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DeKalb committee revises SPLOST 2 resident review language, removes clause that would require pre-approval recommendations
Summary
After lengthy debate the committee removed a sentence that would have required the SPLOST 2 residents committee to make recommendations before any SPLOST 2 project could be approved and set the committee to meet at least quarterly; the item was deferred to the July 8 board meeting with a stop back in ops.
The DeKalb County Operations Committee revisited a resolution to create a SPLOST 2 residents review committee and voted to send a revised draft to the full Board of Commissioners on July 8, with an additional stop at the operations committee.
Committee members debated wording that would have required the advisory committee—described in the draft as conducting an "equity analysis"—to issue recommendations to the board "before any SPLOST 2 project is approved by the board of commissioners." The committee agreed to remove that sentence and to refine the definition of "equity analysis" to mean a consideration of total dollars expended, number of projects, project impact and level of need.
County counsel read the contested sentence into the record as part of the discussion: "This equity analysis will result in recommendations to the board of commissioners before any SPLOST 2 project is approved by the board of commissioners." Committee members said the wording as drafted risked creating a procedural precondition that could impede the governing authority's discretion on capital projects.
The committee also adjusted meeting frequency language. The committee adopted a revision that the SPLOST 2 residents committee "shall meet at least once per quarter on a day selected by the committee" and added that meetings should be made available for viewing on DC TV whenever possible.
County Chief Operating Officer (COO) told members the administration can provide a geographic "heat map" showing where SPLOST projects have been funded to date and suggested that a retrospective review of allocations could accomplish many objectives the equity analysis sought to address without requiring the advisory group to veto or block project approvals.
Action: The operations committee approved a motion to defer the revised resolution to the July 8 Board of Commissioners meeting with a stopback at ops. The law department was asked to circulate a redline comparing the administration—official—versus the committee substitute language ahead of the next meeting.
Committee members stressed that the committee—if approved by the board—would be advisory and that any further wording concerns could be revisited after the resident board had been operating for a period of time.
