DeKalb Commission Now Wants City Manager, Not CEO

Decatur Metro | November 19, 2009

After voting Tuesday to adopt last year’s voter referendum for a considerably weaker CEO, the DeKalb Commission is already looking to scrap it.  According to an article in today’s AJC, a majority of DeKalb Commissioners are in favor of doing away with the CEO entirely and hiring a city manager to run day-to-day operations.

CEO Burrell Ellis, who favored the weakened CEO referendum last fall – even though he was running for job – doesn’t sound all that enthused on this latest development.  Ellis suggests that the commission may just be using this idea in order to gain leverage in a recent budget dispute.

I’m not sure I can come down definitively on either side of this particular issue.  I do believe that Ellis has made significant inroads to repair many of the charred bridges left by his predecessor.  On the other hand, with a city manager-style government, I might actually stand a chance of understanding the way decisions are made at the County level.

Right now I’m pretty sure the way it works is they all flip a coin, the North and South DeKalb contingents argue over whether it’s heads or tails, and then the CEO vetoes it.  :-)

Kidding…love ya politics.  Love ya.

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One Response to “DeKalb Commission Now Wants City Manager, Not CEO”

  1. E says:
    November 20, 2009 at 10:54 pm

    There is a power vacum in DeKalb government, and the Board of Commissioners is going to fill it unless Ellis steps up. Ellis has been very slow out of the starting blocks and wasted valuable political capital in his first year. No major changesin policy have ocurred. Yes, he dumped a bad police chief and parks director, but hasn’t advanced towards any signifcant goal.

    Meanwhile he has little influence over the BoC and has trouble rounding up 4 votes. The Recorders Court is perfect example. This is where traffic fines and local ordinances are ajudicated. There was a recent indictment of several clerks who were fixing tickets. Various investigations have pointed out mismanagement, failure to collect fines (to the tune of over $2 million annually) and petty corruption. He wants to replace the leadership, but can’t get the black commissioners to approve his nominations.

    He needs to learn how to play hardball, or its going to be long slog. I wonder if his staff people have the guts to give him some honest feedback?