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LOCAL
THE CHAMPION, THURSDAY, MARCH 23 - 29, 2023 • PAGE 6
Dunwoody breaks ground on new trailway
BY JAY PHILLIPS
JAY@DEKALBCHAMP.COM
Dunwoody city officials broke ground
on the Ashford Dunwoody Path on
March 14 - the city's next project in the
Dunwoody Trailway plan.
The new pathway will connect different
portions of Dunwoody to Perimeter
Marketplace via new and improved walking
and cycling lanes, according to Linton.
"To picture what's coming, all you have
to do is look at the path in front of the
Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar along Ashford
Dunwoody Road," stated Dunwoody City
Manager Eric Linton. "The developer built
the path as part of its rezoning agreement.
Phase [one] of the city's project will extend
this path south toward 1-285 at Hammond
Drive, and future phases will connect
north to the recently completed section in
front of Perimeter Marketplace between
Ashwood Parkway and Meadow Lane
Road. This section was also built by the
developer."
Linton added that the first phase of the
project includes a two-way, raised bicycle
path (also known as a cycle track), a wider
sidewalk, new pedestrian streetlights, and
landscaping along Ashford Dunwoody Road
in front of Perimeter Mall from Hammond
Drive north
SEE TRAILWAY ON PAGE 7
Several parts of the city will be connected with Perimeter Marketplace once
the trailway is complete. Photo provided
ETHICS
Continued From Page 1
have consulted with several lawyers,
and they have advised us that the
DeKalb Code of Ethics is absolutely
clear that when members of
the board are absentee or there
are vacancies, the two alternate
members 'shall serve to ensure
a quorum.' The statute does not
say anything about a chairperson
appointing these alternates before
they can serve as part of a quorum.
Laws enacted by the legislature
take precedence over any agency-
created rule. So, we have to follow
the mandate of the legislature,
which says our alternates shall serve
to ensure a quorum. We do not
propose to act on anything other
than the required act of electing a
chairperson and the critical act of
addressing certain legal needs of
the board."
The board then voted
unanimously to elect Rosa Waymon
as interim board chair as well as
to retain outside litigation counsel
for pending litigation and retain
a lawyer for general counsel
purposes.
Waymon said that earlier this
year, "the entire board became
aware of a concern between staff."
"We immediately decided
we needed to have an outside
investigation," continued Waymon.
"The outside investigator
investigated the events of concern,
and we were satisfied with the
report. However, that did not
preclude a lawsuit from coming in
from that same concern earlier this
year. Therefore, we feel we must act
to protect the board. We would be
remiss if we did not address it."
After the March 13 meeting,
Sen. Emanuel Jones (D, Decatur) put
out a public statement asking the
remaining members of the DeKalb
Ethics Board to resign.
"As the original author of the
legislation that reestablished the
DeKalb County Board of Ethics in
2020,1 am extremely disappointed
in the events that transpired
which led to the resignation of the
majority of their board members,"
reads Jones's statement, in part.
"The actions of a few rogue
members of the Ethics Board have
cast a shadow on the board's
purpose. DeKalb is better than this.
I call on all remaining members of
the DeKalb County Board of Ethics
to resign in order to establish an
entirely new DeKalb County Board
of Ethics, alleviating the risk of
personal agendas and baggage
interfering with the intended role of
the DeKalb County Board of Ethics.
Simply adding additional members
to the existing board will not solve
the overall problem at hand. This
matter is urgent, and I urge all
remaining members of the DeKalb
County Board of Ethics to resign
effective immediately in order to
build a stronger DeKalb."
Recently, DeKalb County
Legislative Delegation Chairs,
including State Senator Kim
Jackson (D, Stone Mountain)
and State Representative Karla
Drenner (D, Avondale Estates),
joined with DeKalb County Clerk of
Superior Court Debra DeBerry and
DeKalb County Tax Commissioner
Irvin Johnson "to issue a call for
nominations to the DeKalb Board
of Ethics in light of the recent
resignations from the board," stated
a news release.
Last month, DeKalb County
Board of Ethics Chair Alex Joseph
resigned citing "serious concerns
about the culture of the board."
"I made the difficult decision
to resign from the DeKalb County
Board of Ethics," said Joseph.
"Specifically, I am concerned that
the board seems determined
to conduct business in closed
door meetings. In my opinion, all
discussions should take place on
the record. The board should be a
model of transparent, accessible
government."
At the special called meeting,
Waymon said that although the
scheduled board meeting for March
had been canceled, the ethics board
"looks forward to having a full board
again for the April 20 meeting."
"We urgently invite DeKalb
citizens with the right credentials
and the heart to serve to come
and join this noble work," said
Waymon. "This work will move
forward. We've done a magnificent
job attending to the work of ethics
in DeKalb County. We have not
been slack in any of those areas. We
have had the challenge of litigation
but we're going to move beyond
that too because we strongly feel
together we can weather that
storm. We encourage you to join
us in this work and we assure you
that when you come to this board,
you will find a welcoming and an
inclusive group of people."
For more information, visit www.
dekalbcountyethics.org.
AUTOPSY Continued From Page 1
website states, "The actions
of the GBI to prevent
inappropriate release of
evidence are solely intended
to preserve the integrity
of the investigation and
to ensure the facts of the
incident are not tainted."
"All the facts, to include
any information brought
forward by the family's
attorney, will be assessed
along with all other
investigative information
by the special prosecutor,"
the statement continues.
"The GBI cannot and will
not attempt to sway public
opinion in this case but
will continue to be led by
the facts and truth. We
understand the extreme
emotion that this has
caused Teran's family and
will continue to investigate
as comprehensively as
possible."
The shooting occurred
on the proposed site of
the Atlanta Public Training
Facility, dubbed "Cop City"
by protesters. Teran was
shot and killed by officers
during an encampment
clearing operation at the
site owned by the city
of Atlanta and located in
DeKalb County.
Representatives of the
GBI team have reported
that Teran shot at officers
without warning, and
critically injured an officer
whose identity has not
been released to the public.
Reports from GBI indicate
that officers returned fire
and killed Teran.
While APD released
some body cam footage
of the multi-jurisdictional
operation, no footage
has been released of the
shooting.
This is a developing
story.