Final Memorial Drive economic plan to be presented Saturday

Five months after it began, the DeKalb County Department of Planning & Sustainability has, with little advance notice, announced the last of four public meetings for its Memorial Drive economic planning study.

The final "Memorial Drive Revitalization Corridor Plan" will be revealed in 30-minute presentations at noon and 2 p.m on Saturday, Nov. 16. The department has scheduled the meeting for the DeKalb Conference Center at Georgia Piedmont Technical College, 495 N. Indian Creek Dr., Clarkston.

Notice of the meeting was emailed to the public by the department on Thursday, Nov. 14, less than 48 hours before the meeting is scheduled.

There is a web site for the $175,000 study, being done by Pond & Company, but other than a mark-up map for public comments that was unveiled over the summer, it offers no information about the study's findings. It does not reflect any of the information that was gathered at meetings that began in June, nor does it explain the decision-making process that has gone into the final plan.

Hearing set on Pine Lake city budget

Pine Lake has scheduled a public hearing on its FY 2020 budget for Tuesday, Nov. 26, at 7 p.m.

The city says budget proposal will be posted on its web site on Monday, Nov. 18, and will also be available at City Hall during normal business hours.

Last year, Pine Lake proposed a $1 million budget.

Transportation, crime are biggest problems, ARC DeKalb County survey finds

Transportation is the biggest problem in the metro Atlanta area, according to a survey of DeKalb County residents conducted for the Atlanta Regional Commission.

More than 23 percent of those in DeKalb County identified transportation as the region's biggest problem. That was lower than the overall figure of 28 percent for the 13-county metro Atlanta region, where transportation was also identified as the biggest problem.

Crime ran a close second in DeKalb County, with almost 20 percent of the county's residents calling crime the area's biggest problem. Human services ranked third, while taxes and public education tied for fourth place in DeKalb County.

DeKalb County sheriff to resign: media reports

DeKalb County Sheriff Jeff Mann is set to announce on Thursday that he is resigning later this month, after more than five years in the position, according to multiple media reports.

Mann pleaded guilty to obstruction and prohibited conduct two years ago after it was alleged that he exposed himself at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. He admitted that he ran from a police officer before he was arrested.

Doraville school one of Georgia's Places in Peril

A DeKalb County school is on the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation's 2020 list of 10 Places in Peril in Georgia. It is the only DeKalb County site on the group's annual list.

The Cary Reynolds Elementary School, located at 3498 Pine Street in Doraville, was designed by the late architect-developer John Portman, the trust says. Originally named the Sequoyah Elementary School, the school was built in 1961.

Smith reappointed to Stone Mountain Memorial Authority

Attorney Ray Smith III has been reappointed to the Stone Mountain Memorial Association by Governor Brian Kemp. The apppintment was announced on Nov. 4.

Smith is the chairman of the association, according to its web site. Association member Carolyn Meadows was organization's chairman when the association met in September. Meadows was elected the president of the National Rifle Association earlier this year. She is also a vice chairman of the American Conservative Union.

Smith was vice chairman at when the SMMA met in September. At that meeting, the SMMA voted to bar shareable dockable devices from the park.

Tyson is interim DeKalb school superintendent -- again

The DeKalb County Board of Education has dismissed Superintendent R. Stephen Green after 4 1/2 years in the position.

Green, who had announced in May that he planned to resign after his contract ended on June 30, 2020, was dismissed by the board at its Nov. 11 meeting, according to the Reporter Newspapers.

Ramona Tyson, who has been with the school district for more than three decades, will serve as interim superintendent until the end of the school year. She held the same position in 2010 and 2011.

Police officials at next PRISM meeting

The next PRISM meeting will focus on crime. Guests will be:

-Police Chief Mirtha Ramos, who took office November 1st
-Asst. Police Chief Greg Padrick of DeKalb’s Uniform Division
-Major Craig Medlin, Commander of Tucker Precinct (east-central DeKalb}

The PRISM meeting will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. this Tuesday,
November 12, at St. Timothy United Methodist Church, 5365
Memorial Dr., Stone Mountain.

Pine Lake seeks grant for Rockbridge Rd. agricultural project

The City of Pine Lake is applying for a $10,000 grant for an urban agriculture project on Rockbridge Rd.

The orchard project may get assistance from the Atlanta Regional Commission and the non-profit Food Well Alliance if the city receives the grant, Mayor Melanie Hammet said at an Oct. 29 Pine Lake City Council meeting.

Next step awaited on county ethics board

A group that successfully urged DeKalb County voters to reject a proposed revamp of the county's ethics board says it will soon announce its next step.

The DeKalb Citizens Advocacy Council urged people to vote against the measure that was on the Nov. 5 ballot, saying it would have gutted the board's independence. "The Ethics Board would be under the control of the same politicians whose conduct is subject to oversight by the ethics board," the group said.

Two Stone Mountain city council members voted out of office

Two of three incumbents on the Stone Mountain City Council were defeated in a Nov. 5 municipal election.

Gina Stroud Cox, a special education teacher, and Clint Monroe, a financial analyst, ousted incumbents and were elected to the council. Chakira Johnson, a civil engineer who was first elected to the council in 2007, was elected to another four-year term.

In unofficial but complete results from the county election office:

Closed Kroger will not become new charter school

Contrary to a report last year in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a new DeKalb County charter school will not be moving into the former Kroger grocery store on Memorial Dr. at Hairston Rd. The site of the grocery store remains vacant.

Instead, the Community Academy for Architecture and Design says it will be located in the Village Square shopping center at Memorial Drive and Hambrick Rd.

The school had announced plans to open on Memorial Dr. in the fall of 2019. It now says it will open in the fall of 2020.

Roundabout proposed in south DeKalb

The Georgia Department of Transportation is planning to put a multi-lane roundabout at the intersection of Snapfinger Rd. and Panola Rd. at the DeKalb-Henry county line.

The DOT has approved the location and design of the project, which will replace an existing temporary signal.

The reconstructed intersection will take up about a half a mile on Snapfinger Rd. and one-fifth of a mile on Panola Rd.

Memorial Drive outdoor merchandise decision appealed

A merchant wants to use two parking spaces at the southeast corner of Memorial Dr and H. Hairston Rd. "to display outdoor merchandise." This is at 6007 Memorial Dr., the corner with the Exxon gas station-convenience store and the Angie's Place restaurant.

The DeKalb County Department of Planning & Sustainability has not yet posted the application made by Sabir Muhammad, who is appealing an administrative decision.

There will be a public hearing on his appeal before the DeKalb County Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. at the Maloof Building in downtown Decatur.

PRISM meeting to discuss November ethics referendum

A proposal on the November ballot to make changes in the way ethics complaints are handled in DeKalb County will be the subject of the next meeting of PRISM (Pride Rings In Stone Mountain).

The meeting will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. this Thursday, October 10, in Fellowship Hall, St. Timothy United Methodist Church, 5365 Memorial Dr., Stone Mountain.

The meeting will feature three citizens who are concerned about Senate Bill 7, a measure passed during the 2019 General Assembly that would make changes to the DeKalb County Board of Ethics, if approved by voters. Mary Hinkel, Joel Edwards and Roslyn Allison will discuss the bill at Thursday evening's meeting.

Hinkel chairs a group of concerned citizens called the DeKalb Citizens Advocacy Council, which is warning voters that the measure on the November ballot "guts the ethics board."

"SB7 strips authority from the ethics administrator to conduct preliminary investigations of or file complaints based upon personal observation or anonymous claims via the hotline, or to report suspected criminal violations to state or federal law enforcement agencies," the group says.

A PDF of the legislation, which Gov. Brian Kemp allowed to become law without his signature, can be found at http://bit.ly/2MhQsyC .

The DeKalb County ethics board has not met for more than one year because of a successful court challenge to the board's composition.

For voters in unincorporated DeKalb, the ethics referendum will be the only item on the November ballot. Voter turnout is expected to be higher in cities having elections for municipal offices.

PRISM's Oct. 10 forum will be one of the few opportunities to learn about and ask questions about the ethics law. We invite you to learn about this proposal so that you can make an informed decision when you vote on Nov. 5.