Remarks by Dana Barrett
158 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 5 of 7
- Play at 3:38:38
“Okay, perfect. Just wanted to make sure I was on the same page as everybody else. I'm getting hungry. What can I tell you? On the commissioner events, I think there's a disconnect from a communications perspective. I actually, we're in the process of scheduling ours now, except we did one last year of our own accord and we just decided to repeat it again this year. No one reached out to us from external affairs or anyone else. telling us that this was something that we could coordinate through External Affairs or Lifeline. No one told us that there was a budget or that there was any help. So…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 19, 2026
- Play at 3:40:32
“Yeah, I think that's good. And maybe that could get included in the report periodically, just because I do think for the general public who's not engaged in this on the regular basis, it seems like the numbers are really high. And the first question might be, what are we doing wrong in Fulton that our numbers are so high? But that's just not the reality of it. That's what's going on nationwide in these kinds of areas. So I just wanted to sort of, I thought I knew the answer, but I just wanted to make it sort of known that we are, there's not something that we're doing wrong in terms of our…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 19, 2026
- Play at 4:03:24
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is another request to release some of our Westside Tad funds that are being held for those purposes. And this particular project is the St. Mark's AME Church, which is a historical church that has seen extensive damage and is essentially a shell that which is also a bit unstable. So they've gotten some grants to stabilize the property. And, you know, without this, if the property remains blighted and the work doesn't get done, then, you know, it increases the... has a negative impact on public safety and of course getting it done and revitalizing the space and…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 19, 2026
- Play at 4:09:09
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Board of Commissioners · Aug 19, 2026
- Play at 4:10:51
“I would assume, and maybe correct me if I'm wrong here, but I would assume that there's a certain amount of control that we have legally to make sure that nothing is introduced that is unsafe. But at the same time, there's a little bit of a... inability to force certain things on, in particular, constitutional officers who have sort of the right to make some decisions for themselves. That said, again, with the safety precautions that we have a right to in place, correct?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 19, 2026
- Play at 4:11:53
“Okay, and so would you agree that those kinds of policies are needed across the board, not just abolishing these?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 19, 2026
- Play at 4:12:41
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Board of Commissioners · Aug 19, 2026
- Play at 4:18:06
“Yeah, so, I mean, the wording in this resolution says that the financial reporting responsibility falls with whoever is making the decisions for that fund, but the reporting process belongs to the CFO, so that's not quite right either. So I would want to see all of these pieces corrected before I was willing to sign on to this. Not that you need my vote, but... YOU KNOW I THINK THERE'S ANOTHER REALLY GOOD POINT IN HERE THAT WE HAVE NOT HAD SUFFICIENT AUDITING OF THESE FUNDS IN GENERAL. OR NECESSARILY SUFFICIENT FINANCIAL REPORTING TO GET A CLEAR UPDATE ON HOW THEY ARE GOING WHAT THEY ARE…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 19, 2026
- Play at 4:25:26
“With all due respect, this board will never have oversight over the individual expenditures made by the clerk and she's a constitutional officer. And so that's not gonna happen regardless of whether it's in her general fund budget or these fund budgets, she has the right to sign a contract and that contract does not have to come before us for approval. So that doesn't change. And to your other point about wanting the fund to go to the other parts of the justice department, this resolution abolishes the fund. There is no fund anymore, it's just general fund. So there would be no consolidated…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 19, 2026
- Play at 4:31:06
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am not convinced that there's any real discussion that's going to occur amongst my colleagues. You all voted to support this at the last board meeting that we have this budget commission that I think is, you know, not designed right well, not designed well. And I think more importantly, the eligibility requirements for the First of all, I think it should be more than two commissioners on there. A quorum is four, so three people could certainly serve. So I think there should be three if we're gonna have it at all. I don't think people should be restricted based on…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 19, 2026
- Play at 16:44
“That was my agenda item from last meeting that I had asked to have held. I need further information. I did not intend for it to come back this time. That was an oversight on my part, so I apologize.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 18:41
“Gather around both sides. Somebody can step in and take photos if you want. We'll send you the”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:20:29
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In general, I agree very much with the premise that is outlined in one of the early whereas clauses in this resolution that says that commissioners should have early and ongoing input into the budget preparation. This is something that I think we've talked about off and on over the entire four years I've been here, and I do think it BUT I DO HAVE SOME GENERAL QUESTIONS. JUST TO BE CLEAR, I KNOW YOU SORT OF ANSWERED THIS, BUT I WANT TO MAKE SURE I UNDERSTAND. THESE MEETINGS, THESE BUDGET COMMISSION MEETINGS WOULD BE SUBJECT TO OPEN MEETINGS?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:22:05
“No, but we are forming a new committee, essentially, or a commission that itself you know, now as a more formalized body, in theory, and I'm not a legal expert on open meetings law, but it does seem like it might cross the line a little bit. So I don't know if we can get a legal opinion on whether or not it would need to be open meetings or not, if it's a formalized body.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:22:44
“Yeah, well, I hear you. And I just want to make sure that we're not doing something that is not, you know, by the book as it relates to that. And can I get an opinion from legal on that, please?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:23:25
“Okay, I don't know that you're answering my question, but okay. Is a formalized committee or commission, a subcommittee, if you will, of the Board of Commissioners, is that subject to open meetings? And if you don't have the answer now, that's fine. It's a question I have. I recognize that I don't have the votes to make a difference here, but I do think it should be examined.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:23:51
“So my question also, just aside from that, which I do think is something we should get a solid answer to, is if that is not the case and it is not subject to open meetings,”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:24:09
“No, no, I don't think we have either, but we also haven't had a formalized committee or commission.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 2:24:23
“Okay, in any case, I do think we should get a final answer, but even if the answer is no, it does not have to be open meetings. Right now, it seems pretty undetermined as to when the meetings would occur, and I just want to make sure that we, the rest of the commissioners who do not sit on the board, or the commission, rather, are advised of the meeting times and dates, and we can send either ourselves or our representatives to listen. So it seems to be pretty informal here in terms of when the meetings are held and any requirements to let others know that they are happening. So I just want…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 5, 2026
- Play at 19:12
“All right, if I could have everybody from the parole office, or the probation office rather, from the juvenile court come down please to join us. I do want to say that our, before we get started on the proclamation, that our juvenile court does such great work for the community. They're so caring. I've never had any interaction with anybody in the juvenile court administration that isn't just really genuinely concerned about children and families and doing Their work with that in mind, so I'm very pleased and proud to have you all here today it is my honor to bring this proclamation and I…”
Board of Commissioners · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 1:21:26
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On the discussion about what was different from Philadelphia to Fulton County, you know, while I certainly appreciate you, you know, giving us the list Justifications that the walls group has provided as to why the numbers are not. Up to what we would have hoped that's great, but I think the point in I was in the same meeting yesterday with the sheriff's office and. I think what they were getting at is that the environment was, the underlying environments are different. Not the maintenance of the jail, I'm not talking about that, but rather that Philadelphia, and you…”
Board of Commissioners · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 1:24:56
“Yeah, I think, I mean, again, this is just what they said in the sheriff's meeting was that they have already asked for that modification. That was their understanding, so I would like some clarification on that. I think it's more relevant for us not how many people asked about the job or looked at it or partially filled out an application, but actual applications because, you know, lots of people might... be curious about a job and not do anything beyond that. So I don't know if that, I find that top line to be somewhat irrelevant anyway, but I do think it is misleading a little bit to the…”
Board of Commissioners · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 1:31:23
“Thank you. I think that the main area in which that was the case was the physical agility test. Is that correct?”
Board of Commissioners · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 1:31:49
“Right, so that would back up what the vice chair is saying, correct? That if the current staff is not constantly taking a physical agility test once a year or something like that, then the new people are held to a higher standard. But I think he's removing that, correct?”
Board of Commissioners · Jul 15, 2026
- Play at 1:32:05
“The other question I just forgot to ask when I was in the queue earlier was just, there were in the list of reasons why people were not ultimately hired who were sent over, completed packets sent over from the Walz Group. Some of those reasons, we could certainly argue about the polygraph or whatever, but some of them were valid reasons. If someone had a criminal background and that wasn't caught by the Walz Group, that's pretty important. If they were not passing a drug test, things like that. So I'm just wondering, in particular on the criminal background check, if Walls has been able to…”
Board of Commissioners · Jul 15, 2026