City of Dunwoody passes resolution urging Cities to get a seat at the table on the new DeKalb Ethics Board.

RESOLUTION URGING DEKALB COUNTY AND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO PASS THE LIMITED CHANGES TO THE DEKALB ETHICS ORDINANCE CODIFIED AT ARTICLE 22A OF THE CHARTER OF DEKALB COUNTY REQUIRED BY THE DECISION OF THE GEORGIA SUPREME COURT IN DELAY V. SUTTON

WHEREAS,  the City of Dunwoody is authorized and empowered by its Charter to administer and regulate the ethical conduct of its elected and appointed officers; and

WHEREAS,  the City of Dunwoody has been recognized by the Georgia Municipal Association as a City of Ethics since 2009; and

WHEREAS,  the City of Dunwoody has established its own policies and ordinances to review and evaluate its officials’ conduct as open, transparent, and lawful under the Charter of the City and the Constitutions of the State of Georgia and of the United States; and

WHEREAS,  DeKalb County Voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum in 2015 amending the Charter of DeKalb County and establishing an Ethics Code in the County’s Charter; and

WHEREAS,  the Voters’ expression at the ballot box sent a very loud message to their County and State elected officials that they demand a strong, independent, and transparent ethics Board to oversee County elected and appointed officials and employees; and

WHEREAS,  the Supreme Court of Georgia, in Delay v. Sutton, 304 Ga. 338 (2018), invalidated and held unconstitutional the creation of the DeKalb Ethics Board on the single issue that appointments were made to the Ethics Board that were not confirmed or approved by elected officials; and

WHEREAS,  the invalidation of the Ethics Board on the single Court ruling now calls into question the entirety of the Ethics Ordinance, especially including the appointment, function and role of the County Ethics Officer; and

WHEREAS,  with the growing number of existing and planned Cities in DeKalb County, the wishes and demands of citizens in incorporated areas for ethical and transparent government are of increasing importance in how the County manages its governance and operation; and

WHEREAS,  the Elected Officials of DeKalb Cities speak for their constituents and deserve a voice, role, and function in the re-establishment and efficacy of a reconstituted DeKalb Ethics Board; and

WHEREAS,  the delay caused by extraneous issues infiltrating the discussion and resolution of the single issue upon which the Georgia Supreme Court ruled is detrimental to the standing, credibility, and future of DeKalb County and her incorporated areas;

NOW THEREFORE, the Mayor and City Council of the City of Dunwoody, in an open and public meeting, RESOLVE AND STATE the Will of the Council as follows:

1.         The General Assembly, or the Board of Commissioners, as appropriate, should address and remedy the single issue they created that led to the Ethics Board being declared unconstitutional by the Georgia Supreme Court and that issue only.

2.         It is of paramount importance that the General Assembly and the Board of Commissioners take this issue seriously, that they hear the import of the voices of the electorate of DeKalb County who demand ethical and transparent representation (as expressed in the referendum in 2015 and in their rejection of the amendments proposed in SB 7 of the 2019 Session of the General Assembly), and come to a resolution of this problem as soon as practicable.

3.         DeKalb Cities need to be granted an effective and appropriate voice through their elected officials in the appointment and conduct of the Ethics Board, to include nomination(s) made to the Board of Ethics by a majority vote of the Mayors of the Cities in DeKalb County, submitted to the Board of Commissioners for confirmation, for 2 members of the Ethics Board, one of which should be a member of the State Bar of Georgia.

4.         The City of Dunwoody sees value in the input of various community groups in determining the composition of the Ethics Board and urges the General Assembly and the Board of Commissioners to enact a lawful process by which such groups can continue to have a role and mechanism to inform and suggest membership to the Board of Ethics.

5.         The City Council designates the Mayor, or her designee, as the official with authority to negotiate on behalf of the City of Dunwoody to give effect to this Resolution and to bring a report to the Council as necessary on the progress of the response to these demands.

6.         The City Council adopts as its factual findings in support of this Resolution the language included in each “Whereas” paragraph above.

            SO RESOLVED, this 27^th day of January, 2020.