When They Get Behind Closed Doors

If you were here for the big vote, the one for the referendum creating this city, then you probably remember the key elements of the sales pitch. We were going to get local representation, with neighbors running our city rather than the distant and detached government in Decatur. We were going to establish a government with the political will to put the brakes on rampant apartment development, one that would consider the impact of these developments on our children's schools. We were going to get a sincere focus on the three P's: Police; Parks; and Pavement. 

What the hell happened?

Certainly we've suffered from some very poor choices in our elected representatives which continues to this day with one member of council advocating secrecy in doing the people's business. And we know this because it was disclosed in a discoverable communication.

There are also serious structural issues, most likely by design. We have full time staff offering full time opportunities to serve businesses and developers equipped with full time liaison personnel who ensure that they get what they want. The Citizens OF Dunwoody are represented, often poorly as noted above, by a part-time mayor and council. By making our elected officials little more than casual observers with no real operational responsibilities resident voters are left with effectively zero representation. Again, by design.

Today begins the meetings of the charter review committee which offers a glimmer of hope that changes beneficial to the city can be made. This may be our only chance for meaningful, structural changes for several years which may explain why the mayor delayed the process.

There are many positive changes that could be made.

A Citizen Review Board would be a good start. Unlike those in other, well functioning cities, the scope of this board must extend beyond reviewing police activities to include all city operations. This board will set performance standards and review city operational units and employees to measure compliance and performance. The board will report directly to council making all reports public record. Selection of board members must be made by elected representatives and must be residents with a minimum two year residency requirement. City employees, even if a resident, will not be eligible for this board.

Similarly there should be Overlay District Community Boards for each overlay district in the city, and there should be more than one. Membership should be restricted to residents in adjacent neighborhoods with the same requirements and restrictions as the CRB. An ODCB is responsible for establishing performance standards and verifying city compliance and again, reporting directly to council. Any changes to the overlay district would require majority approval of the ODCB which should have six members thereby guaranteeing a "super" majority.

While certainly a stretch goal serious consideration should be given to upgrading the council and mayor positions to "real jobs" with operational responsibilities. The virtually nonexistent representation afforded residents by the current organization has proven but one thing: by any metric used to justify a Yes! vote, we were better served by the county when Vernon Jones was CEO.

Clearly we can do better than we have. It is up to the Charter Review to make that happen.