Viola Davis
New Leadership Set Higher Standards and Quality Life for DeKalb County
New Leadership Set Higher Standards and Quality Life for DeKalb County
By Viola Davis
DeKalb County electorate sent a strong message that its taxpayers and voters wanted a higher quality of life and ethical leadership. Due to continuous news stories of corruption, blight and unethical behavior, the voters demonstrated accountability by removing several incumbents and replacing them with new leadership. After a year, we want to report the following findings:
CEO Michael Thurmond – CEO Michael Thurmond entered the office with an initial action plan that placed the money where his mouth is. He went on the attack to improve blight in DeKalb County with the help and support of the Board of Commissioner by financing the Quality of Life unit, an innovative program created by the Solicitor General’s Office. CEO Thurmond ended deficit spending, built the county’s fund balance and moving forward to place DeKalb County on a more solid financial foundation. Due to systemic problems ranging from inadequate planning, staffing and training to inefficient billing software, defective water meters and insufficient communication that had eroded customer confidence, he continued the moratorium on water shut-offs.
The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners approved $2.6 million for Operation Clean Sweep in the county’s 2017 operating budget of $1.3 billion. This funding helped CEO Thurmond address his top priorities involving the county’s water billing crisis and blight. We are proud to announce that CEO Thurmond is responsible for the removal of more than 5,600 tons of debris, clearing over 20 illegal dumping sites, and addressing over 80 dilapidated properties. It is long overdue to sing CEO Michael Thurmond’s accomplishments.
Commissioner Steve Bradshaw – Commissioner Steve Bradshaw defeated the incumbent in a runoff election with a landslide victory from the 4th Commission District of about 150,000 people in the Stone Mountain area. He recently demonstrated unity by appearing with Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson and Commissioner Gregory Adams at a town hall meeting to discuss the proliferation of store closings in South DeKalb at the Lou Walker Senior Center on Panola Road. Commissioner Bradshaw and Presiding Officer Jeff Rader created the ad hoc committee to identify the “root cause” of the problems causing the water crisis in DeKalb County.
Commissioner Steve Bradshaw set a completely new standard for launching “Quarterly in the Fourth” community breakfast meetings for District 4 constituents and other interest parties. He sent out a mailer to inform the public about the meetings. The focus of the meetings involved code enforcement, quality of life issues, and safety. The meeting was heavily attended and gave the taxpayers and voters the opportunity to address Commissioner Bradshaw directly with their concerns and issues within the district. With the cry for more information and public contact, Commissioner Bradshaw is setting a high standard for others to follow. Hats off to you, Commissioner Steve Bradshaw!
Solicitor-General Donna Coleman-Stribling – Solicitor-General Donna Coleman-Stribling established the “Quality of Life Unit” in 2017 to address concerns about code violations and nuisance issues in the county. With the help of CEO Michael Thurmond and the Board of Commissioners approving a budget request of over $70,000 from the Office of the Solicitor-General, the “Quality of Life Unit” includes:
Two Assistant Solicitor-Generals
A Community Prosecutor
An Investigator
A Legal Assistant
One of the Assistant Solicitor-Generals appeared at Commissioner Steve Bradshaw’s community breakfast over the weekend to inform the public of Solicitor-General’s mission and a directive to target dilapidated properties with numerous code citations, the prosecution of cases involving code violation, blight, nuisance and other issues plaguing communities. By working with the Magistrate Court, the partnership between the different government agencies demonstrates how the overall quality of life for the citizenry of DeKalb County can be uplifted through unity and setting priorities to eliminate these problems and answer the public outcry for improvements. We say to Solicitor-General Donna Coleman-Stribling, thank you for showing us that action speaks louder than words.
Georgians Celebrate First Victory against Permanent Tolls, SRTA Credit to Private Parties (SB183)
PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Garland Favorito
Phone: 404-664-4044
March 17, 2017
Georgians Celebrate First Victory against Permanent Tolls Extension of Credit to Private Parties also struck down
ATLANTA GA – Citizens activists are cautiously celebrating their first victory today in a battle to prevent Georgia from becoming a permanent toll road state. On Thursday, the House Transportation Committee voted to strip the permanent toll road language from the highly controversial SB183. The committee also voted to further revise the bill language so that the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) could not extend credit directly to private organizations and individuals, another controversial point. The new, amended bill also appears to close a loophole that may have allowed tolls on existing road capacity.
Citizens had spoken out against another clause that removed the competitive bid requirement however, that clause was included in the committee substitute bill that was passed Thursday. Proponents argued that the original language was consistent with current Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) procedures that allow “value engineering” in lieu of competitive bidding.
The original SB183 sailed through the Senate by a 50-1 vote before hitting a brick wall of vocal activists who discovered the bill content as it reached the House Transportation Committee. A rubber stamp of approval was expected for Sen. Brandon Beach’s bill in the committee since it was co-sponsored by three of Gov. Nathan Deal’s floor leaders.
However, committee members significantly altered the bill before passing it Thursday, much to the pleasure of attendees who had unanimously spoken against the bill in the first hearing on March 9. Those attendees were particularly complimentary towards Committee Chairman Kevin Tanner who they felt made a concerted effort to understand the bill, listen to their concerns and find common ground to make the legislation as palatable as possible for all viewpoints.
The revised bill now moves to the Rules Committee where it will likely receive passage to the House floor for a vote. Georgians cannot relax if the House votes to pass the measure. Once SB183 passes the House, the House and Senate versions will be sent to a Joint Committee that will decide which version should be adopted. That committee could discard the House version and send the Senate version to the House for a floor vote.
Action Alert SB 183: No Public Debt Financing Private Gain
ACTION ALERT: Attend the GA House Transportation Committee Hearing
Thursday 3/16, 1:00 PM
614 Coverdell Legislative Office Bldg., Room 506
Atlanta, GA 30334
The people of Georgia must show up in strength to defeat #SB183 the “For Whom the Road Tolls” bill. The Governor’s bill proposes the State of Georgia to loan private parties moneys out of taxpayer funds, AT RISK, to build and operate unlimited numbers of toll roads all throughout the state, and for these private concessionaires to collect tolls in perpetuity, even after the state loans are paid off. The people need to show up and stand against the crony-capitalist exploitation of the Georgia Taxpayer.
Read SB183
Section 2 allows SRTA to extend credit to private individuals and organizations
Section 3 legalizes permanent toll roads in Georgia.
Section 3 allows mandatory tolls to be imposed on Georgia roads in the same manner as implemented in states like New Jersey and Florida. It also allows tolls to be placed on existing road capacity.
If you can’t attend in person, please call the committee members and let them know how you feel about the state loaning money to private corporations and tolls in perpetuity.
HOUSE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS
(click link for representative website and contact info)
Tanner, Kevin Chairman
Watson, Sam Vice Chairman
Epps, Bubber Secretary
Ballinger, Mandi L. Member
Benton, Tommy Member
Burns, Jon G. Member
Carson, John Member
Coomer, Christian Member
Corbett, John Member
Cox, Clay Member
Deffenbaugh, John Member
Dempsey, Katie M. Member
Frye, Spencer Member
Gardner, Pat Member
Gilliard, Carl Wayne Member
Hanson, Meagan Member
Harrell, Brett Member
Hitchens, Bill Member
Jones, Sheila Member
Jones, Vernon Member
McCall, Tom Member
Newton, Mark Member
Nimmer, Chad Member
Prince, Brian Member
Rutledge, Dale Member
Rynders, Ed Member
Setzler, Ed Member
Taylor, Darlene K. Member
Taylor, Tom Member
Waites, Keisha Member
Williams, Al Member
P.S. Please forward to your lists and share/tweet on social media.
Action Alert by Field Searcy with In Defense of Liberty.TV
SB183 Testimony – March 9, 2017
House Transportation Committee
SB183: STATE LEGISLATURE TRYING TO ELIMINATE SEALED BIDS & EVADE PUBLIC SCRUTINY BY GIVING TAXPAYER MONEY TO OTHER ENTITIES TO DO WORK
SB183: STATE LEGISLATURE TRYING TO ELIMINATE SEALED BIDS & EVADE PUBLIC SCRUTINY BY GIVING TAXPAYER MONEY TO OTHER ENTITIES TO DO WORK
Posted on March 9, 2017
March 9, 2017
Hearing on SB183 March 9, 2017 at 2PM
https://livestream.com/accounts/19771738/events/6811894/videos/151342386
The following information was sent from Catherine Bernard, a lawyer and political activist. This information shows you how desperately we need to drain the Georgia swamp!
“…to preserve [the people's] independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.” -Thomas Jefferson
Dear Friends,
With a Republican-controlled state legislature and Republican officials occupying all executive offices in Georgia, you’d think we might get some fiscally conservative policies. This legislative session continues to show how wrong that expectation would be. Other than a few targeted tax breaks for wealthy special interests, like yacht owners and Delta, the 2017 legislative session has been new taxes, more taxes, regulations, and scariest of all – new powers to borrow and lend public money.
Today at 2:00 p.m., in Room 506 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building at the Capitol, the House Transportation Committee will hear testimony onSB183. Most of the coverage of this bill so far has focused on how it would create permanent mandatory toll roads, but that’s only part of the issue. What’s even more dangerous are the provisions eliminating the public competitive bid and sealed bid process requirements for State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA) projects, combined with the massive new grants of power to SRTA: to extend credit and make loans to any type of entity, to incorporate multiple non-profit corporations as subsidiaries of SRTA, and to expand the definition of “self-liquidating project” to include not just projects by cities and counties, but by any “person, firm, corporation, limited liability company, or other type of entity”. I.e., they can take your money and give it to literally whoever they want to, and they might even do it through private corporations set up to evade public scrutiny.
The permanent mandatory toll road part is pretty bad too. Georgia law only authorizes the state to charge a toll until the road construction project is fully paid for, e.g. GA 400, where tolls were collected from 1993 to 2013 (and even then, it took dedicated citizen activists holding the government to its promise). Changing this would be a big deal, deserving of much more public debate than we’ve seen on this important topic.
Send an email to the Committee chair, Rep. Kevin Tanner, and the bill sponsor, Sen. Brandon Beach, letting them know what you think of this bill.Email Rep. Tanner Email Sen. Beach Or give them a call: 404.656.3947 and 404.463.1378
Good news on the no-knock search warrant bill, though: I showed up at the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing ready to testify against SB94, but the bill sponsor didn’t show up and it was removed from the agenda. Since it didn’t pass the Senate before Crossover Day, technically it’s dead for the session – but this legislation has already been revived too many times, so I’m keeping a close eye on it.
Thanks for engaging with these important issues, so that together we can make our political world more reasonable and thoughtful.
Warm regards,
Catherine
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TWG
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Press Release: DeKalb State Court Jury Awards Kevin Ross $11.3 Million Verdict
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Picture of Kevin Ross from Daily Report
Press Release: DeKalb State Court Jury Awards Kevin Ross $11.3 Million Verdict
Press Release: DeKalb State Court Jury Awards Kevin Ross $11.3 Million Verdict by Viola Davis on Scribd
Kevin Ross vs District Attorney Robert James and others:
Kelvin Ross Complaint – Court Case Complaint Actual File by Viola Davis on Scribd
Suspicions surround DeKalb’s ‘missing’ millions by Mark Niesse
Suspicions surround DeKalb’s ‘missing’ millions
By Mark Niesse – The Atlanta Journal Constitution, August 9, 2016
The item is buried on a 4-year-old DeKalb County Purchasing Department spreadsheet: an eyebrow-raising $72,348,739.04 to build a sidewalk.
The actual cost? Just under $1.26 million.
DeKalb officials say the discrepancy is some kind of error — a baffling but harmless mistake.
But the citizens group Unhappy Taxpayer & Voter is more wary. In a county that has seen one government corruption case after another, members of the group say, it’s obvious a comprehensive audit needs to be conducted.
Read entire article at link: http://www.myajc.com/news/news/local-govt-politics/suspicions-surround-dekalbs-missing-millions/nsCqL/
When to Stop: Sharing the Road with School Buses
When to Stop: Sharing the Road with School Buses
Courtesy of SDIA
As DeKalb County students return to school on August 8th, SDIA’s Safety Committee reminds you of Georgia’s law regarding passing school buses.
In most cases, all drivers are required to stop when meeting or overtaking a stopped school bus that has its red lights flashing and its stop arm extended when loading or unloading passengers. The only exception to this rule is when highways are separated in the center by a dirt, grass or concrete median. In this situation, only vehicles following or traveling alongside a school bus in the same direction must stop.
A warning that a bus stop is about to take place will always be given with the flashing amber lights on the front and rear of the school bus. Upon seeing these flashing amber lights, vehicles approaching the school bus from both the front and rear should immediately slow down and prepare to stop. All drivers must pay special attention to children, be focused and exercise caution when in the vicinity of a school bus stop, as student riders can sometimes be unpredictable. Once the bus is fully stopped, the flashing red lights will activate and the stop arm will deploy. Vehicles must stop and should remain stopped until all loading students are aboard in the morning or all unloading passengers have cleared 12 feet off the roadway in the afternoon. Motorists should proceed with caution, only after passengers have cleared the roadway, the stop arm is cancelled and the flashing red lights are deactivated.
MULTI-LANE: Paved. Vehicles traveling in both directions MUST STOP.
DIVIDED HIGHWAY: With dirt, grass or barrier median. Vehicles behind MUST STOP. Vehicles traveling in opposite direction must use caution.
TWO LANES: Vehicles traveling in both directions MUST STOP.
Failure to obey the law not only puts the safety of our children at risk but also puts you in a position to be fined. The fine? $300 for a first offense, $750 for a second offense, and $1,000 for each subsequent offense in a 5-year period. Think you won’t get caught? Every school bus driver who observes a violation is authorized and directed to record the vehicle description, license number of the offending vehicle, and time and place of occurrence and report to local law enforcement agency which has jurisdiction where the alleged offense occurred.
South DeKalb Improvement Association, Inc. (SDIA)
Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton’s Pink Slip
Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton’s Pink Slip
By Viola Davis, July 12, 2016
http://voteincumbentsout.org
To Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton:
We regret to inform you that your employment as Commissioner of the 4th District of DeKalb County, Georgia is being terminated, effective July 26, 2016. Your termination is the result of poor performance as outlined below:
• Constant Late Arrival to Commission Meetings and Committee Meetings
• Refusal to Allow the Public to Call Commissioners’ Name During Public Comment
• Refusal to Perform a Forensic Audit of Departments with Missing Money and Discrepancies in Funding
• Suing DeKalb County Board of Ethics which Cost Taxpayers and Voters Thousands
We issue this “Pink Slip” as a written form of termination for poor performance. Copies of the “Pink Slip” will be sent to taxpayers and voters throughout the 4th District and made part of your personnel file. Your neglect to attend community meetings and debates, answer citizens’ concerns, provide strict oversight of departments, dishonesty and divisiveness are signs that indicated an overall disrespect for the 4th District constituency.
As Commissioner of the 4th District, you have a prior history of stating the following:
• “I’m not an “employee”, I’m a Commissioner!”
• “I am good with everything I’ve done.”
Since it is our vote that hires and fires elected officials and our tax money that pays elected officials salaries, we (the people of the 4th District) are the “employers” and you are the “employee”. In the name of moving our district in a new direction with a new vision, we must advise you that after two terms…your performance is poor and we are looking for new leadership.
Attachments below:
http://thechampionnewspaper.com/news/local/sutton-i-am-good-with-everything-ive-done/
http://dekalbofficersspeak.blogspot.com/2011/05/sharon-sutton-im-not-employee-im.html
Where’s the $70 Million Dollars that’s Missing from Watershed?
Where’s the $70 Million Dollars that’s Missing from Watershed?
The DeKalb County LSBE vendors voted to make the information public that we gave to law enforcement. The LSBE vendors were very upset that DA James proclaimed that there was no need to investigate issues/people concerning the grand jury report, particularly in the Watershed Department.
We are forwarding information on one particular contract for $1.4 million dollars (Public Works contract). After submitting an Open Records Request and receiving Kelvin Walton’s emails, our researchers went through (and continue to go through) over 20,000 emails and hundreds of attachments. We found an attachment that provided the amount of money paid out on different contracts. The contract for $1.4 million paid out over $72 million dollars. Please note that this is the same contract that the FBI indicted two county employees for extortion and bribery in 2012.
I, Viola Davis, personally spoke to the contractor, and he said he did receive the $1.4 million dollars. However, he did not know anything about the $72 million. Our question is, who received the money?
We ask that you review the documents we delivered to District Attorney Robert James. We did not deliver the attachment of documents that involve the $72 million dollars because of the lack of action on former documents presented to the District Attorney’s Office. We are presenting these documents to the public to review and decide if there is enough information to demand action and another outside third party review for criminal activity.
Video – DeKalb LSBE Vendors Call for RICO Investigation and Criminal Forensic Audit:
https://www.scribd.com/document/317834011/Where-is-the-70-Million-Dollars-that-s-Missing-from-DeKalb-County-Watershed-Department
To view initial documents…see link: