Thank You to the many people who served on Dunwoody Task Forces to start the city, and Thank You to the people who volunteer today to make this community great.

The other day I posted a photo of some of the Citizens for Dunwoody leaders in front of the farmhouse and a friend of mine called me out stating they too were heavily involved in cityhood planing but missed that photo opportunity.  As it turns out, 100's of people attended meetings and added feedback on what they wanted from their new city and then a great many people volunteered to work on committees or task forces to assist the new government with action plans moving forward.  I didn't mean to leave anyone out of recognition or thank you's as a great many people were involved.  In order to thank the appropriate people, I need to tell a story, might as well provide a few documents and I am sure I will still forget to name someone.  Just to be safe, if you were involved in Cityhood in anyway, thank you. 

After the City of Sandy Springs was created but before there was a City of Dunwoody, there was a small handful of people working the political side of possible cityhood at the Capital, namely Senator Dan Weber, Representative Fran Millar, citizens, Brian Anderson, Ken Wright, Robert Wittenstein, Denny Shortal, Tom Taylor, Bev Wingate and a few others.

The main working feasibility document for Cityhood was an independent financial analysis from the Carl Vincent Institute of Government from the University of Georgia that explained expected revenues and expenses which told us in 2008 that the City could be viable.   The Georgia Legislature used this document as part of its decision to approve the formation of the city. (It would be an interesting study to show the city department expectations in 2008 vs the 2024 budget of today, but that is a project for another day and almost not relevant any longer as many if not most resident's arrived after the city was founded.)

With the Legislature getting close to passing the City Charter, citizen task forces were put together to assist the first council and city manager on operation expectations.   Each of the Task Forces collected documents needed to set policy and made formal final reports to assist the future City Manager and Police Chief if the citizen's ratified the City Charter.   There were lots of little sub-committee working towards hiring the first city manager, hiring the first police chief, there were real estate people looking for a city hall, ect, ect.  I am not going to guess at the numbers but a great many people donated lots of personal time to create a city from scratch.

To everyone listed in the Citizens for Dunwoody Task Force Roster below and to the many other people not listed, like those who served on Dunwoody Yes but also helped at the start of cityhood, we appreciate the work and dedication you all provided this city.    I also appreciate the many volunteers who currently serve on City Boards, Commissions, and Committees as well as the Volunteer Court Bailiffs, the Citizens on Patrol and the Dunwoody Ambassadors who volunteer their time back to the community.    Without dedicated volunteers, the City of Dunwoody would not have existed nor would we be able to have the quality community that we strive to improve everyday.    

Thank you to the many people in this community who volunteer with the City as well as the many non-profits; you are all deeply treasured!

Task Force Rosters

Zoning 

Bob Lundsten, Linda Ballow, Bill Phillips, Steve Spiegel, Michael Erfani, Joe Stich, Travis Reid, Jon Greiver, Chip Perry,  Bob Dallas, Ken Thelen, Joan Weiss, Stacy Abbate, Kevin Crow, Jeff Glick, Maurice Blumberg,  Jill Glascock, Bob Klingensmith

Roads   

John Heneghan, Tom Montgomery, Keith Hodgson, George Vail, Dennis Crean,  Brett Hensley, Arnold Heller

Courts  

Ryan Currie,  Charles Auslander,  Paul Baiser, Charlie Brown, Donna Ciclet, Karen Currie, Laura Horlock, Dave Levy, Richard McCully, Wade McGuffey, Louis R. Richey, Mike Weinstein, Rocio Woody

Ordinances        

Villard Bastien, Anne Keegan, Worth Wells, Pater Cranston, Geri Penn, Denis Shortal

Parks & Rec       

Don Converse, Queenie Ross, Alan Mothner, Su Ellis, Richard Ellis, Eve Schneps, Bob Dial, Richard Drake, Marie Drake, Bill Mccahan, Bill Robinson, Tom Sims, Ken Brockschmitt, Rich Reynell,  Bob Meehan, Terry Strode, John Valentine,

Police   

Al Tiede, Bernie Wasserman, Bill Tobin, Bob Durkis, Carl L. Franklin, Cheryl Summers , David Brown, Donald B. Barden, Frank A. Figueroa, Graham Andoe, Jay Sampsel,  Jeff Coghill, Jim Gaddis , Jim Maroney, Jim Sturgis, John Coffey,  John Dickerson,  John Keegan,  Ken Curry,  Larry Echikson, Michael A. Caldwell, Mike Mcgannon,  R. Kyle Thompson, Ron Silvers,  Scott Bennett, Tom Taylor, Tracy S. Redding

HR         

Addie Alberghini, Debi Elkins, Terry Strode, Dwight Hawksworth, John Weiss, Charles Collins, Elizabeth Gill, Rick Otness, Fred Brandt, Suzi Stich

IT           

Bruce Duff, Ed Kountz, David Kupel, Martha Fallwell, James White, Bruce Northrop, Nick Lundhild, Buck Gilbert, Belinda Maaskant, David Spain, David Winters, David Clinch, Jan Maaskant, Daniel Kish, Dan Geist, Joe Devita, Mindi Crozier,

Codes/permits 

Bill Grossman, Charles A. Jury, Kyle Epstein, Geoffrey Gill, Jack Rau, Claude T. Murphy, Melissa A. Henderson, Tom Dwyer, Bob Klingensmith, Gerri Penn, Bill Grant, Kenneth J. Thelen

Finance/Admin

David  Konits, Jo Tate, DJ Gordineer, Tom  Gordineer, Bryan C.W. Tate, Joe  Stitch, Maurice  Blumberg, Lee Eastwood, David  Winters, Maria Richmond, Steve  Griffeth, Ian Ferdinands, Debra Jackson, Cindy  Andersen, Norton Schneps, Vickie Patton, Sue Hansen, Charles Collins, Steven Blaske, Danny Ross, Richard Boswinkle, Richard  Roth, DeAnn Hargis, Al Alberghini

Dunwoody seeks bidders on Comprehensive Transportation Plan.

Link to Sidewalk Map

The City has released the RFP for the Comprehensive Transportation Plan and it will only be with citizen input that this process creates a strategy for funding future capital infrastructure improvements wanted by the citizens therefore I recommend that residents need to be involved and vocal about exactly what they want.  The plan will do the following ...

Inventory and Plan Development

• Inventory existing conditions including roads, bicycle facilities, pedestrian facilities, transportation services, development policies related to transportation and transportation demand management policies or programs.
• Develop plans and recommendations for bicycles, pedestrians and other alternative forms of transportation.
• Develop a prioritized list of transportation projects with estimated costs and recommended funding sources.
• Produce deliverables including GIS data files and mapping printed at 24” x 36” to summarize existing conditions and show future improvements. Specific maps should include at a minimum:
• Depiction(s) of existing conditions
• Road Improvement Plan
• Sidewalk Improvement Plan, including ADA upgrades
• Bicycle/ Pedestrian network plan

I guess when it is all over we should be expecting a document much like this that was created for Sandy Springs.

Prior to the City being formed, I served on the Transportation Task Force which worked at putting together a very similar document which outlined the basic needs of the city. For those working on this project, here is most of what we came up with other documents located in the Task Force link above.

Transportation Service Analysis Dunwoody Final.doc

Dunwoody_Sidewalks.pdf

Sidewalk_Data.xls

Dunwoody_Resurfacing.pdf

Map of Dunwoody tied to Plat Maps

City-of-Dunwoody-Pavement-Evaluation (Jan 2010)

I hope the company who wins this project will listen to the residents while also visiting and documenting the conditions on their own to backup and validate the statements of the residents.  Many streets in Dunwoody need sidewalks but my little culdesac isn't Valley View or Happy Hollow where the need is much greater, therefore they shouldn't be ranked the same.  Please be vocal on where your future Dunwoody tax dollars should be spent.  Thanks.

Run for Cover? I plan to fight for both the Students and the fine Teachers of DeKalb County.

The Spruill Gallery has an exhibition called Run For Cover. It’s a look at album covers that has defined and influenced our experience of music, and shaped our lives over the past few decades. Hope Cohn is director for the Spruill Gallery and spoke of the exhibit on WABE's City Cafe. As a 14 year resident of Dunwoody, I will shamefully admit that I have never set foot into the Spruill Gallery on Ashford Dunwoody but I think that is about to change.

I was going to post the simple piece above but the name of the exhibit in relationship to the DeKalb County School System news coming out, just touched me on so many levels.

Like all governmental budgets that depend on property taxes the DeKalb County School System is facing financial crisis, yet we have school board members already saying publicly that they are in favor of tax increases along with cuts in teacher pay vs deep cuts in administrative overhead.

DeKalb County pre-kindergarten classes, magnet schools and art courses will be slashed and teachers will likely see another pay cut to offset a $56 million deficit in the school system. The only other option is to raise property taxes, DeKalb Superintendent Crawford Lewis said Wednesday. Either way, students, teachers and administrators will feel the pinch next year.

The AJC also quotes board member, Eugene Walker who suggested the board raise property taxes 2 mills, which would raise the taxes of a $200,000 homeowner’s tax bill by about $135 more a year.

I read a comment on the DeKalb County School Watch Blog where a resident matter of factly stated that his decision had been made, that he is now going to move out of DeKalb vs. put up with the degradation of the school system, paying higher taxes that he can not afford, for it to be wasted on administrative bloat.

I don't know about you but as a father of three children in the DeKalb County School System, I truely respect my children's teachers, they work hard and are dedicated to the education of my children, sometimes it seems in spite of the obstacles placed upon them by the current administration. Unlike that person who is ready to move out of DeKalb, we the residents of DeKalb County need to stay and fight for quality education for our children and support the teachers who educate them.

I refuse to do differently and if you feel the same I would ask you stay engaged in the process, stay educated on what is happening in DeKalb and be ready to fill the auditorium of Peachtree Charter Middle School on Monday March 1st for the DeKalb County School Board work session where budget alternatives will most likely be discussed.

Huge Georgetown Meeting & future Dunwoody Transportation Planning

Over 250 people filled the Atrium at Georgetown Park to have a discussion of what they wanted the area to be like in 20 years and I am sorry to say that I believe most people were disappointed with the staging and format of the meeting. The speaker system was an afterthought with no microphone for questions, the large number of residents meant that there weren't enough handouts and the order of the discussion seemed to drift off track, following no rhyme or reason.  One resident walked up to me about 20 minutes into the meeting, personally expressed his dissatisfaction and left; therefore to that specific gentleman and anyone else who was disappointed let me personally apologize on behalf of the City as I agree that we can and will do better next time.

The members of the council in the audience are advised to be there to solely listen and not lead the discussions in one way or another; and I know I had a hard time not speaking up from time to time. All of that being said, I believe I took away the overall sentiment of those in attendance which was no more apartments, owner occupied and cluster homes were favored, limited or zero growth unless done so under the conditions beneficial to the community, i.e. Special Land Use Permits which mandated contiguous green space able to be used by the community. Buffer areas and step downs between different densities, pocket parks and a transportation system that fostered walking and biking. All of that being said, myself, members of Council, members of the CLUP Steering Committee and our planning staff listened to what was said and in the end I hope the final plan will be something that the community can support.  Our next land use discussion will be on Tuesday January 12 at 7 pm at the Jewish Community Center.

In semi-related news, I talked to our Public Works Director, Mr. Michael Smith today and provided him the future safety improvements recommended by citizens, a request for a Welcome to Dunwoody sign on Tilly Mill, discussed the huge pot hole repair on North Peachtree Road and other pothole work needed near Chestnut.  We discussed the Transportation Master Plan which should be bid out on the RFP process in late February and the community discussions that will be active by April or May.  We discussed the fact that the laser truck road grading results will be in soon and that the city will need to set policy on which infrastructure improvements to do first.  (Worst first but does a bad highly traveled Chamblee Dunwoody rank higher then a worse culdesac which has limited traffic?  I think so.) Where should the first mile of sidewalk be laid and how do we decide on where this happens?  This evening another resident pulled me aside during the meeting and asked how he could get a sidewalk on his dangerous residential thoroughfare that was missing this much needed improvement and I informed him of the citywide sidewalk needs assessment data and correlated map (zoom in, look for purple) that my committee created prior to the city starting and that he and his neighbors should be active in the transportation planning process.

I can attest that the City of Dunwoody is attempting to provide economical efficient services and that even when public meetings don't seem to go as smooth as one would hope, that our staff and elected officials were there listening and taking notes.  That we monitor many different streams of communication, be it on line service requests, public discussion boards or other modes of communication and that we act accordingly.  Finally I would like to remind everyone that this City Council has set an open public comment period at the very beginning (as well as at the end) of every council meeting for you the residents to personally voice your wishes and concerns to the Council Members that you elected to serve you and your family.  The next meeting is Monday December 11th at 7 pm at City Hall and we welcome all who are interested to voice what ever they were unable to get across tonight.

Below is the PowerPoint presentation given on Tuesday evening.
Dunwoody Georgetown Community Meeting Jan 2010

Dunwoody streets will be getting the laser treatment, then worst - first will be addressed.

When I was doing research on public works for the Citizens for Dunwoody prior to the City being created, I realized that the City of Sandy Springs found a nifty research tool to analyze and map the city's infrastructure of streets. Compared to DeKalb County who used a road engineer to drive around to analyze and grade the streets from behind a windshield; the Sandy Springs system took all human input out of the equitation and gave a completely unbiased analysis. I saw the value in this tool and personally pushed that it be added to the City's year one budget. Once the laser vehicle completes the map of the Dunwoody's streets, the results will be published so that everyone can see what streets are rated the worst and from there a long term plan can be developed to improve our infrastructure.

The two systems described are listed below and in researching this post I just wanted to mention that I really enjoyed the City of Sandy Springs website and their electronic file repository. I hope that the City of Dunwoody website will someday be as comprehensive.

Sandy Springs

Sandy Springs pavement conditions map and long term planning.

DeKalb County

DeKalb Pavement Management System

2008 DeKalb Street Grades & my map of the worst in Dunwoody.

Below is the City of Dunwoody press release.

The City of Dunwoody, Public Works Department, has engaged the firm IMS, Infrastructure Management Services, to complete a surface distress survey on all public streets within Dunwoody. IMS will survey the city’s network of roads beginning tomorrow, August 28, with state of the art technology designed to collect data on various distresses found in the pavement infrastructure. The data collected over the next few weeks will assist the City of Dunwoody to develop long-term roadway rehabilitation plans and budgets.

The first phase will be to inventory and collect pavement performance data using a device known as a Road Surface Tester or RST. This device measures pavement roughness, rutting, cracking and other surface distresses as it travels down the roadway. The RTS vehicle will also be used to collect digital video and Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) information for cataloging pavement condition. The RST is a one-ton Ford van with four digital high-resolution cameras, GPS receivers, and a modified front bumper containing 11 lasers used to measure surface distresses. Operated by three field technicians, the RST travels at posted speed limits and will survey each roadway at least once. The RST then uses built-in software and on-board processors to develop roadway inventories, time code integration, and system monitors.

Once all the data is collected, it will be used to develop a series of reports allowing the city to cost effectively budget and plan for the long-term maintenance of the roadways.

Complete drawings of Ashford Dunwoody & Mt. Vernon Rd.

Now that work has started on Ashford Dunwoody & Mt. Vernon, I have had several requests for information regarding the intersection. Here are the complete drawings that were provided to the Dunwoody Transportation Committee by the County and the PCID.

List of Dunwoody RFP bidders and updated addendum

On Friday, November 7th there was an RFP pre-bid conference where questions were asked and items were clarified. Boyken has published the addendum to the RFP's as well as listed the participants for the three bid areas on their website. If you are interested in obtaining this information, please visit the link below to Boyken's site to register for the information.

http://www.boyken.com/index.php/Dunwoody-RFP.html

Dunwoody RFP's are available on Boyken Site & due back by Nov 17th

If you are interested in bidding on a majority of Dunwoody's operational work, there are three Requests for Proposals that are now available on the Boyken International's website; all of which close on November 17th. There is also a Pre-Proposal Mandatory Conference on November 7, 2008 for all companies intentending to make a bid.

I have downloaded the RFPs and would have posted them on my site but Boyken would prefer that interested parties register on their site prior to being allowed a copy of the document; therefore I will provide the best link to get you there.

http://www.boyken.com/index.php/Dunwoody-RFP.html

The three RFPs cover the areas of...

Financial & Administrative Services which includes Revenue, Capital and Investment Administration, Accounts payable/receivable, Budgeting/Forecasting, Risk Management, Purchasing, Information Technology, Website, GIS, Telephones, Contract Administration, Physical Plant, Administrative Communications, Public Relations, Records Management, Human Resources, and Election Support to list a few of the areas.

Community Development which includes Planning & Zoning, Comprehensive Land Use Plan, Building Inspections & Permiting, Geographic Infromation Systems, and possibly Code Enforcement.

Public Works which includes an inventory of City Assets, GIS, Comprehensive Transportation Plan, Street Maintenance & Striping, Sidewalks, Gutters, Stormwater, Traffic Signals, Parks & Recreation, Emergency Preparedness & Capital Improvements.

I didn't write the RFPs but as the past Chairman of the Citizens for Dunwoody Transportation Task Force I recognized a number of the points in the RFPs that were taken dircetly from the advice presented by the various task forces that were comprised of hundreds of Dunwoody volunteers. If I was going to be submitting a proposal, I would make sure that I was at least familure with what those committees put togeather, (not that they are perfect nor is there confirmation that the ideas presented would be followed by those currently elected) to see what they produced.

http://www.jkheneghan.com/city/Task_Force/

Crier - New city budget tight, contractor talks ongoing

I missed this meeting due to a business trip but was informed that the financial report was not completed therefore there is nothing to post to the internet. When I finally get to review the paper documents provided during the meeting, I will post what I can. John

By Dick Williams for The Crier
Tuesday, September 9, 2008

The candidates for Dunwoody City Council heard Monday night that no big spenders need apply. The final report of the finance task force shows a city budget in delicate balance for 2009 with only a little more flesh on the bone for the years after that. Some candidates who have reported spending thousands of dollars on their campaigns may have second thoughts.

Vickie Patton reported on the work of the task force, showing a budget with some $17 million in revenue, challenged by about $2.35 million in startup costs after the city begins operations December 1.

The uncertainty over the first-year budget is largely a matter of timing, said Oliver Porter, a consultant to the Citizens for Dunwoody. While new cities in Fulton County had proceeds from that county’s local option sales tax, Dunwoody does not.

Porter pointed to issues such as franchise fees for 2009 that aren’t scheduled to be paid until 2010.

The candidates also heard from Brian Anderson about the negotiations with CH2M Hill, the private contractor that operates four new cities in Fulton County.

Anderson said the negotiations were continuing and progress was being made. He said the budget could be balanced using the private contractor.

Candidates also heard from Porter on franchise fees available to cities and how other services could be franchised.

On the campaign trail, several candidates have expressed misgivings about having only one private contractor at the negotiating table. They have asked for other options to consider.

State Sen. Dan Weber (R-Dunwoody) told the candidates of research he has been leading about whether Dunwoody could be started from the ground up, hiring department heads to seek bids on specific services, rather than having one master contract.

“In any event,” said Porter, “we believe we’re going to be providing better services than DeKalb County now provides.

While city finances might be tight, several candidates are spending substantial amounts to win the votes of Dunwoody’s 40,000 residents.

Most of the candidates are paying for their campaigns from their own pockets and a perusal of the reports filed last week with the state Ethics Commission showed almost no contributions from lobbyists.

The campaign expenditures follow a familiar pattern: yard signs, mailers, consultants and robocalls.

The most expensive seat so far is the district post in the central district, where Dr. Adrian Bonser has reported spending $14,865.82 and attorney Larry Pankey $12,078. Bob Fiscella has spent $746.01.

The second most expensive race so far is the western district at-large post, requiring a citywide campaign. Robert Wittenstein reported raising $6700 and spending $12,082. Mallard Holliday reported spending $2735.

In the central district citywide election, Danny Ross reported spending $3227.93 of his own funds while Janet Webb reported raising $660 and spending $5335.35.

In the third citywide race, based in the eastern district, John Heneghan reported spending $1233.34 of his own funds while Mary Jo Chambless spent $3994.32 as of the reporting deadline.

For the western district post, the campaign is a financial mismatch. Al Alberghini loaned his campaign $15,360 and reported spending $10,596.71. Denis Shortal listed expenditures of $2871.59.

In the district race for the eastern district, Tom Taylor reported spending $2047, Doug Thompson $2061.35 and Ellen Fix reported no contributions. Her qualifying fee was her sole expense.

AJC - Dunwoody faces projected $2.3 million shortfall

By APRIL HUNT
The AJC; Tuesday, September 09

Georgia’s newest city will run in the red during its first year of operation, according to a new study by advocates of cityhood.

The Citizens for Dunwoody task force on administration and finance presented a cash flow analysis Monday that shows the city operations will cost about $2.3 million more than the city will take in from projected taxes and fees during its first year. The new city opens for business Dec. 1.

“I don’t want people to be alarmed to see a deficit, because it can easily be fixed and improved,” said Oliver Porter, a consultant who is helping the northern DeKalb city get off the ground.

The new city’s government can cut costs, officials said, by delaying some projects or by negotiating a less expensive contract with the management firm promoted by city advocates.

Various task forces have issued recommendations and reports on how to best provide services when Dunwoody begins operations. According to Citizens for Dunwoody’s projections, the disparity in the proposed city budget comes come from "revenue such as about $1 million from the Homestead Option Sales Tax and about $1.6 million in occupational tax revenue” that an earlier study had projected the city would collect. Now, city advocates don’t expect that money at least for the first year.

Sue Hansen, an accountant who co-chaired the committee, cautioned that the $14.7 million projected budget changed daily and that the figures were only a draft.

But she said the new council needed time to plan to make up for potential losses by negotiating further with the consulting firm CH2M Hill and making other policy decisions such as delaying road projects.

Voters will pick six city council members from 15 candidates next Tuesday.

It will be up to the council, many of whom are tied to Citizens for Dunwoody, whether to approve the recommendations and sign off the contract with CH2M Hill that the group is negotiating.

Finance & Police report out to Dunwoody Governors Commission on Thursday

I just received the agenda for Thursday's Governors Commission meeting between Dunwoody & DeKalb and it should be very informative because of two topics, police & finances.

The police task force originally presented to the candidates a number of weeks ago and crafted a police department and budget based on what they believed needed to be done and not on what the CVI study said. The finance & administration task force was suppose to report out to the candidates last week but the training session was canceled at the last minute and rescheduled for Monday, Sept. 8, 7:00 PM, at the Dunwoody Library. Because of this last minute cancellation, none of the candidates have seen the final financial numbers which will be presented on Thursday.

As soon as the data is presented to the Commission, the finance report will be public information and I will be requesting that it be provided to me in an electronic format so that I can post it to the internet for all to review.

Also on the agenda are Information Technology, Ordinances and Public Works. Having sat through the ordinances & and worked on the public works presentations, I can tell you they are pretty straight forward and already on-line. The IT presentation will also be available for the first time Thursday night but I am not expecting it to be controversial.

The meeting is open to the public.

September 4, 2008
Governors Commission on the City of Dunwoody
Dunwoody United Methodist Church
7 PM-9 PM

AGENDA

7 PM Call to order-Chair Purcell

Approval of minutes of August 21st, 2008 meeting

Recognition of Commission-Chair Purcell

Charge to the Commission by Governor Perdue

Recognition of Guest

Presentations of Task Force Committees
Of the Citizens for Dunwoody:

7:15 Mr. Larry Echikson
Police and Public Safety

7:35 Mr. Joe DeVita
Information Technology

7:55 Mrs. Vickie Patton
Finance and Administration

8:15 Mr. Brian Anderson
Ordinances

8:35 Mr. John Heneghan
Public Works

PUBLIC COMMENTS

9 PM Adjourn

Several important Dunwoody meetings this week.

On the Right Side of my blog there is a Google Calendar box (shown above) that I use to list either Dunwoody related meetings or general Dunwoody community events like the Dunwoody Nature Center, the Stage Door Players and other special events. There are several important City of Dunwoody meetings coming up this week that you should be aware of.

Wednesday Morning - 8:45 a.m. Dr. Crawford Lewis speaks at Dunwoody HS

Dunwoody Chamblee Parents' Council Meeting
Wednesday, September 3
Dunwoody High School
Refreshments at 8:45, Meeting begins at 9am.

Thursday Evening - 7 p.m. Governor's Commission Meeting on the City of Dunwoody

City Task Force reports to the Governor's Commission.
Dunwoody United Methodist Church, 2nd Floor to the Left
Police & Transportation are on the schedule.

Saturday Afternoon - 4 p.m. District 3 Dunwoody Candidate Forum

Dunwoody Community Church, 2250 Dunwoody Club Dr Atlanta, GA 30350
This forum is sponsored by a number of the District 3 sub-divisions with Gordon Jackson doing introductions and Dick Williams asking questions. This forum will include all city wide candidates and the local candidates from District 3.

Sunday Evening - 5 p.m. District 1 Dunwoody Candidate Forum

The Branches Club, 1318 Winding Branch Circle Dunwoody, GA 30338
This forum will include all city wide candidates and the local candidates from District 1.

AJC - Dunwoody police plan adds officers, $1 million to budget

By DAVID SIMPSON, DAVID MARKIEWICZ
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, August 31, 2008

Even as backers of the Dunwoody cityhood push were telling voters that their modest proposed police budget would improve public safety while avoiding a tax increase, an internal task force was preparing a report recommending a much larger — and more expensive — police department.

The task force recommendation would increase the projected police payroll for the new DeKalb County city by more than $1 million. In a report dated Aug. 16, the group recommended cutting other departments’ spending to make the up the difference. That could be a challenge in an overall budget estimated at $18.8 million with a surplus of less than $300,000.

In an e-mail reply to questions from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Oliver Porter, operations consultant to the task force, said the new City Council, slated to be elected Sept. 16, will consider the recommendation.

“As in almost any budget, there will be competition for resources. … Suffice it to say that in many cases these will be difficult decisions,” Porter wrote.

Porter reiterated the contention, made by cityhood proponents before the July 15 incorporation referendum, that Dunwoody will have more patrol officers per shift than now provided by DeKalb County police.

The police task force was among 10 committees studying the delivery of services such as parks and recreation, roads, courts and zoning and planning.

The police task force report proposed small additions to the city’s patrol staff but major increases in other positions, such as detectives and managers, and also proposed positions not included at all in the pre-election proposal, such as crime scene technicians.

The Journal Constitution reported two weeks before the July 15 referendum that the city’s proposed police force of 28 officers would give it much fewer officers per capita than many other nearby cities and fewer than national averages.

That level of staffing was quickly dismissed in the report by the eight-member police task force of Citizens for Dunwoody. The task force, which began meeting in May, included at least five members with law enforcement experience.

“To suggest adequate police services could be provided with 28 officers is just not possible,” the report said.

Instead, the report recommended 38 full-time and six part-time officers, including some officers devoted to traffic. The report also called for seven civilian employees, including crime scene technicians and administrative assistants. No civilian employees were included in the earlier proposal.

The task force said its increased proposal still would not meet minimum staffing recommended by national police organizations, but it “will allow us to provide bare bones, but certainly adequate, services.”

Before the referendum, backers of cityhood accused DeKalb County police of neglecting their area. The county police force has three officers working “beats” in Dunwoody in each of three overlapping shifts per day. Dunwoody backers said those officers sometimes were diverted elsewhere and promised the new city would put four patrol officers on each eight-hour shift.

Porter’s e-mailed statement Friday said, “The new city will have improved police coverage, and the only question is how much better can it be made.”

Recruitment of the Dunwoody City Manager & Police Chief

The Human Resources Task Force met with the candidates Wednesday evening and discussed policy recommendations for the recruitment of the City Manager / Police Chief and the police force.

These and the previously discussed reports are now public records and available online for your reading pleasure at:

http://www.jkheneghan.com/city/Task_Force

The Governor's Commission is meeting this evening (Thursday) at 7 pm at Dunwoody United Methodist Church to have the task force reports presented to them in a very abbreviated format. This meeting is open to the public, so feel free to attend.

Since I am the one posting the reports as well as being a candidate for City Council, I have been receiving a number of calls & e-mails regarding the content of the reports. Where appropriate I have replied to the inquiries or if needed I have forwarded the e-mails to the Task Force Chairman for their comment or reply.

I like many in the community am still absorbing all of the information but if you have specific concerns or questions, please do raise them. Call someone on the task force for clarification, post a comment on this blog, write a letter to the Crier; do whatever you need to do to raise your concerns over what is being proposed in these reports. The future city council will be looking for your feed back in order to make some tough funding decisions, which once made will be setting a president for future policy decisions.

If you the residents don't voice concerns or ask questions now while we the candidates are looking for your vote; it might be a little to do so come September 17th. I urge you to get informed & ask the tough questions of the candidates now.

The future of Dunwoody is at stake.

Dunwoody Police Task Force Report

The Citizens for Dunwoody Police Task Force report is now available on line.

Is this right size department for Dunwoody or should we start with a smaller one and grow to this level? Even if we wanted to fund this department proposal which is well in excess of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government projections, how can we?

Tough questions, without easy answers.

Task Force Reports & will CH2MHill be a good deal for us?

Saturday was the first day that all of the candidates got a chance to meet as a group and then we listened to the various Citizens for Dunwoody Task Force Reports and asked questions. We went over the Dunwoody charter, possible future ordinances, courts, planning & zoning, parks, permits & inspections, code enforcement, transportation and then finally police was rushed in at the tail end of the day. The reports are the culmination of thousands of hours of work whereby hundreds of Dunwoody volunteers looked at other cities best practices and then wrote a report on their suggestions to the future city council on how Dunwoody should operate.

As a Candidate, Transportation Task Force Chairman & an electronic pack rat; I requested to each of the other Task Force Chairs that electronic documents be provided to me in advance so that I could burn compilation DVD’s for each of the candidates. That was done for all presentations that were made today, except for Police and they will be forwarding that very soon to all the candidates. Once I get a copy of the police report, it will be uploaded to the police folder and all of the task force reports will also be available shortly on the Citizens for Dunwoody website. There are sill several of these task force sessions (Aug 20 & 28) with the candidates and Human Resources, Finance & IT will report out on these dates with their reports being uploaded at that time.

The report discussions were just quick over view sessions since the candidates will need to analyze the documentation in each report and then pose questions back to the Task Forces for clarification. As of today, all of the reports that were discussed in the public meeting (David Markiewicz of the AJC was there today and has already written an article) are now a matter of public record and are therefore available to the Citizens of Dunwoody to review.

Please note that it is taken for granted that there is probably a little bias built into each of these task force reports whereby the people who volunteered to work on a specific topic, probably felt that their subject was the most important of the task forces and therefore wanted to possibly spend more money than realistically available. For example, the people serving on the parks committee probably thought that park development was more important than the police department and the police committee may have wanted a larger police force but didn’t care about the roads being maintained. Because of this, these reports are just suggested starting points for the city council; they can accept and implement these reports as they are, reject them completely or pick and choose the pieces as they see fit. The elected officials when finally seated will be the decision makers in the process and these reports are only being offered as advisory suggestions.

Also on the agenda was a block of time on contracts presented by Mr. Oliver Porter. It was at this point that the candidates were informed that there were two official bids that were presented to run the city and that only one bid was strong enough to consider because the other bid only wanted a very small portion of the overall city work. The one now acceptable bidder to the RFP is the company CH2MHill and they talked to the candidates for about an hour regarding their qualifications and the services they would provide. Time was limited and this subject could have gone on for days. Luckily there is a separate committee of Dunwoody residents skilled in purchasing, contracting and law negotiating the services of this contract for the future City Council. Unfortunately with only one bidder if the negotiating team can’t get a fair price the city council will either need to continue the negotiations after being seated or will need to go a different route at that time. Hopefully for all concerned we hope that this turns out well, but the city council may need to be prepared to make some very tough decisions quickly after being seated if they fail.

The Task Force Reports as well as a few related documents that I provided to the candidates on the DVD have been saved to my personal servers and are now available below.

http://www.jkheneghan.com/city/Task_Force