse. Then, if you were like me, you would have quickly crossed to the other side of the road, for fear of them trying to engage you in some conversation about DeKalb County government. (I decided if approached I would just start yelling something about HOST taxes and scare them away)

So, why am I bringing all of this up post-debate?

Because Decatur resident Rusty Tanton has made the whole darn thing accessible online by posting each posed question individually on YouTube. So below you will find the opening statements video. The subsequent nine questions with the corresponding video will be located in the continuation.

Thanks for doing the footwork Rusty!

Question 1
“Police Chief Terrell Bolton has put forth a road map for success plan for the DeKalb County Police Department, which does have a $100 million price tag if implemented. Do you support the plan, and if so how do you intend to pay for it?”

Question 2
“As CEO, leading by example, how do you intend to improve relations between the county government and the DeKalb County school board? If elected, what plans will you put forth which are not just lip service, but action?”

Question 3
“In terms of water resource planning and conservation, what plans do you have as CEO?”

Question 4
“DeKalb County taxpayers are extremely concerned regarding how our tax dollars are allocated and spent. Why should the taxpayers trust you to handle this multi-billion dollar responsibility? How will you ensure accountability? And what experiences do you have in the area of financial management to rise to this role?”

Question 5
“What as CEO will you do to improve overall service delivery so that the kind of frustration felt by the residents and citizens of Dunwoody does not lead other unincorporated municipalities in the county to secede from the county?”

Question 6
“As Commissioner Ellis pointed out, DeKalb County has a $3 billion budget. There are numerous programs that are not entirely fully funded. As Joe Bembry mentioned, we have 800 vacancies in the police department. In light of the fact that there is a property tax freeze on homestead exemption on a number of homes, seniors have their property assessments frozen, are you willing to call for or support a tax hike while you are CEO?”

Question 7
“Two independent audits in the county’s finance department have concluded millions of dollars were spent on technology consultants from 2004 to 2008, circumventing county law. Do you support the DeKalb County district attorney convening a special grand jury to look into this matter or not, and why?”

Question 8
“Unemployment insurance claims are up 25 percent in DeKalb County over the past year. During the month of May, 3,000 people filed their first-time claims for unemployment. As CEO of DeKalb County, how will you promote the creation of jobs and economic development in our county?”

Question 9
“As CEO, how will you better inform citizens in the event of an emergencies or crises such as the recent water main break or the tornado which touched down along DeKalb Avenue and the alarms did not go off?”

Closing statements