Kathie Gannon Selected as DeKalb Commission Presiding Officer
Decatur Metro | January 12, 2017 | 1:48 pmCommissioner Kathie Gannon sent around this announcement…
The results of last year’s elections in DeKalb came into focus on Tuesday when a new Board of Commissioners elected Kathie Gannon as presiding officer. At the first Board of Commissioners meeting of the year, the Board selects its presiding officer who chairs the Board meetings and establishes the Board agenda. Gannon, who represents the western half of DeKalb County, replaces Larry Johnson who had served as presiding officer for 7 of the past 8 years.
“I’m honored to have been chosen by my peers, and I thank Commissioner Larry Johnson for his dedicated service” said Gannon. “My goal is to improve how the Board of Commissioners work. In our form of government the CEO is responsible for the day to day operations of the departments. The Board of Commissioners establishes policies.”
Gannon has immediately called for a Board retreat to reach a consensus on which policies the Board will address first. “There are plenty of issues we must consider: police retention, dilapidated housing, economic development, funding for roads and transportation, and more. I want our Board to reach a consensus on what we tackle first. Then I want to use our committees to focus on them, hear from experts and find solutions” Said Gannon.
Kathie Gannon represents approximately 350,000 citizens in the western half of DeKalb County. She is one of two Super District Commissioners. The DeKalb Board of Commissioners is comprised of five district commissioners and two super districts. She was re-elected in 2016 to a fourth term.
I hope this shift truly does represent a different direction. But I have my doubts. It wasn’t just South DeKalb elected officials who created gridlock and couldn’t see past their own ambition to resolve it. Just because Commissioner’s Gannon and Radar preached consensus, it’s easy to do that when you’re in the minority voting bloc. It’ll be more important that they actually seek out compromise and consensus (when possible) now that they hold more prominent positions on the commission. Frankly, I’d like to see Commissioner Gannon fight as hard for quality planning around the county as she did against the development that went up next to her own condo.
Why did they need a retreat to do their jobs. Who’s paying for this so called retreat ?
Why? I expect she is hoping some quality time with each other and away from day-to-day distraction will accelerate the “getting to know you” process that must happen before they can be an effective body.
Who is paying? That would be me and you and the rest of DeKalb County taxpayers. Given the dysfunction we’ve all witnessed for years, I’m ready to support her and pay my share. I’m guessing you aren’t so we cancel each other out. A retreat does not have to be elaborate or expensive by the way, but I don’t know any details about her plans.
BIG THANKS to Commissioner Larry Johnson for his time served as presiding officer. He was stuck with the thankless task of trying to steer a completely dysfunctional BOC through very rocky times. He’s publicly demonstrated grace, patience, and respect for all citizens, staff, and commissioners without ever letting on about the rampant pettiness playing out behind the scenes. When things start improving rapidly– as they will with the replenished BOC and new CEO to chart DeKalb’s new direction, it will not be because this one change was made.
Bright side is that Commission Johnson can now turn his attention to making City of Prosperity a reality. With his “can do!” spirit and commitment, there’s little doubt that he and the area’s community leaders will get it done. If everything truly does happen for a reason, this is a worthy reason indeed.
Wow, still the wrong direction…