The champion newspaper. (Decatur, GA) 19??-current, March 31, 2016, Image 1

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Newspaper Page TextQUICK FINDER Business 17A Classified ?nu Education 18-19A Opinion 7A Sports 21-24A SPECIAL ELECTION SET FOR COMMISSION SEAT LOCAL, 2A MEALS KEEP SENIORS IN THEIR HOMES LOCAL, 10A DEKALB COUNTY VIOLENT INCIDENTS EDUCATION 10A The Official Legal Organ of DeKafb County, GA. Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chambiee, Clarks ton, Decatur, Doravllle, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain. « © CHAMPION idiampionnewspaper.com I I I V / ^^^F H H W ■ H H H ^ thechampionnewspaper.com ist Place General excellence Award Winner Georgia Press Association 'Better Newspaper Contest’ 2007. 2009-2015 SECTION A: VOL 25 NO. 40 MARCH 31 - APRIL 6,2016 500 Commissioners ponder more pay hikes by Andrew Cauthen andrew@dekalbchamp.com E mployee pay again was an issue considered by the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners March 22. This time, Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton introduced a plan to give a 4 percent salary increase to eligible employees of the county CEO and commissioners. Sutton said the plan is to address discrepancies in pay of employees who have the same job titles but are not making the same pay. “It is not only fair and right, but I think it is the proper and legal thing to do,” she said about adopting the pay increase. “It is incumbent on us to address those concerns.” Sutton said commissioners already knew there were pay discrepancies that needed to be addressed. “It was brought to our attention from the very beginning and we all know that this was something we had to address,” she said. “We had thought it would be OK to wait until midyear adjustments but it was brought to my attention that there were people in several different departments who had exactly the same job title, not just similar responsibilities.” The county needs to “make sure all of our employees are paid what they are due,” Sutton said. The proposed pay increase would be in addition to pay increases approved by commissioners in February for police, fire, 911, sanitation and watershed employees. When commissioners voted 4-3 to approve the county’s 2016 budget, they also approved the salary raises, which will affect approximately 2,800 employees and will go into effect in May. That 4-percent increase amounted to $5.2 million in the current budget. According to Zach Williams, the county’s chief See Pay on Page 5A Two state bills that called for the elimination of the county CEO position failed to make it to the governor’s desk. Photo by Travis Hudgons by Andrew Cauthen andrew@dekalbchamp.com There are no changes to DeKalb County’s form of government on the horizon. That is the result of the failure of two proposed state legislations to pass the General Assembly this year. The proposed bills, Sen. Fran Millar’s Senate Bill 378 and Rep. Scott Holcomb’s House Bill 1099, both would have abolished the CEO position in favor of a county manager hired by the Board of Commissioners and established a full-time, elected commission chairperson. Despite the failure of the legislation to pass, Holcomb said he is not done. “I’m going to keep working on it, and I do think we’re going to get to a referendum over time,” Holcomb said. “I can’t predict when that might be.” From the town hall meetings he held throughout DeKalb County, Holcomb said he learned “that the enthusiasm for changing the form of See Government on Page 5A Tm going to keep working on it.' - Rep. Scott Holcomb 64 1 1 6 OOOQ1 {^CHAMPIONNEWSPAPER CHAMPIONNEWS ^CHAMPIONNEWSPAPER

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The champion newspaper. (Decatur, GA) 19??-current, March 31, 2016, Image 1