Why is Commissioner Elaine Boyer suddenly worried about the DeKalb County budget? 

Commissioner Boyer, DeKalb County District 1, has been quoted in the local papers recently as pressing DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis to come up with a budget that shows the loss of the revenue if Brookhaven becomes a city.

This urgent request seems self-serving politically when Commissioner Boyer backed the formation of Dunwoody and now backs Brookhaven, both causing the county to lose $40 million to $50 million in annual revenue.

Two of Commissioner Boyer’s appointments serve on DeKalb County boards: Collette McDonald, Zoning Board, and Rebecca Williams, Zoning Board of Appeals. They formed the Citizens for North DeKalb (C4ND) and served on the board of directors until it shut down recently. 

This organization was the initiator of the fund-raising to hire the Carl Vinson Institute of Georgia to provide a study supporting the cityhood movement. C4ND was the driving force behind cityhood. Williams and McDonald both actively promoted the cityhood initiative with e-mail newsletters and in the Dunwoody Crier. Both also have been active in Brookhaven Yes organization.

Williams has a further conflict of interest. As co-owner and writer for the Dunwoody Crier, she has also violated her journalistic ethics by writing articles exclusively in favor of forming Brookhaven. She prohibits any anti-cityhood arguments in her paper.

The county commissioners wanted to fund a study of their own to learn of the impact of the loss of revenue from the formation of Brookhaven. Commissioner Boyer was the only commissioner to vote “no” to conduct this study.

Clearly Commissioner Boyer, Collette McDonald and Rebecca Williams have divided interests because they support taking more revenue away from the county while they campaign for formation of the new city.

Can we trust these people to make good decisions on behalf of the citizens of DeKalb County? Why is Commissioner Boyer so anxious to have a revised budget now? 

Laurenthia Mesh is a member of Ashford Neighbors, a group opposed to the proposed city of Brookhaven from Perimeter Mall to Buford Highway. For information, visit www.AshfordNeighbors.org.