Comments on: Mayor Bill Floyd To Call On Decatur To Popularly Elect Its Mayor

By: Decatur Metro

Decatur Metro — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 14:12:09 +0000

Sorry Judd, I’ve been meaning to reply to you regarding this.

The mayor and I spoke at some length regarding this. Basically Decatur is the only municipality in all of the metro area who still has the commission elect the mayor. The concern is that once Mayor Floyd decides to step down – if AHID will let him! – the other larger DeKalb municipalities might be able to use the “not popularly elected” argument against Decatur when it comes to the DeKalb County spots on these commissions. Their sheer populations are already in their favor, but Decatur continues to be put on these boards purely because of its stellar reputation.

Thus far, I’ve not heard any hard and fast reasons not to do this. No doubt it’s easy to see how It could cause potential political issues for some of the other current commissioners, but I haven’t heard of any other ways it would impact our government. Not saying there aren’t any, just haven’t heard them yet.

By: At Home in Decatur

At Home in Decatur — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 07:00:02 +0000

I don’t think the Mayor should be allowed to step down from being mayor until a vote allows him to do so. I also think the elementary school children of Decatur should be able to weigh in on this. The Mayor is probably as well known in that population as any other.

By: Mary

Mary — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:38:30 +0000

I feel pretty certain that Mayor Floyd is not all that cconcerned about his own power and legitimacy as Mayor of Decatur. The reason I think he is suggesting this is because he is concerned about this being true about the next Mayor. In other words, I think this is probably his final term as Commissioner and wants the next mayor to have the legitimacy of being elected by the entire city.

By: Revenue-Negative Household (a.k.a., My unruly brood is here to clog your sidewalks and erode your tax base.)

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:28:50 +0000

I know this ship has already sailed, but can the city really keep out a retailer that it doesn’t like? (Just my ignorance here) but i thought that it would be a private transaction between the leasing company and the retailer.

Of course there are zoning considerations. But those would be the same with any “big box” retailer, no?

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:54:43 +0000

I think there is some validity to Scott’s point. Judd, I would suggest talking to your elected officials – that kind of accessibility is another advantage to being in “Little ole Decatur”.