About The champion newspaper. (Decatur, GA) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (March 26, 2015)
QUICK FINDER Business 17A Education 18-19A Sports 21-23A Opinion 5A Classified 20A MARTA DRIVER ACCUSED OF RAPING DISABLED PASSENGER LOCAL, 8A COUNTY SET TO DEMOLISH BLIGHTED HOUSES LOCAL, 9A SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER FACES ALLEGATION OF VIOLATING PROTOCOLS EDUCATION, 18A The Official Legal Organ ofDeKalb County, GA. Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain. bqI 1 The lampion ECTION A: VOL. 24 NO. 39 MARCH 26 - APRIL 1, 2015 thechampionnewspaper. SECTION ist Place General excellence Award winner Georgia Press Association ‘Better Newspaper Contest’ 2007, 2009-2014 500 Interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May has hired former state attorney general Mike Bowers “to root out corruption,...waste, fraud and abuse.” Photos by Andrew Cauthen Former DeKalb commissioner Elaine Boyer took responsibility for her crimes during a sentencing hearing. Courtroom rendering by artist Richard Miller Special investigator to look at county corruption by Andrew Cauthen andrew@dekalb champ, com A special investigator has been appointed by interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May to investigate the affairs of county govern ment. Former state attor ney general Mike Bow ers, who investigated the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal, was picked by May “to in vestigate the affairs, records, expenditures of employees and de partments under the authority of the CEO,” May said in a news conference March 18 in Atlanta. “It is my firm belief that the special inves tigator will assist in restoring public confi dence and trust in DeKalb County government,” May said. Bowers “is a man that takes no prisoners and will do what needs to be done to preserve the public confidence and integrity in our government,” May said. Partnering with Bowers will be Richard Hyde, a former police officer, state attorney general’s investigator and a member of the Judicial Qualifications Commis sion. For a minimum of 120 days, e are is o spend necessary tn roo what nut corruption, to dentihu, waste, fraud and abuse Bowers and his team will have “total independence [and] unfet tered access,” May said. At the end of the investiga tion, Bowers will deliver a report that May and other members of the government won’t see until it is made public, May said. “There will be no whitewash ing of this report, no cover-ups, no editing or amending of this report,” May said. “We will let the report speak for itself, and we will act accordingly to root out anything that serves to erode the public’s trust.” Bowers said, “This is, in my 41 years of practicing law and doing these kinds of assignments, absolutely unprec edented. I have never seen anything like it. “For a govern mental officer to say, ‘Let’s look at my oper ation with unfettered access, call as you see it, publish a report that I don’t get to look at until it’s pub- lished,’—that’s high- risk poker no matter how you call it,” Bowers said. The “vast majority” ofDeKalb County employees are “honest, decent, hardworking people,” Bowers said. “There are some bad apples; woe be unto you. “But the good, decent folks, you have nothing whatsoever to -Lee May Boyer sentenced to 14 months in prison by Andrew Cauthen andre w@dekalb champ, com F ormer DeKalb County commis sioner Elaine Boyer, who pleaded guilty last year to federal charges of mail fraud conspiracy and wire fraud, has been sentenced to 14 months in prison. During the March 20 sentenc ing hearing, Boyer said, “I’m deeply ashamed. I’m very embarrassed and humiliated. I betrayed the very [people] who were entrusted to me. I deeply re gret my actions.” Boyer was accused of conspiring between September 2009 and Novem ber 2011 to defraud DeKalb County by authorizing 35 payments for false in voices “for consulting services that were never performed,” according to federal charges against her. She was accused of authorizing more than $87,000 to a fi nancial advisor, who then ‘Tunneled ap proximately 75 percent of the money... into Boyer’s personal bank account.” Federal prosecutors said Boyer used the money to pay personal expenses, including purchases at hotels and high- end department stores. Sobbing as she spoke, Boyer de scribed her “own Great Depression” of See Corruption on page 15A See Boyer on page 15A 64 116 1 DCHAMPIONNEWSPAPER QCHAMPIONNEWS gCHAMPIONNEWSPAPER ©CHAMPNEWSPAPER
