Two named to District 1 Community Council, including former candidate

DeKalb County Commissioner Robert Patrick has made two appointments to a citizen zoning review panel for his commission district, including one of the candidates he defeated in 2020.

Patrick has named Ben Truman to the District 1 Community Council.

Truman has been the Chief Executive Officer of TrueBlue Partners LLC, which provides strategic advice to political campaigns and small businesses, for the past 10 years, his resume states. However, Georgia corporate records indicate that TrueBlue Partners LLC was dissolved as a corporation in 2017 after registering late in 2016 and failing to register in 2017.

Ben Truman

Truman finished in last place in the Democratic primary election for District 1 in June 2020, receiving 1,819 votes. In that election, Patrick received 6,561 votes, slightly behind Cynthia Yaxon, who he defeated in an August runoff.

Fred Smith

Fred Smith was also appointed to the Community Council for Patrick's district. His resume says he has spent more than 15 years working as a health-communication professional at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

There are Community Councils for each of DeKalb County's five commission districts. Members are appointed by commissioners from those districts and by the relevant superdistrict commissioners. The volunteer councils make recommendations on zoning applications before they are considered by the county's Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners.