Battling through seemingly endless whining, hollow statements, and hurt feelings at yesterday’s DeKalb County Commission meeting, the commission somehow managed to elect a new presiding officer: Commissioner Kathie Gannon.

As I reported just before the holidays, this presiding officer election has been tied to rumors that Vernon Jones may pull out of the Senate race against Chambliss and instead run against Hank Johnson for Congress. Why? Because “insiders” claimed that Johnson was working with lone Republican on the commission, Elaine Boyer, to get Gannon elected, and that this was seen as an effort to increase Republican influence in DeKalb (even though Gannon is a Democrat).

Well regardless of whether you buy Vernon’s strategists’ argument that Johnson is a secret Republican operative, it seems that Boyer did end up siding with Gannon, but only after informing the commission’s other nominee, Larry Johnson, that she wasn’t voting for him because he never asked her.

So, in the end there’s no vast right-wing conspiracy…its just that Elaine is a stickler for good manners.

Not quite expensive enough to justify bathing in Dasani just yet…

From GoDeKalb

The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners voted 6 to 1 on Oct. 23 to approve new water and sewer rates effective Jan. 1, 2008. The rate change is expected to increase revenue by 16 percent each year from 2008 through 2011 to help fund $1.4 billion in proposed capital improvement projects.  Commissioner Jeff Rader said audiences at community meetings applauded the proposed rate changes because they will drive conservation. There was little discussion before the vote was taken. Commissioner Elaine Boyer voted against the rate changes.

Examples:

• The 14 percent of the residential water customers with a ¾ inch meter who use up to 2,000 gallons of water every two months, pay $20.42 this year. Under the proposed rate changes, their bill would go up 7 percent to $21.76 in 2008, and then it would gradually rise to $33.97 in 2011.
• The 28 percent of the customers that use from 4,001 to 8,000 gallons bi-monthly would see their current $52.88 bill rise 16 percent to $61.40 in 2008 and gradually go up to $95.84 in 2011.
• The highest change in the 2008 rates would be 29 percent for the customers with ¾ inch meters who use 20,001 to 40,000 gallons bimonthly. Their bills would go up from the current $226 to $292 in 2008 and gradually increase to $455.78 in 2011.