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July 21 - 27, 2016 » Page 8A
Avondale Estates, Brookhaven agree to let voters decide on SPLOST
by Carla Parker
carla@dekalbchamp.com
Some municipalities
agree that residents should
be allowed to vote on
DeKalb County’s equalized
homestead option sales
tax (E-HOST) and special
purpose local option sales
tax (SPLOST) referendums,
however some elected offi
cials are still not happy about
the project lists.
The Avondale Es
tates Board of Mayor and
Commissioners and the
Brookhaven City Council
unanimously approved a
resolution to support al
lowing residents to vote on
E-HOST and SPLOST ref
erendums in November, and
to authorize an intergovern
mental agreement (IGA) with
the county for the use and
distribution of proceeds from
SPLOST.
However, on July 19
Brookhaven Mayor John
Ernst released a statement
saying the city sent a mes
sage to the DeKalb County
Board of Commissioners
urging members not to sup
port placing SPLOST and
E-HOST on the November
ballot.
“Considerable concern
has been raised over the
past few days regarding lan
guage contained in House
Bill 596,” Ernst’s statement
read. “This bill, if approved
by voters, would serve to
suspend the DeKalb Home
stead Valuation Freeze if
SPLOST and E-HOST are
also approved by voters
in November. While most
citizens of Brookhaven
would have gotten a net tax
decrease, the poorly writ
ten legislation did not give
clarity on the effects. In light
of those concerns and in an
abundance of caution, the
city of Brookhaven urges the
board of commissioners to
reject the referendum. Re
gardless of the outcome of
today’s BOC, Brookhaven
property owners can rest
assured that the IGA will not
enforce without the support
of all affected cities.”
Avondale Estates elect
ed officials have expressed
support for the proposed
SPLOST projects for the
city. If SPLOST and E-HOST
are approved by voters,
Avondale Estates could re
ceive $9.2 million for road
resurfacing, transportation
improvements, parks and
recreation and facilities im
provements.
Avondale Estates Com
missioner Brian Fisher said
he supports the SPLOST list.
“I think that there are
several things that are re
ally good for the city,” Fisher
said. “I think it’s good for our
residents—they will get the
tax break with the E-HOST
on their property taxes. It’s
good for the city in that we
will have more funds, hope
fully, available to do public
works projects that are im
portant to the city.
“My hope is that the
DeKalb County Board of
Commissioners will come
together and realize that
every city has to feel like it’s
in their best interest and get
this on the ballot and do the
work they need to do to get
this referendum passed,”
Fisher added.
Brookhaven officials
have different opinions about
its proposed project list. The
county excluded a second
fire station in Brookhaven
from the SPLOST list.
Brookhaven proposed
SPLOST list features funding
for the parks master plan,
street paving, bike/pedes
trian plan, comprehensive
transportation plan, green
space acquisition, city hall,
Buford Highway improve
ment plan and Peachtree
Creek Greenway.
Brookhaven City Coun
cilman Bates Mattison
said he wants the county to
reconsider the fire station
decision.
“We all pay our taxes
and we have a line item for
fire services for operational
costs,” Mattison said. “They
intend to do capital infra
structure through this new
SPLOST, but none of those
moneys would be allocated
to refurbishing or building or
adding to fire services within
any municipalities. I think
that is a bad approach by
the county.”
“I do not want my vote
today to be misconstrued
as an endorsement of the
DeKalb’s list for the county
portion of the money and
what DeKalb intends to do
with that,” Councilwoman
Linley Jones said. “For
us, this is about the city of
Brookhaven and the immedi
ate issue is about the city of
Brookhaven citizens being
allowed to vote yes or no.”
DeKalb police ‘excited’ for body cams
DeKalb County police officers speak with DeKalb County Commissioner Nancy
Jester during a public safety summit. Photo by Horace Holloman
by Horace Holloman
horace@dekalbchamp.com
Soon hundreds of DeKalb
County police officers will be
equipped with body cameras
after the DeKalb County board
of commissioners approved a
resolution to provide the county’s
officers with the latest technology.
The body cameras will help
officers not only do their job but
also promote transparency between
the department and community,
DeKalb County CEO Lee May said.
May, during the county’s annual
DeKalb Neighborhood Summit, said
the department’s body cameras
are one of many steps the county
has made to ensure the police
department has everything they
need to do their job effectively.
May said the county is working
on trying to fix relationships
between the community and police
force. Equipping officers with body
cameras is just one piece to the
puzzle, he said.
“I’m really a solutions-oriented
person and I think a lot of people
are solutions oriented, but this
is not an easy fix,” May said. “I
shared a statement with [Deputy
Chief Operating Officer of Public
Safety] Cedric Alexander and I
said ‘ironically young Black men
and police officers have more
in common right now then they
probably ever had and that’s fear in
one another.’”
In the past few years, the
county has approved pay
increases for police and other first
responders.
The DeKalb County Police
Department (DCPD) received a
3 percent cost-of-living increase
in 2013. May also said officers
received more take-home vehicles.
Police Chief James Conroy
said the body cameras should be
coming in a few months.
“I’m very excited to get that up
and running. We’re hoping once the
paperwork goes through we can
have them up and running within 60
days. We want to start getting those
on the streets so we can have more
transparency, from both sides,”
Conroy said.
According to the proposal,
the body cameras will not exceed
$737,724. The purchase will
from Utility Associates of Decatur
will provide 600 wearable body
cameras to outfit the entire uniform
division.
According to the police
department’s policy on body
cameras, officers will notify citizens
that they are being recorded,
whenever possible. Recordings
considered evidence for criminal
proceedings will be retained
until final disposition of the case.
Recordings considered to be
valuable for complaints or training
purposes will be saved for up to six
months.
In January, a grand jury charged
DeKalb police officer Robert Olsen
with two counts each of murder and
violating oath of office. Olsen shot
and killed Anthony Hill, a 27-year-
old mentally ill Black veteran. Olsen
was not equipped with a body
camera. He pleaded not guilty to
the charges.
Conroy said the body cameras
will be an additional tool to help
combat distrust of officers and to
hold officers accountable for their
actions.
“If you have a community
problem or there’s a problem within
our community, you can call me
directly. I’ve spoken with a series
of people and that’s what it needs
to be a free flow of communication.
If everybody is standing with their
arms crossed, nothing will get
accomplished,” Conroy said.