About The champion newspaper. (Decatur, GA) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (April 2, 2015)
The Champion, Thursday, April 2 - 8, 2015 LOCAL Page 9A State Senate passes cityhood bills by Carla Parker carla@dekalbchamp.com Three DeKalb cityhood bills passed the Georgia Senate last week. The proposed city of Stonecrest, SB 208, passed the senate on a 45-1 vote March 24. The bill is now in the House of Representatives as of press time. The incorporation of Stone- crest would give it a population of approximately 50,000. On March 25, the senate passed the cityhood bills of LaVista Hills and Tucker, along with alterations to the two proposed maps. LaVista Hills’ bill, HB 520, passed 38-5, and Tuckers bill, HB 515, passed 41-1. Sen. Fran Millar introduced the altered maps of Tucker and LaVista Hills during a March 19 hearing; they were approved by the by the Senate State and Local Govern mental Operations Committee. The vote shifted 2,000 residents from the northern part of Tuckers map to LaVista Hills, increasing LaVista Hills’ proposed population to 67,000 from 64,000. Both bills were sent back to the House for review. The house could reject the bills due to the changes of the maps. In December 2014, the DeKalb County Cityhood Subcom mittee of the House Governmental Affairs Committee changed the boundaries of the original proposed maps after the two cityhood groups could not come to an agreement on boundaries. “We are still hopeful the House of Representatives will enforce the agreed to boundary when the city hood bills go back to them later this week,” Tucker cityhood group posted on its Facebook page. Millar’s changes to the maps have led to two DeKalb communi ties to call for a conference commit tee on HB520. In a press release dat ed March 26, neighborhood leaders from Mason Mill and Medlock said that although the neighborhoods reached boundary agreements with LaVista Hills prior to the senate’s adoption of HB520, Millar “refused to delay action on the bill, thus split ting two neighborhoods in two.” “We acted in good faith, follow ing Sen. Millar’s instructions to Sen. [Elena] Parent on March 23, that he would make any changes LaVista Hills representative Steve Schultz agreed to,” said Mary Hinkel, presi dent of the Mason Mill Civic Associ ation. “We met the following morn ing and essentially agreed to the map that had already been approved in the House, with minor modifica tions. The next step was to write the legal description of the boundary for inclusion in an amendment to be proposed by Sen. Millar. As it turns out, while we were meeting, Sen. Millar was moving forward on his own.” The release stated that when the commercial areas of Toco Hills and North DeKalb mall were drawn into the LaVista Hills map, it also drew in residential properties near the commercial properties, thus split ting the neighborhoods. “We want to keep our neighbor hoods unified. To be thwarted by an antiquated mapping technique is outrageous in a time when every smart phone can create a highly detailed map,” said Lynn Ganim, president of Medlock Area Neigh borhood Association. “We ask the legislature to convene a confer ence committee to fix the southern border using metes and bounds, as agreed.” New postmaster of Thicker installed Cheryl Cleveland recites the oath as her father, Paul Cleveland, looks on. Photo by Carla Parker by Carla Parker carla@dekalbchamp.com Postal workers from the Tucker office gathered to celebrate their new boss, Cheryl Cleveland. Cleveland was promoted to postmaster of Tucker in December 2014, and was installed March 27 at Dou- bleTree Hotel in Tucker in front of family, friends and coworkers. “It feels great,” Cleveland said. “It’s a nice accomplish ment of[my] hard work pay ing off.” The ceremony included speeches from coworkers and family members, song and a proclamation, that was presented to Cleveland from DeKalb County Commis sioner Stan Watson. A postmaster is the head of an individual post office. Responsibilities of a postmaster typically include management of a centralized mail distribution facility, es tablishment of letter carrier routes, supervision of letter carriers and clerks, and en forcement of the organiza tion’s rules and procedures. Cleveland said many people helped her along the way, but she gave more credit to one person. “I would say Ellen Sims,” she said. “She was my mentor and she just really challenged me and gave me opportunities that wouldn’t have come.” Cleveland holds a bach elor’s degree in business administration from Loyola University of Chicago. She began her career as a com puter forwarding system clerk in Chicago in 1986. She held several positions in consumer affairs, the Postal Business Center, and pro cessing and distributions. She became a certi fied instructor in process management and quality improvement. She was also a quality specialist associate and data analyst. In 2001, Cleveland transferred to Atlanta as a supervisor of distribution and operations. She later became a supervisor of cus tomer service. In 2008, she was promoted to manager of customer service at the Civic Center Post Office. In 2012, she became manager of cus tomer service at the Moun tain Park Post Office. Cleveland said her first task as postmaster will be to get to know her community. “I will be meeting my community, my business customers,” she said. “Tuck er is a premiere office, and we gross over $1 million. Therefore, I will be working to introduce myself to the community.” JUNIOR LEAGUE OF DEKALB COUNTY IVbfl'ian- JJuifding belt&r communes f ft tit tty iVfV Jfi-r/s-, ,■ fj ft -tf-ttty fiAt* . .f/t-i-Jt-1 ^Support. ~SLare. Sc ai/or. o 3 r ^ Annual TOUR of KITCHENS JUNIOR LEAGUE of DEKALB COUNTY l Saturday, April 25, 2015 11:00AM to 5:00PM For tickets visit www.jldekalb.org/tok 17cKalb Medical ikzs O CHAMPION Design Galleria kitchen and bath studio
