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LOCAL
Stone Mountain City
Manager Gary Peet to retire
by Carla Parker
carla@dekalbchamp.com
Gary Peet, who once
served as a Stone Mountain
city councilmember and
mayor, will retire from his
city manager post on July
31.
Peet has served as city
manager since November
of 2012. He was on the city
council from 1998 to 2001
and served as mayor from
2002 to 2009. Peet said his
overall tenure with the city
has been successful.
“I think every small town
has challenges, particularly
in the metro area because
we’re competing with larger
cities,” he said. “It makes
it more difficult to hire, to
compete for staff. But all and
all, I’ll say that my tenure
has been successful.”
Peet said it is the people
he has worked with that he
will miss the most.
“Everyone has been
a delight to work with,” he
said. It’s like family.”
At the end of the July 18
city council work session,
Peet’s last meeting as city
manager, city councilmen
Richard Mailman and
Steve Wells praised Peet
for his work ethic and
bringing the city out of
financial woes.
“I’d like to thank Gary
for all of his efforts and hard
work working for the city, not
only as city manager but as
mayor before that,” Wells
said. “I’ve worked with Gary
when I worked for the city
and [Peet] was paid $300
a month and he probably
worked 60 hours a week.
At that point in time the city
Stone Mountain City Manager
Gary Peet will retire July 31.
Photo by Carla Parker
was in pretty bad financial
shape based on some
issues that we had and I
think a lot of credit goes to
you for pulling us out of that
issue.”
“The most important
person to me, who showed
me what we need to be
doing and showed me how
to read these things and
understand these things has
been Gary,” Mailman said. “I
will miss you.
Peet said he will now get
plenty of rest, but plans to
stay involved.
“The mayor has asked
me to continue on the
committee that looks at
annexation issues,” Peet
said. “I’ll be attending
meetings and try to play an
active role as a responsible
citizen.
“I’ll try to live a healthy
lifestyle and get an
adequate amount of rest,”
he added.
City Clerk ChaQuias
Miller-Thornton will serve
as city manager beginning
Aug. 1.
IGA
Continued From Page 10A
don’t think they’ll be on the
up-and-up,” Fleming said.
O’Connor said she
agreed with DeKalb
Commissioner Nancy
Jester and Dunwoody
officials in requesting the
IGA’s language be cleared
up and the situation made
clear before asking cities
to sign anything.
“If we really wanted
to do this right, we would
have fixed the language
ahead of time on this,”
O’Connor said. “There’s a
lot of confusion.”
Jester has written via
her blog and email that
“HB 596 serves to suspend
the homestead valuation
freeze currently in effect
in DeKalb County if the
new HOST and a SPLOST
are approved in the
November election. Upon
the expiration of the HOST,
the homestead valuation
freeze would be reinstated
in DeKalb County.”
Spangler, O’Connor
and Fleming all cast nay
votes for the IGA while
councilmembers M.D.
Naser, Shannon Hillard
and Robert Patrick voted
favorably. Mayor Pittman
ultimately cast a yes vote.
ICHAMHOM
July 28 - Aug. 3, 2016 • Page 13A
Utility Chief Revenue Officer Chris Lindenau has two DeKalb County officers demonstrate
BodyWorn’s features during a press conference. Photo by Horace Holloman
Decatur company making
big impact for police
by Horace Holloman
horace@dekalbchamp.com
Utility, a venture-capital company based
in Decatur, is making strides in the body
camera industry. Recently, the company
announced a partnership with the DeKalb
County Police Department (DCPD).
The DCPD will wear 600 of Utility’s
BodyWorn wearable body cameras.
“We call DeKalb County home and
are honored to announce that the DeKalb
County Police Department will be deploying
BodyWorn,” said Utility CEO Robert
McKeeman.
McKeeman and DeKalb County interim
CEO Lee May held a press conference
July 20 to announce the partnership.
To date, Utility has contracted with
20 police departments including Lilburn,
Marietta, Clayton County and the Atlanta
Department of Corrections.
McKeeman, a graduate of Southwest
DeKalb High School, said the business
hires locally and provides services locally.
“No one is more committed to body
camera success for DeKalb County than I
am,” McKeeman said. “Integrating the body
camera into the officer’s uniform means the
camera can’t fall off.”
During the conference, Utility Chief
Revenue Officer Chris Lindenau
demonstrated some of BodyWorn’s unique
features such as policy-based recording.
The camera, which operates on
a 4G-LTE smartphone, slides into the
officer’s uniform rather than being mounted.
Depending on the situation, the camera
also records automatically rather than the
officer manually recording.
See Cameras on Page 14A
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