DeKalb commissioners direct county attorney to clarify recusal, abstention procedures after confusion

DeKalb County commissioners on April 1 reviewed the procedures for recusal and abstention after a presiding commissioner left the dais during discussion of an ethics item, prompting confusion about how that action should be recorded in minutes and on the county's voting system.

The presiding officer, Michelle Long Spears, told the Committee of the Whole she had been advised by the county attorney and the ethics officer to remove herself from the discussion, saying, "the county attorney advised me to recuse myself from conversation, from all conversation related to that item." She told colleagues the county's meeting software currently prevents a member from logging a recusal until after a motion, second and discussion are under way.

The interim county attorney, Matthew Welch, told commissioners the legal and procedural guidance is inconsistent and that his office will issue written advice and propose changes to the county's procedural manual, the Blue Book. "We have always seen a difference in abstention and…