Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the July 7th, 2026 Board of Commissioners meeting. I'm your District 4 Commissioner and Presiding Officer, Commissioner Shkyra Johnson. Thank you for being with us today. We should have a shorter agenda than our last meeting, but it still might be a little lengthy today. We're only at 29 pages today and two public hearings, so we're doing a little better. Before we get started, I did want to extend my prayers to Ms. Lakeisha Davis from DA Boston's office who was injured over the weekend in a celebratory shooting incident. So we're just sending prayers and healing energy to her and supporting her and DA Boston's office. For our inspiration today, we have Mr. Marcus Allen, one of our inspirational central staff members, who's going to come and give us a few words this morning. Good morning, Mr. Allen.

Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer and Board of Commissioners. Good morning.

Thank you for this opportunity to share a few words this morning. And I do want to note, I don't take these opportunities lightly, so just thank you, seriously. Good morning. Good morning. How y'all doing? Good morning. All right. Thank you to the residents that are present here in the building, in the audience, and on watching via our live stream. Participating in local government is one of the most important connections that we have as residents of DeKalb County. The seed that I am planting today is called gratitude. My hope is that in the days ahead, each of us, in our own way, will take the time to water that seed. Proverbs 4.23 instructs us to guard our hearts with all vigilance, for from it flows the springs of life. I believe that one of the ways to guard our hearts is through the practicing of gratitude. So as residents, when we enter these chambers, it's sometimes tempting to sit back and observe how our officials govern. But I'm here today to remind us all that we have a collective charge to be the change in this world. Paying our taxes and watching the news is not going to fly anymore. Progress is going to require more. Our journey to a greater DeKalb begins when we leave these chambers. It's measured by how we greet a stranger in the street. It's what we do when we see litter on the street or on the ground. It's the patience that we try to show each other when we're stuck in traffic on 285. And it's how we respond when we see a neighbor in need. So guard your heart by deploying gratitude. It's about heart posture. But let's be clear about what gratitude is not. Gratitude is not an excuse for complacency. It is not some form of cheap, unrealistic optimism that ignores the realities of people's lives. No, my neighbors, true gratitude cannot thrive in that shallow environment. It plants roots that run much deeper. And when I look at the roots that we've all planted right here, I find so much to be grateful for.

Grateful that the BOC is going on a recess after next week.

We can clap that up. But also, more importantly, grateful that we live in a nation where we can share our opinions without guaranteed persecution. Grateful for the sacrifices of our ancestors to purchase this inheritance of freedom. Grateful that we live in a county where we can work together to find solutions to common issues. And when there is disagreement about how decisions are made, residents hold our officials accountable through venues such as the one that we're in right here. And the vast majority of the world cannot say that. Gratitude is powerful when used as a daily discipline and not as a reactive response. After all, we cannot be great without first being grateful. So to my colleagues as employees, Madam CEO, how you doing? To my colleagues as employees of this great county, I am grateful that we have the opportunity to serve our community through this work. It is an honorable profession. To the BOC, I'm grateful that we continue to push for housing reform. Grateful that we continue the pursuit of environmental justice. Grateful that our judicial courts render decisions with empathy as well as fairness. Grateful for the staff who set up these rooms, these facilities, these cameras with excellence when no one is watching. grateful for this moment that we have right now to move DeKalb County toward a greater today. So as I close, my challenge to everyone today is simple. For the rest of this month, find just one thing that you can be grateful for each day. Search your heart. Find the places where cynicism, anxiety, or fear might be creeping in. and replace it with gratitude. Because when we change our heart posture, we change how we show up for each other. So let's water that seed and let it bear fruit in how we serve DeKalb County. That's all my time this morning, and I wanna thank everyone for y'all. Thank y'all.

We are grateful for you, Mr. Marcus Allen. I do want another housekeeping item. And good morning, Madam CEO. Thank you for being with us this morning. If we're out of the agendas, there is a QR code you can scan outside that door. So if you do need access to the agenda, you can scan the QR code. Next, we will have Pledge of Allegiance led by Commissioner Long-Spears from District 2. And then we'll go on the floor for one presentation for Solid Waste Worker Appreciation Day.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

If you would like to join me on the floor for the presentation, and we only have the one, we will not have the Somali community presentation. We'll do that later on.

Got some new glasses.

Good morning, everyone. What a joy to look out amongst all of you today. I am grateful to be here with you this morning. And I must say that it is both Gratitude and a grateful heart that brings me here to acknowledge some of DeKalb County's most valued and often undervalued public servants. To you, Mr. Allen. It's a joy to come behind you, because as we say in the Southern Baptist Church, the protocol has already been established. I feel quite parochial where many people within DeKalb County are concerned, and in particular members of our central staff. And to you, Mr. Allen, I'd like to say I want to see you run far. It really warmed my heart to see you deliver the message. So, without any further delay, this morning I am here because I would like to acknowledge our solid waste appreciation day. Now, first of all, good morning to our board of commissioners. God knows it feels bizarre that I'm not here with you. And I know that there are some who might want to change that. I'm fine with it. But with that being said, to all of the staff of DeKalb County as well as what I call the beloved community, those of you who sit in the audience this morning, it's a pleasure to present a proclamation that acknowledges July 7th, 2026 as Solid Waste Worker Appreciation Day in DeKalb County. Every day we have more than 700 solid waste department employees who work tirelessly. These individuals work tirelessly to protect public health, to preserve our environment, and also to keep our communities clean. Often, we fail to acknowledge how essential solid waste management is across DeKalb County. But I will say without equivocation, when someone doesn't have their trash picked up, we all receive a call. Sometimes we don't realize value until we lose service or the presence of those who perform the yeoman's job each and every day without a simple acknowledgement. These are individuals who work in extreme heat, heavy rain and freezing temperatures, and they show up when many of us have the luxury of sitting inside our homes. So often their work is done without acknowledgement of the benefit of the service that they provide. And many of us also fail to acknowledge that we could never do what they do. Each and every day they wake up and they face uncertain conditions. Right now we are battling high heat. Rain, cold, they perform. They are what we consider across DeKalb County essential service members. So as we continue in DeKalb County building a cleaner, greener, and more sustainable DeKalb County, today is an opportunity for us to recognize the hard work of these individuals as public servants. And also an opportunity for each and every one of us to thank them for the essential work that they do each and every day. At this time, Director McKinney, I would assume that you are present. I'd like for you as well as our solid waste management team to come forward. We will now read the proclamation. And I'd also like to point out that you've noticed I have not referred to our department as sanitation. Solid waste management team. is a different mindset because in DeKalb County we have a new sustainability director and we have come to truly realize that trash is cash. Solid waste management is completely different. We don't move trash, we manage solid waste. And as you all come forward this morning, I just want to express again my gratitude to each and every one of you. For showing up, for doing a job that is difficult, for often not being acknowledged by those you serve. But today, we acknowledge you and we express our gratitude. And at this time, as everyone comes forward, we're going to allow director McKinney to say a few words.

Good morning, good morning. As team continues to kind of make their way, I'm very proud of the faces and smiles this morning. And not prolong, it's hard to come after CEO, she said it all. But a couple things I want to share is that when we often use the term blood, sweat, and tears, it's a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. We have a lot of injuries. that produce blood, sometimes there's some crying when we go home, the aches and pains. This is an essential job. In the event that this shuts down, all of us will be impacted. We owe a great level of gratitude to everyone here. We say solid waste management and encompasses everything we do. Our beautification efforts, the beautiful communities, the right-of-ways, the curbs are clean, from curbside collections, from disposal and processing, to resource recoveries, to our methane gas, which we are self-sufficient in fueling our vehicles, and soon we'll be online selling that gas. So we're doing some great things. I'm honored to be part of this team. This has been my entire adult working life in this business. So their story, who you see behind you, is my story. We're living this journey together, and we're going from good to great. Let me just finish this by saying, put it in perspective. The National Safety Council, and along with SWALA, the Solid Waste Association of North America, They rate the industry danger points in a lot of industrial jobs. And typically the solid waste industry is in the top five most dangerous jobs in America. The highest in the terms of number going low, a few years ago we were the number three most dangerous job. Put that in perspective. Things just don't magically pick up themselves from the curb. It's the team that's behind you, whether they're on the curve, whether they're leading, supervising, whether they're managing customer relationships, because relationships matter. We just want to say thank you, Madam CEO, her executive staff, the commissioners for supporting us in our dreams and helping us go from good to great. Thank you.

And if you'll read the proclamation at this time.

Whereas the men and women employed by the Cap County Department of Solid Waste Management, formerly the Cap County Sanitation Division, are responsible for protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the residents by maintaining the cleanliness of the county streets, neighborhoods, their affairs, and the businesses in accordance with the established county ordinances. Resolutions, rules, and regulations. And whereas Solid Waste Workers Appreciation Day is part of the committed effort to recognize the men and women who help preserve the quality of life of the Cab County residents by maintaining clean, Substantial communities and whereas more than 700 employees of the Department of Solid Waste Management work tirelessly, often challenging conditions such as freezing temperatures, terrestrial downpours, and blazing heat to provide residents with a sanitary community free of waste, debris, and overgrown foliage. And whereas Solid Waste Worker Appreciation Day is an opportunity to celebrate the men and women who hold the honorable title of Solid Waste Worker. We commend them for maintaining the enhancing of the county's aesthetics and for creating a cleaner, greener community for DeKalb residents to enjoy. And whereas we move toward a new era of beautification, solid waste, recycling management, our hardworking men and women are more dedicated and committed to than ever, excuse me, serving our residents and businesses with integrity, resilience, efficiency, and accountability. And whereas the cab County shares in the excellent solid waste worker appreciation day, and encourages residents to recognize the staff of the department of solid waste management by extending gratitude and appreciation to the hardworking men and women who make the cab County a cleaner place to live, work and play. Now, therefore we Lorraine Kirkland Johnson, chief executive officer together with the cab County board of commissioners and it's nearly 780,000 residents to hereby proclaim July 7th, 2026 as solid waste worker appreciation day. and DeKalb County, proclaimed the 7th day of July, 2026.

Thank you.

Thank you all and today in honor of Solid Waste Appreciation Day for those of you who receive our county newsletter, we will be sending out a special edition because we want to help you help us. And I want to ensure that everyone across the county understands how to properly dispose of their waste. I get lots of calls in the community about leachate and spillage from trucks. But the truth is, liquids should not be in our trash. Yes. So we want to help you help us because these men have a very, very difficult job. But no one should ever dispose of liquids in solid waste. Thank you all so much, and we're going to educate, educate, educate. Thank you.

I appreciate all being with us. Thank you. Thank you. See you. Good to see you again, sir. Thanks all for being here. Thank you. See you guys.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you so much, everybody. So now we will go into the public comment section. Ms. Madam Deputy Clerk, if you will read in the instructions.

The purpose of public comment is to allow the public to voice county related requests, concerns, or opinions during the commission meeting. Speakers will only have the opportunity for one public comment per meeting. Each speaker must complete a speaker card and present it to the clerk before beginning of the public comment portion of the meeting. Cards turn in to the clerk from the time general meeting is convened, generally at 9 AM, and by the beginning of the public comment portion, generally following the presentation on the agenda. The clerk would accept cards from on first come first serve basis. Prior to the clerk's call for public comment speakers who are residents of the cab County shall be allowed to speak before residents of other counties are allowed to speak. Speakers will be allowed to speak for three minutes. Each, each in public comics shall not exceed 30 minutes in length. When the, when the buzzer sounds to indicate that the time has run out, the speaker will be expected to immediately see speaking. and to yield the podium. Those who submitted speaker cards but did not speak because of the time allotment will be allowed to speak first at the regularly scheduled commission meeting without regarding to residents. Speakers should always talk directly into the microphone and begin by stating their name, full address, and the name of the organization they represent. Abusive, profane, or derogatory language, holding up signs, clapping, yelling, standing, or lying in the aisles to show support for or opposition to A speaker will not be permitted, but a show of hands are quietly standing in place will be permitted to show support for, or opposition to a speaker's position.

Thank you, ma'am. Were there any leftover from the last meeting?

Yes, we have a few from the last minute. Joanie a Lynn Rooksby. Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning, madam chair. Board of Commissioners and specifically my commissioners, District 3 Commissioner Nicole Messiah.

Hold on one second, ma'am. Can we get the clock on the screen? Make sure you have all your time.

There we go. and Super District 6 Commissioner Ted Terry. My name is Juana Lynn Rigsby. I live at 1984 Shelter Rock Drive in Conley. I serve as president of the Boulder Crest Corridor Small Area Plan Steering Committee, BCSAP for short. We formed this nonprofit organization to create a small area plan for the Boulder Crest Overlay starting with the Boulder Crest Road Corridor. I also coordinate the East Conley Zoning Committee for which at least the last seven years We have been fighting to protect residents from the intrusion of business into residents' backyards. Today, I feel like I'm living through a Trump-style revenge tour. Little over a year ago, a proposal was made to change a property on Boulder Crest Road from residential to commercial. Two buildings at the corner of River Road and Boulder Crest were grandfathered when the Boulder Crest overlay went into effect sometime around 2009, with the understanding that they would return to residential status if sold, or they could not expand deeper into the residential area. When an owner announced recently that she wanted to increase her footprint, expanding her property, make a larger building, and possibly add living accommodations, we were never quite sure about that, it was to be right to the backyard fences of our neighbors. Residents contacted East County Zoning Committee and they said no, they didn't want the change. The community spoke up, the board voted with the community, and the request was denied. The representing attorney at that time said that they couldn't make that property commercial They would go after all the vote across the road to make it commercial, and here we are. The proposed text amendment states that the residential properties with which were once commercial under the overlay would now have the ability to be declared commercial once again, adding unwanted traffic. and changing the very character of the street. The petitioner, I think the real petitioner, went to Planning and Sustainability and said, well, there's only five properties impacted. But we all know that's not true when you talk about turning land into commercial properties. It's not just the first five. It's five, then one more, and one more, until people get tired of commercial properties next to them, so they sell their properties and move away. The only thing to stop this domino effect is organizing to defeat an initial five SLUP request. developers hope to wear us down. Quite frankly, the community doesn't want this rolling domino effect on Boulder Crest, even though developers do. I don't believe it makes sense for the Board of Commissioners to agree to change some of the overlay zoning when the Boulder Crest Corridor Small Area Plan development process, agreed to by both commissioners and supported by this board to the tune of $100,000, is ready to start its collaboration with Planning Sustainability, especially when the request adversely affects the plan. We ask that until a final plan is submitted to this Board of Commissioners that you accept the recommendation made by Planning and Sustainability at the last BOC meeting and move to withdraw 20260630 from consideration. Because we're in the summer months already and reaching residents is difficult, we believe the final process for the plan submission can be completed by October or November. This will include more input from the community. BCSAP is ready to work cooperatively with planning and sustainability and eager to move to the development stage. Please withdraw text amendment 2026-0630 or deny it. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you.

Next speaker, please. Our next speaker is Jocelyn O'Neil. Good morning, Ms. O'Neil. I do not see her this morning. Next speaker. These are still from last meeting? Yes, these are still from last meeting. Renee Cow. Renee Cow, are you present today? Do not see her. Christopher Paul. Christopher, are you present today? Do not see them.

Faith Park.

Faith Park. Next speaker.

Lafayette Nelson.

Mafiat Nelson, continue.

Laura Kernow, I'm sorry.

Laura, do not see them.

So those are the cards from last week, so I'm going to start with the new cards.

Thank you, ma'am.

Jackie Malcolm.

Good morning, Ms. Malcolm.

All right. Good morning, Commissioners. My name is Jackie Malcolm. I live in District 3 off of Boulder Crest. It was good that the moratorium was extended last month and even better if the moratorium can be extended again until next year. This will give the planning and sustainability as well as the BOC more time to realize dangers of a large-scale AI data center and campus. There has been more data coming out each and every day warning the public of many different negative effects on residents who live within a five mile radius of a large scale AI data campus and center. These findings have been reported from regular people who suffer from living near a data campus after it was built near their homes. There are so many heartbreaking stories. Developing any major large-scale AI data center and campus new residents is a threat to our health, our water, our land, our environment, our communities, and our quality of life. This is not the kind of economic development we want or need. We need to seriously consider an ordinance disallowing the development of major large-scale, hyperscale AI data center campuses in DeKalb County altogether, or at the very least until the requirements of the consent decree have been met. How can anyone hold these billionaires accountable or make them do anything that's right? Our citizens and our county must be protected. We do not really need large scale hyper AI data centers or campuses in the cap, do we? No. Some communities like Cedar Grove have started a small area plan. Why? Because our area in South DeKalb as well as South East DeKalb has been neglected for years. This disinvestment in South East DeKalb leaves us exposed to this type of industrial development that no community wants, including ours. Once again, it rained last week in my area off of Boulder Crest, and the soil could not sustain the amount of rain that came down. And guess what? It's one street over from the proposed site of Lovelace Lane, Lovelace Drive. And we were without power for more than four to five hours. We the people who have come to stand before you refuse to continue to suffer the injustice of zoning decisions that harm us. I have learned a long time ago those of you who do not live in these affected communities have a great deal of tolerance. But I wish that the people who do not live in these areas.

Thank you, ma'am. Thank you.

Just treat our communities like it's yours. Thank you.

Jane Dunaway. Ms. Dunaway.

Good morning.

Good morning. Jan Dunaway, District 4 and a DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor and a member of the DeKalb Citizens Coalition. I am encouraged that the citizens' voices, who have been speaking for nine months, have finally been heard on the prospect of developing major large-scale data centers in DeKalb County. I am further hopeful that you will pass the nine-month moratorium on the agenda. DeKalb County is unique due to our broken water and sewer system and unmet requirements from the 2011 federal consent decree. Without a comprehensive health and environmental impact study performed by an independent third party, you cannot properly assess the negative impacts of data center development on our residents and communities, especially in South DeKalb. It is our position that we do not have sufficient water infrastructure to support major large-scale, hyperscale data centers and campuses in DeKalb County. Furthermore, we continue to pay millions of dollars in fines and penalties for our failure to comply with the consent decree. Note that DeKalb County has a single source of drinking water for the entire county. Closed-loop systems use large initial loads of drinking potable water and then still use replacement water daily. Closed-loop systems, by design, capture the heat from the servers, then release it into the surrounding area, creating a heat island. we need one mile away from homes parks trails hospitals schools etc discharge of the chemically infused water into our fragile water system could result in increased sanitary sewer flows overflows which we are fine for every time they occur and putting our residents at risk our water treatment facility cannot completely remove our these dangerous chemicals before being discharged into the South River. Do we have the capacity to handle their discharge? There is no way to hold data centers accountable. Regulations only work if they are enforceable. An effective compliance plan has been missing from every version of the previous proposed data center text amendments. Can we responsibly dedicate our drinking water capacity to billionaire data centers that do not care about the residents? I have been asked repeatedly by the people, what is the benefit to us? no idea other than money the county believes they will receive but with no guarantees the rights and best interests of our citizens should be your priority thank you thank you ma'am gina mangum good morning good morning

Oh, what a difference a day makes. But in the case of the last VOC meeting, it was a few hours. We're not sure why you came to an epiphany after 10 months, but we are certainly, we will certainly take it. We are cautiously happy that you are finally listening. Yet, there's still work to be done. If you're really listening, our goal was not just to kill the text amendment. The problem with the text amendment was twofold. Number one, you can't have regulations without regulators. And so regardless of the intent, what the text amendment actually achieved was to allow data centers in, but under certain conditions. I'm not sure, and we'd really like an answer to this, why they can come in by right when there's no definition in the code. Now, I don't claim to be a legal expert, but one way the city of Palmetto banned data centers was just to leave them out of the code altogether. Regardless, the community has made it clear. We do not want major, large-scale, hyper-scale data centers or data campuses in DeKalb County. And it's not just that we don't want them. This isn't like putting a multi-family development in a suburban area. We have really good reasons for not wanting them here. And they continue to multiply in news reports day after day after day. Now we need to complete the task and we are hoping that in good faith you said you are listening to the community and we can work together to establish a legal framework to make sure these monstrosities that are not good for us under any circumstances into our communities. We believe the criteria is there. All you need to do is shift your focus to the real goal, not how we can let them in, but how we can keep them out. That's what the community is asking. That's what the community demands. And quite frankly, that's what's in the best interest of not only the community residents, but DeKalb County. So please, work with us. Let's get on the same page. Let's look at the big picture. In the big picture, you can see all over the state, all over the nation, that these data centers offer less than they bring. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker. Stephen Binney. Good morning, Mr. Binney.

good morning commissioners the state of the day is depressing only three to four percent of people in the atlanta area currently living in poverty ever make it out of poverty we still have a very long way to go my friends last meeting you had was a fiasco it's a new week and hope springs eternal As I stand here today, there is a pervasive odor about this room. I am not sure what it is, but it smells closer to a porta potty than Chanel number five. Two weeks ago, when discussing the data center text amendment, we were told that without a text amendment, there would be no controls or guidelines on building data centers. This is inaccurate. Any type of structure not mentioned specifically in counting zoning is not allowed, I believe. Although there are loopholes and ways around rules. The Ellenwood Data Center is being processed through zoning as an electrical building structure, for example. However, seven hours later, the commission revisited the text amendment item and voted unanimously to deny after the crowds had left. You do not deny unless you have an alternative ready. On the surface, this sounds positive, but we should be wary. To this date, I have not seen any other real solutions or alternatives offered by this commission. The next logical step to take, if the commissioners are serious, is to vote to ban all data centers or all data centers over a specific size. Otherwise, each time the moratorium comes up for extension, The citizens of DeKalb County will be facing a sword of Damocles every 100 days until opposition is waned and the commission will finally take action. Perhaps they will wait until September 18th to introduce a new text amendment before approving it on September 22nd without giving residents time to study it or comment on it. Presiding Officer Johnson in a public response said, after thoughtful discussion and debate, the board voted to deny the ordinance and I supported that decision. There was less than three minutes between reintroduction and vote to deny. No reason was given for the change either. At this time, there is an overcurrent of one-upmanship and game-playing on this commission along with an undercurrent of anger and jealousy. It is hard to make positive and inclusive policy decisions under these conditions. Always remember that this commission often views things through cash-colored glasses and values short-term gains in tax revenue over the long-term cost to the county and its communities. Mr. Patrick, did I hear you compare living in the flight path of PDK with living next to DeKalb County's landfill? That's like comparing a mosquito to an oversized outhouse. I hope it was one of your bad jokes, but fear it shows a lack of understanding and compassion for residents in South DeKalb. The commission recently approved a $1.5 million change order to the contract with American Medical Response to provide emergency ambulance services. Thank you, Mr. Benny. Some things never change. Thank you, Mr. Benny. Thank you.

Next speaker. Christina Porter. Miss Porter, good morning. Tall person in the room.

Good morning, commissioners, staff, and members of the audience. My name is Christina Porter, and I live in North DeKalb, right where Dunwoody, Chambly, and Brookhaven converge. I am grateful to be here to continue advocating for the homeless in North DeKalb, a journey that I started when I founded the Chambly Coalition on Homelessness over five years ago. and one that garnered me the Trailblazer Award in this very room just over a year ago. Over the last five years, the coalition of nonprofits, government agencies, business, the faith community, and concerned citizens has made progress in bringing awareness to the growth of homelessness in North DeKalb. And I do want to pause and thank the commissioners and our leadership for what has been provided so far. However, we have much more work to do, which leads me to these three requests. Number one, please provide services to all areas of the county equally. Whatever is provided for residents in the south needs to be provided for residents in the north. For example, in last week's heat wave, the homeless in South DeKalb had four cooling centers to choose from. The homeless in North DeKalb had zero. Request number two, please fund a community center in North DeKalb. A community center is a safe place for not only the homeless to take a shower, get clean clothes, have a meal, and pursue case management services. It's also a place where when an apartment is damaged due to fire or flood, the displaced residents can come to the community center to talk to insurance agents, to research replacement costs for their items, to look for a new place to live, and to do laundry. When an area loses power for an extended period of time, those who need to keep medications refrigerated or their medical equipment charged can do so at a community center. Request number three, please generously fund the nonprofits that prevent homelessness. The best solution to homelessness is to prevent it. One of those nonprofits, the Community Assistance Center, kept 205 families in Dunwoody housed. They prevented 205 families from being evicted. Imagine what Dunwoody would look like with 205 homeless families. In conclusion, homelessness is a complex problem that affects the entire community, and I request that whatever budget is approved includes funds for a community center and Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you.

Kayla Player?

Kayla? Good morning.

Good morning, good morning.

My name is Caleb Plattel, a full custody father, a 12-year-old son, been raising him by myself since he was five days old. I'm here on behalf of St. Vincent de Paul. They were one of the only organizations in the Cab County that helped me get housed with my son. Even while in the emergency room, having a brain tumor removed this past July, Simmons and DePaul were the only one that was there for me. Number two, as a full custody father, I lived a life mostly of a single mother. I haven't been raising them with a wife or a girlfriend. So I'm a nurturing father. So I focus on mental health and safety. Simmons and DePaul offers a service that most agencies do not. They're individualized. Everywhere I go, I have to relive My trauma with being asked unnecessary questions, where his mom, how did you get here? St. Vincent de Paul never did that. Right now, the tumor has reemerged. St. Vincent de Paul is the only one that I could rely on. They are a fixture in the community. They've been here for a while. And if you really look at it, they help the community and individuals like myself. As a full custody father, there's not too many services for fathers like myself, even single mothers. Their location is perfect. I'm also a researcher at Morehouse School of Medicine. I co-authored a manuscript alongside Partners for Home and six other universities specifically on housing intake needs. And what I've noticed from St. Vincent Paul, it provides a safety net. their food giveaway is away from residential areas, keeping the homeless from nagging around the residents. So to me, a day shelter would be grateful in that community because a lot of churches, a lot of organizations give away food in residential areas. Once those homeless people finish eating, they linger around, not having somewhere to go. So having a fixed place that is safe is necessary in DeKalb County. And again, I see St. Vincent as a template where they help the community on one side and they help individuals like myself on the other side. And that is something that is sorely needed. A lot of homeless people complain about having to relive their moments where you've been, what you've done. They don't do that. They hold you accountable based on what you're doing the next time they see you. So please, I encourage you, any budget, it has to be towards community centers. These people are walking around wondering, even while homeless, I was studying to be a researcher. And nobody knew that. So there's a lot of homeless individuals like myself that is in school that needs help. But as a full custody father, getting the help from St. Vincent de Paul, being able to have a manuscript published at the Library of Medicine based on their services, individualized services, I think that any funding that you have, you really have to consider that. Location is key when you're doing a giveaway, especially food. And you need a place for these homeless people to go to after they eat the food. You need that. And they provide a safety net so we're not asking these homeless men, these homeless women deep thought questions. They're able to think.

Thank you, sir. Thank you. Austin Corral. Austin, good morning.

data centers cannot seriously be considered apart from the capabilities and economics of ai especially when the economics of ai is presented as opportunity for the county it's supposedly the promise of ai in particular the realization of general artificial intelligence that is driving what is already the largest infrastructure spend in u.s history For reference, total industry capital expenditure now sits at roughly 1.5 trillion. This is against 800 billion in revenue, much of which is double counted because big tech is passing debt around in a circle and calling it profit. This is more than twice the amount of money spent on the interstate highway system since 1956. Yet AI is also experiencing a massive profitability crisis, leading companies like OpenAI and Anthropic to transition from subscription-based pricing to token-based billing in the hopes of cutting their growing losses. This in turn has led companies to discourage AI use and put limits on what it can be used for after it was reported that a client of Anthropic's incidentally spent $500 million on AI tokens in a single month. That is, AI was already struggling to expand its use cases enough to break even on its debt, and now companies are reversing AI quotas and in some cases rehiring the workers AI was supposed to replace. AI is also a project of restructuring the state, delegating more and more government decision-making to black box algorithms running on corporate clouds under the premise that predicting the future is nothing more than a statistics problem. But what AI calls prediction is actually the projection of history onto the future, as the only patterns AI can learn are the ones embedded in the data produced by humans. This includes colonial conceptions of land, which cast it as a resource to be run dry in the interest of profit, to 20th century projects of scientific racism, which have long been embedded in the project of policing. Not to mention that it is already being used to fuel imperialist wars abroad and political repression here at home. AI veils these ideologies and the violences they justify under the guise of scientific progress and supposed objectivity, constraining political horizons to protect the interests of the very people intent on compromising the livability of our planet. People of DeKalb and across the country do not want data centers at all any more than they want the blood money of its developers.

Thank you, sir.

Lisa Reagan.

Lisa? Good morning.

Hi, good morning. My name is Lisa Regan. I'm on staff at St. Vincent de Paul, Georgia. The North DeKalb Day Center for the Unhoused, a resource hub plan to provide dignifying basic needs along with pathways to stability for our unhoused neighbors, is one of the critically important initiatives that hangs in the balance of budget approval. St. Vincent de Paul in Chamblee currently serves an average of 10,000 neighbors in 3,400 households each month through our client choice food market. We also see 85 to 100 unhoused neighbors who rely on us for their daily offering of food, a friendly face, an air conditioned lobby, and people willing to help. Unhoused neighbors may come to us for a sandwich or a snack, but many times once they're in the door, they decide to see a caseworker, as you had heard from Caleb today, or participate in a spiritual gathering, life skills, or financial empowerment class. Food is a door opener to dignifying help and non-judgmental care. And being seen and heard is the best remedy for stress and building trust. Once trust is built, we can start opening more doors for them. Through our housing programs and partner referrals, we've been able to help dozens of unhoused neighbors find stable housing just in the last year. One of our other neighbors who would have liked to have been with us here today but is not due to health issues says she doesn't know where she would be without the resource of St. Vincent de Paul. Living between her car and what she described as unsafe hotels, She says she was at the end of her rope. She didn't think she was going to survive the year. After countless rejections, she managed to find St. Vincent de Paul, receiving the help that she needed to find an apartment, make a deposit on an affordable apartment, and get the essential resources she desperately needed. Judith shares the importance of essential resources such as showers and laundry for people without the benefit of a roof over their head. Hygiene is dignifying and humanizing. We continue to work with Judith, and she's become a friend and a fan of the work that we do. The North DeKalb Day Center for the Unhoused will open doors to a more impactful level of care for our unhoused neighbors. We anticipate that we will serve many of the same neighbors we currently see, offering them more, including this the ability to take a rest, have a shower, put on clean clothes, eat an interesting meal, charge their cell phone, and have some personal space. These self-care essentials take a huge weight off of situational stress, and beyond the basic essentials, neighbors will have access to job resources, mental health care, financial education, life skills, resources we currently provide for our neighbors in Chambly and throughout the state. The North DeKalb Day Center will provide the infrastructure we need to deliver essential resources and more for our unhoused neighbors. And I urge the commissioners to help us maintain our timeline of opening the center prior to the winter weather when warming shelter becomes an essential service. We're proud to partner with DeKalb County on this critically important initiative. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am.

Ronnie Mayer. Good morning, sir.

Good morning, Ronnie Mayer. I live in the city of Brookhaven. I'm here to speak about your sanitation team is the best there is. I own one of the largest towing services in DeKalb County for 53 years. I'm retired now. And being a tow truck operator is like a sanitation guy. cold, wet, snow, rain, you're on a two-lane street, you're going to get run over. I applaud all those people. The unhoused folks here are more important than my library. So there is a building at 85 North and 285 is the old Quality Inn Hotel that would make a perfect place for to partner with St. Vincent DePaul. And there's enough money in North DeKalb for folks to throw in some money. And let's fix that up. It's on the bus line. That would be a great thing. All right, next. I've been here on the Beaufort Highway. We moved here in 1966 when it was just a little old place. Well, Our commissioners, we got one of the best CEOs we've ever had, one of the best COOs. There's Mr. Zach right there walking by. I dropped all y'all a pamphlet off. We in Brookhaven have been paying a library tax for 25 years. My kids are grown and gone. My grandkids are almost grown and gone. And we've been paying this library tax for 25 years and no library and they all say you ain't got no money. And now y'all dealing with Brookhaven, I mean the city of Brookhaven, or Crookhaven, whatever you want to call it, it's bad. I just want my library. Y'all quit putting your heads in the darn sand. Wake up. We want our library. Quit saying, well, we want the old location. No, we don't. We want it at the park, at Windsor Park, at Peachtree Road and Osborne Road. It makes common sense. A lot of people don't want it because I want it there. Don't let that bother you. Open up your brain set. Common sense says library and a park. We got a guy with a coffee shop that'll go in there. It'll pay for half the cleaning service, and I want it named after Leanna Levitan Library. She's still alive, and she deserves it. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. That concludes public comment in accordance to a lot of time.

Please. I was called. I was doing the grandma thing this morning.

She was called and she wasn't here. Do we have any time left?

No, that concludes the time for allotment.

We are out of time, Ms. O'Neill. I'm very sorry. I need some help with a homeless man.

We will have someone come speak with you.

If someone can go speak with Ms. O'Neill, thank you. If we can read the rules for the public hearing.

Citizens may speak for or against an item that is considered by law to be a zoning ordinance, and each side will have 10 minutes to present its case. Citizens may also speak for or against an item that is placed on the public hearing agenda, but it's not a zoning ordinance. In that case, each side will have five minutes to present its case. In the event there is more than one speaker per side, speakers must divide their time in order to complete their full presentation within the 10-minute allotment. or the five minute time allotment. When the buzzer sounds to indicate that time has run out, the speaker will expect to immediately cease speaking and to leave the podium area. Prior to speaking, a speaker shall complete a speaker card and present it when approaching the podium. If a speaker has any documents for the commissioners, the speaker shall provide 10 copies when approaching the podium. Seven copies are for their commissioners, and the remaining copies are for all the planning director, the county attorney, and the clerk. In all zoning order ordinance in traffic common cases, staff shall make their recommendations for an action to the commission first followed by applicants or assistant speaking in favor of the item. Applicants in zoning ordinance cases shall have the right to receive time for rebuttal. Opponents of the zoning ordinance item shall have not, excuse me, shall have no right to rebuttal. For all other items placed on the public hearing agenda, applicants or citizens speaking in favor of the item shall speak first, followed by the opponent of the item. Once the citizen has finished speaking, staff shall make the recommendation for action to the commission. At this point, citizens are no longer allowed to speak unless called to the podium by individual commissioner to answer questions or provide information. Speaker should always talk directly into the microphone and begin by saying their name, address, and the name of the organization they represent. Abusive, profane, or derogatory language will not be permitted. Holding up signs, clapping, yelling, standing, or landing in the aisles to show support for or opposition to a speaker will not be permitted. But a show of hands quietly standing in place will be permitted to show support for or opposition to a speaker's position.

Thank you, ma'am. We have two items under public hearing. First, under a chief executive office, item 2026-1045, and we were just handed a substitute. This is the 2026 ad valorem tax millage rates budget revisions. All commission districts. Good morning, Mrs. Ziegler.

Good morning. Good morning.

So this morning is the third public hearing on the proposed 2026 millage rates.

We do have a presentation prior to the public comments on the millage rates. First two slides are really for the benefit of the public, just to define some of the terms we're going to be using. The first is the millage rate, which is just the tax rate levied for ad valorem property taxes. And what that is, ad valorem taxes are property taxes or a tax that's based on the value of property. And then the millage rate is expressed in mills. And so a levy of one mill is equal to $1 for each $1,000 in taxable value. Okay, and then the combined values of all taxable property in the county is called the tax digest. And that is for all property, it's taxed at its assessed value, which is 40% of the fair market value. So and then when we talk about the gross tax digest, that's that 40% value added up for all properties. all taxable properties. And then the net tax value, net tax digest is the gross tax digest, less any exemptions on those properties. So homestead exemptions are ehos. All right. Really getting into what this budget and the millage rates do is we put together the 2026 budget to try to deliver on services that we've heard the most from residents that they say matter. So that includes funding our comprehensive housing strategy, expanding funding for economic and workforce development, expanded healthcare access. compensation and benefit enhancements to recruit and retain firefighters and police officers. We have expanded animal welfare services, food security programs, voter education and outreach, as well as continued support for the arts. And to get into that just a little bit more, so the funding for housing is $12 million in the 2026 budget, with a plan increased to $15 million for 2027 and ongoing. And that's going to provide services for the unhoused, such as the day centers that are being one that's open and then the one that was approved for St. Vincent de Paul, as well as other programs to help with housing affordability. as well as our housing investment bonds and the debt service that would be associated with those. For workforce and economic development, we had an additional $1.9 million for workforce development. That included an additional 600,000 for our summer youth program. That's coming from the general fund, so the total amount from the general fund for workforce development is now at $2.5 million. There were also some additional investments for the Chamber of Commerce and a land value and revenue analysis. For healthcare access, there's $1.4 million that's for Medcure Health to purchase and operate a mobile healthcare unit and open up a new point of contact, as well as funding of $1.5 million for Mosaic Health to expand healthcare access across DeKalb County. So for public safety and workforce investments, we put together a compensation package for firefighters, similar to what we had done last year for the police officers. That includes zero premium health insurance, salary adjustments, housing allowances, holiday pay, just a number of different benefits for our firefighters. The budget also included an increase to the minimum wage for county employees to $19 an hour. And that was at a cost of $2 million across all funds. Some of the other investments coming from the general fund included $1 million for the Arts Council, $1 million for voter outreach and education, $1 million to establish a tire recycling program, $780,000 for expanded animal welfare services through the Lifeline contract, funding for two paralegal positions to facilitate court dog cases, Half a million dollars for food security initiatives and also creation of a community inclusion manager within the CEO's office. So what's before you today is the millage rates as well as some revisions to the annual budget. And the millage rates include a proposed half mill increase to the total millage rate for the unincorporated area. And so this proposal balances the need for additional revenue to support the services that we're providing, as well as being able to sustain our fiscal health as a county. So that's across multiple funds, making sure that we have adequate reserves. And like I mentioned, this is funding a whole host of different programs that are expanded or new, as well as improving our retention recruitment efforts for public safety. Okay, so this slide shows the effect of the millage rate increase. So this is before e-host. The average homestead property in unincorporated cab has a fair market value of $364,000. And so the half mill increase would amount to about 20 cents a day for that property owner. So that's 574 a month or $69 a year. so in that table you see the 364 that's the like i said the average value of a homestead property and unincorporated cab that's highlighted in blue and the 450 000 that's in green that is the average value of a homestead property across the county okay this chart just shows the millage rates as proposed so the total there at the end you see for this is for unincorporated 21.31 mils as compared to 20.81 mils from last year, and really that's been the millage rate since 2015. So this is the first time in 11 years that there's been a proposal to increase the millage rates. And this slide just shows a comparison between 2025 as well as the average from 2015 through 2025, so all the years that we've been at the 20.81 mills, to what's proposed for 2026. So you'll see that for both 2025 and the average over those 11 years, the total has been the 20.81 mils. So the increase is half a mil on the total. The individual rates, they fluctuate annually just based on tax digest, what's being funded through those different millage rates. A number of different factors go into what creates or how those millage rates are set. But if you see at the top, 2025 was a bit of an outlier because the countywide operational rate was at 11.683, which is more than 1.5 mils higher than the average. So there is a decrease this year compared to last year. But if you compare that to the average, we're actually still at 1.32 mils above where that's been for those 11 years. And then for the other tax funds or other millage rates, there is some fluctuation there as well. There is an increase to the police millage rate, and that's really to help fund the additional hiring as well as some of the overtime costs associated with the triple overtime that we were providing as an incentive to staff when we had more vacancies in our police department. Okay, aside from the millage rates, there is a change too in the e-host credit that's being provided this year. And what that comes from is there had been a e-host reserve that had been amassed over previous years of about $40 million. And so last year we provided an additional e-host credit of $29 million to homeowners. And so that provided an average savings of $224 last year for unincorporated homeowners. Which that was a great thing, but unfortunately that was just a one time credit that we could provide based on the reserves that had built up there. So there is 10.8 million remaining in the EOS reserve and that will be applied this year as well for tax savings. And that will go to both unincorporated tax rates as well as city tax rates. and those are going to be divided up based on the gross homestead digest of the unincorporated area in the cities and so when you compare 2026 to 2025 the average savings from e-host will be less this year but that again is due to the fact that we were able to provide additional e-host credits last year Where if you compare it to 2024, which is more along the lines of what a regular year would be, the change in the e-host is really $36 more this year than what was, excuse me, $36 more in 2024 than what will be provided this year. So for the average unincorporated homeowner, county taxes will be $31 higher this year than in 2024. And so this is showing that same chart or table from earlier, but showing it after the e-host. And so you can see the difference between 2026 and 2025. And then that final column, 2026 versus 2024. And I'll mention here too, that this would happen independent of what the millage rate is, just because the sales tax revenues are what they are. So we can't provide more in e-host savings than what we have available. OK. And just a bit more about EHO. So the total amount that taxpayers will receive in property tax relief from that is $177.5 million in 2026. And the way that's applied is first to the countywide millage rates. So that includes the county operations or the general fund and the hospital fund. And so a total of $166.7 will be applied to those funds. And that will provide an 84.56% credit off those two millage rates for homestead property owners. Then going back to the e-host reserve, as I mentioned, there's 10.8 million remaining in that reserve, and that will be applied to tax bills this year. And for unincorporated taxpayers, that'll be applied to their police millage rate, and it'll provide a 9.8% credit off their police services millage rate. And for anyone in the cities, they'll be receiving a credit against their city millage rates. And those percentages will vary based on their millage rates and their exemptions that they have in those cities. All right, this slide shows what the distribution is, though, between unincorporated and the cities. And again, this is based on the Gross Homestead Tax Digest. The reason this method is used is it ensures that everyone across the county, if you have a $100,000, $500,000 house in Dunwoody, you're going to get the same tax relief as somebody who has a $500,000 house in unincorporated DeKalb. So unincorporated makes up about 44% of the gross homestead digest. So out of the 10.8 million, we will get, or the unincorporated taxpayers will receive 4.8 million in tax relief. I think that's just a duplicate slide that got in there. This slide, slide 21, is showing the reserves by fund. So we are at 1.4 months total for all tax funds in the proposed budget revisions. That includes 1.8 in the general fund and one across most of the other funds. Hospital and unincorporated bond funds are slightly lower, and that's just based on the fact that there's less variability in what their expenses would be. All right, this is the tax digest and how that's trended over the years. The next slide kind of makes it clear that for the past two years we've been significantly below what the trend had been for prior years. So going back to 2018, the average has been 8.6% growth in the gross and 7.3% growth in the net. So last year that was only 3.8% and this year it was 4.1% for the net tax digest. right uh and then finally we just have the millage rate timeline here so we've had two public hearings already that were held on the 23rd of june and this is our third public hearing this is also the date when the millage rate will be approved based on advertisements that we've run and then the next step from that is we will have to submit our tax digest to the department of revenue for certification in order to be able to mail the property tax bills, which would then go out mid-August. And then they're due in two installments, the first being in 30th September, and then the second being the 16th of November. So just to sum things up again, you know, The proposal is really to be able to provide those additional services that were funded in the initial budget, so including our housing strategy, affordable health care access, our incentives for public safety employees, and then also managing and making sure that our reserves are maintained at a healthy level. So with that, that is the end of the presentation portion of this.

Thank you, TJ. So now we will move into the public hearing section where we hear from the public. So if anyone would like to come forward and speak in favor of this item, in favor of this item first. I'll do another call. Anyone in favor of this item? Okay, seeing no one. Now, if you are in opposition, please step to that back podium. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Jimmy Easton. I'm a resident of Cab County, Carriage Hills. And today's presentation proposes a half mill increase for unincorporated residents while also highlighting additional e-host property tax relief. And I appreciate that relief, but it also raises an important question. If e-host is providing millions of dollars in property tax relief, why is a millage increase still necessary? I'd also respectfully ask what operational efficiencies or spending reductions were implemented before proposing higher taxes? Which new investments are essential county responsibilities and which could be phased in over time? How will the county publicly measure whether these new expenditures actually improve outcomes for residents? And if revenue continues to increase through rising property values, sales tax collections, what is the county's long-term strategy to prevent residents from facing repeated tax increases? Fiscal responsibility means more than balancing the budget, and it means balancing the county's needs with the financial realities of the families, seniors, and small business owners who fund county government. I respectfully ask that the board be careful when evaluating whether every reasonable alternative has been exhausted before approving another increase to the tax burden on DeKalb residents. And I just have one final question for you. Can the staff explain how much additional revenue the proposed half mill increase is expected to generate? And specifically, why the additional e-host tax relief shown today is not sufficient to offset the need for that increase? Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else wishing to speak in opposition? Good morning.

Good morning, commissioners. So you are raising unincorporated DeKalb County residents tax rate by a half mil. What about the incorporated residents? Why isn't their tax rate being raised by half a mil? I have heard fine statements from Ms. Johnson and Mr. Patrick about how everyone needs to pay their equal share lately, especially when it comes to South DeKalb. Most of the unincorporated taxpayers in DeKalb County live in South DeKalb, and now they are being called upon to subsidize property owners in North DeKalb. Is this fair and equal treatment? DeKalb County's police, fire, general, hospital, and other funds benefit all the residents of DeKalb County, not just unincorporated residents. These jurisdictions without their own fire and police departments should be paying half of this should be paying part of this half mil tax increase. A person gets in a bad accident in Buckhead and needs emergency care. Which hospital do they get taken to? Grady, that's right. Who helps fund Grady? That's right, DeKalb County. If someone loses a pet in Dunwoody, who pays that bill? Not Dunwoody, DeKalb County. If this increase was equal throughout all of DeKalb County property owners, perhaps the increase could be lowered to a quarter of a mill or a third of a mill, but no. Where are our pay for your fair commissioners today? Strangely silent. Between subsidizing North DeKalb homeowners and the regressive EHO sales tax that mostly goes to North DeKalb homeowners, living in South DeKalb is looking more and more like sharecropping. Speaking of e-host, you have been substituting a very progressive property tax with a very regressive sales tax for over 40 years. And now the state of Georgia has realized what a great idea it is. When the Republicans think what you have been doing tax-wise is a good idea, it may be time to reconsider what you have been doing over the last 40 years. Using a regressive sales tax to pretend to lower property taxes is nothing more than a con game. If your property tax is $2,000 with the e-host, without the e-host, it would be $3,000. But the county doesn't need $3,000 from you, it only needs $2,000. So the county would lower your millage rate until your tax amount is $2,000. The ehost does not lower the taxes you pay, it only increases the millage rate you pay on those areas not covered by the ehost. The price of Coca-Cola is $4.99 at the grocery store. You go in one day and there is a sale on Coca-Cola, $3 off. A great deal, but then you notice that the everyday price has been raised to $7.99. So at the checkout counter, you are still paying $4.99. E-host is the $3 off sign, but the amount of taxes you pay is still $4.99. Taxing poor people to make property owners believe the fallacy that they are saving money on their property taxes is a con worthy of Donald Trump. But we have been doing it here in DeKalb County for 40 years. Stop this madness now. Drop the EHO sales tax and lower the millage rates of all property owners. It is the righteous and fair thing for all DeKalb County taxpayers. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Anyone else in opposition? Good morning.

Good morning. Gina Mangrum. I live in unincorporated DeKalb, Districts 5 and 7. My opposition is really to the lack of accountability and follow-up. I'm actually, even though I'm an attorney, my undergrad work and a lot of my work has been done in finance. And part of your job as commissioners is oversight. Not just setting the budget, but looking at how that money is spent. So I have a request. Before we approve another budget or somewhere in the plan, we should have something that tells us where the money went last year. It seems only fair when we did reports, it said budgeted amount, amount spent, variance, and the reason for the variance. we need to know where our dollars are being spent not just how we can continue to fund the government and not in general categories you need to speak to us in real terms how many more police officers did we bring on board things that matter to people and so as commissioners We are asking you to be accountable, not just in what you do and by your vote, but actually providing the kind of information that can help us make a reasonable decision. Honestly, I don't know if the budget is good or bad because I have no idea how the money has been spent or how it will be spent. It's general categories. It's even more general this year. So we need true accountability that tells us what you're doing with our tax dollars and maybe we can get on the same page with you. Thank you.

Thank you. Good morning, ma'am.

Good morning. How are you all? Jocelyn O'Neill. I just heard the word oversight. Sometimes I think it means overbite. We have e-splash. Right now I'm looking at his eat-em-up splash because that's what's really happening. Everybody needs to pay if we got to pay, not just... unincorporated and corporated gets away with it because they already have the money and they're making us pay so I'm saying that's the overbite or eat-em-ups splash so and then we've been taking these taxes and taxes and taxes I'm still seeing properties that are still blighted We got water problems, we got all this stuff. So where is the money going? Where is it going? I'm not seeing it. Because some of the stuff I've been seeing, I've been seeing for the last 10, 15, 20 years. So I'm saying that's an overbite, that's an oversight.

Thank you. We have about a minute left. Good morning.

Good morning, my name's Gail, and I live in the unincorporated part of DeKalb County. My question is more about, as I understand it, millage rates impact my property tax. And my appraisal went up over $100,000. I live in a neighborhood where people talk to each other. My neighbors went up 20,000. My other neighbor went up 60,000. I have appealed, I have spoken, but I have found in talking that it is all over the place. Everybody's appraisal is different, radically different. And if we are going to be paying for the county to do its job, I agree with my colleagues. What are we paying for specifically? Where is the money going? You've got a tough job, I understand, but please listen to us. we are the ones that are footing the bill what are we paying for why and why are our rates going up so much thank you ma'am thank you that exhausts our time for public hearing mr siegler if you will return to the podium and give a recommendation or answer any questions yes the staff recommendation is to approve the substitute

Okay. At this time, is there a motion? And can we get our screens so we can hit the buttons?

Yes, thank you, Madam Presiding Officer. The FAB Committee did hear this item yesterday at the special call meeting and recommend approval. So at this time, I'll motion to approve based on the FAB Committee's recommendation. And I have a couple questions and comments.

And Commissioner Long-Spears, you're seconding? Second for purposes of discussion. Thank you so much. Commissioner Terry, you are up first. Thank you.

OK, thank you, Madam Chair. TJ, can you first speak about the OpenGov platform? I know that's something that we're beginning to expand out broader. Is the hope of that system to create that open checkbook, here's where the money's spent? Any citizen can just go online and pour through the budget in a more digestible, user accessible way?

That's correct. So we implemented Open Gov last year was the first year we used it for publishing our budget document and also just for the budgeting system that we use when we were reviewing a request and approving the budget or developing the budget. And currently, we are working with OpenGov to expand upon what we're able to do with that system, which would include for the open checkbook concept. So a transparency portal where we'll have detailed transaction data, where citizens will be able to go, or residents will be able to go and look at where the money is going. See what the budget was, see what the expenditures were, hopefully drill down into the detail about what the various expenses were. We're also working with OpenGov to try to expand upon the performance measure data that we collect and then be able to publish that as well. So a lot of things that are going to help sort of transparency and accountability in terms of where the money is going.

OK, wonderful. And then I do want to appreciate Commissioner Michelle Long-Speers for encouraging the FACT Committee to get back to doing our quarterly financial statements. So the goal there is every quarter to basically look at the numbers and go through where we're at. And I think that provides a level of transparency and opportunity for us to provide oversight because we can literally track every single fund. So we've only done that once this year, but I think the next FAB meeting in August, we're gonna go through the last quarter. On the operational assessment, that's something we've been working on at the FAB committee. And of course we brought on several consultants to help with that. So Zach, can you just speak briefly, or Zach or TJ, just the goal of the operational audit assessment is for organizational efficiency to try to find cost savings.

Absolutely. Thank you, Commissioner. So as you'll recall, we brought in Malden and Jenkins, who did an assessment of at least 15 departments. And what they came up with was a total of about 277 recommendations. Additionally, we hired the Momentum firm, who's working with my office and others, to go through each of the findings, work with the departments to address the The identified weaknesses, issues of need for more efficient operations, better coordination, better communication, in some instances, resources. All of that is part of that conversation. We have presented to committee, I think, twice thus far. a verbal presentation once a written presentation but that's uh something that we anticipate an ongoing relationship between the different committees of jurisdiction so that everyone's aware of where we're going so that's part of a concerted effort that the county has taken under the leadership of the ceo and the endorsement of the board to answer the question where's the money going and how are we building inefficiencies

OK. And I remember the last, at least for the FAB committee, we had already identified some efficiencies from the very beginning. And I know there's a long report and a process to change over things. What I remember is there are several departments that were already working on those efficiencies as the work continues. So the plane is being flown and we're continuing to improve upon it while we fly it. On the e-host, so TJ, I think you've been kind of warning us for a few years now about the fact that the one penny sales tax for e-host at some point might reach the point where the tax digest is large enough and the sales tax revenues

don't go up enough they kind of reach a certain growth rate that the 100 percent general and hospital fund wouldn't you know be available so we've reached that point this year correct and 80 something percent i think you said yes and actually we would have reached it last year if not for that eos reserve that we were able to use last year so without that additional uh tax relief we were able to provide based on the fact that we had a massive reserve last year We would have been around the same percentage, I think about 86% last year would have been the forgiveness rate without that.

And you also mentioned at the committee yesterday that part of the police military So that is a half-million increase for the police fund because we have more officers and we're expanding public safety services. Some of the e-hosts is covering that portion?

Yes. So with the remaining reserve, which was about $11 million, that's being used for both police services for the unincorporated residents, and then there's a portion going to the cities for their city millage rates. So for the police services, the credit there will be 9.8% this year. OK, great. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Kerry.

Commissioner Long-Spruce.

Thank you so much, Madam Chair. Appreciate everything you have done for us, TJ. I know it's been a rough go at it, but we're here today. If we can get the clock on the screen. I just have a few questions. We're limited now to five minutes, so if I exhaust my time, I will request to speak again. My first question goes to something I brought to your attention a couple weeks ago, and it was referenced by one of our citizens who questioned the impact that us raising the millage rate would have on municipalities. And so could you talk about that if we are to vote on it today, this half mill rate increase? How will that impact the city of Brookhaven, the city of Lithonia, and so on?

So in terms of the impact to the cities themselves, they set their own millage rates. It's independent of whatever millage rates we're adopting. When we start to talk about the general fund millage rate versus the police fund millage rate, the difference there is really what services are being provided and where and who's paying for them. So when you talk about general fund, hospital fund, those are countywide taxes. So everyone is participating and paying their way for those services. The difference is when you talk about police services, then that is primarily unincorporated. So most of the cities have their own police forces and those are paid through their city taxes, the exceptions being Tucker and Stonecrest. But they still pay the same millage rate that unincorporated does for police services. so there's not a one-to-one correlation to if we raise rates that you know creates pressure on cities to change their rates there were quite a few cities this year that have raised their village rates and actually you know more dramatically than what we're proposing here some cases up to 40 percent where I think for us it works out to just under three percent is the the net change for the unincorporated area

Fantastic. Thank you so much. And I had provided you an example and you provided me an analysis. And so I appreciate you explaining that to the public. My second comment relates to something that Commissioner Terry said that I requested at FAB yesterday. I was tuned in through Zoom and towards the end of the meeting, I did request that we get back to the quarterly reports. And I believe Ms. McNabb was comfortable with that. So thank you, Ms. McNabb. But the concern I continue to have is if we move forward with a half mill rate increase, what assurances do we have that the funds are going to be applied where we have stated, where we have requested, what was included in the budget that we approved? Your response to me, which was a fair response, is that, well, you guys vote on it. But really what I was trying to get to is what so many of our citizens said today, is how are we going to oversee and monitor the compliance? That if we stated that we're going to spend, as an example, a million dollars to establish the tire program, what assurances do we have that those funds will be deployed for that specific purpose? And I'm hoping that doing the quarterly review would be helpful. It would be nice if we had a separate dashboard or a mechanism in place so everything that we stated on that long list, a million for tires, a million for voter education, 12 million for the affordable housing fund, that the funds that will be used for those specific purposes. The affordable housing fund, that is simpler in my mind at least, because we have voted to establish a separate independent affordable housing fund that will be managed by our chief housing officer. And that's something I've been advocating for years, so of course I'm thrilled that we're doing that. But some of what we have in here are not quite as crystal clear, such as the funding for the two paralegal positions to process the court dog cases. And so just talk to me a little bit about your perspective at how we can ensure that if we move forward with this half mill rate increase that the money goes to those programs.

So I think there are a number of mechanisms to ensure that they go to where we have said they're going. One is through just the oversight and accountability through the board voting on it and us doing our quarterly reports. Something else we implemented this year, and it's a work in progress, is outcome-based budgeting. So when we're asking departments what they need in their budget, they're supposed to be tying it to our strategic goals as a county, and then really pointing to, okay, this is what is going to improve, or this is the outcome we expect based on the funding. Since that was kind of the first go-around of us implementing it, we don't have as many results yet, but that's going to be something we're following up with departments on going into 2027 and making sure we're tracking into 2027. In other cases, when the funding is approved, I think you had asked about the animal services funding.

Yes, sir.

So that was for extension of the lifeline or expansion of the lifeline contract. So that's contractually obligated within that contract. contract for how that money is going to be used. And so once that contract is in place, it's really, you know, it's been voted on and that cannot be changed without coming back to the board for a change order. Same will be true for any of the housing bonds that are issued that's going to require board action. With working with Medcura or Mosaic Health, there will be a contract in place once that's developed ensure that that funding is going to the services that were funded or intended to be funded with that budget.

Thank you, sir. I've exhausted my time, but I will request to speak a second time to conclude. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Long-Spears. Commissioner Davis-Johnson.

Thank you. Thank you. I just wanted to, you know, people want to know where the money is spent. It's going to be spent. And I'd like to invite the public to the committee meetings because in the committee meetings, we go more in depth and in detail what is spent on what. As we listened to the public about data centers. We also have been listening to the public about housing, which is a major problem in DeKalb County. People are living at modern stations. They've set up their housing at modern stations. They've set up their housing under the bridges, on the highways, on the streets, on the roads. That's a major problem. So that's one place that the money is going to be spent. Work source development. Children, especially in the summertime, have no place, no income. So if you don't work, many times you steal. And you get into difficulties or places that you don't need to be with. So we listen to the public on that. That's another place that the money's going. We listen to the public on healthcare. Providing healthcare other than just Grady. We listened to you all. That's another place. that the money is going on health care. We listened to you all on firefighters and police officers, the retention and the hiring of officers. And there was a presentation of how many officers that was hired, how many firefighters that were hired. And so we have nothing to hide because I know since I've been here, since 2015, there have been no scandals about the camp camp, a mismanagement of money. Because the media, and I know that because the media was When I got here, as I said earlier, every time I would come around the corner, there would be a mic in my face because of some type of alleged mismanagement. I haven't gotten that in about 13, 14 years. We see the red-shirters, those Commissioner Lone Spears, we see the red-shirters coming in here every day. Almost every week about the need to expand animal care, welfare services. We listening to you all. That's where the money's going. Now as far as sharecroppers, I don't know whose folk out there have been a sharecropper. But I can tell you, my folk will share croppers. So there's a lot of throwing of red meat, and some may eat it. But when it comes to my history, I know it, so I don't eat the red meat. Food security, I know the last administration and this administration, has consistently provided food and supports for the arts. You wanted that. Go to education, outreach, very important. My time is just about up, but I want to say this. We listened to you all as to what you needed. And for a $150,000 home, we're spending $26 a year to make these things happen. So believe us, we're going to monitor this. And hopefully you will too. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Davis. Commissioner Bolton.

Thank you, Madam PO. And I'd just like to start, TJ. There was a question or concern where there was the comparison between the potential increase in the millage rate and then the property tax assessment. Can you just clarify for residents, distinguish between those?

Yes, so the assessment is done through the property appraisal department. And so that's an independent process outside of what the Board of Commissioners has any control of or the governing authority has any control of. And so there is a process, though, if you feel like your assessment has increased unfairly to appeal that. One thing, though, that protects homeowners in DeKalb County is for our county taxes, there is a base assessment freeze. So what that means, if you have a homestead exemption and your assessment increases, whatever the price or the value of your home was when the assessment was first, or that freeze was first put in place, you are protected from that increase in any increase in your taxes based on the increased value. So if you purchased your home for $250,000 and then it's now worth $400,000, your county taxes are going to be based on that $250,000 value, not the $400,000 value because you'll receive an exemption in the amount of that increase. That doesn't apply to all taxes. So for instance, the school board taxes don't have a similar freeze in place. And that is actually the largest portion of most people's property tax bills is the school board. But for county taxes, the assessment, again, is not something we control. That is set by an independent board of assessors. And there is a process for appealing that. But regardless of what your tax assessment is, if you have a homestead exemption, you're protected from any increase in that for county taxes.

Thank you, sir. Are you able to give us an estimate of say for an average home of maybe about at a value of $350,000 with all of the fee and rate increases since January 2025 on average, about how much would a home be paying if we were to also include this millage rate increase? And to clarify, that's the 10 by 10, any storm water rate increases, but all of those requests that have been approved over the past just over a year, about how much could you estimate that to be?

I don't have those numbers off the top of my head. We can work to get those for you. But I will say that the 10 by 10, that's going to be dependent on usage. So if they are a heavy water user, then that's going to be higher for them than it would be somebody who doesn't use as much water. So that's hard to generalize across based on the value of a home. I went through what the impact of the millage rates would be for that. We used $364,000 since that's the average home. So the millage rate is about a $69 impact annually. And so that works out to $574 a month, I believe, and $0.20 a day. I believe the sanitation rates are going up $100 residential, that's the proposal. And then the storm water off the top of my head, I think it's about $12. I think it's a dollar a month that's going up, so.

Okay, and it sounds like it's variable. anywhere between maybe about $100 to $200. And the reason that I ask that is because my concern is not so much the millage rate increase, because we just discussed, I think you said about $25 for a $150,000 home, about $65 or so if it's about $350,000. it's the cumulative that i'm concerned about and i do support the vision i think you guys have been implementing some great things you discussed the open gov i know mnj did a great study in which momentum is giving us regular updates on the execution looking at ways that we can pinch pennies and make some adjustments a great example was with police services the ceo moved some funds around in order to better meet the needs when it comes to public safety. We see the construction. We know that water infrastructure is being improved. We see in sidewalks and the towers and Peachcrest community love all of that great vision. But I'm not as supportive of the path forward because it's fundamentally contradicting to argue that the way to help keep people in homes or put them in homes is to charge them more to live in those homes.

Thank you, Commissioner Bolton. Commissioner Messiah.

Thank you so much, Madam Pio. I'm going to start very simply, CJ, just asking the difference between the substitute as provided. I know there was a substitute sent late last night in the later part of the evening, and I don't know how many times I would ask, and we'll get to a point where we could actually have it, you know, sooner than the end of the day and before we're being asked to vote on it. But can you just briefly share with us the difference in the substitute?

Sure. So the substitute was presented not in paper form, but spoken to during the FAB committee. The substitute at that point included the addition of the school board's millage resolution because that's part of the adoption today, too. So, you know, the school board is the one who sets the millage rate, but then we have to levy the millage. And then there was a typo in the resolution where it was missing a decimal. And then after that meeting, also we just double-checked some numbers in the percentage of the e-host credit for the general, or for, excuse me, the police services fund and unincorporated. It had said 9.74. It's now 9.8. So first two things were kind of, one, just we didn't have that millage rate resolution from the school board when we first presented the item. Second was we found that typo where the decimal place was missing. And then the final thing was just looking at just verifying the number. And what we had discovered earlier on was there was additional funding in that reserve than what we initially thought. So that's the reason for the change.

So it sounds like with the additional funding that's there, there should have been a reduction somewhere?

Well, so what that does is it provides a greater tax credit to the citizens, correct?

Exactly. And so has that tax credit been realized in any adjustment, or did it impact at all what the needs are?

Well, so the way the tax credits and the e-host works, it's really just an offset. Right. So it doesn't change the total amount of the revenue. It's just that more of it is coming from those e-host proceeds versus it being property tax revenue.

All right, thank you for that. And I'll just say, I'm not sure the will ultimately of the board is going to be. But ongoing, I'm hearing from constituents just the concerns in terms of the cost of services. And that's something that I brought to bear early on when we looked at some increases in other areas as well. I mean, having the greatest amount of unincorporated And at this point, my residents, the constituents, would be paying 21.3%, 10%. A lot of them being seniors, it's a concern. And you spoke specifically to being able to sustain the services when there's just been an ongoing concern over the services being provided, particularly in certain areas of South DeKalb. And seeing also some other initiatives of which are on our agenda. at a tune of, I think, $7 million in terms of the expansion of certain trails, whereas I still have constituents that complain about not having sidewalks. So I'm happy to have further conversations, dig a little deeper in, but I'll just share those are just my ongoing concerns, echoing the concerns of the constituents. With that, I yield back to you, Madam BO.

Thank you, Commissioner Patrick, for your first opportunity.

Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer. TJ, could you remind us, when was the last general millage increase?

So I believe the last was in 2011. And then actually in 2015, we reduced the millage rate. So that reduced it by, I think, 4 tenths of the mill. So we've been at 20.81 since 2015. So this is the first time it's been proposed to change since 2015, the first increase since 2011.

You're a finance guy, right? Numbers guy? With $2011, how far can I go in 2027?

So I looked up specifically what the CPI has grown since 2015. So I don't have the 2011 number, but since 2015, the consumer price index has grown by 39%.

And so maybe speaking to the point that the residents have that Are we getting the best value? What have we been doing to sort of squeeze the best efficiencies out of the dollars? Would it be fair to say that operating on a budget that I think you just said was 39% less effective?

Yeah, I think that's a fair.

Is actually quite good and to have, and I'm going to speak to services like sanitation police fire to have those guys those men and women be able to come and respond to the needs that we have to the residents concerns at that moment is to me that seems like a good value of those dollars

Yes, I would agree. And one thing I'll mention because it hasn't come up yet was speaking to the police and the hiring. So since January of last year, we've been able to hire an additional 93 police officers. So that's really one of the biggest things that's kind of I don't want to say lost, but maybe wasn't as apparent in this, was that we've been very successful in those efforts, probably more quickly than we anticipated. So that's part of what's going on here. So to your point, there is costs have increased across the board. But we also are providing additional services. We're able to hire more police officers than we have in the past. So it's a variety of factors.

know i guess the other point i want to talk about is this sort of gets into the ceo's hiv program many opportunities are going to be expanded for affordable housing within dekalb county or overall the housing options that are within the cab to focus in a little bit on a segment of things that i've talked about for quite some time here at the board of commissioners is the growing prevalence of homelessness and that this money is able to set a couple dollars aside to try and do things like the North Service Center with St. Vincent DePaul. I will say as someone who shops obviously in the Dunwoody area, I shop everywhere, Publix and Tucker as well. But the homelessness problem is pronounced in Sandy Springs. We can't do anything there, that's Fulton County area. But in the Dunwoody area, I like walking in my neighborhood in the evening and I see homeless folks there around the Kroger. I see homeless folks when I'm at unincorporated DeKalb, Pleasantdale and North Crest and 85 areas. And, you know, it's great to say we're trying to do X, Y or Z and we can have all types of programs that we have worked on to try and address homelessness. But if you don't have the gas in the tank, you can't get it done. You can't get to the destination. And if the objective is the destination is, is to be able to address homelessness concerns within the county we do need to have those fundings commissioners there's just the maths don't math any other way uh the final thing i would add is that um as a dunwoody resident i know some people aren't gonna like to hear that but you know when i look at my property tax bill so all together uh it says here 7.72 goes to dekalb county and that's uh the Open fund, or the general fund, the hospital, county bonds, unincorporated bonds, and fire. My school board property taxes are 80.83%. My city taxes to Dunwoody, by the time you factor in the exemptions, are about $500, 496.20. And this is for the last tax bill. Sanitation at 315. And then the city stormwater fee, obviously that's not a conversation for us. But, you know, the value that I get by paying a few extra dollars or the dollars that I do pay with or without e-hosts involved in it, we live in one of the nicer communities in America. We have to acknowledge with all the problems we have and we have challenges ahead of us, we've got a good community here. And that's worth the money that you put down to pay for it, to pay for the roads, whether it's in Swastika. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Commissioner Patrick. Commissioner Terry, your second opportunity. Mr. Patrick, are you paying the half mil increase?

No.

Thank you, Madam Chair. TJ, just one last question on the millage rate. Because I think we are kind of highlighting the global increase. But what you showed on slide 13 was reductions in different funds. And so I think what I took out of the last couple of meetings where we discussed this is that the prioritization of the programs, health care, housing, public safety, food assistance, is being prioritized while some of the other funds are taking a hit. For instance, parks went down, roads went down, the county-wide operational rate went down. The goal with this millage rate is increased globally, but really it's a tale of like seven or eight different rates, because they're always kind of going up and down and fluctuating. Our goal is to kind of get that sweet spot, but just speak a little bit about why those funds go up and down each year.

So in total, we have six different millage rates, and two of those are broken down into two different components. So police has police basic, police non-basic, and then our designated services fund has parks and roads and drainage and transportation. And so what we do typically is we do kind of talk in the aggregate about the 20.81 or the 21.31 mills, because that's the total tax or millage rates that the unincorporated area would pay. But when we're having to set the millage rates, having to balance the budget, We're looking at the individual funds and determining, OK, this is the need here, and this is what it's going to cost, and this is the revenue that's available. And so something to keep in mind when those change, it could be due to a change in the tax digest. so for example this year the unincorporated area the digest grew less than the county-wide digest did so that means that a mill in the general fund gets you more revenue than we thought it would whereas what we thought we would generate with a mill in the police fund may not be as much as what we we are going to be able to generate But, right, every year we don't ever look at it as, well, we want to stick it to these people or give these people a break on their tax bill. We're looking at what the services are, what the budget is, what our fund balances are, trying to balance all those things and keep taxes in the – total what we propose.

Okay. And then just my closing remarks. So what's happening in Washington and even our state capital where the big ugly bill has cut taxes for the wealthy and cut funding for health care, housing, food assistance, we're making up for this. We are standing in the gap in light of the big tax increase, which has been the inflation that the Trump administration has caused on us. And so we're trying to respond in a moment where a lot of people are suffering and need help. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Terry. Commissioner Bolton, your second opportunity.

Thank you, ma'am. I only have two more questions that I didn't get to ask before. On slide five, where it talks about the housing and affordability, and it shows that beginning in 2027 is when we'll start the investment of $15 million. Of course, this year it was $12 million. So considering that and some of the other projects we'll be initiating, does this affirm that there will be an expected increase every year in order to continue supporting these programs?

No, no. Every year we're looking at it independently based on their one-time costs that occur in some years. Well, here's an example with elections. Every other year it kind of goes up and it comes down. So they're just variables that change every year. So we aren't expecting there to be a continuous increase in the millage rate based on these investments. We're looking at cost efficiencies, where we can find them. One reason the millage rates look the way they do currently is that we are able to find savings in the general fund through some duplicative Appropriations were able to claw back. We were looking for sweeping funding from our capital funds to be able to cover some of those costs. So that's not a burden to the general fund this year. We also looked at salary surplus. So departments under the CEO's authority who had vacancies throughout the first five months of the year, we were looking at how much was saved due to those vacancies and we were using that to reduce it and be able to reduce the need for tax increases you know we're always going to look first for savings before we ever look for an increase in the in the property tax millage rate

Okay, so with that being said, on page nine where it shows the additional general fund investments, I would argue that we've already made some of these investments. For example, with Lifeline Animal Project, didn't we just approve, I believe it was a $19 million multi-year contract? And there was an increase in .

Correct. And so that is the $780,000 we're speaking to. So that was approved in the budget at the start of the year. This is the millage rates, though, that are going to allow us to cover those expenses that were approved.

OK. Thank you. I yield back.

Thank you, Commissioner Bolton. Next, Commissioner Long-Spear is your second opportunity.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I have really appreciated the sincere dialogue and conversation we've had over this proposed tax increase. And sincerely appreciate as well the citizens that have shown up to public comment. who have attended our public hearings for expressing your support or opposition of this proposed tax increase. This decision has weighed very heavy on me. We can all acknowledge that cost in all aspects of our lives are increasing, from food to housing. And I'm proud that this commission had the courage in February to approve a budget that addresses some of these pressing immediate issues that we have been dealing with and currently dealing with and will continue to deal with. But what weighs on me so much is just the number of increases coming from our governing authority that will impact our citizens, particularly our unincorporated citizens. We had the water sewer rate increase last year. We're now at a 20% increase, 10 in 25, 10%, 10 in 2026. And then we'll continue moving every year forward for several more years with an additional 10%. There are also two proposed rate increases on our agenda today. So that is really four increases in a very short period of time. And that is why this is so concerning to me. I appreciate you articulating the efficiencies and really where you found ways and places to save money, such as the vacancies. But again, this is really what has weighed heavy on me, is the impact it's going to have. I also acknowledge that our role, our job, Our responsibility as the governing authority, seven commissioners plus our CEO, eight members of the governing authority, is to ensure a good, a fantastic quality of life in DeKalb County. And I echo Commissioner Patrick's comment on that, is that we do have a good quality of life. We're continuing to enhance our parks. We're continuing to expand our trails. We're repairing our roads. And we can all recognize that costs money. We also passed in our budget an increase of minimum wage to $19 per hour, which was a cost of $2 million annually. I'm proud of this commission and the governing authority, again, for having the courage to bring our staff up to a wage that is Maybe you can't buy an expensive house on it, but at least a wage that gets a little bit closer to having that quality of life that we are so proud of and embrace. My final question really goes to our county attorney, though. I don't know how this board thinks about it and what everybody wants to do today. But I did pose this question to not get a response. And I did not propose it to you, sir. If we were to punt this to July 14, could you do decision only? Or does it have to be public hearing?

You would have to have a public hearing. We do not have time to do that, Commissioner.

I'm fully aware of that. That's why I was asking about for decision only. Yield back, thank you. Thank you.

Commissioner Masai, your second opportunity.

Thank you so much. Just briefly, and I love DeKalb. I could appreciate how wonderful it is. I have constituents that do have different living experiences, and so I speak on their behalf and have questions as they present to me. One of which is as it relates to the hospital fund, seeing that we have under a year of reserves. I know that that's something that was reduced last year with $300 million being from the Fulton County DeKalb Hospital Authority towards the building of a new hospital in Fulton County. At this point, is it our intent at the present rate to just maintain some coffers in terms of the hospital fund? Or is it to sometime in the future, hope to expand the hospital and have opportunities here in DeKalb, specifically South DeKalb as well?

well so the operating agreement that we have with Grady which I believe was approved maybe two three years ago that's what sets what our annual contribution is there have been times in the past where we've done sort of a you know offshoot of that I believe a few years ago we put additional funding in the hospital fund to expand some of their I think it was maybe their cancer center. So there are opportunities. That's just something that could be explored annually. But what our ongoing commitment is, that's dictated by the operating agreement.

If I could just make one quick point on that operating agreement, because we were quite proud of the negotiation with Fulton DeKalb Hospital Authority. And what the result was is, although we increased our cost, our contribution, order magnitude about $10 million a year, but in exchange, we negotiated three new clinics. Two have already opened, and we will be citing one in East DeKalb as part of the contract. So it's costing a little more, but we're getting a lot more.

And I could appreciate, because I'm proud of those clinics as well, but I will still reiterate the point in terms of speaking for the constituents that have a different perspective and a different consideration that overwhelms the idea of just having clinics, but actually the need for a hospital. And again, hoping that sometime in the future with those resources and building of those in other areas, particularly that we are that that's something that we will consider for the constituents of our community as well. With that, I yield back to you, Madam Piao.

Thank you for that. No one else is requesting to speak at this time. You have something for us, COO?

Just some concluding remarks whenever there's the opportunity. And thank you, Madam Presiding Officer. And a couple of things, and I've listened to all the conversation, and hopefully you see that the administration has been listening all along, not only to the board, but to the residents. um what we are presented we presented with the budget and we're really doing part two of the budget discussion that we had in january we will be getting with your vote collectively and the county better housing more housing affordability better health care Not only the investments in Medcura and Mosaic, but the approximately $7 million, I believe, increase in the AMR contract. That's all part of us delivering better health care. More service to the unhoused. We've had a lot of discussions about that. These things can only happen, only be sustained with funding. We recognize that that problem. is continuing to grow and what we are looking to do is put systems in place that will allow for not only offering a front door, but transitional services, other mental and substance abuse assistance On to transitional housing, we're looking at doing all of that with this funding. Public safety, we've had an outstanding year because of your endorsement of investments in public safety in terms of hiring police officers. And the results are lowering in crime rates. Additionally, the investment that we have in the digital shield, digital surveillance, all of that comes from these types of funds. Investing in the arts, that only happens with this funding. And the good thing is we're now talking about not just doing those basic services of road paving but the fact that we're having conversations about providing funding for arts that truly shows that the county is doing more and expecting more of itself investing in our furry friends animal welfare that only comes from this this funding and so um and one of the things we're particularly proud of the 19 an hour right we're very proud of that Well, in order to get there, we're a business. That is a cost. And in order to get there, we pay for it. And so that's what we're seeking, is your investment to not only moving us from good to great, but for us to do more and be more.

Thank you. Thank you, C.O.O. Williams. Just to reiterate, the motion is to approve the substitute. Is that correct, Commissioner Tarrant? Yes. The substitute. All right. Thank you so much. Please open the machine for the vote. Motion to approve carries. We're now on our second public hearing item on page three. This is for Planning and Sustainability. Thank you. Thank you, COO Williams. Item 2026-0630. Commission District 3, Super District 6, application of the Director of Planning and Sustainability to amend Section 27-3.39 to update the Boulder Crest, Cedar Grove, Moreland Overlay District to allow limited office uses when subject to a special land use permit and additional criteria with Tier 5 of the overlay. Good morning, Deputy Director Brown.

Excuse me, Madam President and Officer.

We want a clarification that was approval of the substitute for that last item. Yes, substitute. Thank you. Thank you. Go ahead, deputy director.

Sure thing. Good morning, commissioners. Rachel Brad, deputy director of planning. The staff recommendation for this item is for approval. However, if the commissioners feel there is more work to be done and the staff respectfully request withdrawal of this item, it could always be introduced at a future time.

All right. Thank you. And this is a public hearing item. So in the audience, if you are here to speak in favor of this item, please step to that back podium.

Aren't you even going to introduce?

If you are here to speak in favor of this item, please step to the back podium. All right. Seeing no one. If you are in opposition, please step to the back podium. Good morning, sir.

Good morning. How is everybody?

Doing well. Thank you.

My name is Rodney Helper. I live at 4164 Boulder Crest Park Road. I just want to start off by saying I wore this shirt here on purpose. It says ATL Aliens. I don't know how many of you all are from the Atlanta area, but I am 61 years old. I grew up right here in DeKalb County. I love this county and I can appreciate everyone talking about the community that we live in. Mr. Patrick, the community that we live in does not look like Dunwoody. I've lived there. I lived in Cobb, I lived in South Fulton, I lived in Fulton, spent most of my years in DeKalb County. I got involved in BSAP, Boulder Crest Small Area Plan, after reading the larger plan for the county, looking at transportation, driving up and down what we call Boulder Crest corridor that whole conley area it doesn't look like the rest of the county looks like all of the money that has been raised has gone there three percent of land left to be developed into cab county is where we live now all of the developers are coming to that particular area wanting all these things from housing which we fought against uh apartment complexes things of that nature we know what we want how do i know that because i was involved in the beginning of boulder crest uh small area plan, the people that are standing here in opposition and wanting to withdraw the text amendment 2026-0630, we're here because we care about where we live. You guys get paid to be up there and do that. I don't get paid to stand here. I'm taking my time away from my earning, from my family, my children, my roads, that I see women pushing strollers up and down, having to jump on the side of the road from getting hit. So the last thing that we need is more of things that we don't need. okay we need you all to truly hear us and pay attention to the things that we've been coming here for over a year arguing against we have a small area plan that thanks to uh district six commissioner terry had someone in place fifty thousand dollars that was spent uh okay that gentleman came to all of our meetings Most of the meetings that we had, Ted Terry was available. Our district three commissioner was not available at those meetings. And that's just to say that that's only to say that if you really care about what's happening, you really want to know what's happening. Come to those meetings because those small area plans are the people that care, that live there, that show up, don't get paid. spending hours and hours and hours creating with the planner, trying to create something that we want. We don't have a Starbucks to walk to. We don't have a Publix to go into. We don't have anywhere. I own a business. I have to do my business out of my house because I don't have a place that I can go or work. live space to go to. I have to travel to do anything that I want to do almost that is like Dunwoody, that's like North DeKalb. That's where I have to go to enjoy things that I want to enjoy in my community. plan that we've created already lays that out. And then, Commissioner Masaya, thank you. You gave us another option with an additional $50,000 that was spent on our area to figure out what it is that we want. On Thursday, we're supposed to hear from the planners that we've not even had an opportunity to speak to this whole time. Whereas the other plan that District 6 Commissioner Ted Terry put in place, we've had multiple conversations going on rides to different communities. We've done all sorts of things trying to get what you have over in Dunwoody, sir. We want that in Ellenwood. We want that in Conley. We want that in Cedar Grove. And you should hear what we're saying today and vote against to withdraw this motion because it doesn't serve us. I'm just standing here as one citizen, but I speak for the whole collective that's standing here. How do I know that? Because a year ago, we started creating a small area plan, and now we're with planning and zoning trying to get those things approved. On Thursday, when we finally get to hear from the other planner that – It was given an additional $50,000 for us to hear. Hopefully then we'll be able to either make a decision one way or the other, combine those two plans when the other planner had everything that we had put together was given to that other planner. And we haven't even had an opportunity to speak to him. So I stand in opposition against it. I stand here just to say that these people that are standing here, we don't want data centers. We don't want any of that stuff. We know what we want. So come to our meetings and listen to us just like we show up here. week after week after week, trying to oppose things that we don't want. So I'm standing here. My name is Rodney Helper, 4164 Boulder Crest Park Road, which is right off of Boulder Crest that is eroding every single time it rains. Trees falling. People can't walk down. We don't have sidewalks. I know Commissioner Messiah mentioned that. She's right. We don't have sidewalks. No, our living experience is not the same as the rest of the cab. If you don't know that, drive down Boulder Crest. If you don't know that, go to South DeKalb Mall. If you don't know that, ride up and down Canada Road. If you don't know that, go to Cedar Grove. If you don't know that, go over and look at all of the industry, the industrial industry that you have over there that's inundating us. We don't get the same kind of treatment. So I'm standing here today just to say I oppose it. And we'll draw that text amendment 2026-0630. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker in opposition. And just a reminder, it is a collective time.

My name is Dr. Carol Hutchison. I'm a resident of Ellenwood and also a member of the Boulder Crest Small Area Plan. And my statement will be short. Commissioner Messiah, shame on you that some of the legacy members of my community are afraid to speak up, thinking that you will retaliate against District 3 before you leave office. Shame on you, Commissioner Messiah. We have freedom of speech, and we are independent thinkers. And the community spoke at the polls. We wish you no harm, Commissioner Messiah. We only wish you well, but we just pray that God would get you to the lane that you are anointed to flow in, which is not a commissioner, and certainly not a commissioner of District 3. The only thing we want is the best for our community. And I will close with Luke 8, verse 17. For there is nothing hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and not come out into the open. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker in opposition.

Good afternoon, Commissioners. My name is Gene Gray. I live at 4105 Tecumseh Trail. I'm also a member of the Border Crest SAP, as well as the East County Zoning Committee. I simply ask that you withdraw until at least we get an opportunity to review both planning uh results and conclude our our uh small area plan we have we have a plan we have the cap county has spent money for these plans let's have these things let's have these things come to fruition before we make any other any other changes we're asking that you don't change any zoning change anything in our area until we finish with our uh uh small area plan that's all i got thank you

Thank you, sir. Is there anyone else wishing to speak in opposition? We have just under two minutes left.

Yes, I'm Jackie Malcolm. I'm also part of the small see to grow a small area plan. We ask that this tax amendment do not be approved because we've been working on this for over a year and we hate to see that what we've been working on go the ways the monies that was given by District three, District six. We just want to be able to have something we deserve more than what we have. And what we have is not enough. We come here, I don't know, month after month, talking the same old, same old, and we just want what we want we don't want what we don't want which is state of campuses so we ask that this just be denied for now because there's other things that's been coming up down cedar grove and boulder crest that we have to deal with michelle paddle oh my goodness we just need this for now okay please deny it thank you thank you there's time for probably one more speaker

I guess I just want to reiterate Juan A. Lenrigsby, living in Conley, and president of Boulder Crest Corridor Small Area Plan. We have people coming in all directions towards us, Enrico Road, Copper's Court, Ellenwood, et cetera, trying to tear this apart. We decided to do a small area plan because we didn't want the infringement that was going on by businesses into our community. Right now that text amendment that you're talking about does just that. It says it's okay to change residential properties into commercial properties. Please don't do that. Allow us to show you what our community could look like when you have the full impact input of our members, our residents. Thank you very much. Please withdraw or deny. Thank you, ma'am.

Thank you. That is all set time. Deputy Director Bragg, if you will come back to the podium and state staff's recommendation.

The staff recommendation is for approval or withdrawal.

Thank you, ma'am. Is there a motion?

My motion is to approve as staff has recommended.

Is there a second? Is there a second? It's mine. It's three and six. It's three and six. Okay, so there is a second. Commissioner Davis-Johnson, Commissioner Messiah has requested to speak first. You have the floor, ma'am.

Thank you so much. First and foremost, my concern has always been for the needs of the community. A couple of the things, as you've been sitting here, you've heard me mention some of those concerns and reiterate it. The last thing I'm going to do is to come in, provide the community with options, real options that are transparent as to what's being put before them, and then retaliate against the community. Unfortunately, there has been so much bait raging that it makes it very difficult for the community to know what's facts and what is actual fiction. I want to ensure that we have what we need in our community. During the time of a vacancy, Commissioner Terry put forth a planner. And after I came in, that same planner, it was never sit down with this planner, let's have a conversation. And a lot of the meetings, I wasn't even invited to. I had to then realize- I'm not disagreeing. I'm not going to go back and forth. Plain and simple, because I have dates here. I attended 10-23-2025. On 1-26-2026, 5-22-6379, an American Army has flown in on more than one occasion to meet with the community and to express respect. and to express what is actually going on. Unfortunately, I had to sit through a meeting where the community thought that there was more of a benefit that's being afforded to them than what actually was. That the developer that had presented a quote-unquote plan at that time presented things that were not in full support of economic development, but in just focusing on trails, and trail ways. And that is not, I'm not going to disagree. I'm not going to go back and forth here. I'm saying the facts based on what's been presented, because it's disingenuous to say that he's not been available. I believe Dr. Rigsby reaches out to him on a regular basis. It's disingenuous to say that there haven't been meetings that I've attended when I have these meetings. This is something that's not coming from a developer, but it's coming from our own planning department. And there's a reason why the planning department is recommending a approval. Initially, it was not a withdrawal. It was an approval of this item. It affects five different parcels of land that are not scheduled to be residential in the first place. But what it may do in the situation where now we have BASCAP, which was started. By the way, in the county, we don't have small area plan committees. Commissioner Terry put this forth, then put money into it. And then the community, this one community where there's only one in DeKalb County... was giving resources, because I've been asked consistently to pour and give money for T-shirts, for mailers, for people to knock on the door just to get approved what certain people want to approve, which they will realize at the end of the day is not really beneficial for our community. And then it becomes a nonprofit all of a sudden, and there's fighters. You've got to pay attention to the same folks wearing the same shirts. doing the same things, right? So again, my commitment has always been just for the community. And it's not just BASCAP. There's also Cedar Grove Community and Pat Culp, who is the president of that. There are others within the different communities that make up this area that wanted an alternative plan. and a plan that was well thought out. Not a plan where there was no conversations with the incoming commissioner, the district commissioner, and where there were meetings, not to ask whether or not it meets with her schedule or if we can coordinate something that works together, but this is just when we're doing, you can make it, you can make it, you can't, you can't. Which, by the way, has been now just the Democratic nominee, not the elected commissioner-elect, but the Democratic nominee has been invited and suggested to constantly be at these meetings, one of which I wasn't even recently invited to. So the idea that I've not been present, the idea that I'm not fighting on behalf of the community, the idea as though other people in these same communities don't want options, is again, very disingenuous. My responsibility is to pay attention to everything in its entirety and to vote to do what's best. This came from planning department. It didn't come from a developer. It came from the planning department who has been in contact with both developers, had conversations, and then made the recommendations they did. So again, I stand as a motion to approve.

Thank you, Commissioner Messiah. Commissioner Terry, your first opportunity.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So I think the commissioners know this, but I'm pretty sure the residents know this as well. But this proposed text amendment was something that the planning department, as well as my office, had discussed last year. And at the time, I was in favor of this because I was hoping that the small area plan process would have been completed. that was that was always the goal and so i do think that this text amendment has merit but because the small area plan got delayed by maybe six months we just haven't gotten to that point where we can consider the larger picture so i think what the community is expressing is a desire to not make any amendments in the overlay district which has protected the community for many years while the community as a whole is trying to figure out the long range plan. It is true that this agenda item would impact, I think, four or five parcels. And so to me, it's relatively minor, but the principle of the matter is really based around getting consensus on the long range plan. And that's really been my goal all along. And so what I would request is either deferral or withdrawal, but with the recognition that we should still have this conversation about this particular amendment in context of the small area plan. Zach, I know we finally approved the on-call planning contract, and so I really, really would appreciated the planning department, Director Njoku, Director Washington, and the administration could just give the community a sense of whether we're going to be able to move forward on the next phase of the small area plan because it is creating a lot of tensions as there are other applications pending. I think I heard one about that's coming before the ZBA. So there's lots of activity happening in this area. And I think some community members feel a little reticent about making decisions when we're not sure the intended or unintended consequences of these specific text amendments. So I think that's really the goal here. If we could just either defer it for six months, withdraw it, I think we should still have this part of the conversation. I don't think there's a huge hurry on this particular amendment. And if we could get that small area plan process going by the fall, I think that would put the community in a better position to feel comfortable about what the big decisions that are before Southwest DeKalb. There's a lot of industrial growth pressures happening. We're trying to keep the industry to the west. We don't want it to encroach upon the residential areas. A big part of the master plan that's been discussed in all of the planning meetings is on a sidewalk system from Boulder Crest, from Sugar Creek Golf Course all the way into Boulder Crest and Cedar Grove where we have that neighborhood center designation. So I think we're in the right, We're going in the right direction. It's a little slower. Sometimes government just works slow. But I think if we can get those pieces in alignment, we can move forward with getting that consensus on the long-range plan. So I would ask that the commissioners would just allow us to defer it or withdraw it so we can give time for the planning department and the community to really get that consensus over the long-range plan. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Terry. Commissioner Masai, your second opportunity.

I understand the community's concern in terms of wanting development. Not all development is beneficial development. The aim and the success, which is going to be to be able to provide the community with options when initially they didn't have one and where I wasn't even afforded an opportunity to present one initially to the community. Again, my commitment remains for the benefit of the community. There are five parcels. It's not affecting those residential parcels. And I understand, excuse me, excuse me, I understand Where again, and the rage baiting is just real. And thankfully, there are people in the community who understand and who actually see the difference. They see what's going on, they see the force through their cheese. And though I stay and remain committed to all of the constituency, As a whole, I can appreciate when those see opportunities and they can see what is going on versus what's a real opportunity and what isn't. Again, to delay it for six months isn't going to change it. Planning has been thorough. They've made their recommendations and I am supporting what planning is recommended. With that, I yield back.

Thank you, Commissioner Messiah. Commissioner Patrick, your first opportunity.

Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer. First, I want to acknowledge I represent District 1. This is not my area, but I do have some general questions. As I understand it, and as I've heard several times, this is all about five parcels. Perhaps let me direct my questions to staff, if that's all right. Someone from staff here to speak to this? Deputy Director, thank you. So again, this is for five parcels of land.

So this would potentially impact five parcels. So what it does is it allows up to five parcels the ability to then apply for a special land use permit to be used as an office specifically. Only that one use would be allowed, again, only with a special land use permit.

I know this is on the fly. Do you have a rough idea of the acreage that we're talking about with these different parcels?

Um, none of them are, are, are particularly large. So I wouldn't, I don't think anyone is over five acres. Okay. Okay.

Um, and, um, um, as we've talked in years past, I do not like slaps, special land use permits, uh, as a general rule. Um, but, uh, but, uh, that is the recommendation unless you guys have come down with. Um, so I appreciate that. Um, my next comment and thank you, director, deputy director. My next comment is to Mr. Rodney. Mr. Halpern? you go to the county's website something that this board had supported was a gis enabled map where you can click on where the map where the sidewalks are and are not and that was intended as a tool for for you the residents to be able to get with your electives to say this is a priority right here my neighborhood needs this i want connectivity to x y or z and so that's some of the things that we've tried to do here at the board of commissioners um and uh Those are my comments. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Commissioner Patrick. Commissioner Terry, your second opportunity.

Thank you. So I think what's probably going to happen is if we do approve this amendment is then we'll get a special land use permit application. But you're going to hear the same thing from the neighbors is can we please just wait on the SLUP until we complete the long-range plan. We're still going to be in this position where the neighbors want us to complete the small area plan before making any major changes. It's possible that in that small area plan, I think there actually will be suggested changes to the overlay district. We might have to come back and re-change it based on this amendment if that's what the plan ultimately concludes on. I might just try to save us a little bit of time to say, if we would just withdraw this for now, then we don't have to come back and have a whole other cycle, two cycles of special land use permit discussions this year. Because I think we're going to get basically the same response. But you know, I mean, that's it. That's just forecasting, I think, what the next step is. Because I believe that the applicant that is seeking this change that will do the SLUP, they have that particular property that they want to do an office for their nonprofit. I think it's a good idea. But again, just in deference to the community's desires to complete that small area plan, I think that SLUP still needs to be held back until we complete that plan. Thank you.

Thank you so much. There is no further request to speak. The motion on the floor is to approve. Please open the machine for the vote. Motion carries. That does conclude our public hearing. We are in no appeals to be heard today. So we have one appointment not requiring board action only to be read into the record. And that is for District 3, item 2026-1090, Commission District 3, record the appointment of Derica Williams, who the DeKalb County Women's Commission as the District 3 appointee. Motion to approve. It doesn't need approval. Second. We got it. We're not voting on that one. That's just being read into the record. But we appreciate the enthusiasm. There are no other appointments to be read, to be voted on. So now we are on a consent agenda. And there was one item, commissioners, it's actually on page five, top of page five, that should have been added to the consent agenda, item 2026-1067. So if there is no objection, I will add that to the consent agenda, top of page five. No objection. Okay. So, Madam Deputy Presiding Officer, if you are ready.

Yes, ma'am. I'm ready.

All right. Page 4 under District 2, item 2026-1082, an allocation of $13,150 from District 2 Capital Reserves for improvements in Fraser Road Park. Move for action. Under clerk to board of commissioners and CEO, item 2026-0700, approval of the minutes of the board of commissioners meeting of June 23rd, 2026. Move for action. Under state court, item 2026-1089. All commission districts request to accept subgrant award from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council for fiscal year 2027 for the benefit of the State Court of DeKalb County's DUI court program in the sum of $101,698 with a county match of $17,947. Move for action. And then the item we are adding, top of page five, item 2026-1067. All commission districts request to accept subgrant award from the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council for fiscal year 2027 for the benefit of the Magistrate Court of DeKalb County's Misdemeanor Mental Health Court. in the sum of $100,896 with a county match of $17,805. Move for action. And with that, Madam Presiding Officer, I move to approve items 2026, 1082, 0700, 1089, and the top of page 51067.

Second. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Please open the machine for the vote.

That motion to approve carries. We're now moving into our preliminary items and time check. It is 1145. We will be taking a working lunch. I'd like to see how much we can get through these preliminary items before we do break for lunch. And the working lunch includes an executive session. So middle of page four, under Board of Commissioners, item 2026-1109, districts five and district one, a resolution extending the moratorium on the acceptance of applications relating to the establishment or expansion of data centers.

I would move to approve this item unless there's an objection. Okay, hit your button. If you wanted to go through.

If there's a second, hit your button and we'll see if we can get a second. Is there a second to approve? Commissioner Patrick has seconded that. Commissioner Terry has requested to speak. You have the floor, sir.

Yes, I'd love to hear from the sponsors why we're voting on a separate resolution when there already is a moratorium agenda item that we could simply bring back and just vote on today or tomorrow or next week. because there's already an agenda item on this in September.

It is, but this extends the moratorium.

One second. Oh, I'm sorry. No, you're fine. I just need the clock on the machine, and you're wanting her to answer under your time, Commissioner Terry? Mm-hmm. Okay, thank you. Continue.

Yeah, this would extend the moratorium so that we can get input from the different departments as to the impact that they would have as we all know that the planning department just deals with the zoning aspect. As we've heard from the community, there's other aspects that will impact.

Right, understood.

I'm sorry.

I understand that rationale. But the point, though, is that we already have a moratorium that basically says this exact thing. on our September agenda, so I'm just curious why you're basically duplicating that agenda item when you simply could just bring that agenda item forward to today's meeting or the next meeting, for instance.

Okay. Can I have legal, will this agenda item duplicate the item that Commissioner Terry is speaking of?

It changes the terms. It articulates new reasons why the moratorium is in existence and it also changes the timing of the moratorium.

Those are the fundamental differences. But that also could just be applied to a substitute for the other agenda item. Is that right?

Commissioner, that's an issue of form. The sponsoring commissioners elected to offer their reasoning in a new resolution based on where we are today. And either form works.

Either form works. That's exactly what I was trying to make. Thank you for making that point.

I'm not finished, Commissioner, if I may. I just want to be very clear. It gets very difficult when you have differing opinions and differing offerings And you say they have to be substitutes. So we've had multiple items on data centers on the agenda for some time now. And this one is a unique version of a moratorium. So I just want to be very careful about that.

But a unique version could simply be substituted. Like this language could simply be substituted for the other moratorium agenda item.

Well, I'm going to offer this, Commissioner Terry. You have an item later on this agenda that talks about revising an item that no longer exists.

Yeah, I'm going to withdraw that.

I want to make a point. The only part of the item that we will get to later that is mooted is it being a substitute. The substance of what you said in that item is not mooted. You've asked the administration, it's really an urging item, you've asked the administration to consider certain components of regulations for a moratorium.

That's not related to this conversation.

I'm explaining how it is related because it doesn't have to be a substitute. It can be a new item.

Okay.

It's a choice you have to make, Commissioner. Okay. That's the point.

Well, I understand that. And the point I'm trying to make, though, is can you imagine if someone up here introduced an item and then someone else a week later introduced the exact same item? I mean, it just doesn't make any sense. So you see a problem with that. I see people saying, yes, that's a problem. So you're literally introducing the exact same purpose.

We're not saying it's a problem. Well, it's just silly.

Are you asking a commissioner a direct question?

That was, I guess, a rhetorical question. It's just a little silly because you literally could have just, I mean, honestly, you could have talked to everybody. I don't think you talked to anyone here about this resolution, right? before you sponsored it, right? The answer is no, because I didn't get talked to. I just saw it on the agenda. So it's just kind of like, I get that we were trying to do political maneuvers here and trying to show that now you're in favor of moratoriums. But you simply did it so you could be the sponsor of it. And it's just like so nakedly political. If you could just, since we all agreed unanimously that we withdrew the text amendment, I think the appropriate thing we would have done is say, hey, commissioners, let's all get together and take that moratorium that's in September, let's just go and consider it today and vote on it. And then it can extend to nine months. We already agree on that. But you're just basically using this as a look at I did, I'm the leader on it. And it's just a little silly. It's obvious. And I'll support it. It's totally fine.

I get it.

Since it's directed towards me. I'm not answering you. I'm not talking to you right now. Yeah. The key thing, though, ultimately, and this will be the test, is if the commissioners will support the environmental and health study. Because after that, what's the point of having a moratorium? So if the idea is just to study things nebulously, then you can tell that they're just playing politics. But if you're specific about your studying, then you know they're actually serious. So we'll see next week how y'all vote.

Thank you very much. Before you begin the clock, I'm calling a point of order, which is a privileged motion. Madam Presiding Officer, per Robert's rules, the commissioners are supposed to be speaking to you, through you. So if you could please implement that, I would deeply appreciate that.

Please get our fellow commissioners to exercise that.

All righty. Let's all agree to maintain decorum and we'll keep your life as peaceful as possible. Thank you. All right. Please begin the clock for my time. All right, Mr. County Attorney, if you could please come to the podium. So my understanding, since I've been on this board, has always been strongly encouraged by our county attorney to make sure that the item kind of follows the process we put in place. So this is the first time it has appeared on our agenda. In the absence of the Committee of the Whole meeting, the presiding officer is responsible for ensuring our agenda and I think quite frankly you did an excellent job this this meeting Madam Presiding Officer. I am incredibly uncomfortable supporting an item that has not gone through our traditional process which means is that generally it is We bring it to Cal, right, as we set our agenda. Then it comes to our business meeting. Then we assign it a committee to discuss in committee. Then it gets some kind of a recommendation out of committee, comes back to the Board of Commissioners. At that point, we can defer it. We can approve it. We can deny it. We can withdraw it. it can go back to committee. So I would just encourage this board and the co-sponsors of the item to consider hearing this in the Committee of Jurisdiction, which is the PECS committee. I do see the PECS chair has requested to speak, but that would be my request, is just kick it to PECS to be heard and give us another opportunity. I also just want to note that It is true. What's been reported and what people have brought to our attention is that when we denied this item at our last business meeting, it was brought to us at approximately 5.30 PM. And I've had the question over and over again is, why didn't you continue to debate this? And that response is simple. We had a public hearing that evening at 6 PM to discuss the millage rate increase. We had no option to continue that conversation because we had to be out of here so they could prepare the room at 545 to begin the meeting at 6 PM. So again, I would encourage the co-sponsors to consider it going through the proper process. Go to PECS. Get a recommendation out of PECS. and then bring it back to this board to vote on it. And then the final thing I wanted to say is that I do recognize that probably one of your concerns is that the current moratorium expires on September 30th. And I know what you're trying to do. We get a new moratorium in place that extends into next year. But between now past the recess on September 30th, we do indeed have time, if Madam Peck's chair would include it on the agenda, to at least discuss it, and then we could just talk a little bit about what happened with the denial, why you're suggesting the moratorium. I read through your language. There is a lot more detail in there. For example, you're inviting departments to do their assessment on it. That's a good idea. I'm not opposed to that. I just think that we need to follow our process, kick it to committee, have a conversation in committee, and then bring it back to this board so we can collectively determine if that's what is the will of this board and the best interest of our people. Thank you so much. Yield back.

Thank you, Commissioner Longspear. Commissioner Masai, your first opportunity.

Thank you so much, Madam Pio.

I'll just speak- Can we reset the clock, please?

I'll just briefly speak to the idea that the seriousness of protecting folks or moving forward with an agenda item is predicated on something else. That's just simply false logic, invalid logic, and to add to boot, not true. there is an opportunity here to have more than one moratorium. What is the harm in that? Specifically since there are commissioners and we heard from the community that though it was advised that we take the 100-day moratorium and then renew it as we've done in the past without fail. We didn't run a file into bumping into the timeline. We did it earlier on to make sure that we can continue to protect people with the moratorium. Since it was suggested to blow past the recommendations and even an intentional crucification of people for not doing so in spite of the legal and rational purposes, I would think that it would be a good idea to have more than one moratorium in place. Additionally, as a commissioner sitting up here, I don't know how many times it is certain agenda items have gone past the committee and gone immediately to voting. It just happened last week, particularly when it came to an agenda item related to the unhoused and was advised the time of the . So what we don't get to do is to pick and choose when it is okay, when it's something that we want to kick down the road and at other times, you know, say that someone's running a foul and we get, again, that fake rage baiting, rage baiting, rage baiting. As the chair of PECS, I am very comfortable And as a commissioner, District 3, where there are pending applicants, I'm very comfortable with ensuring that we have another moratorium and moratorium in place. Additionally, I suggested, since there's a real concern about the data centers and them coming in District 3, I proposed to my colleague that he put forth an agenda item that ensures to deny any data centers in DeKalb County. And I would happily second that. That still remains my position. That agenda item did not come forth. I still welcome and invite him to do that if he chooses to. Because you're talking about being predicated on the desire to not have them. Well, I'm happy to second. I will stand there for that. And then, again, we all have a part to play when it comes to protecting us all, when it comes to informing us all with the truth, when it comes to advocacy, and when it comes to being an activist. There is a difference. But our responsibility here is to govern, and that is to take so many considerations, even the political play in politics. into consideration to protect people. We have to take that into consideration sometimes because what we realize is that when we just sincerely have to and try to take the time to do our due diligence, there are other folks around the corner doing something different. There are other folks employing people to jump on social media, to use the media, to misinform individuals. to arm folks with resources that other of us aren't even thinking about because we're sincerely just thinking about doing the right thing. With that, I support the moratorium that has been put forth, and I'm very comfortable with it not going through PECS and moving it along as we've done other things. Again, it's another moratorium. We have one in place. We just want to protect the constituents. I yield back.

Thank you, Commissioner Messiah. Commissioner Davis-Johnson, your first opportunity.

Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Messiah. Thank you, Commissioner Long-Spears. If I was listened to at the beginning, I said that if there were no objections, I would like for it to go forth. If there is an objection, I don't have any problems with putting it back. I agree with what Commissioner Longspear stated. Send it through the process. So we have to listen, and that's one thing that I've talked about. That's one thing that I've learned. If you don't listen, you miss a key point that you may not need to even make because it's already stated. The only thing, rather than five minutes, it could have been two seconds and saying, I object. And that would have been it. But I have no problems with it going through committee. And I would assume that my colleague would hear it as soon as possible so that we can get back and we can support it. You know, the politics of it, as I see it, is just doing what's right for the folks. And everybody up here have an opinion. And some of us may disagree on our different opinions. But I'm not going to attack your opinion. I'm going to respect it, because that is your opinion. And that's the reason you have a majority vote, because the majority will determine what opinion We're going to go with. There's no politics in that. It's just different of opinions. So I appreciate my colleagues. I appreciate listening to them, giving me advice. I listened to Commissioner Michelle Long-Spears. And I says, OK, I mean, there's an objection. If there's an objection, let's send it back to committee. It ain't nothing suspect on that. That's our procedure. But if you don't listen, and I say that to not only my colleagues, but people out here, because some people's just going to give you red meat for you to eat if you don't know no better. And if you don't listen... And so the only thing that I asked, like people have asked of me, is to listen. I may disagree with you, but I'm going to listen to you. And so with that, I'm going to withdraw my motion to approve and send it to committee. Thank you.

So you're going to amend your motion to defer?

Well, I shouldn't have to make a motion to defer. We just send it to committee.

Well, to send it to committee, we need to defer it to a date certain with a stop at PEX. With a stop at PEX. So when is your next? Since we're on recess, when is your next PEX?

I think we're on the 11th.

It is 11th, August 11th. So you want to defer it to August 25th with a prior stop in PEX. That's your motion?

Right, is that I make the move? Yes.

Thank you. All right. Commissioner Patrick, does your second stand? Yeah. Okay, thank you. You had a few seconds left. Commissioner Davis-Johnson, do you yield your time? All right, thank you. Commissioner Patrick. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer. You know, I know there's a lot of agitation out in the audience right now on this particular topic. And this is an effort to acknowledge the concerns that you all have. I know that there is a solid no vote out there no matter what. I don't know if that's something that will be supported by my colleagues. It is something worth the conversation on. But we also have to be aware of the economic implications. I know people say, we don't want this, that, or the other. But at the end of the day, a several large, maybe a billion dollar investment in anybody's neighborhood, Dunwoody included, Doraville, Shambly, unincorporated District 1, that changes things. That opens up new economic opportunities. That will create at some point a demand and a need for things like grocery stores, those sidewalks that Rodney was talking about. I'm sorry, I can't hear you.

Wait, we cannot. Please don't do that, Commissioner Patrick. Please stop. Thank you.

Thank you. At the end of the day, though, the conversation that has not yet happened was the reality that we did raise property taxes today. And if there is a large development of any sort, data centers, airports, whatever, we need to also be cognitive of the fact that if you want to come into our neighborhoods, into our communities, Tell us what you can do to make it worthwhile. And some of those things are going to include things like training our kids on how to be construction management for a billion dollar development. Any kid with DeKalb County or from DeKalb County that could have that on their resume, I think that's going to open up doors for them for the rest of their career if they choose to follow in that field. And so again, we do have to look at the opportunities that go with that. The other thing that I would like to speak to you also though is the need that we do have to have some of the different agencies or departments that are within DeKalb County to be able to come and speak to the concerns. One of the things I've suggested is let's get either the health department or the medical examiner to come here and explain what are the causes of mortality within DeKalb County. Let's focus in on District 3 since there's a lot of attention on District 3. And let's have that rational conversation about where things are today so we understand where our next steps are for tomorrow. And I mentioned the medical examiner and public health, but you know there's also things that colleagues and I have talked about. What if there's a fire at one of these facilities? Let's hear from the fire department to hear about DeKalb County's response time. If there is some type of other life safety emergency, let's hear from those people that are responsible what the community can reasonably expect to understand to come from this whole conversation, and then adding in the conversation of data centers. So we will not make everybody happy, and unfortunately in government you never get to do that. But the reality is we are responsible for the economic growth of the county, housing options for the county, transportation options for the county, and this has the potential to be a component of that. but we will see where the market goes and where my colleagues land at the end of the day. Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer.

Thank you, Commissioner Patrick. Commissioner Bolton, first opportunity.

Thank you, ma'am. I just want to reiterate one of the things that we have talked about over the past year is justification for the moratorium. And initially, of course, it was due to preparation of the text amendment. But I think this justifies extending it beyond the three months or the six months, having an opportunity, like my colleagues mentioned, to have the departments do the research and bring it back to us. Work that we've heard from the community, you've written the white papers, but earlier today you mentioned regulations without hearing from the regulators was contradictory. So this is allowing us to do that. When we say we're listening and we're hearing you, this is a part of that. And I would say we've heard from you guys for months. So going back and hearing it in committee, I don't think is necessary because you've said it over and over again. And the law department just communicated, with the exception of hearing from the departments in their studies, this isn't much different than what we are hearing. currently actively in that moratorium. So to go back and send it to committee, extending the discussion when we know this is something the community wants, something we want, something that adds value. We're hearing from the experts and the quote unquote regulatory bodies. I don't think sending it back to committee is necessary, but if that's what the board ultimately chooses, I'm amenable to it because that means it's still in play. I also want to address the environmental study. And I want to say that that does align with the departments doing their studies and coming back and sharing with us. But one thing about the environmental study, it doesn't need to be an agenda item. That's something commissioners can fund out of our discretionary budgets. I did mention that to the originator. of that legislation a couple months ago, offered to pay half of it, and I'm still willing to pay half. If the community wants it, then we can sponsor it. But the thing I will iterate when it comes to that specific organization, which is Science for Georgia, they've communicated to me that their studies would be preliminary. They're not certifiable, they're not licensed. But what it will provide is a basis if we find something significant to go to an agency that is certified or licensed to do a deeper dive. So I would say, if it's preliminary, commissioners, we can pay for it out of pocket. Essentially, today, we don't have to vote on it. On an agenda item, we don't have to prolong it anymore. And I'm offering to pay half out of the District 7 discretionary if you would like to move forward on the environmental study.

Is that a direct question?

Yes. Would you like to partner on the environmental study? Commissioner Terry.

I'll be happy to get my comments on that when I can speak.

He's going to give his comments on his next opportunity to speak.

So from community members who are here, if you could just put your hand up, would you like us to just go ahead and pay for the environmental study?

Okay.

All right. Thank you so much. So your time is still clicking. No, that's fine.

You don't want the environmental study. Okay. Okay. Please don't engage.

Thank you. I yield back. Thank you. Commissioner Terry, your second opportunity.

OK. Thank you. I'll be quick here. So I didn't object to Commissioner Davis-Johnson moving forward this agenda item, because I was hoping that she would explain why she did it. But she didn't. So that's when I had the objections, because there was literally no reading of the actual resolution. Anyone out there had the resolution? Do you know what it says? No, you don't, because you have to go into the legistar. But here's the fundamental thing. Commissioners. Number seven says the chief executive officer will do the review. OK, so we're going to ask all the departments, some of which don't even have really anything to work. Transportation, roads, and drainage are on here. That has nothing to do with data centers. They included public health. The public health department already said, we don't want to be involved. Remember, that was the initial proposal for the health study, is the public health department would do it. The health department said, I'm sorry, we're busy. We're not experts on this. I went to Science for Georgia because I thought they would be an intermediate. Commissioner Bolton didn't like that. Commissioner Masai didn't like that. I literally have a substitute on that item to just make it a little an RFP or an RFQ. The purchasing department can go out and find an independent body to do the study. This resolution keeps it all within house. The whole argument for the study has been to see an outside study done. If you ask Watershed Management, Public Safety, Transportation, Roads and Drainage, Public Health to do the study, how does that fundamentally change the issue of what the community is asking for. They don't want the departments to study it, they want an outside entity to study it. Offering, and again, I'm just going to just point out that I had two commissioners say that they will do something if I do it first. I'm sorry, in no world did they not have the power to introduce it themselves. That's the disingenuousness of these political games to say, oh, I'll do something, but I need you to do it first. You have the power to do it yourself. Okay? And I'm not going to play the games of funding a study because we still have to do an RFQ, we still have to do an RFP. I don't want to be the only person funding the study. I'd like all of y'all to agree to it because this is a fundamental aspect of county government. Now, it is true that the majority of data centers, the ones we know about, are being proposed in District 3 and 6. But let me be clear, I don't trust the games that are being played up here. All right, we just saw the last agenda item where there was disagreement between on a zoning item for three and six and where in other cases when three and seven disagreed, all y'all being like, can y'all work it out? Can we get the consensus deferring items? But when it's district six, now we'll just move forward with it. So the trust has already been knocked down several pegs because you don't care about my opinions. It's my district, the data center is being proposed in District 3 and 6, and y'all are proposing studies that aren't actually accomplishing the goal. So I support the deferral and I want to get into the committee on these resolution items because there's not an independent study, public health already said they're not going to do it, and there has to be more firm safeguards on what we're trying to accomplish.

Thank you, Commissioner Terry. Commissioner Messiah, your second opportunity.

Thank you so much. Okay. Commissioner, I am even willing to pay so we can split it by a third. And it does matter in terms of the science for Georgia. I will add, it's not about not liking science for Georgia. I don't have a dog in the fight when it comes to science in Georgia. What I do have is a commitment that if we're expending tax dollars for any purpose, then it is going to be meaningful and with fiduciary responsibility. Science for Georgia admitted that they were not... seeing they were not experts, why would we spend $15,000 for non-experts? And also, there's a gross misrepresentation.

One second, Commissioner Masai. This was her second opportunity, so she shouldn't have had the five minutes. Thank you, continue.

A gross misrepresentation of the health department's position. They didn't say they didn't want to have anything to do with this. That is not what was communicated. And it is very important and our responsibility to make sure, seeing as we're dealing with concerns about water, when it comes to concerns about pollution, and several folks have mentioned some of the challenges we have with the EPA and EPD, that we consider the other departments that have to participate in something like a potential data center. It wouldn't just drop from the air onto the ground and that's it. I don't understand why there would be any opposition whatsoever with making sure we are all doing our due diligence as we are moving forward to protect the community and that we are doing it with experts. That could advise us of the truth, that can dispel any falsehoods and rage baiting. And so that the community can have the truth and the facts so they can communicate to us so that we can listen. Because again, our iteration is to do what's right based on the facts that we have and not the propaganda, not the nonsense. And so in terms of putting forth an agenda item first, there's a time where you want people to shut up or put up. where you want them to put their money where their mouth is. And if they are so advantageous against something as they present to the public, you want them to do that all across the board. That's called accountability. We're holding each other accountable and not leaving the other out there. So to the extent you feel this strongly, I am willing to support you. And this is how I can support you to get it done. Let's do it together. So you don't have to wonder whether you have support. You have my support if this is something that you want to do and you feel that strongly about. That's all that is. It's not hard. With that, I yield back to you, Madam PO.

Thank you. Commissioner Davis-Johnson. Can you hit your button, please, Commissioner Croucher?

Sorry, I thought I had it up there already. Thank you. You know, this was sort of what I was hoping we would avoid getting into. I'm going to offer a substitute motion, and that is let's just go ahead and adopt this today, and then we can move forward through the committee process thereafter, whether it's through the COW, through the BOC, or through committees. But let's just get this moratorium put in place, and then we're done with this item for a while. And I second. That's my motion.

Okay, so there's a substitute motion. You've already spoken twice.

There was already a vote, though. You can't do a substitute. A point of order.

I'm answering your question. If you give me the opportunity as the presiding officer, she made her initial motion. She amended her motion. There has been no substitute motion. This is the first substitute motion.

Okay, so you're saying that a substitute can be substituted for an amendment because we should vote on the amended motion.

If I followed correctly, the motion that was made by Commissioner Marita Davis-Johnson was amended by Commissioner Marita Davis-Johnson, which is what makes it okay. It's the person making the motion amending her own motion.

That is what has happened.

Okay. Are you all playing games again?

Commissioner Terry, you do not have the floor. You do not have the floor. Commissioner Davis-Johnson, would you like to speak again, or did you not have your button pushed? You have one opportunity left. Okay, I am going to hand the gavel over to Deputy Presiding Officer because I would actually like to speak on this item. Go ahead, Madam Pio. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. So I am comfortable moving forward with this resolution today because I did actually read it. And I do believe it adds a lot of substance to it. And one of the items that I brought up when I spoke on this at the last meeting was a request from the administration to provide and publish a standard operating procedures that includes all of the departments and how they would handle a data center application as they come forward. Commissioner Davis-Johnson, you spoke earlier about listening and being heard. I feel like I was actually heard with my request in this resolution because when my reading of this resolution and my listening to the public, what is missing from a text amendment and cannot be included in a text amendment is making sure that we know how all the departments that will touch a data center application, when and if they come, how they will respond, what those regulations will be, how it will be regulated, who will be regulated. All of that needs to be compiled and done, and the text amendment is not the mechanism alone to do that. This resolution speaks to that, and when it speaks to having the CEO involved because she manages the day-to-day operations of the county and can order those departments to provide that information. So I believe that is why this resolution should be passed and why it is different from the other moratorium resolution. Because it encompasses what I've heard our community say is missing from the text amendment. But what I've also heard our planning officials and experts say that cannot be included in just a text amendment. We need a comprehensive document. We need more than just a text amendment. And to me, this resolution speaks to that. So I am comfortable moving forward with the resolution. Knowing that we will be bringing forward other pieces and other items through our PECS committee through the normal course before this resolution and before the moratorium expires so that we have something comprehensive to provide to our residents. And with that, I yield and I will take the floor back.

Passing the gavel back.

Thank you. Everyone has, well, Commissioner Long-Speers, you just hit the button.

I'm sorry.

You have your second opportunity.

Yes, ma'am. I do. Thank you. So set the clock three minutes. You got it. Like Commissioner Davis-Johnson, I am a fan of process. And I think that you articulated that earlier, is that you were willing to amend the motion. You even said so much, if you object, you object. I think it's a slippery slope when we continue to deviate from our processes when it's not time critical. And this one's, in my opinion, not. We still have the moratorium in place through September 30. However, if it is the will of this board, and you guys want to vote on this today, I will support it. Again, I just want to lift up, encourage, shine a bright light, is that we put these processes in place to make sure that we give ample opportunity for the public to participate in public comment, to attend, as you asked earlier, attend our committee meetings. And this is a case where I don't believe that we are doing that. because it has only appeared on our agenda today. It wasn't even on a committee of the whole agenda because we haven't had one. And Madam PO, again, did an excellent job with somehow shrinking down a long agenda into a... One that works, and then we can hopefully get done before the end of the day today, and maybe have a committee or two. But again, I am always concerned when we really deviate when it is not time critical. But if it's the will of this board, I will support today. I agree that there has been extensive discussion over the last 11 months related to data centers. I also recognize this will extend it into 2027, as it's written in the resolution, will give the departments more time to weigh in, provide feedback. So whatever we end up doing next year hopefully will be the very best version of whatever that ends up being. Again, in summary, we have processes and rules in place for a reason. And again, I just discourage this board from too frequently deviating from our process. I yield back.

Thank you. So if we can clarify the motion before us, there was a substitute motion.

Sorry. Go ahead, Commissioner. Sorry, Madam President. I didn't mean to interrupt. Motion to adopt. This is a substitute motion to go ahead and adopt this moratorium.

seconded by commissioner marita davis johnson so what we have on the screen is actually the opposite of that madam clerk thank you so much if you please open machine for the vote they got it they fixed it Motion to approve carries. Thank you. We're going to at least finish page four, then we will break for executive session and a working lunch. Under community development, item 2026-1051, all commission districts HUD-Urban County Cooperation Agreement Requalification January 1st, 2027 through December 31st, 2029. I know Director Mitchell pulled me aside earlier today. There is a time sensitivity to this meeting to be approved before August 1st, but we do have one more meeting next week if we want to push it to next week and then we can have more discussion on this. If I could get a motion.

Motion to defer to the August, well we're trying to do the August 11th, August.

July 14th.

July 14th. Our July 14th BOC meeting and with- And we'll reach out to you. Further discussions, okay. Offline, yes.

Only because we don't have opportunity to have any committees since we're going on recess. Commissioner Long-Spears, you're seconding.

I do, but just for clarification purposes to the mover. So it's a deferral to next Tuesday. Is there a PEX between now and then? There is not a PECS. Okay, thank you. All right. Thank you. My second stands.

And Director Mitchell, if you could individually reach out to make sure the commissioners are aware of what this item is and make sure they don't have any questions.

Yeah, we'll send an email. Thank you so much.

Please open machine for the vote on this item. That motion to defer carries. Item 2026-1024, under human services, all commission districts, acceptance of funds from the Atlanta Regional Commission for DeKalb Senior Services for SFY 2027. Would this typically be a PECS item? Yes.

Or is it PECS? It's PECS. I'm sorry. Motion to defer to the August 25th BOC meeting with a stop in PECS on August 11th. Second.

Thank you so much. Thank you. There's a motion and a second. Please open the machine for the vote. Commissioners, if we can vote. Thank you so much. That motion to defer carries. CEO Williams.

I apologize. I was just confirming with Director Scott. There is a time sensitivity to this as this is funding for the senior programming. So if we could treat this as the last one, we'll be happy to get you any information between now and Tuesday.

All right, I would need a motion to reconsider item ending in 1024. So moved. Second. We have a motion and a second to reconsider if you hit your buttons. Please open that machine. Motion to reconsider carries. I will reread the item, item 2026-1024, all commission districts. Acceptance of funds from the Atlanta Regional Commission for DeKalb Senior Services for SFY 2027.

Motion to defer to the July 11- 14. I'm sorry, 14 VOC with communication forthcoming via email from the administration. Second.

Thank you for the motion and the second. Please open the machine for the vote. That motion to defer to next week carries. At this time, if I can get a motion to go into recess for executive session to discuss litigation. So moved.

Second.

If y'all hit your buttons. Hit it again for me, Commissioner Bolton. All right, if we open the machine for the vote. We are in recess for executive session and a working lunch. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye. ... ... Thank you. ... ... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. ... ... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. ... ... Bye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh. . . Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Good afternoon, everybody. If I can get a motion to reconvene. So moved. If you hit your buttons, please. Please open the machine for the vote. We are back in session at this time. We did have action to take out of executive session discussion, so if I can get that motion.

Yes, ma'am. Out of executive session, I move that the Board of Commissioners approve payment and the total amount of $160,000 to settle Daniel and Ellen Riley's Claims against DeKalb County and its contractors committed Consulting LLC and Executive Realty Solutions Inc. in Civil Action Number 24CV1129 in the Superior Court of DeKalb County. To resolve the claims against DeKalb, committed consulting, LLC, and Executive Realty Solutions Inc. in the lawsuit, DeKalb County will pay to Daniel and Ellen Riley and their legal counsel the total amount of $160,000 in return for and conditioned on the Riley's dismissal with prejudice of those claims and their execution of a settlement agreement with release and waiver of claims that is satisfactory. To the interim county attorney, which will include the county's agreement to perform certain specified work on a detention pond on a neighboring property within three years. And the Riley's agreement to grant the county an easement on their property to facilitate the completion of that work. The interim county attorney or his designee is authorized to sign the settlement agreement.

There is a motion. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Commissioner Davis-Johnson. County Attorney Phillips, just a point of clarification. I actually went right into making the motion. Did we need to make a motion to add the item, though?

Technically, yes.

So do we need to? Just add it.

OK. Cover your basis.

So if we can amend that motion to add the item. So moved. Thank you. I think we have to hit the buttons. Second. Commissioner Long gave us.

Sorry, my apologies.

Thank you. So if we can open the machine for adding the item. Sorry about that, y'all. Bless you. Thank you. Motion to add carries. The motion we are adding is the long item that Commissioner Bolton just read into the record. So if we can now go back to that motion to approve, which was made by Commissioner Bolton and seconded by Commissioner Davis-Johnson. And if there's no other discussion, please open the machine for the vote. Thank you so much. Motion carries. So now we are back in regular session. We are top of page five. This is one purchasing and contracting item for the FAB committee. Item 2026-1052, change order number two to contract number 2000460. development of cost allocation plans for DeKalb County for use by Office of Management and Budget to obtain professional services for overhead and administrative cost studies, seeking increase in contract funds and term through November 30, 2026, and ratifying previous term increase awarded to MGT Impact Solutions LLC amount not to exceed $117,000. Motion to approve. Is there a second? Second. Second. Second, Commissioner Long-Spears. Commissioner Carey, you have requested to speak.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Budget Director Siegler could just give us a very high-level view of this agenda item since we have not heard it in fact.

Yes, thank you. So this change order is to really renew the contract that we have with MGT for our cost allocation plans. So that's something we do annually where they look at the – charges or the the expenses within the general fund are related to other funds to come up with a cost allocation plan so we can charge the indirect cost back to the fund where those costs were incurred you're good all right thank you commissioner terry seeing no other requests to speak please open machine for the vote

Motion to approve carries. We are now on purchasing and contracting for the Ops Committee. Item 2026-1061, change order number one to contract number 2000789, on-call heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Fused by the Department of Facilities Management, Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Affairs, Watershed Management, and Fire Rescue to provide on-call HVAC services seeking to add human services to the contract. An increased contract funds and scope to repair and or replace condenser units at Lou Walker Senior Center. Awarded to Max Air Mechanical LLC, amount not to exceed $70,000. Move for action. Yes, ma'am. Item 2026-0937, change order number four to contract number 1150081, J. Katz to cab license and support sole source for use by the Department of Innovation and Technology to obtain licenses and support services for J. Katz. Software for the county seeking increase in contract funds and term through December 31st, 2029. Awarded to Canyon Solutions, Inc., amount not to exceed $233,178.75. Move for action. Thank you. Top of page 6. Item 2026-0945, Cooperative Agreement Information Technology Category Services. Move for action. used by the Department of Innovation and Technology to obtain license subscriptions for all Red Hat Ansible products utilized throughout the county. Awarded to Emergent LLC amount not to exceed $204,907. Move for action. Item 2026-0989, change order number two to contract number 1343032, software and ancillary services for use by the Department of Innovation and Technology to attain software licenses and technical support to cover all new and existing Microsoft products utilized by the county seeking increase in contract funds and term through August 31st, 2029. Awarded to SHI International Corporation amount not to exceed $18,927,592.89. Move for action. Item 2026-0998, change order number two to contract number 1254433, secured signing enterprise plan for use by the Department of Innovation and Technology to obtain digital signature solution services for the county. ratifying a previously provided contract term increase and seeking increase in contract funds and term through July 12th, 2029, awarded to secured signing LTD amount not to exceed $105,940. Move for action. And the final one under the Ops Committee is item 2026-1000, change order number one to contract number 2000149, fuel master software and hardware upgrade for use by the Department of Innovation and Technology to obtain maintenance and upgrade services to the existing fuel master system. Seeking increase in contract funds and term through December 31st, 2030, awarded to Syntex Systems, Inc., amount not to exceed $532,572. Move for action. Madam Chair, I make a motion that 2026-1061-0937 be

0945, 0989, 0998, and 1000 be approved. I mean, I'm sorry, be deferred to the July the 14th meeting with a stop in ops.

Thank you. Please hit your button and is there a second? Second. Hit it one more time. Thank you. Seeing no requests to speak, please open the machine for the vote. That motion to defer carries. Thank you. Bottom of page 6, PWI.

Madam Presiding Officer, if I can interrupt for one second. Everything up to page 8 is going to be deferred. And that last item that will be deferred is 0994. So if you just want to read those, I'll move for action and keep them going. OK. so say that all being deferred and what was that last part you said sir um when you once you sound them out i'll do move for action and then uh we'll go through them quickly except for that last one appreciate you um point of order madam presiding officer um again um mr account county attorney could you come to the podium please

So I very much respect his desire to get to this meeting fast. I think we all do. But since these items have not appeared on a committee of the whole agenda, and this is the first read, is there any requirement that the presiding officer has to read everything in here? Or is it okay just to read the number, being the first time and it wasn't on a cow?

Well, the agenda was set, and I need to be corrected if my facts are wrong. I understand the agenda was set by the presiding officer in the absence of account, and it was published, and that publishing was noticed to the world.

Okay, so that's sufficient.

So that should be sufficient. I would say in an abundance of caution, you can read it if you feel a need, but I think it speaks for itself, and I think we'll be okay.

So I can just read the item number? All right.

Thank you. I yield back.

Thank you for the clarification as well. All right. Item 2026-0680. Move for action. Copy of page 7, 2026-0949.

Move for action.

0955.

Move for action.

2026-0986.

Move for action.

2026-0884.

Move for action.

2026-0976.

Move for action.

Page 8. And this is the last one, correct? Item 2026-0994.

Move for action. Madam Presiding Officer, I make a motion to defer the following agenda items to the July 14th BOC with a prior stop at PWI. Those items are 2026-0680, 0949, 0955, 0986, 084, excuse me, 0884, 0976, and 0994.

Thank you. If you hit your button. And is there a second?

Second. I withdraw my second. Sorry.

Thank you, Commissioner Terry. You seconded Commissioner Long-Spears. You have requested to speak.

Yes. Briefly to the presiding officer for Commissioner Patrick, totally fine with your motion. What is the date that will be heard in PWI?

I believe this afternoon. We're going to push it for this afternoon. If we make it? If we make it. And we might even have an evening session of PWI. So that assumes that we have staff available, though, but if we have to do it. All right. Thank you. My preference is to get it done today. Understood. For next week.

All right. Thank you. Yield back. Thank you. Please open the shame for the vote. Motion to defer carries. Those items carry. Recreation Parks and Cultural Affairs, item 2026-0974, Commission Districts 3 and 6, to fund the operation of the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials, a recycling program with live, Thrive Incorporated, located at 1225 Columbia Drive, Decatur, Georgia, 30032, parcel ID 1520002001.

Motion to defer to the August 25th BOC with a stop in impacts. Second.

Motion and a second. Commissioner Terry has requested to speak. You have the floor.

Yes. Zach, just real quick on this. So I did see that this will be a park funding item. And so if y'all could just prepare some documentation on why it wouldn't be a sanitation or solid waste fund since this clearly is a solid waste program, not a park program.

Absolutely. And if it requires any change, we'll provide that at the text committee.

Thank you for that. Seeing no further requests to speak, please open the machine for the vote. Motion to defer carries. Middle of page 8, we are now on items for decision by the board. This is the District 2 item, item 2026-0728, an ordinance to amend the code of DeKalb County, Georgia, Chapter 5 to regulate the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in pet shops. And this is an IRPS item.

Yes, on behalf of the IRPS committee, I move to defer this item to the January, or July, July 14 BOC with a prior stop in IRPS. We were supposed to have IRPS today. Not sure we will make it, so we'll have to schedule a special call.

Thank you. You're seconding commissioner long Spears and you've requested speak. You have the floor.

Yes, ma'am. All right. Um, if central staff would just please confirm at the last business meeting, I do believe that we walked on the substitute. Is that correct? And then in addition to that, I entered, went to the clerks, went back to my team and entered into the record the responses that the committee had or the responses to the questions that the committee had. There were about six or eight of them. Could you please confirm that that is one correct and I am actually accurate in what I'm saying.

Good afternoon, Commissioners. Through Madam Presiding Officer to Commissioner Long-Spears, I'm looking in Legistar. Now, the item in Legistar has your original ordinance dated March 12. So I think the most current legislation needs to be placed in the system, whether or not we can do that. Now, if you have documentation available to submit the most up-to-date substitute or you know by the next time we get to the board meeting you did email it we did we have an email okay well if we have an email copy if you like to make a motion to defer the substitute that was provided via email staff will make sure we give the clerk's office and enter that most recent substitute in the in the system itself

Okay, thank you. Yes, the substitute was, to my knowledge, and thank you for confirming, was properly introduced. What was also properly introduced was a support document. I did bring it to the clerks and then to my team that also needs to be included in the record. So, Mr. County Attorney, does Madam Earp's chair have to revise a deferral of the substitute, or does that matter right now?

If I followed, were you deferring the substitute or just the deferral of the item without acknowledging the substitute? I think what's proper, if I'm following Commissioner Speers, the substitute was submitted, so you would want a deferral of the substitute so that it's clear from today's meeting forward that is the item. And a print for the 14th or any future date should include that item in legislature.

That's correct. Yes, is that acceptable, Madam Chair?

Yes, and I just want to make sure we didn't get a chance to discuss it in last committee. We ran over time. That's true.

That's fine. Okay. I think what's happening, and Commissioner Spears, please rescue me if I'm misstating this, Commissioner Spears has confirmed through central staff that as the sponsor, it was submitted. Properly. And she wants to make sure today that it is included. Okay. So that going forward, it appears as the substitute appears as the item before this body. Correct. so they're looking at the correct version whatever happens going forward it is the version she has submitted that is being considered yes that is where we are okay and so that motion will be deferral of the substitute thank you yield back thank you all right seeing no nothing hold on one second yeah that's why I was that's why I was hesitating are we good

Yes, Mr. Mayor.

It's a lot going on over here. I said I'll step in. So from what we can see, Commissioner, the substitute that was sent on Monday is the one that was for the tethering order ordinance. It was not the one that was germane to this item right here. Now, you may have sent it. I'm not looking at it right now. But you're talking about the one that was submitted during the meeting.

I fully stand corrected. I see an animal thing on here and immediately.

No, that's okay. That's okay.

My sincerest apologies.

So yeah, I wanted to clarify because I know- Thank you.

Yes, this is the retail sales fan, yeah. Okay. Madam chair, you're right on with the original.

Okay.

Okay, so that motion is not deferral of a substitute, it's deferral of the item.

All right. All hearts of mine clear on this. We have a great team that helped us work that out.

Thank you so much.

It should be motion moved to defer. It says approve.

This might be a previous item. Oh, yeah.

But that is what we're voting on. Okay. Just so the record's clear that it is to defer item 0728. And we're missing two votes. Thank you so much. That item is deferred. Papa Payne. Oh, the system is just acting up. Top of page nine, item 2025-0015, all commissioned districts, an ordinance to amend the code of DeKalb County, Georgia, Chapter 16, pertaining to regulation of sound and for other purposes. And this has been in PECS. Yes, it has. Move for action. Move for action. Yes, ma'am. So we're going to skip over to the middle of page 11, item 2025-0017, all commission districts a resolution to create an electric landscape maintenance device rebate program to encourage switching from gas-powered landscape maintenance devices and for other lawful purposes. Yes.

Move for action, I have a motion to defer those agenda items to the September 29th. I'm sorry, you know what? We are going to do the August 25th VOC with the stop impacts on August 11th. These things have been. on the agenda for some time and i think we need to really identify whether we're going to move forward with this um just you know and i asked the on the author to determine what we're going to do here or whether we're going to just withdraw these items all right hit your button and who was the second on this

I have a motion to defer. It's a fax item. Second for purposes of discussion. All right, Commissioner Terry has requested to speak.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So just as a reminder, we did change the nature of this ordinance at the request of the PECS committee members. So we haven't had a chance for the committee to weigh in on that.

So just to be clear, there was a move for action. So there was two ordinances. So which one are you referring to, sir? Just so I can follow.

Well, the main one, the first one. And that's related to having decibel meters, basically. So just to be very clear. I introduced this legislation. The original hope was to do decibel meters. We got pushback from the administration on getting decibel meters. And so I worked with the administration because they said this would be a better solution to make it plainly audible. The committee members suggested that the decibel meter would make more sense. And I agreed to that because that was the original idea. So we've made all the changes requested by the committee members. Presumably, since they asked for those changes, they will support those changes. But this thing is ready for action. I mean, as soon as we can get a committee vote, we can move forward on this.

You, Commissioner Terry. Okay, thank you. Commissioner Messiah.

All right, so the committee did meet. We had a special called meeting just this past Monday, not yesterday, obviously. Last week, I had an opportunity to hear this. My understanding is initially my colleague, Commissioner Terry, was available. was not available, happy to hear this issue. It's been ongoing. The challenge has been it's changed tremendously. It's even been in part recommended that it be withdrawn. And in absence of that actually taking place, it was being amenable to consider another option if it was so suggested by the author and supporter of this agenda item. So just so that I'm clear, we have a clear delineation of how we're moving forward. It would be great to understand, are you asking us to move forward with a decimal meter version? And then I'm going to want legal to explain or just let us know whether or not that's the status of the current legislation or if there's something else that would need to be changed. They shared that this has gone through several iterations, and before they went through a whole other iteration, they wanted to understand the clear direction by the author. So are you asking, is this in a position to move forward with the decimal meter? Is that what you're saying, that we can move forward to a vote at this present?

Are you going to ask that question of Commissioner Terry? Terry, yes. Commissioner Terry, would you like to respond now or on your time?

Yes, that is literally what I said before you spoke, is the legislation has changed to set a decibel level. In order to read decibel levels, you need to get decibel meters. That's the only change. So I just would take issue with saying there being substantial changes and it's recommended for withdrawal. That's not true. I have made all the requested changes of my colleagues, something, quite frankly, I don't get. the reciprocation on.

So Commissioner Terry, you're on Commissioner Messiah's time.

Thank you so much. I didn't want to interrupt him with that. Again, one of the discussions was in and around, we're drawing it because it has changed. So just so that I'm clear, Interim County Attorney Phillips, can you advise us if the current legislation speaks specifically to the use of decimal meters and if we are good in inform and otherwise to move forward with this agenda item? I understand.

Sorry, Commissioner Messiah. My understanding is at the point that we, the law department reviewed the version of this ordinance for decibel meters. We were able to provide one that satisfied Commissioner Terry and we could approve that one as the form in the alternative. We provided one that could be approved for clearly audible. Both are available. What I believe is before the body right now is the decibel level version. But the law department has reviewed them and approved them. The two versions that came out of law are fine. It's just a business decision on which one you go with. That would be the issue.

Thank you so much. And so, again, this will be heard on August 11th with a clear delineation of a decimal meter and a referral from committee so that we can move forward.

Are you back? Thank you, Commissioner Long-Spears.

Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer. My comment and question pertains to item 2025-0017. I recognize that 0017 and 0015 are coupled agenda items. However, so to the Madam Presiding Officer, to Commissioner Terry, 0017, the rebate program, The last version I see, sir, and here's from April of 2025. I'm in full support of this. I'm a co-sponsor of it. We're on my time now. Could you just let me know, is there, what's the holdup with this one? Is it still in law or do we have to pass the other one first or what's going on? Again, I think the rebate program is a really fantastic idea.

These items have been coupled and quite frankly, the blasting item is the third of the group of items. The impact of the decision on clearly audible versus decibel reading on sound will impact our review of the other two items because they have to work together. So that was the issue. The rebate portion is one thing, but how we deal with the, the coupling requires us to first make the decision. Are we going to deal with sound on decibels or are we going to deal with it on clearly audible that could impact the others? So that's just the way we've proceeded in our analysis.

I am not tracking how a rebate program ties to either of those decisions. Because it's pretty clear in here if you go to the now therefore be resolved is that under 3A it's offering a rebate of up to $500 for purchasing electric landscape maintenance devices not to exceed 100. It really just maps out a strategy to reduce noise by offering a rebate to get an electric leaf blower is often, which is quieter. So again, I understand that the path forward with this one has been the coupling or tripling of those three items. However, again, I don't know that the rebate really necessarily is impacted by the first item, 0015. That's just my two cents. on that, but I certainly will support a deferral if that is what the, you're good with that, Commissioner Terry?

Yes, I think we would like to get a committee recommendation, please, on these items.

All righty, thank you so much, and I yield back.

Thank you, Commissioner Davis-Johnson, your first opportunity.

Okay, yeah, it's my understanding in discussing this, And Mr. CEO, if you could answer my questions.

COO.

I mean COO, I'm sorry. I am crystal clear. Okay. One of the issues that we had, if I recall, was cost. And that we would have to purchase individual devices. There was also a question on the enforcement of this. How is it going to be enforced? And so I think those are, am I correct?

Yes, Commissioner. The discussion in committee often revolved around cost to a certain extent. The primary point that staff was making was that The use of plainly audible simply works better because it doesn't require machinery, it doesn't require calibrating, and a person's ears are always available. As it relates to cost, there's probably, you know, we wouldn't necessarily need an instrument in every vehicle and things like that. Some of those things could be managed, but, you know, the staff preference was clearly plainly audible.

Okay, and I've got three minutes left. I think I may have had another question. Okay, I think item, let me go to the next item. OK, and so 17 is to encourage switching from gas power landscape maintenance devices for other lawful purposes. Are we taking these together or separate?

So I think what a county attorney was just opining to is that they've reviewed them as a set, so to speak. So they have been reviewing them as companions. So we are taking the action to defer both of these items together, but they're also reviewing them together.

Okay, that was my question.

All right, thank you. Commissioner Bolton, your first opportunity.

Just really quickly, a question was, and I don't recall because I see that this has been or was proposed in 24. Was there in tandem supposed to be a discussion in FAB regarding the county's fiduciary responsibility, any maximums or the funding or budgeting for the rebate?

You're asking Commissioner Terry, and can he respond on your time?

Yes.

Commissioner Terry.

Or legal. I just don't recall whoever can speak to it. Was there ever supposed to be a discussion in FAB, or did we have any projections for the rebate?

All right. So the rebate program, if it was approved, yes, in theory, would be considered for a future budget. But it doesn't make sense to have that discussion until the thing actually is passed. So we just haven't had those discussions because there's been no need to.

OK. And that's OK. I was asking, sometimes we do, like there is, some other items on the agenda where there is a resolution for the project and also a resolution for the funding of that project. Just trying to get clarity.

Thank you. I yield back. Thank you so much. Commissioner Terry, you've requested to speak for your second opportunity.

Yeah. So I'll just reiterate that on every single agenda item that I have introduced on this board, I have always asked the commissioners, send me their amendments, send me their questions, send me their ideas. And for whatever reason, it's crickets. Zero response, zero meetings, except when we get to the meeting and then it's 20 questions. So apparently these meetings last very long because y'all hold your 20 questions for my agenda items. You got to do extra review right here in real time. When, honestly, you could have just sent me an email. You could have scheduled a meeting. So let me reiterate an open invitation to any single commissioner. We can sit down and go through any concerns, any ideas, any amendments that you have on any single legislative agenda item. Now, will I get that in return? No, I won't because it's already happening. They don't want my advice. They don't want my input. But I'm offering it to them because that's how democracy should work. When you don't talk to each other, everything falls apart. When you don't talk to each other, then you don't trust each other. And when you don't trust each other, that's when things really begin to fall apart.

So I will add a point of clarity to your statement, Commissioner Terry, because I know I personally emailed you on your decibel ordinance last year. So it is disingenuous for you to sit here and say not a single commissioner, because I know I did. And you did respond to those. So that is disingenuous. But you've yielded your time. So, Commissioner Messiah, you are next. Thank you so much.

And to add to that, Madam Pio, just speaking specifically as the chair of PECS and the discussion around this agenda item in PECS, I know there have been some questions, particularly, I believe it was Commissioner Patrick had asked, and then I also inquired about some of the complaints, particularly in certain areas of the district. And I think there was one or two other inquiries. So there have been, at least in committee, some inquiries made as to trying to really just iron out and determine what is the best route. Unfortunately, it appears as though, as I mentioned, there have been some iterations and some changes based on circumstances that I believe Commissioner Patrick mentioned something about party houses and the like, but just some additional needs. to maybe have a decibel meter for some of our officers. We also looked at the potential cost, including not just purchasing, but the maintenance and the calibration of those particular decibel meters. And so where we find ourselves is where you had asked the committee to make a recommendation between plainly audible and decibel meters. The committee asked you which direction, as I believe law, asked you which direction would you like to go in as the author of this? How would you like for us to proceed? Specifically asking your thoughts, your opinion, your preference, since this was your item, out of respect. And in order to get some finality as to that specific question, I am calling for it to, again, be in PEX and not delay it any longer, because there was a note for it to be even longer, to August 11th, where the specific ask, I'll tell you as chair, is only going to be To my colleague, which direction do you want to go in? And if it's in, hold on. Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me, sir. Excuse me, sir. So to the extent that that's the direction that you would like to go in, then we will vote for it in committee on August 11th and be able to bring a finite recommendation to this board so that this board could then vote on it. With that, I yield back to you, Madam PO.

Thank you, Commissioner Messiah. Commissioner Marita Davis-Johnson, your second opportunity.

Okay. You know, I would just like to say we all have different opinions, and I've said that. You know, we all have different opinions, and I've said that. But I remember looking at cartoons growing up, sometimes with my kids, And I remember Wild E. Coyote was always a victim. I mean, everybody else is fine. Get along with everybody else. Get along. Listen to each other. But Wild E. Coyote was always a victim. And so he never figured out, though, just join us. Just join the party and stop being a victim. Commissioner Terry, please contain yourself.

Please contain yourself and show some decorum.

Yeah, stop being a victim because it's seven votes up here. And usually those votes are six to one, five to two, four to three, So rather than being a victim, I would say be a team player and understand how the commissioner work, how the commission work. And that is to try to get four votes. Because right now, seems like you just get one. But that's my opinion and I just wanted to say that because You're working with the body. You're working with the body of people. And you're always the victim. Ain't nobody else talking about we victims, because we're not agreed.

Commissioner Davis Johnson. I do appreciate your comments, but they are not germane to the topic. Okay. And I am going to ask every single one of my fellow commissioners. Okay. It is 159. I'm good. They're on page 13. I'm good. Discussion is healthy. I'm not trying to not have discussion. We need to keep it germane. We need to not be personal. It needs to be about the items and the issues before us.

And I agree with that. Thank you. But it just brought me back to. Commissioner Johnson. Cold.

Thank you, ma'am. It's probably bad. We've seen no one else requesting to speak. Please open the machine for the votes.

Madam Chair, these are not in the realm of dad jokes.

No, these are not dad jokes. You are absolutely correct. Motion to defer carries. middle of page 13, item 2025-1525, all commission districts, an ordinance to amend the Code of DeKalb County, Georgia, Chapter 25, pertaining to water, sewers, and sewage disposal and for other purposes, and this is in FAB.

Motion to defer to the August 18th meeting with a stop in FAB.

Thank you, Commissioner Longspear. Seeing no request to speak, please open the sheet for the vote. Motion to defer carries. We are now middle of page 14. I believe we were handed.

Madam PL, the 18th of August is Cal.

Thank you for clarification.

I amend my motion to defer to the August 25th. Thank you.

My second. My second stands. Thank you. Are we good? Yes, thank you. Thank you. Middle of page 14, item 2026-0158. I do believe we were handed a substitute for this item. Middle bottom of page 14. All commission districts a resolution to establish the DeKalb for the People Dividend Fund and fiscal stability policy. And this is a FAB item.

Motion to defer to the August 25th meeting with a stop at FAB. I have a comment. Second.

Thank you, Commissioner Terry. You have the floor.

Thank you. So again, similar to the other item, I introduced this resolution. I asked for committee feedback. I did receive comments, and so I have updated this resolution. It is no longer simply focusing on data centers. Instead, it is just simply acknowledging that there are high-value projects that could be cited in light industrial and heavy industrial zoning districts that could deliver significant resources for the county. We know that the vast majority of industrial area in the county is in South DeKalb, and so the goal here is that if any high-value project is built in those zones, the 50-25-25 framework would be a policy position of the Board of Commissioners when it comes to funding. And then we did tighten the language and were more expansive on exactly the suggested funding sources. Again though, the resolution is simply a framework and each year there might be some other priorities within these buckets or might be community you know, focused. Um, so those are the changes and there's any other ideas, edits, amendments that commissioners have. I am open to them. Um, but we'll hear the, this in fab at some point before the next meeting on August 25th.

Commissioner, can we clarify that that's a substitute that you'd like to defer?

Yes. Substitute.

Thank you. And you yield your time, Commissioner Cherry. Thank you. Commissioner Masai.

Thank you so much. And so my only concern, and I'll just make sure that it is clear, one, is that, again, in listening to the community, One of the concerns, and I think the gentleman today calls it blood moving of developers, that this is, even though there's been some tweaks in the language, it's still in and around and was birthed out of the potential existence of data center and data center taxes. And so I'm not understanding quite why we're planning to spend money at this point when there's a lot left to be desired to move forward. But then also, I think we should really consider leaving resources that come out of a particular community for the benefit of that particular community and not necessarily diluting it in five different directions. all the ways making sure that those that may be exposed or at most risk or have the most impact in having to live and potentially work and exist in and around are able to realize any potential benefits. So I know we'll continue to work on this and that ends my comments. I yield back.

Thank you, Commissioner Messiah. Commissioner Terry, your second opportunity.

Yeah, I'll just point out that Mr. Rodney Helper made a great point in speaking against the zoning item, which all of y'all approved against my objections in my district. Half of the Boulder Crest Overlay District is industrial. It's truck parking, it's cement plants, it's asphalt plants. It is heavy industry that is polluting. So consider if this policy was in place 30 years ago, would South DeKalb look like it does today? if we had a fiscal policy that supported communities where high polluting industrial growth was happening. This is the honey pot. And what we're doing in this resolution is actually making up for years of injustice. And I wasn't here during that time, but I am here now. And I'm trying to make up for that. So think about the blight, the lack of investment in South DeKalb. And we're highlighting a three-mile corridor. I mean, you're happy to take other ideas here. But the idea is that there's major development happening in a certain part of any of our districts, especially if it's heavy polluting. We try to keep those investments local. And I would submit that the honeypot for South DeKalb, all this high value industrial property that has gone to the entire county, that has set DeKalb County back decades. This is an effort to redress those longstanding injustices. At the end of the day, a fiscal policy is a guiding principle. There are relief vows in this resolution. If there's a recession, if there's budget cuts, you know, we have the ability to course correct. But this is setting out a principle that says if we're going to build heavy industrial industries in DeKalb County, we need to keep some of that revenue and investment in the community.

Thank you, Commissioner Terry. I'm actually going to go to Commissioner Bolton for her first opportunity before you, Commissioner Messiah. Thank you.

My question may be for legal or potentially for, I guess, if there's a representative from Decide DeKalb. But I'm curious to know how this legislation could potentially impact those areas that are encompassed within tax allocation districts, special service districts, and the like. Would that be a conflict? And if we don't know, I would like us to investigate that before moving forward.

We received that commission. We'll take a look at it, and we'll speak to you offline about it.

Okay. Thank you. I yield back.

Thank you, Commissioner Bolton. Commissioner Messiah. Great point.

Second opportunity. Commissioner Bolton, as I wrote down, Ted, and there are mechanisms that presently exist. And so, you know, I understand some people see District 3 as – a honeypot or the end of a rainbow. In eight years, there has been ongoing protections and opportunity to join in force to protect and ensure that certain communities realize the benefit of the sacrifices and in some cases, well in a lot of cases, the vulnerabilities and Again, I think it's very disingenuous when we have trails that just have an interest in being built that all of a sudden it's recognized as need to be protected. But I still stand with the idea that it needs to, any potential sacrifices of a community, the community should benefit from those. Looking forward to more robust conversation regarding the same, I yield back.

Thank you. Seeing no further requests to speak, please open the machine for the vote. Thank you. That motion to defer the substitute carries. We are now top of page 15 commissioners. Item 2026-0341, all commission districts, a resolution of the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners requesting the administration and planning department to update the recommended substitute for Texas Amendment 2025-0972 regarding data center regulations.

Motion to withdraw.

Motion to withdraw. Thank you, Commissioner Terry. Is there a second? Second. Second by Commissioner Long-Speers. Seeing no request to speak, please open the machine for the vote. Motion to withdraw carries. Now on to page 16, item 2026-0744, all commission districts, a resolution adjusting all DeKalb County tire tip fees to $1, and this is PWI.

Thank you, Madam President. Motion to withdraw. Motion to withdraw. For purpose of conversation, I'll second that. Whoever hit the button.

Commissioner Terry has made the motion. Will Commissioner Patrick second it? Commissioner Terry is requested to speak.

Thank you. Just recognizing that in the sanitation agenda item substitute, we've acknowledged a reduction in the per tire fee to, I think, a more reasonable amount. So this resolution is not relevant anymore.

And just for clarity, could you remind us of what that reasonable fee is? It's $350, right, Zach?

And it's like $16 with a rim.

You, Commissioner Terry? Commissioner, are we waiting for an answer? I'm sorry.

Find this, yes, but we've distributed the, do you have it handy?

We agreed on 350 under certain size, 18 inches. Over 18 inches, it went up to $16. And then anything with a rim was $30. Yes. And that's been included into the rate structure. Okay.

So you're good with the withdrawal still, though, right? Okay. Commissioner Patrick.

Commissioner Terry, I was prepared to vote for this.

I know. I thought we voted it out of committee.

We got it out of committee. It was a genuinely good idea, but as you noted, it's included in the other conversation, so I will happily continue with my second, and thank you.

All right. Please open the machine for a vote. The tire tip fees, item 2026-0744, top of page 16. Motion to withdraw carries. Bottom of page 16, item 2026-0769, all commissioned districts, a resolution requesting the administration to establish independent civilian oversight and auditing for DeKalb County's digital shield initiatives and surveillance infrastructure, and this is an IRPS item.

On behalf of the IRPS committee, I move to defer this item to the July 14 BOC with a prior stop in IRPS.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Thank you. I see no request to speak. Please open the machine for a vote. Motion to defer carries. Now on to the middle of page 17 of District 7, item 2026-0218. All commissioned districts establish regulatory oversight of blasting operations in DeKalb County through the adoption of controlled blasting and safety ordinance to promote public safety, environmental protection, and community stability, and for other purposes. This is also IRPS.

I move to defer this item to the January 14 BOC. January?

July. July. Six months ahead.

I don't know where I'm getting January from.

July. Thank you, ma'am. Is there a second? Thank you, Commissioner Davis-Johnson. Please open the machine for the vote. Motion to defer carries. We are now middle of page 18 under Chief Executive Office. Item 2026-1043, All Commission Districts, a resolution approving the issuance of the Housing Authority of the County of DeKalb, Georgia Taxable Revenue Bonds Series 2026. In the aggregate, principal amount not to exceed $25 million for the purpose of funding the housing investment bond program and authorizing the execution and delivery of an intergovernmental housing cooperation agreement between the county and the housing authority of the county of DeKalb, Georgia. This is FAP.

Yes, and we'll hear this in FAB on the 13th, which I hear we haven't actually set that date, so we need to make sure we confirm that for July 13th. But I'll defer to the July 14th meeting, and then hopefully we'll have a recommendation by then.

Second. Move motion and a second to defer. Please open machine for the vote. Wait, almost called you commissioner. COO, you're getting all the titles today. COO Williams.

So I know this has come through PECS, I believe. We did not hear this in that because it's- It came through FAB and we haven't heard of PECS. There's some time sensitivity to it. So what was the date you mentioned? I'm sorry. On Monday.

Yeah, because it had not gone through and been heard and approved through PECS. Just as an advice. With PECS, no?

Okay, so motion to defer carries.

Yes, it's still- And it will be on the agenda next Tuesday, one week.

Bottom of page 18, item 2026-1059, approval of minutes of the special call meeting of June 18, 2026. Can I get a motion?

Motion to approve.

Second. Second. Thank you. Commissioner David Johnson got the button for the motion to approve. Commissioner Saez seconded. Please open the machine for the vote. Commissioner Terry, would you like to vote on the minutes? Thank you. Motion to approve carries. Top of page 19. Item 2025-1577 is the ops item. Resolution of the DeKalb County Governing Authority regarding the Charter Review Commission's report and recommended changes to the Organizational Act.

Motion to defer to a special call meeting on Monday. But we need to defer it to a- Defer it to July the 14th.

July 14th with a prior stop and ops.

With a stop and ops.

Thank you. Is there a second? Second.

Go ahead, Robert. Sorry, Commissioner. Second.

Thank you, Commissioner Patrick. Seeing no request to speak, please open the machine for the vote. All right, that motion carries. Okay, I am on the middle of page 20 under police services. Item 2026-0957, all commission districts acceptance of federal forfeiture property police services.

On behalf of the IRPS committee, I move to approve item 0957.

Thank you. Hit your button. Is there a second? Thank you, Commissioner Davis-Johnson. No request to speak. Please open the machine for the vote. That motion to approve carries bottom of page 20 and we do have a substitute for this item 2026 that zero five, eight, seven, excuse me, proposed stormwater utility fee increase. Excuse me, it's PWI.

Yep. Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer. This item was voted on and approved 3-0 out of PWI. So I'm going to make a motion to approve the substitute. And then I'm also going to call staff up here. And if you can speak specifically to the substitute so everyone on the commission is knowledgeable of the substitute.

Thank you. If you'll hit your button, please, sir. Is there a second? Thank you, Commissioner Terry. Can we get an explanation of what the substitute is, and then I'll go to you, Commissioner Long-Spears.

I apologize. So on the stormwater item, the substitute simply brought forward the resolution that we originally didn't have, I believe, on the very first introduction item. We also made a slight change to some language dealing with the green infrastructure, just to broaden that. But other than that, I believe everything is the same as has been presented.

A lot of conversation was had over this. I want to call out Commissioner Terry. He wanted to see some funds designated specifically towards green infrastructure. There was some conversation.

To the tune of $700,000.

To the tune of $700,000, yep. There was some conversation on how to allocate that amongst the districts, and we had a conversation about it and recognized that really perhaps the best approach is by basin. And that way that's acknowledging that political boundaries aren't necessarily water realities. That's correct. It's officially undecided. But I think that this is a good opportunity for us to move from just simply being reactive to repairs and issues that pop up to following the master plan and really the master plan identified several priority areas around the county. For instance, would be if there's one way in or out of your neighborhood, The master plan identifies this as a priority. The team went back and did research and identified some of those neighborhoods or those communities. If there's a bridge that's critical for lots of transportation or economic purposes, this is the funding that prioritizes those repairs so that people can come and go from their homes or keep doing business in the county. Anyway, thank you.

Commissioner, is there anything to add on just to substitute before I go to Commissioner Terry?

No, no, I think Commissioner has hit the nail on that.

Commissioner Terry.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And so, Zach, just in terms of how y'all will account.

And if we can get the clock going, please.

Just so you're, how you're going to account for this. So basically, is TJ just going to have... sort of his own kind of sub fund on the stormwater fund kind of budget line item.

You're talking about for the green infrastructure? Yes. Yes. Yeah, we'll set up a separate account so that it's clearly delineated. It'd almost be, well, we'll just call it a special account. I was going to call it capital, but this is virtually all capital. Within the stormwater fund, there will be clearly identified a green infrastructure fund.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Terry. Commissioner Long-Spears.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. All right, this morning I alerted CO Williams and our clerks that as of around nine something, the actual resolution was not attached in Legistar. So the resolution wasn't there or any support documents. So the only documentation the public has had access to in writing, so if they don't attend a meeting and they don't watch our recording, was simply the cover page. The cover page was initiated on March 19th of this year. I believe the most recent substitute, so where amendments were made, were on June 22nd, I do acknowledge that this item has been discussed during PWI as well as during a special called meeting, but I am concerned that there is potentially a violation to the open meetings act as a result of the fact that the resolution, which is the language, it basically articulates the parameters and the criteria related to the rate increase the item. that the public was able to see included simply the subject, the purpose to approve the proposed stormwater utility fee increase, the resolution and supporting documentation are attached. That did not happen. It was not included in LEGISDAR. And I have a photo to prove it. Then it has a need impact statement in there. That is exactly maybe two or three Let's look at it, two or three, let me see here. Yes, that is two paragraphs, then we have a fiscal impact, which talks about the Increase raises the fee from the current amount of $120 per year equivalent ERU to $132 per year. Then it goes down and it does have two tables which show us base of 2025 and then the table concludes at 2035 with a recommendation from the administration that we approve and authorize the CEO to execute all necessary documents. And so first and foremost, I would like to hear the county attorney opine on the fact that the written resolution nor supporting documents were included in Legistar for the public to access. Instead, a rate increase only includes Two pages, not even quite two pages of language around it. One table, which simply goes base of 2025 to 2035. Again, my concern is that this is a violation of our Open Meetings Act.

I think that a substitute can be adopted today, Commissioner. I understand that three things have happened. First of all, an agenda item went up that gave the information that was initially proposed. We are very close, if not exactly, on the rates that were initially proposed. There may have been a slight tweak At most to that. Secondly, there's been robust discussion about this item and it has been printed the entire time. The only thing that's being added is a formal resolution to articulate the same information in the form of a resolution. That is my understanding of the facts today. And because of that, I think it can be voted on.

All right, thank you for your opinion. I will abstain from this vote because I do believe that there is a concern that we are violating the Open Meetings Act. The initial item was not, and I'm emphasizing and bolding and underscoring, included in Legistar. That is our mechanism for the public who doesn't attend these meetings. who may not have the time to go back or even know how to access our meeting agenda or even our recordings to go back and really review what it is. And what you just referenced, the cover page, which is two pages in length, was included in Legistar. That was on March 12th, that it was introduced. Then there was a substitute. So again, the substitute, just to be clear, was only a substitute of the cover page that is in Legistar. And I took a photo this morning of what was included in Legistar, which was simply the cover page. In fact, hold on, let me make sure I did not get this wrong. All right. So, yes, what I see in Legistar is a resolution on the agenda July 7th. So, again, my concern is that there is a potential violation of the Opens Meeting Act, and I will yield back.

Thank you. COO William.

Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer. So the only thing I would add to the conversation, in the agenda item, if you look at it, under fiscal impact, It describes the proposed stormwater utility fee, increase the fee from current of $120 per year equivalent, and it takes you through each successive rate increase. So in our estimation, that is where we shared with the public what would be, in fact, the rate increase. Additionally, something we did is the public hearing on the topic, which is not a traditional approach. So although we didn't have the form as Commissioner Spears is articulating, we do believe that we made more than reasonable effort to advise what we're doing.

Thank you, COO Williams. Commissioner Patrick.

Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer. Just as a reminder to everybody, we did have several conversations on this topic. It has been well publicized. It has been, I suspect, in other people's newsletters as well. If I could call our county attorney to the front for a second. And in a respectful manner, how long have you been practicing law? 30 plus years, Commissioner. 30 plus years, OK. Respectfully, I appreciate and value your expertise. And so I'm comfortable moving forward with this motion as has been proposed. I would encourage my colleagues to do this. Again, it is true to form, correct as the county attorney's office has suggested. At the end of the day, if you want to have your neighborhood vulnerable to a stormwater issue, you should vote no. If you want to make sure that we can continue to normal operations for our residents, or actually improved operations for our residents, then I encourage you to get to yes on this one. Plain and simple, whether you are in a, regardless of what district, north side, south side, east, west, stormwater is something that affects all of us. from residential to commercial to the public, and this only talks about the public component, but it is extremely important for the reasons that we've talked about. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Patrick. Commissioner Long-Spear is your second opportunity.

Thank you very much. So to continue what I was stating earlier, again, I do believe that there is a potential open meetings violation here. I will seek another opinion on that. To Commissioner Patrick's point, yes, as I did state, there were sufficient number of meetings. There were special calls. I get all of that. But the point is that we spent considerable time this morning really discussing being transparent, making sure that we hold ourselves accountable. So what I'm doing with this is simply holding us accountable for following the rules. and following the process by no means am I asking anyone to oppose this vote however we do have one meeting before we go into recess which is July 14th another route is deferring for one week and then ensuring that the county attorney is able to perhaps go to a So another attorney, an outsourced entity, and get their opinion just to confirm that in no way, shape, or form on something as important as a rate increase that we're not violating the Open Meetings Act. Thank you. Yield back.

Thank you, Commissioner Long-Spears. Commissioner Terry.

Thank you. So just for my part, yes. I'll just acknowledge that the original agenda item really was going to 2030. And then I think after we had committee meetings, which went through the 10-year plan, I think there were some tweaks in terms of how those rates were staged. I think, Commissioner Patrick, we kind of smoothed it a little bit in the first two years. So that was, to me, that was the substantive change is really just getting it.

Mr. Terry, I apologize, Madam Chair, if I may. That was the sanitation. This was just the street 10 by 10.

Yeah, this one was always street.

Yeah. And I apologize for interrupting Madam Presiding Officer. No, no, no. I was about to say the same thing. OK. Sorry.

Thank you. All right. Thank you. I know we got something. That's the next one.

We have the two discussions.

OK. All right. So delete that comment. So what we're voting on today is through 2035. Okay. Um, and then, so I think that's, that to me is the most substantive change is just that 10 year period. And then, you know, the, uh, uh, thank you for doing the resolution. I thought that was the most appropriate way to handle it. Um, just so it's, um, you know, spelled out very clearly in the resolution. Um, you know, I, uh, I mean, I support the agenda item. I think we have a lot of catch up to do on this work, especially when it comes to life safety. I suppose at the end of the day, Zach, if it gets approved today or if it gets approved next Tuesday, it's still within that time period so that it goes into effect this year. So, you know, I'm happy to move forward with it today, but I think at the same time, if we waited a week, I don't think it would make Any practical difference, right, Zach, other than a longer meeting?

Yes. We were prepared for today, a vote today. But obviously, it's the board's will. But we believe that the conversations have been more than fruitful. The public discussion has been we've received the input. And I think that the points Commissioner Terry and Commissioner Patrick that you've made that often is missed in the life safety component of this and it's just worth emphasizing you know you don't necessarily think of it when you talk stormwater but you know dam repair and things like that that are required often roads that are bridges and so forth you know all of that it matters and the sooner we get about moving forward we're ready thank you Commissioner Patrick your second opportunity