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Community
CrossRoadsNews
December 4, 2010
Maddox insisted he had done nothing wrong but told the Ethics Board he would be more cautious in the future.
Maddox, Williams cleared of ethics allegations Lithonia picks By Jim Walls
Two DeKalb County housing officials were cleared Wednesday of ethics charges stemming from their solicitation of political and charitable contributions from a private developer. George Maddox and Dorothy Williams, both board members of the DeKalb Housing Authority, each accepted $2,500 in donations from the authority’s NorSouth Cos., its “development partner” George Maddox on a North DeKalb project, and the company’s owner. But the DeKalb Board of Ethics found no evidence that the transactions influenced the officials’ public actions. Maddox and Williams voted last year to table NorSouth’s request to modify the terms of their development agreement so the project could move forward. In Williams’ case, since the donations went to the nonprofit DeKalb for Seniors Inc., and not her personally, the Ethics Board dismissed the charges without even hearing evidence. In doing so, the board accepted the argument of her attorney, Fred Wright, that soliciting charitable contributions is not covered by the county’s ethics code. DeKalb’s ethics code bars officials from accepting or requesting anything of value if “it tends to influence him in the discharge of his official duties.” It does not address whether officials may solicit non-charitable gifts from employees, vendors or others with a financial interest in the officials’ decisions. Williams acknowledged during a break that she also had requested and received donations from Greg Worthy, the authority’s attorney; Sterling Bethea, its former executive director; Eugene “Pete” Walker, then the authority’s financial adviser and now its executive director; and an unnamed consultant
Charges against DeKalb Housing Authority board member Dorothy Williams (shown with attorney Fred Wright) were dismissed without hearing evidence.
to the authority. She said she did so at the request of Carleen Cumberbatch, another authority member who serves with Williams on the board of DeKalb for Seniors. Maddox, who represented himself and did not have a lawyer with him, confirmed he had solicited and received campaign donations from NorSouth, Worthy and Walker. He also asked Matthew McClammey, then the authority’s deputy executive director, for a charitable donation to help put a new roof on a church building. “I asked everybody I knew,” he said. Only NorSouth’s donations were at issue in Wednesday’s hearing. McClammey said he felt some pressure when asked to give to Maddox’s church, but he was not trying to curry favor. “I received an envelope with a card. I wrote a check just to get it off my desk.” McClammey said he had expressed concerns about Maddox’s behavior as an authority official but declined to be specific. “There have been things that have caused me to have many questions,” he said. But ultimately, “you do your job and you move on.” Maddox insisted he had done nothing wrong but told the Ethics Board he would
be more cautious in the future. “Going forward, I would not ask for any contribution of any kind from anybody.” The NorSouth gifts came to light after the firm’s vice president, David Dixon, told Bethea in an e-mail that he had made “generous” donations in response to requests by Williams and Maddox. Dixon said he felt that he knew them well enough as a result to call them to discuss the importance of moving the redevelopment forward. Dixon said he later called Maddox about the proposal but not Williams. Bethea forwarded the e-mail in April – six months later, and shortly before his own resignation from the authority – to DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis’ office, which passed it on to the Ethics Board. Ethics officials noted disapprovingly the absence of Worthy and Bethea, who had been subpoenaed to attend. Cumberbatch, who was also to testify, sent word that she was ill and unable to attend. Worthy gave only a few hours’ notice that he was out of town and could not appear, just as he had done prior to an earlier hearing, Ethics Board Chairman Bryan Smith said. “I was a little disappointed about that.”
DeKalb officer as new chief DeKalb police veteran Kennis R. Harrell is the city of Lithonia’s new police chief. He began his tenure on Nov. 29. He was picked from a field of 21 applicants. “Chief Harrell’s Kennis Harrell very high standard of professionalism and long-term dedicated performance made him the ideal choice for this very important leadership position,” Mayor Tonya Peterson Anderson said Thursday. Harrell, a 24-year law enforcement officer, is a former deputy chief with the DeKalb County Police Department. “We will be committed to the ethical treatment of those we serve,” Harrell said. “We will seek to improve the quality of life by partnering with the community we serve, to protect the lives and property of its citizens.”
PRISM luncheon will honor officers Police officers and firefighters in the Stone Mountain and Tucker areas will get some love from Pride Rings in Stone Mountain on Dec. 10 during its annual Police Appreciation Luncheon. The event, in its 12th year, takes place at Georgia Perimeter College’s Clarkston campus. There also will be door prizes. Firefighters at seven stations will receive food and supermarket gift cards. To donate, e-mail Betty Efird at befird@bell south.net or call 404-292-0161.
DeKalb loses one seat on MARTA board under new state law MARTA,
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Ford for consideration. Commissioner Lee May, who chairs the PEP Committee, said that he requested suggestions from the Metro Chamber months ago but that their list arrived too late to be included in Dec. 7 interviews. “The chamber has been very involved with transportation issues and we thought they might be helpful in identifying someone with business savvy. But now it’s kind of late in the day. We sent our invitations for the interviews weeks ago and will proceed with the folks suggested by commissioners.” May said that if the committee feels that it needs more after those interviews are completed, it might revisit the chamber’s list. District 6 Commissioner Kathie Gannon, one of the committee members interviewing nominees, said the new law is a tipping point for MARTA and underscores the need for
board members who have integrity, presence, and demonstrated experience and knowledge in regional transportation issues. “Transit and transportation will be the most important issue we will face in the next two years,” she said. “The arena has changed and I don’t think we can have the same old, same old. We need a mix of some experience, new fresh thinking and an understanding of transportation issues.” DeKalb currently has five members on the MARTA board and will lose one seat as part of the legislated changes. May said the committee will recommend four members to the full Board of Commissioners for approval at its Dec. 14 meeting. Because of the Christmas holidays, commissioners are holding their two December meetings on consecutive weeks. May said he is looking for board members who can navigate the new political reality created by the transportation bill.
“We need people who have business savvy, who understand the needs of DeKalb and have political influence. The state is imposing its will on us and telling us to reconfigure the board, but it is still not giving anything to MARTA. That is problematic.” May said the PEP Committee will recommend the best four candidates. “I think we will have some new members and some old ones.” For Commissioner Larry Johnson, the Board of Commissioners’ presiding officer, having MARTA board members who understand DeKalb’s priorities is essential. “We want rail down I-20 to spur economic development to our county,” he said. “We want to get the state to work with MARTA, and with the upcoming transportation referendum, we want to make sure that our transportation needs are met.” To get there, Johnson said the county needs MARTA board members who can be
advocates. “We need some people with some history and some with innovative new ideas. We are looking for some new outcomes.” HB 277 allows for residents in a dozen special tax districts to vote on a referendum on a 1 percent, 10-year regional sales tax to fund transportation improvements. It designates those funds to develop new transportation and prohibits any of it to be used for maintaining MARTA’s infrastructure. Gannon called that stipulation “an unfair discrepancy.” “The backbone of the whole transit is MARTA but it only looks for new transit. It doesn’t allow for new money to be spent on maintenance and upkeep on MARTA.” Gannon said DeKalb’s MARTA board members will have to work with a state Legislature that is not pro-MARTA. “It is going to take a great deal of ability to change that. We are looking for people who can work to change that.”