A weekly newspaper and legal organ for DeKalb County, GA. Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain.
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championnewspaper championnewspaper champnews championnews thechampionnewspaper.com FRIDAY, june 19, 2015 • VOL. 18, nO. 11 • FREE • A PUBLICATION OF ACE III COMMUNICATIONS • Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain. F REE P RESS See Pool on page 15A Business ........................19A Education .....................18A Sports...................... 21-23A Opinion ........................... 5A Classified.......................20A QUICK FINDER Happy Father’s Day by Andrew Cauthen [email protected]W hile pools can be fun places to beat the summer heat, they also can be deadly and dangerous. In the United States, there was an aver- age of 382 pool or spa-related drownings report- ed per year from 2010 to 2012 involving children younger than 15 years of age. Additionally there were, on average, 5,400 pool- or spa-related hospital treated nonfatal injuries each year for 2012 through 2014 for the same age group. “Males under 15 are twice as likely to be a victim,” said Alexander Smith, an environmen- tal health specialist for DeKalb County Board of Health. One of Smith’s tasks is inspecting the county’s more than 900 nonresidential pools. Smith said parents should “closely monitor” young children and discourage them from en- gaging in risky behavior such as jumping from chairs and objects beside the pool. “Teaching kids to swim” or hang on the side of the pool also is important,” Smith said. To prevent injuries and drowning at public pools, Smith said parents need to be diligent. Smith said the first thing he would check at a pool is its inspection score. This 34-point in- spection covers pool water, pumping filtration and treatment system, deck/pool area, sewage disposal, shower/toilet facilities, operator’s re- cords and safety. “As a parent I would see if the rules are being followed,” Smith said. Each facility with a public pool is required by county ordinance to post and follow the county’s safety rules and regulations Males under age 15 are twice as likely to be victims of pool injuries or deaths, according to statistics. File photos by Andrew Cauthen [email protected]O ne more hurdle remains before residents of DeKalb County Com- mission District 5 have a commis- sioner: a runoff election. In the June 16 special election to fill the seat vacated by interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May, the field of 10 candidates was narrowed down to two: Mereda Da- vis Johnson and George Turner. Johnson, an attorney and wife of Con- gressman Hank Johnson, received 27.21 percent of the votes while Turner, a Dis- trict 5 Community Council president and a retired MARTA manager, received 15.94 percent. “I thank the citizens of the 5th District for all of their support and confidence in me,” Mereda Johnson said in a phone in- terview with e Champion. “is is my first campaign, so I feel very humbled by the confidence that the voters have put in me.” During the runoff campaign, Johnson said she will continue to do what she has been doing. “at’s knocking on doors, talking to voters and just working hard,” Johnson said. Johnson said she respects and admires the other candidates. “I look forward to working with them,” Johnson said. “All of the candidates had their hearts in it and all of them believe in DeKalb. It was a good race, [and] a very positive race.” If elected, Johnson said she will ad- dress “some basic things” that have been ignored while the district was without See Runoff on page 15A District 5 race headed to runoff Johnson Turner
• A PUBLICATION OF ACE III COMMUNICATIONS •Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain.FreePress
see Pool on page 15A
Business ........................19Aeducation .....................18ASports ...................... 21-23AOpinion ...........................5AClassified .......................20A
While pools can be fun places to beat the summer heat, they also can be deadly and dangerous.
In the United States, there was an aver-age of 382 pool or spa-related drownings report-ed per year from 2010 to 2012 involving children younger than 15 years of age.
Additionally there were, on average, 5,400 pool- or spa-related hospital treated nonfatal injuries each year for 2012 through 2014 for the same age group.
“Males under 15 are twice as likely to be a victim,” said Alexander Smith, an environmen-tal health specialist for DeKalb County Board of Health. One of Smith’s tasks is inspecting the county’s more than 900 nonresidential pools.
Smith said parents should “closely monitor” young children and discourage them from en-gaging in risky behavior such as jumping from chairs and objects beside the pool.
“Teaching kids to swim” or hang on the side of the pool also is important,” Smith said.
To prevent injuries and drowning at public pools, Smith said parents need to be diligent.
Smith said the first thing he would check at a pool is its inspection score. This 34-point in-spection covers pool water, pumping filtration and treatment system, deck/pool area, sewage disposal, shower/toilet facilities, operator’s re-cords and safety.
“As a parent I would see if the rules are being followed,” Smith said. Each facility with a public pool is required by county ordinance to post and follow the county’s safety rules and regulations Males under age 15 are twice as likely to be victims of pool
injuries or deaths, according to statistics. File photos
One more hurdle remains before residents of DeKalb County Com-mission District 5 have a commis-
sioner: a runoff election.In the June 16 special election to fill the
seat vacated by interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May, the field of 10 candidates was narrowed down to two: Mereda Da-vis Johnson and George Turner.
Johnson, an attorney and wife of Con-gressman Hank Johnson, received 27.21 percent of the votes while Turner, a Dis-trict 5 Community Council president and a retired MARTA manager, received 15.94 percent.
“I thank the citizens of the 5th District for all of their support and confidence in me,” Mereda Johnson said in a phone in-terview with The Champion. “This is my first campaign, so I feel very humbled by the confidence that the voters have put in me.”
During the runoff campaign, Johnson said she will continue to do what she has been doing.
“That’s knocking on doors, talking to voters and just working hard,” Johnson said.
Johnson said she respects and admires the other candidates.
“I look forward to working with them,” Johnson said. “All of the candidates had their hearts in it and all of them believe in DeKalb. It was a good race, [and] a very positive race.”
If elected, Johnson said she will ad-dress “some basic things” that have been ignored while the district was without
see runoff on page 15A
District 5 race headed to runoff
Johnson Turner
Page 2A the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015
The county’s proposed millage rate is set to decline and in just a few weeks, gar-bage pickup will be cut back to once a week.
To keep the public in-formed of the changes, Interim CEO Lee May has begun a series of town hall meetings to take place across the county.
May held his second town hall meeting at Dun-woody City Hall on June 10.
“I enjoy being out in the community to hear first-hand the priorities and concerns of DeKalb County residents. We start off talk-ing about the budget, but we invariably end up address-ing service delivery con-cerns,” May said.
He added, “I encour-age everyone to join us as we continue these meeting across DeKalb County.”
Approximately 45 com-munity members attended the Dunwoody City Hall event.
Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis said, “It’s very im-portant that he’s now come
to Dunwoody and had these town hall meetings a number of times. I can’t remember the last time that we were getting this much attention from the CEO of the county. We’re thrilled that he’s actually coming out and telling us what he’s thinking.”
Davis said, “No one is ever comfortable when talk-ing about taxes, but we’re all beginning to understand what the county is trying to do.”
Under the budget pro-posal, DeKalb could see its millage rate decrease from 21.21 to 20.81. The pro-posed 0.4-mill reduction, if approved, would be the county’s first tax rate de-crease since 2004.
May said, “An economic recovery is underway in DeKalb County, which has had a positive impact on our tax digest.”
He added, “We are in a great position to fund our critical needs in addition to offering relief to the taxpay-ers of DeKalb County.”
May’s next town hall meeting will be held on June 22 at Brookhaven City Hall from 7 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.
State Senator Fran Millar, interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May and Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis stand to-gether after a town hall meeting.
Interim CEO Lee May addresses the crowd of stakeholders about the new sanitation schedule and millage rates. Photos by Ashley Oglesby
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the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 3Alocal
A new mayor, city council member and mayor pro tem were appointed during the June 9 Brookhaven City Council meeting.
District 1 Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Rebecca Chase Williams was sworn in as mayor, filling the seat vacated by former mayor J. Max Davis. Davis resigned to run for Georgia House District 80, which was vacated by after Mike Jacobs was appointed as State Court judge of DeKalb by Gov. Nathan Deal.
Jacobs administered the oath of office to Wil-liams, who told residents that she “looks forward to the opportunity to continue to build a great city.”
“As our mission statement says, ‘we strive to be a national model, a place where our residents and businesses flourish,’” Williams said. “I will continue to build on the work already accom-plished, to learn from our experiences and to build a government that is really exceptional in all regards. This, of course, means we will always be open and honest, we will always remember that we work you—the taxpayers, and be respon-sible stewards of the taxpayers’ money.
“I’m going to continue to focus on the basics and that means police, paving, parks, permits and zoning,” Williams added. “But I will also advo-cate for what I call the wow factor—world-class
playgrounds in every park, sidewalks and passing trails that put us on the map—award-winning, smart development.”
The city’s charter allowed Williams to be ap-pointed by fellow councilmembers since the elec-tion for that office is less than 12 months away in November. Vacancies of 12 months or more require a special election.
Williams’ nomination for the vacant seat was approved by a vote of 3-1. Councilman Joe Geb-bia nominated Williams, with Councilman Bates Mattison seconding the nomination. Council-man John Park voted against the nomination.
“Part of this responsibility is making sure that we make a selection for somebody who can continue the charge of all the programs that we’re working on, and there is a lot going on,” Gebbia said. “Rebecca has done an excellent job on coun-cil to stay abreast of each and every issue. I think she is an excellent candidate to make sure that we as a city continue the momentum that we have.”
Davis also praised Williams for her work as a council member.
“Your counsel to me and to the rest of the council over the past two and a half years on many issues has been very valuable, and it has helped us along,” Davis said.
After Williams was sworn in, she nominated Linley Jones to fill the District 1 council seat. Jones was approved by councilmembers.
“She has been involved with the formation
of the city from the beginning,” Williams said of Jones. “She is one of the smartest [women] I know, and she’s a solid citizen.”
“I appreciate the support of all of you, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to repre-sent District 1, albeit for this brief period because I, along with the rest of the folks in District 1, look forward to having an elected representa-tion again,” Jones said. “But, I will do my best to listen to the input I will receive. I plan to have an opportunity in the very near future to meet with folks and hear about the concerns and interests of the people of District 1.”
Councilmembers elected Mattison, who rep-resents District 3, as mayor pro tem.
The seats for mayor, District 1 and District 3 also will be up for election on Nov. 3.
Potential candidates must file a notice of candidacy in the city clerk office between Aug. 31 and Sept. 2, between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., or between 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. The qualifying fee for each city council seat is $360, and the fee for mayor is $480.
Mayoral candidates must be a resident of the city of Brookhaven for at least 12 continu-ous months immediately prior to the election date, while candidates for city council must be a resident of the district for at least six continuous months immediately prior to the election.
Brookhaven City Council members congratulate Councilman Bates Mattison on his new position as mayor pro tem.
DeKalb State Judge Mike Jacobs administers the oath of office to Linley Jones.
Judge Mike Jacobs administers the oath of office to Re-becca Chase Williams. Photos by Carla Parker
by Ed Williams
Cityhood does not mean economic development, if so, all the cities close to the Hartfield-Jackson Atlanta International air-port would be booming. Residents should say no to more government, crime and corruption. The school problems need to be dealt with by the school board. The crime in south DeKalb needs to be addressed and the residents need to get more involved in their com-munities and schools. Big businesses and good jobs will not come or stay in an environment where there is high crime and bad schools, unless these problems are addressed.
Yes, we need to do some-thing, but we do not want to make our situation worse. It is the job of the chamber of commerce and private citizens to create jobs. The government can help create a business friendly envi-
ronment. However, if the government becomes the primary business, then we will look like Cuba or North Korea. Some of the propo-nents of cityhood should be running for a position in the chamber of commerce, not in government.
Alternatives have not been presented to residents in the affected area, for ex-ample, smaller cities, opting out of the city, changing the annexation laws, court ac-tion. Alternative forms of quasi-cities should be con-
sidered; private residential associations or communi-ties and special districts could also be alternatives to cityhood.
What cityhood will likely bring is more government with rules and regulations, more jails and courts, more crime, more corruption, more traffic tickets, more code enforcement, less busi-nesses, and bad customer service.
South DeKalb could look like Clayton County, Miami Gardens, Tuskegee, Ala., East Saint Louis, Liberty City, Gary, Ind., Detroit, Washington, D.C., or Fer-guson, Miss., if the cityhood bill is passed by the state as-sembly and the referendum is passed by the voters. Ask the proponents of cityhood which city they plan to use as a model for south DeKalb or Stonecrest. I do not mean what the feasibility study used. I mean, which city do proponents believe South DeKalb will look like with
similar demographics and population?
Repeat it enough times; they will believe it and then it will become fact. Even the DeKalb 5th District com-mission candidates are re-peating the facts incorrectly.
Kathryn Rice backtracks on her statement that south DeKalb will be left paying pensions. First, Rice and her group said there was a law that permits the new cities to avoid paying or sharing in the cost of DeKalb pension plan. Almost everyone was repeating it, even state law-makers and DeKalb com-missioners.
Now Rice and her group admit there is no law. They now use the words “fair,” “shoulder” and “bur-den” of the pension costs—a play on words. Concerned Citizens for Cityhood in South DeKalb has repeated so many times that “south DeKalb would be the only area paying the pension” that everyone believes what
they have been saying is true. The factoid meter in-dicates that this is not true, and that the statement is a stretch of the facts. It is be-ing used as a fear or scare tactic to get residents to support cityhood. Rice con-tinues to say if the city of south DeKalb is created that it is her position that the city should make pension pay-ments. It seems that there is some doubletalk going on.
According to the county budget department, the new cities are contributing to the county pension plan, though not to the same extent as if they had not become a city. The typical portions that new cities may not be equal-ly contributing to are police and designated services if new cities are providing their own services in those areas. All the other county funds contribute to the pen-sion.
Ed Williams is the chair-man of Citizens Against Cityhood in DeKalb.
The Champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 4Aopinion
Facts about the pension costs and new cities
opinionThe Champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 5A
Let us Know What You Think!THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS encour-ages opinions from its readers. Please write to us and express your views. Letters should be brief, typewritten and contain the writer’s name, address and telephone number for verification. All letters will be considered for publication.Send Letters To editor, The Champion Free Press, P. O. Box 1347, Decatur, GA 30031-1347; Send email to [email protected] • FAX To: (404) 370-3903 Phone: (404) 373-7779 . Deadline for news releases and advertising: Thursday, one week prior to publication date.
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We sincerely appreciate the discussion surrounding this and any issue of interest to DeKalb County. The Champion was founded in 1991 expressly to provide a forum for discourse for all community residents on all sides of an issue. We have no desire to make the news only to report news and opinions to effect a more educated citizenry that will ultimately move our community forward. We are happy to present ideas for discussion; however, we make every effort to avoid printing information submitted to us that is known to be false and/or assumptions penned as fact.
One Man’s OpiniOn
“Waste neither time nor money, but make the best use of both. Without industry and frugality, nothing will do, and with them every-thing,” author, publisher, inventor and statesman, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790).
Being a man of middle age, I have a much greater appreciation for in getting a good night’s sleep and the comfort of a good mat-tress and bed. I’m hopeful that the days of crashing on couches, roll-away beds and sleeping on the floor are largely behind me.
Beginning during the earlier GOP Congressional takeover in 1994, a modest group of young freshmen, many with young families back home, made the con-scious and frugal choice not to lease or purchase an apartment or townhome on Capitol Hill but instead to crash in their congressional office suites, often on the floor or a couch atop a roll-up or air mattress.
U. S. House member offices, in the Capitol as well as a series of buildings flanking both sides of Capi-tol Hill are historic, some-times charming and quaint, but generally cramped, cer-tainly compared to the more opulent and larger digs re-served for the 100 members of the U. S. Senate. Lead-ership offices are larger, but office assignments, as well as individual pieces of
furniture (some well over a century old), are among the perks of seniority, as well as being in the major-ity. When majority shifts occur, the moving days and long weekends before a new Congress is sworn in are viewed as almost comical.
But after nearly three de-cades of primarily younger members of the larger chamber of Congress using their offices periodically as “crash pads” along comes a new spin from a longtime columnist at Roll Call, a re-spected and venerated D.C. media outlet heavily read by other reporters, politi-cal wags and staffers on the Hill.
The “crash pad” trend, started for reasons of thrift, and not getting “too com-fortable” in a second D.C. home is now being viewed through a different prism.
Roll Call columnist Da-vid Hawkins pointed out that while Congress may
have frozen its own pay for the past seven years, the “sleepers” pay no rent, receive no utility bills, and pay nothing for daily clean-ing and sanitation services.
Within Georgia’s con-gressional delegation, for-mer Congressman Jack Kingston (R-Savannah) was a longtime practitio-ner, and currently Georgia GOP Reps. Buddy Carter (Savannah), Doug Col-lins (Gainesville), Tom Graves (Ranger) and Jody Hice (Walton County) are all members of the current “Dream Team” sleeping free on the Hill.
I will mention though that although a few Con-gressional offices have mi-crowaves, mini-fridges and occasionally a sink or toilet within their suite virtually none have showers or full bathrooms.
The members of Con-gress who “office camp” are often seen racing early to the Capitol gym, which opens at 5:30 a.m.
This “frequent guest” program offers no points, no free breakfast, no mints or turn down service–but does offer the pleasure of virtu-ally your entire staff and the occasional constituent not only knowing your full “bed head” look, but really having an understanding of whether or not you are a morning person.
Though former U.S. House Speaker Jim Wright
(D-Texas) forbade the practice as being “demean-ing to the institution of the House,” it appears at least under the current GOP lead-ership, the congressional camping practice is here to stay.
Washington, D.C., re-mains far from being afford-able in terms of housing. Rent for a one-bedroom, “walk-up” in nearby Capitol Hill tends to start at $2,000 per month, plus utilities.
Even on a Congress-man’s salary (currently $174,000), if you have a family and are not indepen-dently wealthy, that second residence for three to four nights per week, which pro-duces no income, sounds like a pretty bad investment decision. Some members of Congress pool resources and bunk together, others rent rooms in townhomes owned by more senior members.
But pulling a Clark Howard in buildings which taxpayers already own, and already maintain is hardly ‘stealing’ another benefit from U.S. taxpayers.
Though going by a few of the air mattresses I’ve seen in use, the Capitol Hill YMCA might start looking pretty good.
Even UGA interns now have a large residence on the Hill called The Delta House (thanks to the gener-osity of the airline, not some Greek organization). Maybe along with the occasional
everything in the spin againpair of Dawgs tickets, some in our delegation could just go crash at the interns’ house.
No...probably a bad idea...President Clinton already tried that. It didn’t turn out too well.
Bill Crane also serves as a political analyst and commen-tator for Channel 2’s Action News, WSB-AM News/Talk 750 and now 95.5 FM, as well as a columnist for The Cham-pion, Champion Free Press and Georgia Trend. Crane is a DeKalb native and business owner, living in Scottdale. You can reach him or comment on a column at [email protected].
Page 6A the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015
local
Delphyne Lomax has al-ways had a passion for help-ing others and volunteering. She volunteers for several organizations in DeKalb County and has been rec-ognized as volunteer of the year by the South DeKalb YMCA.
Lomax first started vol-unteering as a team mom 24 years ago when her son was playing basketball. She said she would round up parents and assign them snacks and drinks to bring for the games.
She’s become involved
with many nonprofit organi-zations through networking for her business.
“A lot of people I’ve met along my life journey have started their own organi-zations, and I find myself volunteering because I know they have good causes,” she said.
Each year, Lomax col-lects, sorts and packs do-nated items for shipment to Montego Bay, Jamaica, as part of an annual mission trip coordinated by DeKalb-based nonprofit Uncondi-tional Love for Children, Inc. While in Jamaica, she works with local schools, churches and communities
in programs such as self-esteem and parenting. An accomplished songstress, Lomax is often called upon to lead the group in praise hymnals.
She also helps with fun-draising efforts for Students Without Mothers, a non-profit organization that gives scholarships to students who’ve lost their mothers due to unfortunate circum-stances.
This year the organiza-tion awarded three high school students with $4,000 toward their college ex-
penses. “I really believe in giving
back,” Lomax said. “Giving back can really bless others.”
Students Without Moth-ers has made Lomax grateful for having her mother. She added that her favorite part about her involvement with the organization is working with interesting people.
“I love the people that you meet and the lasting re-lationships,” she said.
If you would like to nominate someone to be considered as a future Champion of the Week, please contact Andrew Cauthen at [email protected] or at (404) 373-7779, ext. 117.
The Vietnam War has been over for more than 40 years, but the country of Laos is still dealing with the after-affects.
According to the U.S. Depart-ment of State, more than 2.5 mil-lion tons of U.S. munitions were dropped on Laos. Up to 30 percent of the bombs dropped over Laos failed to detonate. The explosive remnants of war continue to impede development and cause hundreds of casualties a year, according to the Department of State.
A few of those casualties includ-ed family members of Thongvone Sosamphan.
“My family, my grandparents [were] killed when he tried to re-move the bomb from his village,” Sosamphan said.
The 26-year-old has been work-ing on humanitarian mine action and development in Laos since 2011, and she later became a mem-ber of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI).
The YSEALI program was launched in 2013 to strengthen leadership development and net-working in Southeast Asia. Through a variety of programs and engage-ments, including U.S. educational and cultural exchanges, regional exchanges, and seed funding, YSE-
ALI seeks to build the leadership capabilities of youth in the region, strengthen ties between the United States and Southeast Asia.
It was through the YSEALI pro-gram and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Professional Fellows Legis-lative Process and Governance Pro-gram that led Sosamphan and Ngan Nguyen of Vietnam to Decatur.
Nguyen works as an official of the International Relations De-partment of the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU). She is program of-ficer of projects on prevention of human trafficking, hygiene and water system for poor communities, wheelchairs for disabled persons
and scholarships for poor female students.
Decatur was selected as a host community for the ICMA Profes-sional Fellows Legislative Process and Governance Program for Co-hort 1 from May 2-30. The program brought emerging leaders from around the world to the United States for an intensive fellowship designed to broaden their profes-sional expertise, promote local government partnerships, establish networks and create international relationships.
During the 30 days, the two in-ternational fellows saw how Decatur government operates. Sosamphan said her country receives funding from United States, however, “we don’t have a sufficient response to the need of the people.”
“We could have done more, but we don’t have the right skill for that,” she said. “Corruption is a big prob-lem. I’m here, hoping that with city of Decatur, to see how you promote transparency when you get taxes from people.”
The two fellows spent time in each governing department in Decatur to see firsthand how a gov-erned body operates.
“My impression is the city re-ally provides a high standard of services to the people,” Sosamphan said. “The people are so dedicated. Everyone is so friendly, relatable and
opinionated.”The city of Decatur is an ICMA
member. Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss is a former ICMA president, and was the first woman president, according to Decatur Public Information Officer Casie Yoder.
“She’s still very involved in the organization,” Yoder said. “They put out this call to cities across the country asking if any of us would be willing to host two of the profes-sional fellows who are coming over through [YSEALI]. We’ve never done this before, and we thought it would be a great opportunity to play host and to learn something at the same time. It’s definitely a two-way street with that.”
Sosamphan said the goal of the fellows is to process everything they have learned and discuss how to ap-ply it to their work.
“At the end of our stay here we’re going to develop an action plan on what would be the next step,” she said. “We came here with a com-munity challenge, and we have to pick out one topic that we can relate to our work and fit to the theme of the program. My case study is pro-gressing and supporting people with disabilities because there are many victims linked to the war. They are still waiting on assistances from the government.”
-Chenoa Tyehimba
Keep your germs out of the pool to keep your friends and family healthy.
DO NOT:Swim if you have diarrhea or are vomiting.
For more information: Visit www.cdc.gov/healthyswimming or call the DeKalb County Board of Health’s Division of Environmental Health at 404.508.7900.
Healthy Swimming Tips #1
DO:Wash your hands before you prepare food or eat and after using the restroom or changing a diaper.
Sosamphan
the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 7Alocal
Avondale EstatesCity is seeking communication manager
Avondale Estates is looking for a community communication manager who would be respon-sible for internal and external communication efforts through a variety of media, marketing and advertising operations and coordinating activities to promote the city’s programs and endeavors, and providing marketing support services for all departments of the city, the Board of Mayor and Commissioners and other boards and commissions. This position reports to the city manager.
Applications/resumes should be submit-ted by email to [email protected] or mailed/hand-delivered to Avondale Estates City Hall, Attn: City Manager Clai Brown, 21 N. Avondale Plaza, Avondale Estates, GA 30002.
An employment applications can be found at avondaleestates.org/resources/pdfs/communi-cations-manager-job-opening.pdfs attached. No phone calls will be accepted. The deadline for applications/resumes is June 30.
Brookhaven
Sheep put to workBrookhaven’s Parks & Recreation Depart-
ment will soon have the help of a herd of sheep in cleaning out invasive plant growth in Briar-wood Park.
Sheep from the company Ewe-Niversally Green will be housed on three acres of the park for several days to help with removal of English ivy, privet and kudzu.
“At Briarwood Park, the location we have initially identified, is one within a drainage swale where the only means to remove the overgrown vegetation is through the use of sheep herds,” said parks manager Gary Schussler.
The sheep will be enclosed with an electric fence and will be protected by a livestock dog. Signage at the site notify the public.
Schussler said he expects to use sheep to help with removal of invasive plant growth in addi-tional city parks in the future.
City to hold first Touch-A-Truck eventBrookhaven will host its first Touch-A-Truck
event at Blackburn Park, 3493 Ashford Dun-woody Road, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on June 27.
The community will have an opportunity to go inside a fire truck, meet a police K-9 and turn the lights on in a Brookhaven police car.
Krispy Kreme will provide breakfast treats and coffee, as well as a dipping station for the children.
Decatur
Celebrate summer solstice with yogaJoin Decatur Active Living and Cheryl Bur-
nette to welcome the longest day of the year with a summer solstice yoga practice.
This is the second annual celebration and this year the event is part of International Yoga Day.
“Throughout history, many cultures have as-sociated the summer solstice with a renewal of mind, body and spirit and a celebration of the sense of joyfulness and fun that the sunshine evokes in all of us,” states an announcement about the event.
Participants can celebrate with a morning practice that includes asana, sun salutations and more.
The event will be held June 21 at 9 a.m. on the courtyard in the Beacon Municipal Com-plex, 420 West Trinity Place. If it rains, the prac-tice will be held in the adjacent Ebster Recre-ation Center gym.
The event is free, but donations for the Deca-tur Youth Fund will be accepted. RSVP by email-ing [email protected] or calling (678) 553-6541.
DoravilleBoard volunteers needed
Doraville is looking for volunteers interested in serving on various city boards and commis-sions.
Applications are always accepted, but active candidacy review includes positions on the ur-ban redevelopment agency, downtown develop-ment authority, architectural review board and storm water advisory committee.
To apply for a position on a citizen board, complete the candidate board/commission ap-plication and submit to the city clerk in person; by mail at 3725 Park Ave., Doraville, GA 30340; by fax at (770) 936-3862; or by emailing [email protected].
City named second best in businessNerdWallet, a consumer finance website,
has conducted a study to find the best places in Georgia to start a business, and Doraville ranked second.
To determine this ranking, NerdWallet ex-amined 126 places in Georgia with populations of 5,000 or more and analyzed the following factors: business climate–average revenue of
businesses, percentage of businesses with paid employees, and businesses per 100 people; and local economic health–median annual income, median monthly housing costs, and unemploy-ment rate.
”Doraville’s proximity to Atlanta, major transportation routes and two of the state’s largest airports make it a prime location for aspiring entrepreneurs,” a news release stated. “With 1,580 businesses, the city boasts an im-pressive number of businesses per 100 people and features high average revenue per business ($5,361,780), second only to Alpharetta. These factors, coupled with a high percentage of busi-nesses with paid employees (38.04 percent), make Doraville an ideal place to launch a busi-ness.”
DunwoodyCity to host Government 101 class
The Dunwoody Government 101 series is an eight-week course designed to enhance resi-dents’ understanding of city government and of-fers the community a chance to experience and discover the primary undertakings of the city.
The series provides participants an insider’s look at each of the city’s departments through a lively blend of demonstrations, presentations, and tours, all conducted in a casual format at numerous sites throughout the city.
Participants can expect to come away with a heightened awareness and knowledge of local government operations as well as a greater un-derstanding of how to get involved in local civic and community affairs.
For more information, visit dunwoodyga.gov.
Deadline for application is June 19.
CountywideAnimal shelter offering free pet adoptions
LifeLine Animal Project invites residents to come into DeKalb County Animal Services for a cool adoption special.
Throughout June, all dogs and cats six months and older may be adopted for free. Dogs must also weigh at least 25 pounds to qualify. Adopters will receive a dog or cat that has been spayed or neutered, has had all vaccines and is microchipped–a $250 value–at no cost. Adop-tion counselors will be on hand to ensure the animals are being placed in good homes.
LifeLine’s DCAS Shelter Director Susan Fe-ingold said that offering fee-waived adoptions is a great way to increase adoption rates. “With summer here, twice as many animals are com-ing into the shelters as usual, and free adoptions tend to create a buzz of excitement and bring more people into shelters,” Feingold said. “Ac-cording to numerous studies, fee-waived promo-tions increase adoptions without compromising the quality of care that the animals receive.”
To see pictures of available animals at DCAS, visit www.dekalbanimalservices.com.
Around DeKalb
Page 8A the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015
REPORT OF EAST METRO DEKALB COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT OF PROPOSED MILLAGE RATE
In compliance with O.C.G.A. §48-5, the East Metro DeKalb Community
Improvement District (“CID”) reports that at its meeting on June 23, 2015, beginning at 9:00
A.M. at 3951 Snapfinger Parkway, Suite 440, Decatur, Georgia 30035, the East Metro DeKalb
CID Board of Directors will vote upon a proposal to levy an ad valorem taxation rate of 3
mills, and will set its millage rate for the lawful purposes of the District for the current
calendar year. Set forth below are the assessed taxable values of the properties subject to
taxes for the current year and the total dollar amount of ad valorem taxes proposed to be
levied for the current year. All property levied upon is real property. Because this CID was
created this year, there are no preceding years of assessed taxable values, taxes, and changes
to report.
Assessed Value Taxes Levied % Change $ Change
2014 $58,682,641 $176,047 00% $0.00
Notice of Public Hearing forClarkston Millage Rate
Notice is hereby given that prior to setting the tax millage rate for 2015, the Clarkston Mayor and Council will hold a Public Hearing at City Hall, 3921 Church Street, Clarkston Georgia, on Tuesday, July 7, 2015 at 10:00am on the proposed millage rate. The City Council is proposing to adopt a millage rate for 2015 that exceed the rollback rate by 53.80 percent. All concerned citizens are invited to attend.
Clarkston City Council amended its operating budget from $4.3 million to $4 mil-lion at a council meeting on June 2.
City Manager Keith Barker said due to changes in staff within the finance de-partment, preparation of an amended budget document had not been done.
City officials approve an annual budget at the begin-ning of each fiscal year based on projected revenues and expenditures.
Financial Director Dan Defnall said, “We are propos-ing amending the final 2014 operating budget to match up with the revenues and expen-ditures. Throughout the year the revenues flow from the budget and with the changing of priority of projects.”
He added that the ma-jority of the changes in the increase of the budget relate to capital projects items that were funded from proceeds from either capital assets or long-term financing for the streetscapes project.
Defnall said, “In the orig-inal budget those items were not included because [there was not] a budget plan at that time of what was going to happen on those projects.”
This fiscal year Clarkston had a 7 percent increase in the general fund balance and
an 11 percent increase in rev-enues, according to Barker.
Barker said, “That’s just the general fund. If you’re looking at all funds which will account for moving mon-ey from the special revenue fund to the general fund, i.e. capital fund changes..., then we had a variance of only 3 percent of our expenditure numbers and a variance of three percent in our revenue numbers.”
He added, “I’m very pleased with that number and that’s a very acceptable variance. I would anticipate that variance will even be-gin to shrink now that we’ve got more qualified finance individuals to help the city manager and the city clerk manage those numbers.
“We’re finally getting to where we need to get in terms
of trying to get a 100 percent clean audit report,” Barker said.
“Budgeting is a science and an art, it’s not exact be-cause what we’re doing is anticipating expenditures that will sometimes come 15 months from the date that we are anticipating those num-bers,” Barker said.
He said throughout the year, various factors influence the budget, which impacts projected revenues and affect necessary expenditures.
“What we should be looking at as city manager and elected officials is how accurate are we in anticipat-ing and managing both ex-penditures and revenues,” he added.
Clarkston City Hall, located at 1055 Rowland Street. Barker
the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 9Alocal
NOTICE OF PROPERTY TAX INCREASE
The Governing Authority of the City of Clarkston has tentatively adopted a millage rate which will require an increase in property taxes by 53.80 percent.
All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearing on this tax increase to be held at City Hall on July 7, 2015 at 10:30 am and on July 7, 2015 at 7:00pm.
This tentative increase will result in a millage rate of 21.15 mills, an increase of 7.381 mills over the rollback rate. Without this tentative tax increase, the millage rate will be no more than 13.719 mills.
The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $65,000 is approximately $191.90.
The proposed increase on a non‐homestead property with a fair market value of $185,000 is approximately $546.19.
by Kathy Mitchell
At the grand open-ing of the Spray Ground at Exchange Park June 13, DeKalb County Commis-sioner Larry Johnson joked that he played in a spray park as a child in Chicago “except they didn’t call it a spray park; it was more an open fire hydrant.”
Johnson said the new configuration of fountains, dump buckets and other water implements was one of a number of recreation facilities he hopes to bring to south DeKalb parks. “I would like to see us have an ice skating rink in this part of the county,” he added.
DeKalb Superior Court Clerk Debra DeBerry said of Johnson, “He never stopped fighting for the funds to build this. He really wanted to see south DeKalb have something like this.”
“Right now,” Johnson said, “this facility is free, but with county budgets being what they are you never
know whether that will last. So bring the whole family and come on out while it’s free.”
Dozens of residents cov-ering a broad range of ages donned swimsuits and came to try out the new facility. Area resident Linda Seals, who brought her grandchil-dren, said, “I’ve been com-ing by here regularly and watching the progress. I’m really impressed with how fast they put it together.”
Construction started on the spray ground in August 2014 and was completed in March 2015, according to Roy Wilson, director of rec-reation, parks and cultural affairs for the county. He explained that Johnson had approached the department about a water facility where people could cool off in the summer.
“This park already has a community garden, ball fields and a lot of other nice facilities. We decided what it needed was a water feature,” Wilson said.
new park feature makes big splash
See Splash on page 16A
Commissioner Larry Johnson, at lectern, addresses visitors before of-ficially opening the new facility. Photos by Kathy Mitchell
Johnson, center, greets visitor Linda Seals, right, and her grandchildren.
The big dump bucket was a popular attraction at the grand opening.
Page 10A the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015
Pine Lake Eco Arts counselor Sara Gregory said, “It’s wonderful for me to see kids be all wide-eyed, running and ready to ex-plore.”
Eco Arts camp is a six-week summer camp that aims to connect children with nature and fuel creativ-ity.
The first camp session, June 8-19, is themed forts, castles and nature art.
In this session campers explore the environment around the lake and collect anything that inspires them. Once the children have col-lected their favorite items, they are led to assemble site-specific art such as sand-castles, pine cone mandalas, fairy gardens, woven struc-tures and playhouses.
Gregory said, “The pur-pose is to get us to dig more into nature and see things we walk through every day and don’t necessarily take the time to investigate.”
She added, “A lot of
children may not have the opportunity to be in a safe space in nature where they can explore and know that someone is looking out for them. We make sure that they can really be free to ex-plore.”
In the camp’s second session, June 22 through 26 and its third session July 6 through 10, titled wetlands, lake and wildlife parts one and two, campers take walks, participate in bird watching, plant identifica-tion and catch and release minnows, frogs, salaman-ders, turtles and tadpoles.
The final camp, July 13 through 24, features per-forming arts from campers, including puppetry, writing and dancing.
Eco Arts camp was founded by Pine Lake resi-dent and school teacher Ella Johannaber in 2008.
Johannaber said when she first moved to Pine Lake, Mayor Kathie deNobriga asked her what her passion was. To which she replied summer camps.
“I felt that a camp would
capitalize on two of our core strengths which are our at-tention to the environment and to the many artists that live in Pine Lake,” deNobriga said.
She added, “It’s a great way to present the city and its assets to a broader pub-lic.”
When Johannaber started the summer camp it was focused on performance arts. In 2011 the camp ex-panded to include the eco-logical art components and changed its name from Pine Lake Theater Arts to Eco Arts Camp.
Johannaber said the change in focus came when she “became aware of how much children needed a bal-ance in their increasingly technological full lives.”
“Initially I noticed that children would really miss their technology and hand-held games when they got to camp but when they tuned in to the nature around them they didn’t miss those things anymore. I witnessed a particular kind of aliveness in the campers that I knew
was because they’d spent time being connected with nature,” she said.
Johannaber said when the camp began there were 12 children. This year, the camp almost maxed out the space with 26 participants in the first session.
Camp for each child is $380 for two weeks. Johan-
naber said a scholarship pro-gram has also been initiated for campers.
The summer camp scholarship is dependent on donations. To learn more about Eco Arts summer camp or donate to their scholarship fund visit eco-artscamp.com.
nature, arts and friendships at eco Arts camp
Notice of Public Hearing forClarkston Millage Rate
Notice is hereby given that prior to setting the tax millage rate for 2015, the Clarkston Mayor and Council will hold a Public Hearing at City Hall, 3921 Church Street, Clarkston Georgia, on Tuesday, July 7, 2015 at 7:00pm on the proposed millage rate. The City Council is proposing to adopt a millage rate for 2015 that exceed the rollback rate by 53.80 percent. All concerned citizens are invited to attend.
Camper Anderson Smith-Coat peers through binoculars for new discoveries. Eco Arts counselors and campers gather in a circle to sing and sway to camp songs.
Cassie Cate, age 6, shares one of her find-ings from the camp’s daily group activity.
Founder of Eco Arts Ella Johannaber, sings repeat-after-me songs with the youngsters. Photos by Chenoa Tyehimba
the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 11Alocal
commissioners select watershed project contractorby Andrew [email protected]
The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners on June 9 approved the con-struction contractor for the largest project in the coun-ty’s billion-dollar watershed improvement program.
Archer Western Con-struction LLC of Atlanta, the lowest bidder at $187.9 million, was selected for the construction portion of the Snapfinger Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facil-ities expansion. The 4.5-year contract consists of blasting and clearing of rock; con-struction of a retaining wall; demolition of existing tank-age and equipment; con-struction of the new head-work, biological reactors, membrane bio-reactors, and chemical storage and feed facilities; modifications to the chlorine contact basin; sludge dewatering; sludge holding tank; and odor con-trol units.
The project was origi-nally bid out in early 2014, but the process was delayed by a complaint from a po-tential contractor.
“There was a protest by one of the contractors say-ing there were irregularities on the bid day—basically it was delayed by 15 minutes,” said Kenneth Saunders, the watershed department’s pro-gram director for the capital improvement project.
The protest was re-viewed by the county’s legal department, Saunders said, which concluded that “we potentially would be chal-lenged by a lawsuit that could delay us longer and we decided to rebid,” Saunders said.
In September 2014 the watershed department amended the bid package to address questions contrac-tors had during the initial bid process. The revised invitation to bid was re-leased January 2015. The bid opened in March and a rec-ommendation was made to the Board of Commissioners in May.
One “significant addi-tion to the revised bid pack-age” was the Construction Activities Mitigation Plan, said MaLika Hakeem, pro-
gram outreach coordinator for the watershed depart-ment.
“This project will go on…for five years,” Saun-ders explained. “There are impacts on the surround-ing community. A church, school and housing are around the site…and Flakes Mill is a busy roadway.
“While constructing, we wanted to make sure that we identify all of those things that would have impacts on the community,” he said. “There are sound barriers that are on the site. There is an enhanced effort to miti-gate any issues related to the blasting that will occur.
“Blasting, sound, light-ing, dust, traffic—we de-tailed that out and looked at what we can do to mitigate any impact on the commu-nity,” Saunders said. “For instance on the sound, there are limits on even individual pieces of equipment and the noise they can emit.”
When the bids came in during the rebid process, they were lower because of “competition,” Saunders said.
“We got three bids with-in 5 percent of each other,” Saunders said. “The low bid was about $5 million less” than the previous bids.
“We had the same three bidders. They had a chance to look at it again and got a better price,” Saunders said. “At least we did save some money.”
In 2010, the DeKalb County Board of Commis-sioners approved a $1.345 billion upgrade to DeKalb’s water and sewer system. At the time, county officials said approximately $20 mil-lion-$30 million would be allocated to address require-ments of a consent decree in which DeKalb County agreed to pay a $453,000 penalty from the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for excessive sewage spills. The county also agreed to implement a $600,000 stream cleanup project, focusing on de-bris removal from parts of the South River, South Fork Peachtree Creek and Snapfinger Creek.
Saunders said the state of the Capital Improvement
Project (CIP) is “good.”“We are progressing
in all areas,” he said. “Cer-tainly getting these bids is on Snapfinger is extremely important, but we’ve got a number of other major ac-tivities that are ongoing.”
Saunders said there are 17 waterline projects under way including projects on Candler Road, Elam Road and Flat Shoals Parkway. In all, approximately 500 miles of water lines are set to be replaced.
The county is in the final stages of selecting a program manager for the CIP.
“The biggest accom-plishment…is that we have been fully in compliance with all of the requirements
of the EPA under the con-sent order,” Saunders said.
During a July 17 forum watershed officials will “lay out our requirements for over $40 million in engi-neering and construction management services as-sociated with the consent decree and the overall CIP.
“That’s another big piece of the work that we have to do,” Saunders said.
Another accomplish-ment has been expediting preconstruction activities, such as hiring a construc-tion manager.
“Eighty percent of what’s going to be spent in this program is construction. But I’ve got to have it managed and designed before I can
construct,” Saunders said.“Everyone looks for dirt
being turned, but there are things you have to do on the front side,” he said.
Although there have been some delays, they have not be been “untypical,” Saunders said.
“I came here April 2, 2012,” he said. “That sum-mer we were supposed to have done three things that were significant in terms of professional services: hire a program manager for the consent decree, which hap-pened in April 2014. We were supposed to have hired the construction manager for Snapfinger. That hap-pened in August 2013. That same summer we were also
See Watershed on page 14A
Archer Western Construction of Atlanta has been selected as the construction contractor for the $187.9 mil-lion Snapfinger Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facilities expansion project.
Workers are set to replace 500 miles of water lines in DeKalb. Photo by Andrew Cauthen
Page 12A the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015
local
On June 11, East Decatur Station cele-brated its arts festival, The Big Pop.
Sponsored by The Decatur Arts Alli-ance, The Big Pop is a gathering of art-ists ranging from the visual and musical to the crafts and cu-linary. Bands Free After Three, Black Sheep Ensemble, and P Jazz played from the afternoon on into the evening. Three Taverns Craft Brew-ery offered discounted tour and tastings, and Decatur-based visual artist, Ruth Franklin displayed a solo exhi-bition.
Photos by Justin Beaudrot
THE BIG POP UP
the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 13Alocal
WEEK PICturEsIn
Photos brought to you by DCTVDeKalb County begins one-day-a-week sanitation collection service July 6, 2015
Residential customers will have same-day garbage, recyclable materials and yard trimmings collectionFor more info, call or visit:
(404) 294-2900 www.rollingforwardtoone.com
Fifteen students were recognized during the DeKalb Christian Home Educators’ elementary and middle school gradua-tion on June 12.
Xavier Doyle plays the cello during the talent portion of the graduation program. Photos by Andrew Cauthen
Fans of Buford Highway attended the Buford Highway Pop-Up Patio event on June 13 at the vacant lot between Intown Plaza and Asian Square. The event was organized by We Love BuHi to promote businesses and people from the area. Photos from Welovebuhi Instagram
Page 14A the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015
local
Watershed Continued From Page 11A
City 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015Real & Personal 157,295,925 158,471,976 133,021,745 141,146,248 148,072,403 178,050,508
Motor Vehicles 7,917,420 7,854,350 8,014,980 8,451,460 7,456,190 5,564,760
Net M&O Millage 11.000 10.957 10.957 10.957 10.957 10.957
Total City Taxes Levied $1,816,036 $1,821,315 $1,542,807 $1,637,629 $1,701,187 $2,007,802
Net Taxes $ Increase $5,279 -$278,508 $94,822 $63,558 $306,615
Net Taxes % Increase 0.29% -15.29% 6.15% 3.88% 18.02%
NOTICE OF TAX INCREASEAnd 5 Year History of Levy
The Governing Authority of the City of Avondale Estates has tentatively adopted a 2015 millage rate which will require an increase in the property taxes by 16.53 percent. All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase to be held at City Hall, 21 North Avondale Plaza, Avondale Estates, GA 30002 on Tuesday, June 16, 2015 at 5:30 P.M., Monday, June 22, 2015 at 7:30 P.M., and Wednesday July 1, 2015 at 6:00 P.M. This tentative increase will result in a millage rate of 10.957 mills, an increase of 1.56 mills. Without this tentative tax increase, the millage rate will be no more than 9.403 mills. The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $200,000.00 is approximately $312. The proposed increase on non-homestead property with a fair market value of $200,000 is approximately $312. The proposed tax increase for a property with the county basic homestead exemption is $312.
City oF ClArKStonCurrent propoSeD 2015 tAX DigeSt AnD 5 yeAr HiStory oF leVy
City tax 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Real & Personal 87,540,369 72,710,992 64,816,123 58,592,799 64,881,851 107,610,419Motor Vehicles 5,223,890 5,088,980 5,462,080 6,244,650 5,266,300 3,300,880Mobile Homes 0 0 0 0 0 0Timber - 100% 0 0 0 0 0 0Heavy Duty Equipment 0 0 0 0 0 0Gross Digest 92,764,259 77,799,972 70,278,203 64,837,449 70,148,151 110,911,299Less M & O Exemptions 1,629,182 1,595,543 1,618,667 1,683,228 1,798,483 1,945,711Net M & O Digest 91,135,077 76,204,429 68,659,536 63,154,221 68,349,668 108,965,588
Gross M & O Millage 11.313 11.313 14.000 17.950 17.950 21.100Less Rollbacks 0.000 2.687 3.950 0.000 3.200 0.000Net M & O Millage 11.313 14.000 17.950 17.950 21.150 21.100
Total County Taxes Levied $1,031,011 $1,066,862 $1,232,439 $1,133,618 $1,445,595 $2,299,174
The Junior League of DeKalb County Inc. (JLD) has announced its presi-dent, board of directors, and five new community advi-sory board members for the 2015-2016 league year.
JLD is a not-for-profit organization of women that has been investing in the community and its members for more than 80 years.
The organization’s positive impact can be seen throughout DeKalb County with other not-for-profit organizations such as the In-ternational Women’s House, Day League, and the Cal-lanwolde Guild Inc., which were established or founded in part by JLD. The board of directors is responsible for the overall governance and management of the or-ganization, which includes financial and committee oversight, strategic planning, and community outreach.
“I am honored to serve as the 2015-2016 president alongside this amazing group of women,” said Min-dy Kaplan, president of the organization.
“The Junior League of DeKalb County Inc. is an incredible organization of over 300 women dedicated to making a difference in our community, developing
the potential of women, and promoting volunteerism,” she said. “I am truly inspired by the hard work and dedi-cation of our members who invest their time, talents, and treasures year after year,”
The 2015-2016 board of directors includes Suzanne Osborne, president-elect; Shara Sanders, secretary; Rashidah Hasan, vice presi-dent of community; Kim-berly Roberts, vice presi-dent of membership; Allison Lockhart, vice president of finance; Olivia Greene, vice president of fund develop-ment; Natalie Wilkes-Shaw, nominating chairwoman; and Sandra Smith, sustainer advisor.
The Community Advi-sory Board (CAB) is com-posed of community and business leaders with diverse expertise and backgrounds. The CAB members provide JLD with direction and guidance in identifying and prioritizing community needs, and members serve as advocates by articulating the organization’s mission and programs to the community at large.
The 2015-2016 new CAB members include Lori Beard-Daily, chief now of-ficer for Working on Your Now; Steen Miles, former
state senator and retired journalist, Amanda Posey, director of The Wellness Center at DeKalb Medical; Katerina Taylor, president and CEO of the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce; and Judy Turner, president of Private Bank of Decatur.
The new CAB mem-bers will join the following existing members: Erin Croom, Dr. S. Elizabeth Ford, Debra Golymbieski, John Hewitt, Paige Nathan, Deirdre Pierce, Emily Anne Vall and Gregory White.
supposed to have hired the overall CIP program man-ager. It looks like that won’t happen until…August of this year.”
But in the meantime, Saunders said, the “very limited” watershed manage-ment staff has grown to ap-proximately 25 people and several projects have been completed.
“Bear in mind that with most of this work, …all its doing is causing traffic is-sues for some folks. When it’s completed you don’t see anything,” Saunders said.
“In about six months, with all of the engineering services on board and all of the program managers on board, you will start to see the definition of a lot of…projects around the county,” Saunders said.
“We keep saying this thing is slow but that’s not untypical,” he said. “Noth-ing we’ve done is untypical.
I certainly would have ex-pected to have Snapfinger [under way] about a year ago, but we had to recover.”
New Junior League of DeKalb board members will serve until mid-2016. Photo provided
Pool Continued From Page 1A
Runoff Continued From Page 1A
The Champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 15Alocal
regarding pools:
• No glass, sharp objects or hazardous materials allowed.• No animals other than seeing-eye dogs allowed.• Shower and rinse thoroughly before entering the pool.• No food or drink allowed within five feet of pool.• Children must be accompanied by an adult.• Bathers with open wounds, skin conditions or any com-
municable condition not allowed.• No solo bathing. • Bathers shall wear bathing attire.• No spitting, spouting, blowing nose or any bodily excre-
tion allowed.• No running, rough or boisterous play allowed.
A sign must also state the maximum number of swim-mers allowed and the pool’s hours of operation.
Another part of pool safety is water clarity, Smith said.“What you want to see is the water clarity,” Smith said. “If
you can’t clearly see the main drain, I wouldn’t get in the pool.“We don’t all carry a pool pH test kit,” Smith said, but
a parent should be able to count the holes in a pool drain cover in the deep end.
“If you can’t see the bottom of the pool, it makes supervi-sion impossible,” Smith said.
Smith said parents should also determine whether a pool has a certified pool operator.
This person, which is different from a lifeguard, “is go-ing to know what to do in case of a fecal” contamination, Smith said. Certified pool operators are trained in me-chanical systems operations and maintenance, including chemical treatment and pool filtration.
“This is beyond a lifeguard’s knowledge,” Smith said. “They are familiar with the risks of the pool.”
For more information on pool safety and to find a pool’s inspection score, go to www.dekalbhealth.net/envhealth/swimming-pool-beach-spa/swimmer-safety.
DeKalb County pool inspectors are tasks with checking the county’s 900 public pools. File photo
representation.Beautification is one priority, she said.
“When you look good, you feel good and positive energy comes from that.”
When asked about going into the run-off election, Turner said, “Naturally, I’m excited about it. We’re half way there. I believe…we can make this thing happen.
Turner said the campaign so far has been “very civil.”
“There’s been no real debate. I think we’re going to come down to probably more of a debate format in terms of fo-rums here on in and we can deal with some of those issues and see who’s most prepared to move DeKalb forward,” Turn-er said.
If elected, “the top priority is, natu-rally, ethics,” Turner said.
A goal would be to “clear this whole matter up about the allegedly unethical behavior within the DeKalb County gov-ernment and gain the trust of the people again that DeKalb County is a good place…with officials who have scruples and will manage this county in a very re-spectable manner,” Turner said.
The results for the other candidates include Melvin Jerome Edmondson, business consultant and senior partner of Edmondson Associates, 10.76 per-cent; Kathryn T. Rice, founder of the South DeKalb Improvement Association and of the Building Quality Communi-ties consulting firm, 9.38 percent; Gina
Mangham, attorney and local activist, 9.31 percent; Gregory Adams, a pastor and former police officer, 7.71 percent; Harmel Deanne Codi, child advocate, educational consultant and owner of Codi & Associated Business Solutions, 6.83 percent; Vaughn Irons, DeKalb County Development Authority chairman and CEO of APD Solutions, 6.1 percent; Gwendolyn R. “Gwen” Green, writer and school media specialist, 4.06 percent; and Kenneth Saunders III, a technology con-sultant and former DeKalb Community Council member, 2.53 percent.
Approximately 5.1 percent, or 4,557, of the district’s 82,742 registered voters par-ticipated in the special election to fill the seat which officially became vacant May 8 when May resigned after nearly two years of being the interim DeKalb County CEO.
May stopped representing District 5 constituents as a commissioner in July 2013 when he was appointed interim DeKalb County CEO by Gov. Nathan Deal, following the indictment and sus-pension of DeKalb County CEO Burrell Ellis.
The runoff will be held on Tuesday, July 14, with early voting beginning on June 29 at the Registration & Elections office. The early voting poll will be closed July 3.
For more information, visit www.dekalbvotes.com, or call (404) 298-4020.
Page 16A the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015
local
newS BrieFS
Words HURT Stop the Bullying
Splash Continued From Page 9A
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
GEORGIA, DEKALB COUNTY
A petition has been filed with the Board of Commissioners of DeKalb County, Georgia, for the construction of a sewer infrastructure in Land Lot(s) 375 of the 18th District of DeKalb County, Georgia, description of which is as follows:
Sewer Main shall run along Carnaby Court and Yarmouth Court and impact properties located at 1471, 1472, 1475, 1478, 1479, 1487, 1492, 1495, 1502, 1503, 1511, 1512, 1519, 1520 Carnaby Court, and 5240, 5241 and 5244 Yarmouth Court.
Same to be constructed and the costs assessed against the abutting property. Said Petition has been set for hearing before the Board of Commissioners at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, August 11, 2015 in the Auditorium of the DeKalb County Maloof Center, 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, Georgia. All persons, whose interests are affected by the proposed sewer, desiring to be heard, are hereby notified to appear in person or by attorney at said time and place and present such objection or evidence therein as their interests require.
Man, 18, sentenced to life for MARTA bus stop murder, rape
A DeKalb County man was recently sentenced to life without parole for murdering a woman at a MARTA bus stop and raping three others. Christopher Oliver Merritt, of Lithonia, pleaded guilty in lieu of facing the death penalty.
According to the murder in-dictment, Merritt, 18, approached Marcaysia Dawkins at a Fairing-ton Road MARTA stop on Nov. 23, 2014. While waiting at the bus stop, Merritt approached Dawkins and attempted to steal her handbag. During the struggle, Merritt fatally shot Dawkins twice with a 9mm handgun and fled the scene with the victim’s belongings.
Merritt faced two additional in-dictments for three rape charges and two armed robbery charges from 2013. All of Merritt’s indictments were included in the recent plea be-fore DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Gail Flake.
“The life of a vibrant, young and hardworking 19-year-old woman was taken away in broad daylight for no reason at all,” said DeKalb County District Attorney Robert
James. “While no sentence could ever undo what has been done at the hands of Christopher Merritt, I hope that all of our victims and their loved ones can rest in knowing that he will spend the rest of his life be-hind bars.”
State Rep. Michele Henson receives award from Alzheimer’s Association
The Georgia chapter of the Al-zheimer’s Association presented State Rep. Michele Henson its For-get-Me-Not Award for her support of the Georgia’s Alzheimer’s and Re-lated Dementias State Plan.
“I very much appreciate this honorable award from the Georgia Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Associa-tion and all the incredible work they do in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease,” Henson said. “I care so deeply about educating others on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease; truly this plan is something we had to do for our state.”
Alzheimer’s Association of Georgia’s Forget-Me-Not award is given to elected officials who
champion the organization’s cause through policy action. Some past recipients include Gov. Nathan Deal and former Gov. Sonny Perdue.
“We are pleased to have Rep. Henson support this important plan for Georgia and we honor her support by presenting her the Forget-Me-Not Award,” said Leslie Gregory, president and CEO of Al-zheimer’s Association of Georgia.
Alzheimer’s is a growing epi-demic and the nation’s sixth-leading cause of death.
“Alzheimer’s alone affects over 600,000 Georgians and is growing at a pace where serious action is need-ed. More than ever, our state needs to become even more equipped in helping the future generations that will face Alzheimer’s and other re-lated diseases,” Gregory said.
DeKalb County Court appoints special advocates to hold informational meeting
The public is invited to attend a volunteer information meeting host-ed by DeKalb County CASA 6:30 to
7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 9, at the Gregory A. Adams Juvenile Justice Center, 4309 Memorial Drive, De-catur. This session will provide an overview of the program for those interested in becoming a CASA vol-unteer. The next training class will be held on Thursdays 4 to 7 p.m. from July 30 to Sept. 3.
DeKalb County CASA is a non-profit organization that recruits, screens and trains community volunteers who are appointed by a juvenile court judge to advocate for the best interest of an abused or neglected child placed in foster care. DeKalb County CASA volunteers work with the DeKalb County Juve-nile Court and Division of Family and Children Services to ensure that all the necessary information is col-lected and presented to the court allowing the judge to make the best decision possible regarding place-ment of the child.
“We chose to build a spray park instead of a pool for a number of reasons. For one, it’s much less expen-sive than a pool and just as enjoyable. This facility cost approximately $950,000. An in-ground pool would have cost us in the millions. Also, there’s no danger of drown-ing so there’s no need for a lifeguard,” Wilson said, add-ing that there is nothing like it in the immediate area.
The new facility is built on what had been a green space adjacent to the 31,00-square-foot Exchange Park Recreation Center, which houses a gym, walk-ing track, fitness center and other amenities. The spray park has a series of foun-tains with four to 12 heads and fantasy-flower-like pails that pour water at irregular intervals. The central fea-ture is a multi-gallon dump bucket that fills slowly then suddenly turns over when it reaches capacity, prompting screams and squeals from
those beneath it. For those who want to remain dry as they watch those splashing in the fountains, there are tables with benches and um-brellas.
Noting that the park’s official name is Exchange Intergenerational Park, Wil-son said a spray park can be used by people of all ages and abilities. “It’s great for the kids, but we want every-one to use it. Not everyone can use a pool, but even a person in a wheelchair can enjoy this with no problem.”
Wilson said spray parks have been around for a while and are growing in popularity. In addition to other advantages, transmis-sion of disease is less likely at a spray facility than at a swimming pool. “We do, however, ask people to shower before using the spray park just as we do when they are using the county’s swimming pools,” he said.
There is an underground
tank that continually filters and recycles approximately 3,000 gallons of water, ac-cording to Wilson.
The spray park season
schedule is the same as for the county swimming pools, Wilson said. It opens the week before Memorial Day and closes Labor Day.
Exchange Intergenerational Recreation Center is located at 2771 Columbia Drive, Decatur.
the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 17Alocal
Felon pleads guilty to impersonating an armed federal agent
A Dunwoody man pleaded guilty June 9 to be-ing a felon in possession of a firearm when he pulled over an off-duty Doraville police officer while impersonating a Drug Enforcement Ad-ministration’s (DEA) agent.
Daniel M. Harbison, 40, had been impersonating a federal agent for several weeks before he was caught.
“By impersonating a federal agent, Harbison risked the safety of unsus-pecting citizens and un-dermined the legitimacy of actual officers,” said acting U.S. Attorney John A. Horn. “Fortunately he pulled over a real Doraville police of-ficer—which quickly led to the end of his charade and his arrest.”
Daniel R. Salter, the special agent in charge of the DEA’s Atlanta Field Division said, “These criminal acts are a disgrace to the men and women of law enforce-ment who not only make great sacrifices to earn their badges, but take a sworn oath to protect and serve.
“The quick actions of the Doraville Police De-partment officer who was fraudulently stopped by this perpetrator led to his swift
capture,” Salter said. “DEA would like to thank the Federal Bureau of Investiga-tion’s Atlanta office and the Doraville Police Department for their hard work which led to the capture of this criminal.”
Doraville Police Chief John King said, “Doraville, although a very diverse community, is close knit where an individual prey-ing on its citizens had the misfortune to run in to a law officer.
“Harbison attempted to make an unlawful traf-fic stop on one of our off-duty officers,” King said. “Doraville Police worked with other agencies that led to rapid apprehen-sion, prosecution and now conviction of a person prey-ing on innocence. Harbison has now pled guilty to be-ing a felon in possession of a gun while impersonating a federal agent. He is no stranger to felonies. We just hope, for him and our com-munity, this will be his last.”
Harbison began imper-sonating a DEA officer in the spring of 2015, accord-ing to Horn, the charges, and other information pre-sented in court.
On April 23, a grand jury charged Harbison with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Harbison will be sentenced on Aug. 27, at 11 a.m. before United States District Judge Eleanor L. Ross.
NOTICE OFPROPERTY TAX INCREASE
The City of Chamblee has tentatively adopted a new millage rate of 6.40 mills for the General Fund which will require an increase in property taxes by 8.60% over the rollback millage rate.
All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase to be held at the Chamblee Civic Center located at 3540 Broad St, Chamblee Georgia on July 1, 2015 at 6:00 PM.
Two additional public hearings on this tax increase will be held at the Chamblee Civic Center on July 9, 2015. There will be one hearing at 11:30 AM and a final hearing at 6:00 PM. After the final public hearing, the millage rate will be formally adopted.
This tentative new millage rate of 6.40 mills for the newly annexed properties will result in an increase of .507 mills. Without this tentative tax increase, the millage rate will be 5.893 mills. The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $125,000 is approximately $11.40 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead property with a fair market value of $450,000 is approximately $102.06.
The state’s top court has reversed the conviction of Hemy Neuman, who was found guilty but mentally ill of the 2010 murder of Rus-sell “Rusty” Sneiderman outside a Dunwoody day-care center.
In a 6-to-1 decision announced June 15, the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that the DeKalb Coun-ty Superior Judge Gregory Adams “erred by allowing in as evidence the notes and records of two mental health experts who examined Neu-man before trial.”
The Supreme Court stated it made the ruling despite the fact that the evi-dence “was sufficient to en-able a rational trier of fact to conclude beyond a reason-able doubt that Neuman was guilty of the crimes of which he was convicted.”
“Because the trial court
erred in admitting evidence, which was protected by the attorney-client privilege, we now reverse,” Justice Carol Hunstein writes for the ma-jority.
DeKalb County District Attorney Robert James will be prepared to retry Neuman, who is currently serving a sentence of life in prison with no chance of
dunwoody daycare killer’s conviction reversed
parole.In a statement after
the Supreme Court’s rul-ing, Erik Burton, director of communications for the DA’s Office, said, “Once the case is remanded back to Judge Adams, his office will place the case on a trial calendar. The state will be prepared to retry the case as set by Judge Adams.
Because Neuman’s re-quest for bond was denied prior to trial, he will remain in custody.”
“Mr. Neuman would have the right to seek re-consideration of the denial
of his bond at which time it would be up to Judge Adams to grant or deny such re-quest,” Burton stated.
Neuman, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity for the November 2010 kill-ing of Sneiderman outside Dunwoody Prep daycare center where Sneiderman, a 36-year-old entrepreneur, was dropping off his 3-year-old son.
Neuman, donning a bearded disguise, ap-proached Sneiderman in the parking lot and with a re-cently purchased .40 caliber handgun shot Sneiderman four to five times in the neck and torso,” according to the state’s case.
During his 2012 trial, two medical experts testi-fying on Neuman’s behalf concluded that “at the time of the murder, Neuman was unable to distinguish between right and wrong due to a mental illness diag-nosed as ‘bipolar disorder with psychosis, experiencing delusions,’” according to a news release by the Supreme Court.
Two medical experts for the state testified that Neu-man had been able to dis-tinguish between right and wrong during the shooting. One expert believed Neu-man was “faking symptoms of mental illness,” while the other said Neuman showed
See Neuman on page 24A
Hemy Neuman (center) will get his day in court again after the state Supreme Court reversed his conviction for a 2010 killing. Photo provided by Jason Getz/AJC
the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 PAge 18AEducation
The DeKalb School of the Arts (DSA) is listed as one of the top high schools in Georgia and nationally in the recently released rank-ings by U.S. News & World Report. DSA is ranked No. 4 in Georgia and No. 108 na-tionally out of nearly 30,000 high schools.
In a news release, U.S. News stated these rankings are a “useful tool for families trying to discern how well schools are serving their students in preparation for college and careers.”
The report reviewed data in the 2012-2013 school year including reading and math test results for all stu-dents on state proficiency tests the academic perfor-
mance of Blacks, Hispanic and low income students and the percentage of stu-dents taking courses such as advanced placement classes.
“Our primary goal at DSA is preparing students for college, the workforce or a career in the arts,” said Principal Susan McCauley. “We are very proud of our students, faculty, and staff who strive every day for ex-cellence in the classroom.”
DSA has 364 students with 27 percent participat-ing in the free and reduced lunch program. Demo-graphically, 63 percent of the student body is Black, 30 percent are White, and 7 percent Hispanic and other.
dekalb School of the Arts named top Georgia school
In 2002 James Thorn-ton, a Lithonia High School student, was a back seat pas-senger in a Honda Accord when it clipped several trees, smashed into an iron fence and killed the rising senior.
In memory of their son, Lovell and Ora Thornton have awarded multiple me-morial scholarships for 13 years to encourage students to think more about safety.
On May 12, Lithonia High School senior Leonard Simmons became the 34th recipient of the James L. Thornton Memorial Schol-arship.
“This scholarship has been a part of my high schools legacy for a very long time. I’m proud to have
received such a prestigious scholarship,” said Simmons.
To qualify for the schol-arship students must have a minimum 3.0 grade point average, possess no moving violations and have a good conduct record.
In addition, students must write a 300 to 500 word essay on increasing and improving safety in dif-ferent modes of transporta-tion.
Simmons wrote an essay on the Georgia Department of Driver’s Services learner’s permit knowledge exam.
He said, “When you’re trying to get your learner’s permit, you only need a 75 percent, what about the other 25 percent? That 25 percent could be a life or death situation on the road, it’s necessary for people to
get 100 percent.”Leonard was awarded
$2,515 for the 2014 - 2015 school year to assist him with his education at Ten-nessee State University.
Lovell said his vision for the scholarship is that it continues to grow.
“We want children to focus on safety. Whether they’re boating, driving, rid-ing as a passenger, biking, riding a bus… we want them to take the proper precau-tions so that accidents don’t happen.”
The scholarships are awarded to three students a year.
Lovell said, “Each year we go out and request dona-tion from friends, neighbors, associates and past recipi-ents to gather seed money. We hope that recipients will
On May 2, the Organiza-tion of DeKalb Educators (ODE) awarded 14 students with the Levi A. Simon, III Scholarship.
Chamblee Charter High School senior Kingston Handley was awarded the $1,500 grand prize scholar-ship; Roshni Gurung and Jessica Landaverde were awarded first-place scholar-ships of $1,000. Sydney Williams, Linda Nguyen, Maimuna Gassama, Tale-cia W. Cistrunk, Mykel R. Billings, Diamond Lewis and Tiara DeSha Brooks received the second-place scholarship award of $750. Arneshia Scott, Danielle Marshall, Kathleen S. Askew and LaShawn Jack-son received the third-place scholarship award of $500.
ODE was founded in 1974 and is the local affili-ate of the Georgia Associa-tion of Educators and the National Education Associa-tion. The organization aims to be the leader in providing information, training, rep-resentation and support ser-vices for students, parents, teachers and educational support personnel in DeKalb Public Schools,
James L. Thornton Memorial Scholarships awarded
not forget the scholarship and will continue to give back to the foundation and keep it going.”
Organization of dekalb educators awards 14 students
Stop Cyber bullyingstand up • speak out
James L. Thornton’s parents and memorial scholarship founders, Ora and Lovell, with 2015 scholarship recipient Leonard Simmons.
the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 19Abusiness
retailers hoping for Father’s day spending boost
DeKalb Chamber of Commerce • Two Decatur Town Center, 125 Clairemont Ave., Suite, Decatur, GA 30030 • 404.378.8000 • www.dekalbchamber.org
LOCALLY DRIVEN
by Kathy Mitchell
The average person cel-ebrating Father’s Day this year will spend $115.57 on gifts, a slight increase from last year’s average of $113.80, according to the 2015 Father’s Day Spending Survey conducted by Pros-per Insights & Analytics for the National Retail Federa-tion (NRF). That’s not quite 67 percent of the $172.63 that a corresponding survey indicated consumers spent celebrating Mother’s Day this year.
While the annual tribute to dads—Sunday, June 21, this year—is not the most lucrative consumer holiday of the year, it is not insig-nificant to retail merchants. The NRF survey found 75.4 percent of Americans saying they plan to celebrate Fa-ther’s Day. The national total of $12.7 billion is expected to be spent on golf lessons, home improvement tools, coffee mugs, gift cards and other gifts.
Approximately 36.4 percent of consumers will do their Father’s Day shop-ping at department stores, according to the survey. Among those trying to lure Father’s Day shoppers lo-cally is Northlake Mall, which this year has posted a shoppers’ guide that offers everything from $10 groom-ing kits to suits, luggage and jewelry costing hundreds of dollars.
“We invited all of our retailers to list items they are featuring for Father’s Day. This isn’t an all-inclusive guide, but for those who come to the mall looking for ideas, this is a great starting place. It’s also an opportu-nity for retailers to highlight items that shoppers might not be aware they carry. For example, there’s a store that specializes in lingerie and cosmetics for women, but they also have men’s fragrances that few people know about. Another shop that primarily offers cos-metic treatments for women is reminding the public
they also have facials for men,” said Bianca Gibson, Northlake’s director of mar-keting and business develop-ment.
“Of course, Father’s Day is not as big a retail event as Mother’s Day, but there are many people who want to
honor their dads and they’re looking for something spe-cial, something they feel their father would really en-joy receiving,” Gibson add-ed. She said in addition to gift items some food court restaurants are highlighting treats dads might enjoy and
hair salons are offering spe-cials on haircuts and facial hair trims.
The NRF survey indi-cated that approximately 39.7 percent of Father’s Day shoppers will purchase such apparel items as shirts or neckties. An additional 43.3
percent will choose experi-ence gifts, such as tickets to a ballgame or a special meal with the family.
Sherwood Chiropractic Center in Decatur is seeking to attract those who want to give their fathers a feel-good experience. The center is hosting a pre-Father’s Day event June 18, featuring free consultations and hydro massages. “We’re billing it as a Father’s Day/community appreciation event, so it’s not for dads only,” said Diane Knight, Sherwood’s com-munity relations coordina-tor, “but we’ll have healthy picnic food and drink and other things we think men will really enjoy.”
Gibson said Northlake also is hosting a special event for fathers in its food court Saturday, June 20, with goodies and giveaways for dads.
Among the items fea-tured at Northlake are electronic games, which ac-cording to the NRF survey is a popular choice with one in five Father’s Day shop-pers choosing gadgets and electronics. Total spend-ing on sporting goods and leisure items for Father’s Day is expected to be ap-proximately $665 million nationally. Other big sellers in mid-June event are home improvement and garden supplies, tools and appli-ances, personal care items and books.
“Spending on grilling and patio necessities, pool gear, sporting goods, apparel and other gift and seasonal merchandise could be the positive stepping stone re-tailers need heading into the second half of the year,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay, who in a news release described retail spending for the first half of 2015 as “less than stellar.”
Approximately 51.8 per-cent of those surveyed are planning to buy for their fathers or stepfathers and others will shop for their husbands (27.6 percent) or sons (8.9 percent) this Fa-ther’s Day.
While Father’s Day spending nationally is approximately 67 percent of spending for Mother’s Day, the mid-June holiday is not insignificant to retailers.
the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 20Alocal
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the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 21ASportS
Trinity High alums remember athletic successby Carla [email protected]
It has been 50 years since the all-Black football team from Trin-ity High School in Decatur won the state championship Jack Pitts and Clarence Scott remember the game like it was yesterday.
Trinity played Tifton High School in Tifton in the champion-ship game. The game was one of the most memorable games for Pitts, who played quarterback and defen-sive back for Trinity.
“We’re losing 13-14, it’s three minutes and something left in the game. I intercepted the ball,” Pitts recalled. “It’s fourth down on the 1-yard line with seconds left in the game, and I came into the huddle.
“These guys on the other team outweighed my [offensive] line by 20 to 40 pounds,” Pitts added. “I looked them in the face and I said, ‘Look here, man, we’ve come too far for them to stop us.’ They stopped us three times inside the 5 [yard line]. So, it’s fourth and 1, and I make the statement. [The offensive line] knocked everybody on the defensive line on the ground and I walked into the end zone. The linebacker hit me and I said, ‘It’s too late.’ We won the game 19-14.”
That championship game is one
of the historic moments of the old Trinity High School. The football team is the focus of the museum inside the Beacon Municipal Center. The museum features exhibits on the history of the Black Beacon Hill community in Decatur.
That was the school’s only state championship before Trinity merged with Decatur High School in 1968 during integration. The Beacon Hill community loved its sports, despite the lack of resource, according to
Pitts. “We didn’t have pee-wee leagues
and all of that,” Pitts said. “You know what we did? We played Trinity Av-enue against Robbins Street; Oliver Street against White Street; sixth grade against the seventh grade. We were always competing against one another.”
“That was one of the main rea-sons why I wanted to be an athlete, because athletics brought the com-munity together,” Scott said. “People
identify with great athletes. The pro-fessional guys I looked up to, [such as] Jim Brown, for example.”
Pitts said he began playing quar-terback at age 6.
“Everybody wanted me to play quarterback, so I was a quarter-back,” he said. “When I got to play on the [high school] football team my coaches said, ‘You are the quar-terback; you have to be the leader. Not just on the field, off the field as well.’ I bought [into] it. When we exercised and ran, I was first. In the classroom, I was first, because I thought that came with being a quarterback.”
Pitts was the valedictorian for the 1966 class. He earned a scholar-ship to Michigan State.
“I was the first Black kid to ever be recruited out of Decatur to a major White university,” he said. “Georgia and Georgia Tech wouldn’t recruit me because I was a Negro. It was great for the community be-cause [recruiters] came back the next year and got Clarence Scott—to Kansas State.”
Scott, who played safety at Kan-sas State University, was named an All-American following the 1970 season. The Cleveland Browns se-lected him with the 14th pick in the first round of the 1971 NFL draft.
Being drafted into the NFL was
See Alum on page 23A
From left, Former NFL defensive back Clarence Scott (left) shows a Trinity High School year book to Mike Glenn and Michael Harbin. Photo by Travis Hudgons
Former Trinity High School quarterback Jack Pitts stands next to an exhibit on the football team. Photo by Carla Parker
the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 22ASportS
More than 100 Spartanburg Methodist Junior College baseball players have played some form of professional baseball, according to the school’s website, and Brent and Chris Burgess hope to add their names to that list.
The Burgess twins, who recently graduated from Chamblee Charter High School, will continue their baseball and academic careers in Spartanburg, S.C. The twins said Spartanburg Methodist is the right fit for them.
“It’s better for us personally than going to [a] Division 1 [school] because we have a chance of being one-and-done instead of going to a D1 college and staying three years,” Brent said. “Going to a junior col-lege, you can have that breakout freshman year and get drafted. You can have that breakout freshman year at a D1, but still have to wait another two years, and those two years could not be good and you can drop in the draft poll.”
“SMC is one of the best [junior college] programs in the nation,” Chris added. “We’re very developed and Spartanburg, S.C., has a very good atmosphere. Brent and I fit well in Spartanburg.”
Since their ninth-grade year,
the twins have been a focal point of the Chamblee varsity baseball team. Chris’ first at-bat his freshman year was a home run to left center field—a moment he will always remember.
“I was 14, facing an 18-year-old kid [who was] throwing 92 [mph balls] from Shiloh [High School],” Chris said. “I just hit it to left cen-ter.”
Brent’s baseball career stats at Chamblee include a .305 batting average, 65 RBIs, 22 doubles and 5 home runs. Chris had a .300 career batting average, 50 RBIs, 21 doubles and 6 home runs.
The twins helped lead Chamblee to a playoff appearance last season after a rough start. After a 1-11 start, Chamblee went 10-4 to earn a spot in the Class AAAA playoffs, the team’s first playoff appearance since 2012.
Chamblee lost to Whitewater in the first round. When the team was 1-11, Chris said he and his team-mates never gave up.
“We never folded; we never got down on each other,” he said. “We just kept picking each other up and started winning. We started win-ning big games, and [Brent] came in to pitch the big games. We didn’t know that those games meant a lot until later on in the season, when we found out that if we lost that game it would be no playoffs for us.”
Senior leadership from the twins and the three other seniors on the team also played a role in the turn-around.
“As seniors, we knew if we had a spark, if we got [things] going, the younger kids would follow us,” Chris said. “I knew that if we set the tone they would follow us.”
The twins were also productive players on the football field, play-ing on both sides of the ball and on special teams. The weight program, competition and the speed of foot-ball helped improve the twins’ skills on the baseball field.
“Our arms have gotten a lot stronger,” Brent said. “Our gloves in the infield got a lot smoother. You can tell that our manpower is com-ing in more as we’re growing. It’s just going to develop as we go on.”
“We cut down on the errors this past summer,” Chris said. “I’m start-ing to track the ball better in the outfield, where I can go to that spot faster.”
The twins played in the county’s all-star games for football and base-ball, and Brent won MVP of his team in both games.
Although the twins never won a state championship with Chamblee, they became champions with the East Cobb Astros 16U travel base-ball team. Last summer, East Cobb won the Continental Amateur Base-
ball Association (CABA) national championship and the Perfect Game Super 25 national championship.
“Last year, it was one of our best experiences in baseball, ever,” Chris said. “We traveled all over, we played a lot of games—[nearly] 150 games and won two national cham-pionships out of every team in the nation.”
“That helped me get better for college,” Brent said about playing with East Cobb. “Playing with that team attracted a lot of scouts. A lot of people come to our games.”
Before heading off to college, the twins will play with the Georgia Baseball Softball Academy (GBSA) Blue Rays this summer.
At Spartanburg Methodist, the twins will be less the 40 miles from their brother Ryan, who plays foot-ball at Presbyterian College.
“My parents can kill two birds with one stone in visiting,” Brent said. “They can see all of us in one time, and we can all come together.”
Ryan said he has been giving his younger brothers advice on what to expect at college.
“Stay consistent, because you’re not the only one working,” Ryan said. “It’s a million kids working.”
The twins plan to give 100 per-cent on the baseball field, but their focus is on getting better in the classroom.
Chamblee alums Brent and Chris Burgess are heading to Spartanburg, S.C., to play baseball at Spartanburg Methodist Junior College. Photo by Carla Parker
the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015 Page 23ASportS
Brookhaven Bucks
a dream come true for Scott.“I knew that if I could
go on and become a profes-sional football player that the community would be proud and my family would be proud, and therefore my life would be fulfilled in do-ing that,” Scott said. “It came to fruition.”
Although a neck injury ended his football career during his sophomore year,
Pitts did not let that derail him from finishing college. He earned his undergradu-ate degree in 1970 and grad-uate degree in 1972.
After retiring from the NFL in 1983, Scott worked for an energy company. He lives in Decatur and is active in the community, partici-pating in school career days and field days.
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“[I want to] exceed more in my aca-demics, that’s the main goal,” Chris said. “After two years; I have a chance to go to a four-year school. So, there is always another chance.”
For the first time in six years, Caesar Burgess, Chamblee boys’ basketball coach, will not be at the same school with one of his sons, but he is proud of his sons and what they have accomplished.
“I’m proud of them just because they are my boys,” he said. “I don’t care if they ever played sports; I don’t care what they choose
to do. I just care about them as human be-ings and as good boys. I want them to make this world a better place, spread love, be unselfish, realize that life is about helping people and I want those guys to just help people. I just want them to be good guys.”
Although he is the coach in the family, he gives all the credit to his wife, Brenda, for the twins’ path to baseball.
“She deserves all the credit,” he said. “She is the driving force behind their base-ball careers. She does everything for them.”
Baseball is still being played at Her-mance Stadium at Oglethorpe Univer-sity.
However, it is not the Stormy Pe-trels of Oglethorpe playing in those games; it is the Brookhaven Bucks. The Bucks are a collegiate summer baseball team which competes in the Sunbelt Baseball League, Georgia’s collegiate wooden-bat baseball league.
The league launched 10 years ago, and the Brookhaven Bucks were found-ed five years later by John Davis and Brad Dickison. Dickison took over the team three years ago.
“I work with the commissioner of the league to try to build and expand it so we can catch up to other leagues, [such as] the Cape Cod and the Coastal Plain League,” Dickison said. “We’re moving fast, we’re getting in the right direction.”
The Sunbelt Baseball League is sanctioned by Major League Baseball, and it allows MLB scouts to see play-ers play with wooden bats, as opposed to the aluminum bats they play with in college.
“We’ll have scouts at the games, and this is basically a chance for [the play-ers] to get seen by pro scouts, and to [play] during the summer,” Dickison said. “I have players out of college that [have] coaches who are calling me, and they want them to stay in practice.”
Deric Boone, a Druid Hills High School graduate, is one of those play-ers. Boone, a rising junior at Southern Union State University, began playing with the Bucks last summer.
“My summer ball coach knew one of the coaches from last year and he talked to him and got me on the team last year,” he said. “I did pretty good last year, and they called me out again this year.”
Boone said he has enjoyed playing with the Bucks, and it has helped im-proved his baseball skills.
“Baseball is more of an everyday sport,” he said. “You can’t take a lot of time off and stay at your peak. It’s good to see good baseball over the summer.”
Boone hopes to get drafted into the
major leagues like some other alums of the Brookhaven Bucks. On June 10, Bucks outfielder London Lindley was drafted by the Texas Rangers.
“We’re happy for him,” Dickison said.
Other players who have played for the Bucks that were drafted include Nic Wilson, who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 24th round in 2014. Wilson, a Decatur High School graduate and former player for Georgia State University, played for the Bucks in 2012.
“These are college players who hope to be able to move to the next level,” Dickison said. “Of course it’s a very small percentage of athletes in the country that ever get here, but these are the best of the best here.”
The team has improved each year, going from a 12-9 in 2011 to a 19-10 team last season. The baseball club brought in Corey Patterson, who played 12 years in Major League Base-ball, to coach the team this season.
Patterson is a 1998 graduate of Har-rison High School in Kennesaw and was a member of the 1998 state cham-pionship baseball team. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs as the third over-all pick that same year. He was also a member of the St. Louis Cardinals team that won the World Series in 2011.
Dickison said the Brookhaven Bucks have become a sought-after team to play for.
“We’re just getting better talent all the time, which leads to better opportu-nities to hire people like Corey and his staff,” he said.
Although the Bucks are playing good baseball and has the best record in the Sunbelt, there are not many people there to see them win. Dickison hopes to change that soon.
“I want the stands to be full,” he said. “At the coastal Carolina leagues, every [game] is sold out for the en-tire summer. There’s nothing more fun than having people in the stands. When these people start cheering them and putting the antlers up and get-ting into it, you can see a difference in how they play. The true goal is to bring Brookhaven out.”
Brad Schwartz, a junior at the University of Miami in Ohio, throws a pitch for the Brookhaven Bucks.
The Brookhaven Bucks hired former MLB player Corey Patterson to coach this sea-son.
London Lindley (at bat) was drafted by the Texas Rangers. Photos by Jay Kapp
Page 24A the champion Free Press, Friday, June 19, 2015
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Neuman Continued From Page 17A
Pet of the Weekno signs of mental illness, hallucinations or delusions while in jail,” according to the news release.
In its 20-page majority opinion, the Su-preme Court concluded that the trial court erred in disclosing to prosecutors the notes and records of Dr. Julie Rand Dorney, a fo-rensic psychiatrist, and Dr. Peter Thomas, a licensed psychologist, concerning Neuman.
These two experts were hired by Neu-man’s attorneys and were not initially due to testify, according to the Supreme Court’s release.
After Neuman pleaded not guilty, the experts met with Neuman at the request of his attorneys to evaluate his psychological issues and advised Neuman’s attorneys to hire an expert witness to conduct a forensic psychological evaluation of Neuman to as-sess his criminal responsibility. Following that expert’s evaluation, Neuman changed his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity, the release stated.
“When state prosecutors learned that Dorney and Thomas had met with Neu-man, they sought their records from those meetings, over the objection of Neuman’s attorneys,” the release stated. “Following two hearings, the judge ordered the defense to turn over to the state all the doctors’ notes and records concerning their evalua-tions of Neuman.”
The Supreme Court majority rejected prosecutors’ argument that merely raising an insanity defense waives the attorney-client privilege, the news release stated.
“The attorney-client privilege is ‘the oldest of the privileges for confidential communications known to the common law,’” the majority opinion stated. It has long been the law of Georgia that the privi-lege “includes, by necessity, the network of agents and employees of both the attorney and client, acting under the direction of their respective principals, to facilitate the legal representation.”
