FreePress 8-27-15

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F REE P RESS

championnewspaper championnewspaper champnewschampionnews

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FRIDAY, August 27, 2015 • VOL. 18, NO. 21 • 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.

See Hardeman on page 15A

BeauHardeman,chessgrandmaster,leaves legacy by Ashley Oglesby [email protected]

Beau Hardeman was truly aemarkable chess player, riend

and mentor to generations o

chess players and scholars. Hedied Aug. 7 on what would havebeen his mother’s 98th birthday.

He achieved grandmastertatus, awarded to chess players

by the World Chess Federation,and had a very high rating, al-hough he would never disclose

his ranking. Hardeman was thefirst chess coach at the PaideiaSchool in Atlanta and went ono teach hundreds o children

how to play chess. o many, hebecame their mentor.

In 1995 Hardeman launchedhis Beau Hardeman Annual In-vitational Chess ournaments

n which he coached studentsrom kindergarten through 12thgrade at Gresham Park Recre-ation Center.

Recreation Center DirectorWannetter Terrell said the tour-naments started small but afer10 years outgrew the office spaceand moved into the gymnasium.

errell said Hardeman waserious and passionate about

chess, lie and education. Sheaid, “He would talk, teach and

play all at the same time.”errell said Hardeman would

approach parents and their chil-

by Andrew [email protected]

DeKalb County’s commissionersand other government officials board-ed a MARA bus Aug. 21 or a three-hour tour o DeKalb’s fifh district.

Te bus, accompanied by a our-motorcycle police escort, traveled bythe Kensington Station area and thesite o the proposed Atlanta UnitedFootball Club soccer headquartersand practice fields. Te tour includedIndian Creek MARA station; the newsouth campus o Georgia Piedmontechnical College; DeKalb MedicalHillandale; Lithonia Industrial Boule- vard; Lithonia, the district’s only city;Stonecrest Mall; and Davidson-ArabiaMountain Nature Preserve.

Te tour was the idea o District 5CommissionerMereda Davis John-son, the county’s newest commissioner.

She said, the tour “was not really orme.”

“I [have] lived, worked and playedand gone to church in this district or30 years so I knew what we had in thefifh district,” Johnson said. “My hus-band [Congressman Hank Johnson]was a commissioner in this district be-ore he went to Congress.

“I’m very amiliar with the district,but the challenge I think we have inthe 5th District is to attract economicdevelopment and also keep the nature

See District 5 on page 15A

County officials tour District 5’s assets, challenges

LOcAL, 2A LOcAL, 9A eDucAtION, 18A

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QuIck FINDeRgROup LOOks tOReVItALIze OLD BRucestReet schOOL

NAtuRe pReseNtAtIONsexpLORe BeYOND BOOks

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Hardeman

DeKalb Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson organized a bus tour ofDistrict 5 for commissioners and other county ofcials.

DeKalb Commissioners Nancy Jester, Kathie Gannon, Jeff Rader andSharon Barnes Sutton ride the MARTA bus to District 5. Photos byAndrew Cauthen

Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May toured the district he once represented.

District 5 chief of staff Alana Griggs checks a passenger list for the District 5 bus tour.

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Page 2A The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015

LOCAL

South DeKalb SeniorCenter to open soonby Andrew [email protected]

Ater lengthy delays, the

South DeKalb Senior Centers nearly complete and is ex-pected to open in October.

“We are now roughly 98percent o the way done,”aid DeKalb County project

manager Aaron Worthy .We’re very close to achiev-ng substantial completion

and turning the buildingover…to commence opera-ion.”

At a cost o approxi-mately $3 million, the centers being paid or using U.S.

Housing and Urban Devel-opment Community Devel-opment Block Grant unds.

Once completed, the cen-er will be a 15,400-square-oot acility with amenitiesncluding community meet-ng rooms, computer lab, it-

ness area, 1,400-square-ootovered porch, kitchen and

more. Additionally, the cen-er will include classroomso accommodate the various

activities requested by theommunity and a dining

hall.“hey wanted a large

oom or gatherings, meet-

ngs and entertainment,” saidAllen Mitchell, the county’snterim, human and com-

munity development direc-or. “hey wanted a room to

have meals every day becausehis center is a center that

has congregate meals. heyat here every day.”

he center is expectedo daily serve 150 to 200 se-

niors, ages 60 and up.“What is unique about

his particular building…isyou have an indoor walkingrack or seniors,” Worthyaid. “he hallways are much

wider than your standard5-oot hallways. hese areoughly 7.5 eet, so seniorsan actually use this as a

walking trail.”

“[Because the acility isor] active seniors, we want-ed to design…a walkwaywhich allows indoor tracks,”

Mitchell said.“Notwithstanding weath-er conditions,…winter, sum-mer, etc., you can be insidein the air-conditioning or inthe heat…and that’s a goodthing,” Mitchell said. “Forthose who care not to dothat, you can sit on the porchand observe and relax andenjoy yoursel.”

he center is located at1931 Candler Road, Decatur,adjacent to the Scott CandlerLibrary.

he Candler Road seniorcenter is one o three senioracilities recently constructedby the county. It was theirst one to get underway, butproblems were encountered.

“Construction com-menced on this project in2012…under a previouscontractor,” Worthy said.“hat contractor deaultedon his perormance bond.he bond was called in earlyAugust 2014.”

he bonding companydid due diligence and hireda completion contractor inFebruary.

When the project was re-started, it was approximately65-70 percent complete,Worthy said.

Mitchell said that al-though there have beencomplaints about construc-tion delays, “I think that inthe end we will win over allcitizens who had concerns.We’ve had some early re- views o [the center] andthey’ve been extremely ex-cited.”

Mitchell said the seniorcenter is about “enjoyinghaving a leisure lie, beingable to do the things youlike to do and seeing yourriends.”

Public Notifcation: Application has been made to the Federal Communications Commission(FCC) for a new communications structure along railroad right of way nearMP 622.57, PTC Doraville, Atlanta, GA 30340. The FCC Form 854 lenumber is le# A0977616. The structure type is an non-lighted monopolewith a total height including antenna of 63 feet to tip. Interested personsmay review the application by going to www.fcc.gov/asr/applications andentering the Form 854 File Number. Interested persons may raise environ-mental concerns about the proposed structure by ling a Request for Envi-

ronmental Review with the FCC. The FCC strongly encourages interestedparties to le online any Requests for Environmental Review; instructionsfor making such lings can be found at www.fcc.gov/asr/environmentalre-quest , or by paper copy to FCC Requests for Environmental Review, Attn:Ramon Williams, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, D.C. 20554.

County ofcials say the South DeKalb Senior Center is expected to open in October. Photos by Andrew Cauthen

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The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015 Page 3A LOCAL

Former ethics boardchairman to run forBrookhaven mayorby Carla [email protected]

Four days ater resigningas DeKalb County Board oEthics chairman, John Ernstannounced his bid to run ormayor o Brookhaven.

he Brookhaven mayor’seat is up or election in

November. Rebecca ChaseWilliams, the ormer Dis-rict 1 councilwoman and

mayor pro tem, was swornn as mayor in June to ill the

mayor seat vacated by J. Max

Davis.he city’s charter allowedWilliams to be appointedby ellow councilmembersince the election or that o-ice was less than 12 months

away in November.Ernst said he is running

o bring the city together.“I’m running to make the

city’s park system the best,develop a Brookhaven Belt-ine, bring permanent prop-

erty tax relie, and create anopen and more transparentgovernment,” he said.

Ernst, who is a lawyer,

tarted his law practice in2005. At Ernst Legal Group,he specializes in real estateransactions, bankruptcyitigation and personal injury

cases.Ernst served as chair-

man o the DeKalb Boardo Ethics rom 2013 to 2015.His resignation came a dayater the ethics board oundDeKalb County Commis-sioner Stan Watson guiltyo violating the county codeo ethics. However, Watsonwas not removed rom oiceor suspended, which Ernsturged.

Ernst grew up in theHampton Hall neighborhoodo Brookhaven. He receiveda bachelor o arts degree in

history at Emory University.Ater college, he served asassistant to ormer GeorgiaGov. Roy Barnes.

Ernst later received a juris doctorate degree romthe University O GeorgiaSchool o Law.

During his time in lawschool, he served as a pros-ecutor in the Athens-ClarkeCounty District Attorney’soice and was a summerclerk or the Honorable JohnJ. Ellington o the GeorgiaCourt o Appeals.

Ater law school, he

served as the attorney o themajority caucus in the Geor-gia House o Representativesduring the 2004 legislativesession.

Ernst is married with twochildren.

John Ernst (center) talks with supporters during his campaign kickoff cookout at Blackburn Park on Aug. 23.Ernst served as chairman of the DeKalb Board of Ethics from 2013 to 2015. Photos by Travis Hudgons

Supporters gathered at Blackburn Park in Brookhaven to kickoff John Ernst’s campaign.

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th chamion FRee pRess, FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015 pag 4A OpINION

@AndrewChampNews

Andrew [email protected]

Managing Editor

“Memorial Drive has notseen a dollar o developmentn two decades.”

Tat’s what interimCEO Lee May said afer theDeKalb County Board o

Commissioners voted 4-3 toapprove an incentive pack-age to pave the way or bil-ionaire Arthur Blank , a co-

ounder o Te Home Depot,o bring the headquarters

and practice fields o AtlantaUnited Football Club, a ma-or league soccer ranchise,o the county.

Days later, afer criticismrom the three commission-ers who voted against thedeal and rom some resi-dents, May echoed his rheto-ric, saying Memorial Drive

had “not seen one dollar onvestment along that cor-

ridor.”Tat’s not quite the case.On Memorial Drive,

our miles east o the pro-posed soccer acility, a148,000-square-oot Walmartwas opened in 2013. Devel-opers razed a deunct Subarucar dealership near the cor-

ner o Memorial Drive andHairston Road to build thestore that has created ap-proximately 300 jobs.

When the Walmart wasannounced, DeKalb County

CommissionerSharonBarnes Sutton said the pres-ence o the new Walmartshould attract other busi-nesses to the area.

“It’s going to bring jobs toour community,” Sutton said.“It’s going to improve the taxbase and it’s an opportunityto direct the traffic down Me-morial Drive.”

Less than two miles westo the proposed soccer site,is the Belvedere community.Once in a state o decline,this community has seen

some stabilization, and evena bit o growth, since 2008

when a Walmart was openedat the site o the AvondaleMall.

During its grand openingDeKalb Commissioner LarryJohnson said the Decatur

Walmart would bring a surgeo vitality to Memorial Driveas customers come back.

“Walmart is a criticalcomponent in the redevelop-ment o the Memorial Drivearea,” Johnson said at thetime. “Teir presence willmotivate others to invest inthe area.”

In the wake o theDecatur Walmart came Aldi’sgrocery store, Sonic Drive-inand Zaxby’s. Te renovatedbuilding that once housedAaron’s Rents has been pur-

chased by UHaul.And in April community

leaders and DeKalb Countyofficials convened on Colum-bia Drive, two blocks romMemorial Drive, or the o-ficial opening o the 80-unitColumbia Senior Residences

at Forrest Hills.Te Memorial Drive cor-

ridor, while by no means isback to its heyday, is stable,slowly improving and is in-creasingly being gentrified.

Tis is the corridor thatArthur Blank is coming to,not as a savior, but as anopportunist who is onlypromising to give 12 jobs toDeKalb County residents.He knows a good deal, and agood area, when he sees it.

His bucks aren’t the firstin the past two decades and

won’t be the last.

Arthur Blank isn’t the only Memorial Drive investor

by Steve Bradshaw Aug. 11, 2015

I don’t know i the new soccerstadium agreement is a good deal orthe taxpayers o DeKalb County ornot. I sincerely hope that it is. heMemorial Drive corridor certainlyneeds a shot o development adren-alin. Even so, I’m not sure i the dealthat was recently approved by theBoard o Commissioners is the right

vehicle or acilitating the economicdevelopment that we need.

I’m skeptical primarily becauseo the nature o this process. hewhole things struck me as beingrushed. Consequently, I have somequestions.

I this is such a good deal whywasn’t there more time or the Boardo Commissioners to conduct thor-ough due diligence? I this is such agood deal why wasn’t there time al-

lotted or public comment beore the vote or approval? Ater all, it’s ourmoney that the Commissioners arespending, not theirs.

It is not a stretch to say thatthere currently exists a trust dei-cit between the citizens o DeKalbCounty and our government lead-ers. Given the cloud o corruptionthat currently hangs over DeKalbCounty you would think that saidleaders would err on the side o moretransparency, not less; more publicengagement, not less. But, that didnot happen.

Moreover, as a general propo-sition I am somewhat dubious osports stadium deals as a driver o

broad based and sustained economicdevelopment. In the excellent bookhe King o Sports author GreggEasterbrook oers multiple exampleso sports stadium deals whereby the

team owners do very well and taxpay-ers are let holding the bag. I wouldhighly recommend this book to allconcerned citizens.

Additionally, $12 million is alot o money. Could this expenditurebe put to better use elsewhere? Howmany public saety oicers could thisund? How many potholes could beilled?

he truth o the matter is thatwe won’t really know i this is a gooddeal or not or a ew years to come.In the meantime politicians can pointat a shiny new object and say “look atwhat we did.” hey can do this securein the belie that the average citizendoes not know any better. hey arebetting that the average citizen willbe distracted and mesmerized by theshiny new object and come to thesimple conclusion that our leaders are“doing something”, rather than askingthe critical questions that should be

asked.As previously stated I don’tknow i this is a good deal or thetaxpayers o DeKalb County or not.I certainly and sincerely hope thatit is. I it is I will be the irst to con-gratulate the olks who put this dealtogether.

But, what i it turns out not tobe a good deal or us? hen what?At that point I guess we would justrelect on the lyrics rom Rihanna’s song Take A Bow where she says“that was quite a show, very entertain-ing.”

Steve Bradshaw is a candidate for theDeKalb County District 4 Commission

seat

Dear ICEO Lee May and DeKalbBoard o Commissioners

I am very disappointed with theote and the way the BOC conductedtsel in terms o the soccer ield ven-

ure with Mr. Arthur Blank. he last minute notice and urgenteed to have a decision on the matter the soccer ield has been happeningoo many times with major projectselated to stadiums and large sums o

money. I was deeply disappointedwith some o the DeKalb BOC com-missioners that voted not to allowhe residents and citizens o this great

DeKalb County a voice at the lastommission meeting on August 4,015. I can only describe that kind oehavior as arrogant and tyrannical. Iave noticed that rarely in big ticket

tems are citizens given all the acts,nd the time to make an inormed de-ision. he propaganda is propagated

hrough the grapevine to conuse andmisinorm the voters into supporting

rojects that lead to nowhere. Wherere the evidence and the proo?

ake a look at the Atlanta and theeals made in the past and the prom-

ses made to depressed economicommunities. here has not been

much economic development with re-ent stadiums based on the history o

Georgia Dome stadium, urner Field,r the Flowery branch HQ or practiceield or the surrounding communi-ies. I do not know where the idea thathis will spur economic developmentn Memorial drive came rom, butomeone needs to take some time do

ome research and do their homeworkeore using taxpayer money on a pipeream with a thirty year commitment.

he irst rule o marketing is loca-ion, location, location. Why now, and

who will beneit? What is the rush?

he 41 acres is not going anywhere.We deserve better rom our lead-

ers. We want a deliberate and openprocess, and an economic study donebeore this deal is inalized and com-pleted. he minority communities

seem to always get the land ields andstadiums, but serious economic devel-opment in the surrounding commu-nities never seems to ollow with thepromises.

I attended the August 11, 2015 4pmpress conerence, and I stand with andrepresent those who want this processto slow down and be open. he citi-zens deserve better.

Expediency over process, and mon-ey over people. What we think doesnot matter to certain commissioners.he people voices were silenced. Notime or debate or discussion, takethe deal, no other oer. his is whateconomic development looks like onsteroids.

ICEO Lee May acted like DonaldTrump with axpayers money. ArthurBlank acted like the host on Lets Make

A Deal . he DeKalb County Com-missioners who voted in avor o thesoccer ield acted like 4 blind mice. Iagree that Arthur Blank and the otherbillionaires should be paying their airshare.

Citizens Against Cityhood inDeKalb and Concerned Citizens orEective Government believe thatthere should be a better deal and pro-cess. Ed Williams, chairmanConcerned Citizens or Eective Gov-

ernmentCitizens Against Cityhood in DeKalb

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Open letter to CEO of DeKalb Countyand board of commissioners

Is it a good deal for us?

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th chamion FRee pRess, FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015 pag 5A

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STATEMENT FROM THE

PUBLISHERWe sincerely appreciate thediscussion surrounding this and anyissue of interest to DeKalb County.The Champion was founded in 1991expressly to provide a forum fordiscourse for all community residentson all sides of an issue. We have nodesire to make the news only toreport news and opinions to effect

a more educated citizenry that willultimately move our communityforward. We are happy to presentideas for discussion; however,we make every effort to avoidprinting information submitted tous that is known to be false and/orassumptions penned as fact.

OpINION

DeKalb, not so United“We put cash on the

able to get a major develop-ment in that area. The deals done, and it’s a good deal

for DeKalb County,” so saidnterim DeKalb County

CEO Lee May on August 12,2015, deending the deal togive 40-acres o county landand $12-million in taxpayerunding to billionaire Ar-hur Blank to locate practiceacilities or our new Major

League Soccer (MLS) ran-hise team, he Atlanta

United, along MemorialDrive at I-285.

I’ve loved soccer since thedays o my childhood andDeKalb YMCA leagues. We

won the county champion-hip and were state runners-up one year, and I played allhe way through high school.

An early an o the At-anta Chies , I was able to

witness Pele playing in anxhibition at Atlanta-Fulton

County Stadium. DuringAtlanta’s Olympic year, Iwitnessed one o the mostncredible soccer matches’ve ever seen, during a gold

medal match between Braziland its motherland, Portugal.Brazil won in overtime, in-tantly transorming Athens,

Ga, to Rio during Carni-vale (Gold medal game wasplayed in Sanord Stadium).

So, I was among manynitially thrilled to hear that

Falcons› owner Blank wasbringing MLS Soccer to At-

lanta, or play in his new sta-dium in late 2017.

hough never a an othe new stadium, nor replac-

ing the 22-year old GeorgiaDome; that deal is longdone and the die cast. Butas bad as I think that deal isor the city o Atlanta, stateo Georgia and Falcon ans(now acing sticker shock onthe prices o Personal SeatLicenses and season tickets)this deal or DeKalb taxpay-ers is much worse.

he DeKalb Commissionin a vote o 4-3, ater denyingall public comment, rushedto judgment and a vote ona contract giving Blank arather large blank check–40

plus acres o interstate ront-age along Memorial Driveat I-285; a parcel reaching toKensington Drive and nearbyKensington MARA station;a property tax waiver on allproperty and improvements;

and $12 million in cash.DeKalb County will house

the Parks and Recreation De-partment in one o the build-

ings to be constructed. Blankwill build a 3,500-seat sta-dium and three soccer prac-tice ields, as well as an oicebuilding to house the oiceso Atlanta United. Later developments may includeadditional indoor trainingacilities. his site is largerthan the land surroundingthe new Braves SunrustPark in Cobb County.

ICEO May justiies theexpense as needed along atroubled corridor, and statesthat the acilities will be a

much-needed catalyst oreconomic development.I consider mysel a realist,

not a pessimist, but let’s lookat the track record in thiscategory here in Atlanta.

How much economicdevelopment or expan-sion can you recall aroundAtlanta-Fulton County Sta-dium? he Omni? he Geor-gia Dome? urner Field?Falcon’s practice acilities inSuwanee?

he Gwinnett Commis-sion similarly touted thebeautiul G-Braves stadium,

and signiicantly over castboth ticket sales and areaeconomic expansion. As aresult, the commission theremust make unplanned annu-al appropriations to cover thedebt service o what is argu-

ably the most amenity-illedstadium in minor leaguebaseball.

Atlanta United owner

Blank noted the coincidenceand irony o returning,across the street, to the loca-tion o his irst Home Depotstore. he company has longsince let that building orgreener pastures in DeKalbCounty and elsewhere. ButAtlanta United will play itsgames in downtown Atlanta,in the new stadium–wherethe Falcons receive all ticket,concession and parking reve-nues, to help inance the newstadium. he DeKalb soccercomplex will pay no property

taxes and only generate mar-ginal sales tax revenues.Kudos to DeKalb Com-

missioners Nancy Jester, Ka-thie Gannon and Jeff Rader,who all voted against theproposed deal, who are con-tinuing to ask some toughquestions and are calling orregular and monthly updateson the project’s cost, timelineand developments.

here remain numerousunanswered and signiicantquestions. Will DeKalb highschool athletes, currentlywith a shortage o stadia,

have access to the acility orpractice ields? Will DeKalbtaxpayers be given discountsor ree passes to scrimmageand pre-season practicegames on the campus?

I think I know just what

DeKalb citizens are gettingout o this deal. I just wishI had taken the time severalyears ago to pick up an extra

box across the street at thatirst Home Depot–an extra-large box o wood screws,and save us all several mil-lion in the process.

Bill Crane also serves as a political analyst and commen-tator for Channel 2’s Action

News, WSB-AM News/Talk750 and now 95.5 FM, as wellas a columnist for The Cham-

pion, Champion Free Pressand Georgia Trend. Crane isa DeKalb native and businessowner, living in Scottdale. Youcan reach him or comment ona column at bill.csicrane@

gmail.com.

Bill Crane

[email protected]

Columnist

ONE MAN’S OPINION

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LOCAL

If you would like to nominate someone to be considered as a future Champion of the Week, please contact Andrew Cauthenat [email protected] or at (404) 373-7779, ext. 117.

CHARLENE EDWARDS

See Lithonia on page 11A

by Carla [email protected]

Lithonia is updating itscomprehensive plan and hasnvited residents to a Aug.

17 open house to share theirhoughts on what the city’s

goals and direction shouldbe.

A comprehensive planoutlines a ramework or thedevelopment o an area, rec-ognizing the physical, eco-

nomic, social, political, aes-hetic and related actors o acommunity, according to theAtlanta Regional Commis-

sion (ARC). Lithonia MayorDeborah Jackson said thecity is required to do a majorupdate every 10 years.

“Every ive years we doan update o the ive-yearwork plan,” Jackson said.“he last time the city did acomprehensive plan was in2010, and this is the stage oupdating that. he Depart-ment o Community Aairschanged a lot o the require-ments and they’ve made it

much more manageable, andwe’re getting assistance romthe Atlanta Regional Com-mission to actually do the

writing this time. Last timewe had a citizen’s group todo it.”

During the last compre-hensive plan update, Jacksonsaid the city accomplished aew goals, including updatingthe zoning ordinance and ahousing inventory.

“We were able to domore community outreach,and some o the big thingswere the redevelopment othe [Lithonia] Plaza,” Jack-

son said. “We were able toget a grant rom the DeKalbDevelopment Authority toremediate the asbestos on

Lithonia holds comprehensive

plan open house

Charlene Edwards de-ided to walk the walk ratherhan talk the talk.

During a mission trip tohe Dominican Republic, Ed-

wards said she noticed peo-

ple discussing what shouldbe done and who should leadhe way to help people livingn the slums in that country.

“But, there were not anyangible action items being

placed on the solution table;ust a bunch o talking,” Ed-

wards said. “I decided then,hat I would rather be quietnd do what is needed thanppear on red carpets and

do nothing. So I returned toAtlanta and gathered someike-minded riends and wetarted working.”

Edwards, 53, oundedhe Action Not Words Proj-ct Inc. (ANWP) in 2009.

Located in Dunwoody, theorganization ocuses oncreating communities thatprovide or residents whileteaching them to grow theirown ood, adopt healthierliestyles and contribute tothe maintenance o the envi-ronment.

“We began as a charityto provide basic living neces-sities to underinanced and

underrepresented popula-tions in the DominicanRepublic and the greaterAtlanta area,” Edwards said.“We have grown to providethe skills and resources

needed to enhance the qual-ity o lie or all citizens byencouraging environmentalstewardship, the sharing oresources and communityempowerment.

“he inclusion o greensustainability has added anextra sense o urgency to pre-serve our green spaces whileassisting others to grow theirown ood or at least becomemore cognizant o what theyare consuming and how it isaecting the environment,”Edwards added.

ANWP has been work-ing with the residents o Li-thonia to restore the historic

Lithonia Cemetery and add amicro urban arm. Edwardssaid she envisions ANWPbeing an integral member othe Lithonia community.

“he micro urban arm

will not only provide theneeded organic produce andood items, it will also serveas a hub or sustainabilityeducation, environmentalhealth resources and com-munity well-being,” she said.

ANWP also provideshealth and wellness servicesor seniors and disabled vet-erans throughout Fulton andDeKalb counties.

“We began providingresources and services orother organizations that havethe same basic mission as

our own at the inception oour nonproit. Many chari-ties rely upon donations and

grants that might not coversome o the basic needs otheir recipients,” she said.“We work toward illing thegap o services or those pro- viding quality giving.”

Edwards said volunteer-ing is important because pro- viding service or resourceswithout expectation o re-ceiving anything in returncreates great karma.

“I also eel whatever it isyou want to see happen inthis world, you must be will-ing to put in the work,” shesaid. “hereore, since I wantto live in a healthy, peaceul,loving world, I must be will-ing to apply my resources tosee that happen. As they say,what goes around, comes

back around.”

Lithonia residents viewed and discussed options of the city’s comprehensive plan.

The open house allowed residents to voice what city should focus onwith the comprehensive plan.

The open house allowed residents to share their thoughts on what thecity’s vision should be. Photos by Carla Parker

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Avondale Estates

Dance theater to hold concert

Avondale Estates based City Gate DanceTheater announced its season repertory concert“Black and White,” Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. The con-cert will be held at Balzer Theater located at 84Luckie Street Northeast in Atlanta. The concertwill be a recognition of world events, stories ofove and signs of peace. Tickets can be purchased

at www.dancestudio-pro.com.

BrookhavenPublic meetings scheduled for MurpheyCandler Lake study

As part of Brookhaven’s Murphey Candler

Lake watershed study, representatives from Sus-ainable Water Planning and Engineering will

host the first round of public meetings on Sept.2 and 9. Both meetings will be held from 7 to 8p.m. at Lynwood Park Community Center. Therewill be a presentation followed by an open houseo answer questions. The focus of the meetings iso collect concerns from the community for the

Nancy Creek watershed and Murphey CandlerLake. Lynwood Park is located at 3360 OsborneRoad.

ChambleeFood truck rally continues in Doraville

It’s not a bad idea to spend a summer day en-oying music with family and friends and binging

on food truck treats.On Sept. 9 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., the city of

Doraville will present its Doraville Food TruckRally on Park Avenue.

The event will be held in partnership with theAtlanta Street Food Coalition and will continue tobe held on the second Wednesday of each month.

The event will give residents the chance tomeet elected officials and enjoy food, fun and fel-owship with friends and neighbors.

DecaturClerk of Superior Court to host free notaryraining

DeKalb County Superior Court Clerk DebraDeBerry and the Georgia Superior Court Clerks’Cooperative Authority are hosting two free notaryraining sessions on Friday, Sept. 25. The first ses-ion is 9 to 10:30 a.m., and the second session is

11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. This training workshop is open to the pub-

ic and recommended to anyone who is a notarypublic Georgia or would like to become one.

“It is important to remember that a notarypublic should perform their duties to the utmostextent of the law, failure to do so could result in

costly lawsuits and penalties as a notary is liablefor his or her actions,” states an announcement

about the sessions.To reserve a seat to attend either session, con-

tact Twinette Jones at (404) 371-2250 or [email protected].

The sessions will be at Maloof Auditorium,1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur.

Atlanta Audubon Society backyardsanctuary tour set for Sept. 19

Atlanta Audubon Society (AAS) will hostits annual Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Tour onSaturday, Sept. 19 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The tourwill feature four properties along a 7-mile routethrough Decatur, on the east side of Atlanta, withan optional fifth stop at the Georgia Native Plant

Society (GNPS) Fall Plant sale at Stone MountainPark.

Tickets may be purchased online at www.At-lantaAudubon.org or by calling (678) 973-2437.Tickets are $15 for AAS and GNPS members and$20 for nonmembers. All proceeds will supportthe education and conservation efforts of AtlantaAudubon Society.

The tour sites include Woodlands Garden, aswell as the homes of Deb and Douglas Wilson,Carolyn and Max Brown, and Mary Kimberly and Gavin MacDonald, all of Decatur.

Each property has been certified by AtlantaAudubon Society as a Certified Wildlife Sanctu-ary because it provides five essential criteria forattracting wildlife and birds: food sources, nesting

sites, bird feeders, shelter and water sources. Visi-tors will have the opportunity see various nativeplants and trees in different settings that attractbirds, butterflies and other wildlife. AAS staff and volunteers will be available at each site to guide visitors through the habitats.

The mission of Atlanta Audubon Society is toprotect Georgia’s birds and their habitats througheducation, conservation and advocacy. For moreinformation on the tour, visit the AAS website atwww.AtlantaAudubon.org.

DunwoodyDunwoody Sunday cycle

On the first Sunday of each month bicyclistsfrom Dunwoody and surrounding neighborhoodsgather at Village Burger, 1426 Dunwoody VillageParkway at 2:30 p.m. to prepare for a 4.5-mileloop ride around the city.

The event is a monthly community activ-ity sponsored by Bike Walk Dunwoody Marchthrough November.

There is a short pre-ride safety review and thegroup sets off at 3 p.m. Helmets are required and abicycle with gears is recommended to handle thehills.

The route is a 4.5-mile loop around Dun-woody with mostly right turns. The group will notride in inclement weather or hazardous road con-ditions. Everyone is welcome.

LithoniaStonecrest Library to hold book sale

The Friends of Stonecrest Library will be hav-ing a book sale.

Various genres of books, including fiction,nonfiction, textbooks, encyclopedias, children’sand romance series, will be available for sale.

The sale will be Saturday, Aug. 29, from 10a.m. to 4 p.m.

Stonecrest Library is located at 3123 KlondikeRoad, Lithonia. For more information, call (770)482-3828.

Fundraiser to beneft young science lovers

A local nonprofit is raising funds to helpyouth attend the National Organization for theProfessional Advancement of Black Chemists andChemical Engineers Science Bowl in Orlando,Fla., Sept. 24-26.

The public is invited to a fundraiser on Satur-day, Aug. 29 where a painting by Guyanese artistHarold Boscom will be raffled.

The group also will sell $10 barbecue platesincluding fish, jerk or barbecue chicken, and veg-etable plates.

Donations also can be made at www.youcar-ing.com/teamphoenix, or by mailing contribu-tions to Celebrate Our Children Foundation/KimHodge, 5357 Beechwood Forest Dr., Lithonia, Ga.30038.

Stone MountainHistorical society to host event

The Stone Mountain Historical Society willhold its monthly event Sept. 17. This month’sevent is “One Place Study of Stone Mountain Vil-lage.” Attendees can research and learn about the village’s families, historic buildings and the com-munity. The event will be held at Wells BrownHouse located at 1036 Ridge Avenue. For moreinformation, email [email protected].

County commissioner to take monthlycommunity breakfast to Stephenson HighSchool

Commissioner Stan Watson is taking hismonthly community cabinet breakfast on theroad.

He is partnering with Stephenson High SchoolPTSA which will facilitate the free communitybreakfast on Saturday, Sept. 5, from 9 to 11 a.m.

Representatives for the East Police Precinctand DeKalb Emergency Management Agency willbe provide tips, information and resources to pro-mote safety.

The address is for Stephenson High School is701 Stephenson Road, Stone Mountain.

AROUNDDEKALB

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LOCAL

Former county commissioner’shusband sentenced for stealing

by Ashley Oglesby [email protected]

DeKalb County School District publicaety department has launched a new tru-

ancy unit to catch students skipping classes.Director o Public Saety Donald Smith

aid, “his is new to my department but tru-ancy units are not new. he rationale is veryimple. When our kids are not in school,hey’re out there committing crime.”

Smith said his goal is to “get the kids ohe streets, get them back in school and hopehat we can get them back on the right path.”

Smith said the department has noticedmany students skipping school to break intohomes and commit other crimes.

He said, “We have a responsibility tomake sure these students stay in school.”

Smith assigned two oicers to the newunit. he oicers will be an “important piecein terms o helping our young people gettheir education. he most important thing isthat we need to get them o the streets,” hesaid.

he DeKalb County School District cur-rently has 71 police oicers, 120 security o-icers and 125 crossing guards.

Smith said everyone plays a vital role inthis eort. He said the department will alsoseek assistance rom individual school.

DeKalb schools have more than 2,000cameras to help oicers monitor school ac-tivity.

PUBLIC NOTICE

“Elderly” (62+) Project-Based

Housing Choice Voucher (HCV)

Waiting List Opens

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

APPLICATIONS FOR WAITING LIST

WILL BE ACCEPTED ONLINE ONLY

www.dekalbhousing.org

Applicants requiring reasonable accommodationsbecause of a disability, language translation, orcommunication in an alternative format may call the

Waiting List Hotline at 404-270-2590 between 8am - 5pm.

Doraville 2015 LMIG Paving Project

Sealed Bids

for

the

construction

of

the

City

of

Doraville’s

2015

LMIG Paving Project, which generally consists of approximately

2.05 miles of pavement resurfacing, will be received by the City

at City Hall (3725 Park Avenue, Doraville, GA 30340) until 2:00

P.M. local time, September 24, 2015. At that time, the bids will

be publicly opened and read aloud. For more details, contact

Sam Serio at (678) 417‐4000 or [email protected] or visit

the City’s website to download the complete announcement at

http://www.doravillega.us/procurement‐opportunities/.

John Boyer, the husbando ormer DeKalb Countyommissioner Elaine Boyer,

has been sentenced to one

year and one day in ederalprison or conspiring to stealounty money.

On Feb. 24, John Boyer,63, o Stone Mountain,pleaded guilty to conspiringo commit mail raud. Boyer

was sentenced Aug. 19 toederal prison, three years

o supervised release, andordered to pay approximately$87,000 in restitution.

Elaine Boyer was con-victed on similar charges inSeptember 2014.

“John Boyer used hiswie’s position as a DeKalbCounty commissioner toteal thousands o dollars inaxpayer unds,” said U.S. At-orney John A. Horn. “he

Boyers’ scheme put countymoney in their pockets andultimately let the citizens oDeKalb County holding theab.

“In a county that hasecently seen its share o cor-uption cases, this is a par-icularly sad chapter,” Hornaid.

According to inorma-ion presented in court, in

2009, Elaine and John Boyerxperienced inancial di-iculties.

“As a result, an unlawulkickback scheme was de-vised to obtain money romDeKalb County,” stated anews release rom the U.S.Attorney’s Oice.

In September 2009,Elaine Boyer hired amilyriend Marion Rooks Boyn-on as a political advisor

allegedly to assist her with

government consulting, ac-cording to ederal charges.

“As part o the scheme,alse invoices were submit-ted to Elaine Boyer’s oiceor services supposedly ren-dered by Boynton,” accord-ing to the news release. “Inact, Boynton perormed noservices or DeKalb Countygovernment, Elaine Boyer’soice, or the citizens oDeKalb County.”

According to court in-ormation, Elaine Boyer usedthe alse invoices as a basis to

authorize payments to Boyn-ton. From September 2009to November 2011, DeKalbCounty issued approximately35 checks to Boynton orconsulting services that werenever perormed. In total,DeKalb County paid Boyn-ton more than $85,000.

John Boyer then instruct-ed Boynton to deposit themoney into a bank accountused by the Boyers, the newsrelease stated. Boynton un-

neled approximately $60,000o county money into an ac-count used by the Boyers’ topay personal living expenses.

In August 2014, ElaineBoyer resigned as District1 commissioner and wascharged with conspiringto commit wire and mailraud. Ater pleading guilty,she was sentenced on March20 to 14 months in prisonand ordered to pay approxi-mately $87,000 in restitution.

On Aug. 11, a grand jury returned an indictment

against Boynton, 73, o SaintSimons Island, on charges oconspiracy and substantiveederal program thet.

he sentencing o Mr.Boyer urther illustrates thatthere are consequences orthose who assist or enticepublic oicials with regard tocriminal corrupt activities,”said J. Britt Johnson, specialagent in charge o FBI At-lanta Field Oice.

Public safety officers to focus on truancy

Elaine Boyer is serving time in a federal prison after pleading guilty tofraud. Her husband John was sentenced Aug. 19 for conspiring to stealcounty money. Photo by Andrew Cauthen


While participatory bud-geting can be implementedin a number o ways, varyingrom city to city, the basicidea is pretty simple: get peo-ple involved in how publicunds are spent.

his year Clarkston o-icials launched a communitybudgeting initiative or the2015 iscal year, allocating$10,000 to the participatory

project and organized com-munity meetings or resi-

Clarkston residents decideon community projects

See Clarkston on page 10A

Terry

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by Carla [email protected]

Lithonia is in the pre-iminary stages o comingo an agreement to transer

ownership o the old BruceStreet School to the LithoniaDowntown DevelopmentAuthority (DDA).

he Lithonia City Coun-il will meet Sept. 8 about the

agreement. Once the owner-hip is transerred, the DDA

will lease the building to Ea-gle Rock, an education andommunity developmentooperation. Fred Reynolds,

an Eagle Rock representative,aid they plan to renovate the

property.“he plan is to bring

people in rom the commu-nity to revitalize the buildingo get people involved,” heaid. “We want to partner

with the Lucious SandersRecreation Center to get thehildren involved with the

project as well.”Eagle Rock plans to use

he building to oer trainingn trade jobs such as con-truction, carpentry, acility

maintenance and more. Anagreement with DDA willallow Eagle Rock to have aong-term lease on the prop-rty, while the city could only

oer an agreement up to iveyears.Lithonia City Council-

man Al Franklin, who is alsohe DDA board’s vice chair-

man, said the reason why theDDA was interested in tak-ng ownership o the school

building is because EagleRock wants a long-termagreement.

“hey want a long-termagreement because they’renvesting their own personalapital,” Franklin said. “Forhem to have an agreementhat’s less than three to ive

with a commitment comingrom the city is not reallytrong enough or them toay they’re going to take onhat particular acility.

“he DDA has the abil-ty to go up to 50 years on an

agreement,” Franklin added.hat gives [Eagle Rock]

more stability, more comortn knowing that they can dot.”

Franklin said the DDAwill put together an agree-ment where the city will havean opportunity to be a ben-

iciary o the DDA takingover the building.

“hat means rom a i-nancial prospective the city

has an opportunity to earn[money],” he said.

Bruce Street School wasestablished as the irst schoolor the Arican-Americancommunity in DeKalb Coun-

ty ater the Lithonia PublicSchool system was incorpo-rated in 1938. Ownership othe structure was transerred

to the city sometime in the1980s.

he building’s exterior

granite walls remain intact,but the interior and roo havedeteriorated.

Group looks to revitalize old Bruce Street School

Lithonia city ofcials are trying to nd ways to revitalize the old BruceStreet School property. Photo by Carla Parker

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LOCAL

Dunwoody residentsto name new park

Public Notifcation: Application has been made to the Federal Communications Commission(FCC) for a new communications structure along railroad right of waynear MP 624.7, Atlanta, GA 30341. The FCC Form 854 le number is A0977465. The structure type is an non-lighted monopole with a totalheight including antenna of 63 feet to tip. Interested persons may reviewthe application by going to www.fcc.gov/asr/applications and enteringthe Form 854 File Number. Interested persons may raise environmentalconcerns about the proposed structure by ling a Request for Environ-

mental Review with the FCC. The FCC strongly encourages interestedparties to le online any Requests for Environmental Review; instructionsfor making such lings can be found at www.fcc.gov/asr/environmental-request , or by paper copy to FCC Requests for Environmental Review, Attn: Ramon Williams, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554.


Dunwoody oicials areasking residents to help themname their newest park atPernoshal Court.

he “Name Your Park”ontest began Aug. 5 and willun through Sept. 30.

Participants are encour-aged to vote on ive potentialpark names: Pernoshal Park,Hightower rail Park, Musk-ogee Park, Old Buck Parkand Magnolia Park, or pro-vide a write-in name.

Director o the Parksand Recreation DepartmentBrent Walker said sincehe contest launched the re-ponse has been great.

“It gives public buy-in tohe process and makes this

project more o a communityort. Wherever we can get

public input and eedback it’salways a good opportunity,”aid Walker.

He added, “here’s a loto olks out there that mayhave some good ideas thatneed to be heard so this is agood way or us to get thatnput.”

Each contest participantwill be allowed one vote.Ater all votes are submittedhe winning name will bedentiied by city sta and

announced by the mayor

and city council members onDec. 14 at 6 p.m.

Walker said the conteststemmed rom inquiriesabout how to take part innaming Dunwoody parks.

He said, “We haven’thad any new parks untilthis year. When we openedGeorgetown Park that onewas kind o easy because it’sin Georgetown, it was a no-brainer to name that one.”

he new park will belocated on Pernoshal Courtand Shalloword Road. Sincethere is already a ShallowordPark in Chamblee, Walkersaid they decided on a “com-munity involvement projectto get as many people pos-sible involved in the process.

“We were wonderinghow we were going to namethis park. We looked at someother cities and what their

criteria is. We don’t have acommittee or anything likethat as part o the city toname city properties or parksso we thought that we’d justput it out to the citizens anddo a little contest to see whatthey wanted,” Walker said.

he new addition is ex-pected to be approximatelyive acres and the largestnewly built park createdsince Dunwoody’s incorpo-ration.

In addition to a multi-

use trail, the park will have a

centralized pavilion and rest-room acility, exercise equip-ment, 162 parking spaces,ields or sports and basket-ball courts with a pickle ballcourt overlay, which Walkersaid is popular among thecity’s senior citizen demo-graphic.

Walker said the parkwill also eature terrace seat-ing and serve as a venue oroutdoor events and peror-mances.

he new park sits be-tween the city’s Brook Run

Park and Georgetown Park.Walker said, “As we’rebuilding this one, we’re alsoconnecting our trailwayssystem rom Brook RunPark, through this new park,across Shalloword and intothe section o trail that we’vealready built into George-town Park.”

He said the trails will,“give people another optionto not only get to their parksbut also to be able to getthrough the city without hav-ing to use their vehicles.”

Walker said eventually

the city would like to con-nect the trails all the way toPerimeter Mall but that ismore o a long-term goal.

Walker said, “Brook RunPark to Chamblee Dun-woody will be done by theend o this year but that’sonly about a third o theway.”

“We’re excited to getit done. We plan to have itcompleted by the end o thisyear and then start lookingat uture park plans and whatwe’re going to be doing next,”

Walker said.He added, “We will berolling out the update or thepark’s master plan. It’s beenive years since we did thelast master plan. So in thecoming months we will startthe process o public inputmeetings…”

“Name your Park” con-test rules and additionaldetails on voting proceduresare available at the onlinecontest portal at www.con-nectdunwoody.com.

ClarkstonContinued From Page 8A

dents to brainstorm abouthow they want the money tobe spent.

Committees made up oClarkston residents, propertyowners and business owners,

were encouraged to serve as voting members o the bud-geting initative. Individualswho did not it into any thesecategories were encouragedto participate in the discus-sion and research o pro-posed projects.

he committees selectedive projects to be presentedto the city council or inalapproval: Little Free Li-braries, an eort presentedto encourage reading inClarkston; park benches;canvas bags to discourageplastic bag use; a seniors

program and a wildlowerproject.

City council approvedevery item except the wild-lower project at their Aug. 5council meeting.

he Little Free Librariesproject was given $450 orapproximately ive libraries,park benches $1,200, canvasbags $1,200 and the seniorsprogram $4,000.

Mayor ed erry said,“Because the wildlowerproject wasn’t unded I de-cided to take it upon mysel

to try and raise at least $500to pay or some o the land-scaping work that we’re goingto need to do the wildlowerproject.” he majority o thecity council did not wantwildlowers on city property.erry said the wildlowerswill instead be planted in theall on Brockett Road.

erry launched the resi-dent committees in February2015 shortly ater he waselected.

“We had our dierentstanding committees onsome issues that people sel-

selected. hey wanted to doone or education, one onpublic parks, one or a wel-coming committee and one

on public saety,” he said.During the 2015 budget

cycle erry said he requestedto allocate unds or the par-ticipatory budgeting process.

Following the allocation

o $10,000, three meetingsduring a three-month spanwere organized or citizensto meet and share ideas. hecommittees voted on the i-nal ideas in June.

“People otentimes don’twant to come to a councilmeeting and don’t want toattend a work session butthey have a lot o really greatideas,” said erry.

He added, “We shouldprovide a mechanism and a vehicle or them to expressthose ideas and or people tocome together and innovate.

You want people to have asae space where they can say‘this is what I want or mycommunity.’”

erry said his hope ornext year’s participatorybudgeting process is or it tobe a longer process, not inthe sense o spending moretime talking about ideas ordeciding on ideas but actu-ally having this sort o persis-tent and sustained eort orresidents to eel comortablesaying ‘here are some prob-lems in the community and

we’d like to ix them.’ We canuse some o those committeesystems that are designed orresidents to come togetherand igure out these ideas,”said erry.

He added, “Hopeully iI can get the council to ap-prove next year’s budget, thesame allocation o unds orthe community budgetingprocess, these committeeswill eel more conident be-cause they know that theyhave unds that they can sorto compete or to proposethese ideas that they’re pas-

sionate about.”

Director of Dunwoody Parks and Recreation Department Brent Walkerhares his vision for Dunwoody parks.

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he city-owned part o the Plaza. Now we’reworking on identiying what will it take toeparate the two structures so it can be de-

molished.”he city is working with a developer,

Wendover Housing Partners, which wants todo a housing development on the city-ownedportion. he developer proposed a $12 mil-ion apartment complex development that

will include 75 units consisting o 24 one-bedroom, 45 two-bedroom and six three-bedroom apartments.

Jackson said new development within Li-

honia Plaza is the top issue or residents andity oicials.“People want to see [changes to the pla-

za] happen,” Jackson said. “hat’s been a longime issue since the development o the pla-

za, some people thought it was a bad idea at

the time 50 years ago and now we’re lookingat bringing in some development that will bemuch more consistent with the historic char-acter o the city.”

Residents are also interested in havingmore businesses in the city, according toJackson.

“We want to reach out to the private sec-tor to diversiy the types o businesses thatwe have in the city,” she said. “We also wantto increase community activities. We’re veryexcited about restarting programing at theLithonia Amphitheatre. We’re continuing

with the upgrades that we started a couple oyears ago and have had some private dona-tions to our Downtown Development Au-thority that will allow that to happen.”

LithoniaContinued From Page 6A

by Kathy Mitchell

While new curtains and

resh paint job at homemight make most olks smile,or teenage girls living in aroup home the change isruly exciting, according to

Carmen Pruitt, supervi-or o the CHRIS Kids girls’

home in Stone Mountain.he acility recently

won a competition amongnonproit organizationsnominated or a makeoverby employees o home ur-nishings retailer IKEA. Atern approximately two-week

process o voting amongKEA employees and cus-omers, the CHRIS Kids a-ility was chosen to receive aenovation valued at $10,000hrough the company’s Liemprovement Challenge.

CHRIS Kids is one o ap-proximately 120 Americanharities since 2011 to re-eive products, installationervices and design expertisehrough the IKEA charitable

program.IKEA employees came

to the home, which housesup to six young womenbetween the ages o 14 and

18, and painted, installedwindow treatments, rugs,shelving and storage, urni-ture, home décor pieces andmore. “here were about10 employees working onthe project and they wantedeverything to be exactlyright,” Pruitt recalled. “At onepoint they discovered thatsome curtains were abouttwo inches too short. heytook them out and replacedthem.”

he makeover includedimprovements in the livingroom, dining room and base-ment recreation area. Alsoincluded was renovation othe serenity room—a placeor the young women to goor quiet meditation.

Group homes normallyhave donated urniture,which typically is previouslyused, according to BrittanyBurnett, vice president odevelopment or CHRISKids. “Even when we receivenew urniture it gets quite a

bit o wear and tear over thecourse o a ew years so it’sreally delightul to get brand

new urniture,” she said, add-ing that when there aren’tenough donations programmoney must be used to re-place dilapidated urniture.“hat’s money that’s verymuch needed in other as-pects o our programs.”

“he girls were so excitedwhen they learned that wehad won and that excitementcarried through the wholeprocess. hey wanted to helpthe IKEA people who weredoing the makeover. heyloved having new chairs tosit in while they study andbeing surrounded by reshbright colors. It was reallyupliting,” Pruitt said.

Like the other groupseven metro Atlanta homesin the CHRIS Kids’ JourneyZprogram, the girls’ homein Stone Mountain housesyoung people who have hadto be removed rom theirhomes and placed underthe state’s custody. Usuallyparental rights have been

terminated and the youth are“at great risk or exploitationand bad outcomes,” accord-

ing to CHRIS Kids.Most youth in the Jour-neyZ Program “have experi-enced severe physical, sexual,and/or emotional abuse andneglect as well as other trau-mas; as a result have seriousbehavioral and/or mentalhealth issues….hey aretypically two or more yearsbehind their peers both so-cially and academically,” theCHRIS Kids website states.Most have been placed ingroup homes by the Depart-ment o Family and Chil-dren’s Services or the juvenile justice system.

“Young people living inour group homes typicallyhave lived in seven otherplaces since leaving theiramily home,” Burnett ex-

plained. “Having a sae andattractive home environmentmeans a great deal to their

emotional wellbeing.”Founded in 1981 byJunior League o Atlanta,CHRIS KIDS is headquar-tered in DeKalb County andserves the entire metropoli-tan area. Its mission is to healchildren, strengthen amiliesand build community.

“We’re not just givingthese girls a place to live,”Burnett said. “We provideindividual counseling to helpthem get their lives on track.We help them with lie skillsand provide educationaltools. It’s so important thatthey have a home they caneel good about. So manyo them did not have that atearlier points in their lives.his has been a huge win orall o us.”

Girls’ home wins makeover from home furnishings retailer

ome furnishings retailer IKEA, through its Life Improvement Challenge, donated approximately $10,000 in furniture and other improvements to renovate the CHRIS Kids girls’ groupome in Stone Mountain.

Request

for

Proposals

The City of Chamblee seeks the services of a qualified

consultant and/or corporate entities interested in developing a

citywide Strategic Economic Development Plan for the City of

Chamblee.

Sealed proposals will be received no later than Thursday,

September 17, 2015, at 4:00 PM at Chamblee City Hall. RFP

documents may

be

obtained

from

the

State

of

Georgia/DOAS

website at https://ssl.doas.state.ga.us/PRSapp/. Additional

information is available from the Chamblee City Manager’s

office at 770‐986‐5026.

Request for Proposals

The City of Chamblee seeks the services of a qualified

consultant and/or corporate entities interested in developing a

comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan for the City of

Chamblee.

Sealed proposals will be received no later than Thursday,

September 17,

2015,

at

2:00

PM

at

Chamblee

City

Hall.

RFP

documents may be obtained from the State of Georgia/DOAS

website at https://ssl.doas.state.ga.us/PRSapp/. Additional

information is available from the Chamblee City Manager’s

office at 770‐986‐5026.

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LOCAL

TOUR OF DISTRICT 5DeKalb County commissioners and ofcials spent the morning ofAug. 21 touring District 5 in south DeKalb to learn about its assets.Photos by Andrew Cauthen

A new campus of Georgia Piedmont Technical College has opened onWesley Chapel Road.

n November 2014, Acuity Brands Inc., a lighting solutions provider, an-nounced its relocation to this building in Panola Industrial Park and thecreation of 700 jobs for DeKalb and Rockdale counties.

An old barn is one of several historic sites in the Arabia Mountain

National Heritage Area.

An old apartment complex is being demolished near Memorial Drive.

Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May and Commissioners Kathie Gannon, Stan Watson, Jeff Rader, Mereda DavisJohnson, Nancy Jester, Larry Johnson and Sharon Barnes Sutton pose for a group picture outside of This Is Itrestaurant on Panola Road.

Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May and Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson during the District 5 tour.

Lithonia Mayor Deborah Jackson and Charlie Monroe, a manager at Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Pre-serve, talk to the tour participants.

The District 5 bus tour visited the Sandstone Estates neighborhood, with its large homes.

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WEEKPICTURESIn

Photo brought t you by DCTV

DeKalb County begins one-day-a-week sanitation collection service July 6, 2015

Residential customers will have same-day garbage, recyclable materials and yard trimmings collection

For more info, call or visit:

(404) 294-2900

www.rollingforwardtoone.com

he visit was a collaboration with The Atlanta Dream team for Penny’s “You Matter” tour.

On Aug. 21 reality court TV show Judge Penny Brown visited DeKalb County’s Cedar Grove High School. Band students, cheerleaders and other student organization performed for thespecial guest.

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LOCAL

Avondale Estates officialsdiscuss Fenner Dunlop property y Carla [email protected]

While some members o theAvondale Estates Board o Mayornd Commissioners are pleased withhe progress made in the Euramex

development proposal, one commis-ioner is not happy with the lack oertain details.

During its Aug. 19 work ses-ion oicials discussed the mostecent plans presented by Euramex

Management Group on the 13-acreenner Dunlop property purchased

n October 2014.Mayor Jonathan Elmore said he

nd Commissioners Lindsay For-ines and John Quinn met with Eur-mex in the spring and were shownrough drat illustrating what Eura-

mex planned on the property.“hey came back to us recently

nd showed us more o a reinedlan,” Elmore said. “hey respondedo some o our concerns. We’re stillalking to them, asking them to lookt some things.”

Elmore said Euramex is propos-ng townhouses and apartments, aarking deck, greenspace, a grocerytore, retail spaces and a public spaceor the property. Elmore said his topriterion or the development is thatt eed into the character o Avondale

Estates.

“From my point o view, themportant thing is the community,”e said. “hat’s why I’m doing thinghis, I think that’s why we’re all do-ng this—is the tremendous sense oommunity that we have here andust making sure this new develop-

ment osters that sense o commu-nity and build on our sense o com-munity. hat to me is the criteria.”

he mayor and commission havead several meetings with Euramex

o express what they would like onhe property—a mixed-use develop-

ment with greenspace. Quinn saidoth sides are listening to each other.

“My view is a lot o progress haseen made since our initial meeting

quite some time ago to get some-hing that looks more and more like

Avondale,” Quinn said. “We’re nothrough with that process yet. We

hope to continue to hear rom [theresidents]…and I have every coni-dence we’re going to come out witha situation that addresses our needsand [creates] something that we canbe proud o.

“he thing we have to be con-scious o is striking a balance be-cause we’re asking or a lot o stuand we don’t have a lot o money tothrow at it ourselves,” Quinn added.“My biggest ear is that i we’re toorigid, too demanding…that we’ll endup with the developers throwing uptheir hands and walking away. I’m

pleased with the progress we’re see-ing, and I’m careully optimistic thatwe’re going to get this done.”

Forlines said she is excited aboutwhat has been presented so ar.

“We are about to get some an-tastic development or our down-town,” she said. “I’m very pleasedwith where we are. hey get us theyget this city, they’re working with usand they’re listening. I believe we’reabout to do something really great,bringing in a lot o components thatthe majority o our citizens havewanted or a long time.”

Mayor Pro em erry Giager

was the only commissioner to speakagainst the tentative plans.“We have requested more retail,

we have requested more greenspaceand we haven’t received it,” Giager

said. “he greenspace that they’regiving us, in my opinion, are court-yards or the townhomes and theapartments. hey’re not anywhereclose to the own Green [park].

Elmore is pushing or moregreenspace to the developers.

“he greenspace that they areproviding is kind o nestled in thetownhouses,” he said. “hey’re stillworking on that, and we hope tohave that soon.”

Giager was also concerned aboutthe number o apartments and lacko mixed-use buildings.

“hey’re apartment buildersand managers, they’re not mixed-use people and they told us thatstraight out,” he said. “We’re zonedor mixed-use, I want to see mixed-use where 75 percent o it is in onebuilding. I don’t think that’s in thecharacter o Avondale and right now,I think we have to put a heavier ootdown.”

One resident asked when theplans and developers will be pre-sented to the public. Elmore did nothave a deinitive answer.

“As to when they’re going topresent something, I honestly don’t

know,” he said. “We’re working onthat. hey’re working on some draw-ings. We’ve begun talking a little bitabout the process, but we may needto call a special work session.”

A ormer DeKalb County judgewas indicted by a grand jury Aug.20 but the indictment was dismissedour days later.

Former Superior Court judgeCynthia Becker was indicted Aug.

20 by a Cobb County grand jury onour counts o making alse state-ments to the state Judicial Qualiica-tions Commission which was in- vestigating her or ethics violations.Becker also was accused o twocounts o making alse statements inwriting to the commission.

Hart County District AttorneyParks White dismissed the chargesagainst Becker, who in turn signed aconsent order with the commissionpromising to never again seek judi-cial oice.

White said Becker also delivereda written apology or what in the

dismissal were “erroneous state-ments that became the object o thislegal investigation and prosecution,”according to the Daily Report.

“I am deeply sorry or my incor-rect statements that I made to theJQC,” said Becker, according to theDaily Report. “I did not properlyprepare or the Sept. 8, 2014, JQCmeeting. he passage o time (al-most 10 months) made my memorypoor and caused me to make thesestatements to the JQC that werewrong.”

Becker came under ire or herhandling o the case against ormerschool superintendent Crawford

Lewis, who originally aced chargesincluding violation o the RacketeerInluenced and Corrupt Organiza-tions Act and three counts o thet.

In a plea agreement with pros-ecutors, Lewis agreed to serve as akey witness or the state to avoid jailtime. At Lewis’ sentencing hearinglast year, however, Becker rejectedthe agreement and sentenced Lewisto serve a year behind bars.

hat decision by Becker wasreversed Oct. 24, 2014, by the Geor-gia Court o Appeals, which statedBecker’s “ailure…to adhere to theterms o the negotiated plea would

likely oend the integrity and repu-tation o the criminal justice systemeven more than any unkept promisemade by a prosecutor.”

hree days ater the appellatecourt’s decision, Becker orderednew trials or ormer schools con-struction chie Pat Reid and herex-husband ony Pope, an architect,who were ound guilty o deraudingthe school district o more than $1million.

Becker also ordered Reid, whohad been sentenced to 15 years, andPope, who received an eight-yearsentence, to be released rom prisonimmediately. he pair were re-ar-rested in May and resentenced.

Indictment againstex-judge dropped

In the interest o ostering ac-ountability at all levels o the orga-

nization, DeKalb County Govern-ment is creating an Audit OversightCommittee (AOC) as authorized byhe Georgia General Assembly in

House Bill 599 (signed into law May

2, 2015). his committee will unc-ion independently in conducting

perormance and inancial-relatedudits or all departments, oices,gencies, and programs o the Coun-

ty. he objective is to ensure Countyprograms are eectively achievingthe purpose or which they were au-thorized and unded.

County residents interested in volunteering to serve on the ive-member committee are invited to

submit their resumes to executi- [email protected].

o be eligible or service on thecommittee, applicants must reside inDeKalb; possess expertise conduct-

ing perormance or inancial audits;have a minimum ive years o ex-perience and certiication as one othe ollowing—public accountant,internal or perormance auditor, ormanagement accountant; or 10 yearsrelevant proessional experience.

Committee members will serve aone- or our-year term.

Résumés will be acceptedthrough Sept. 11.

DeKalb solicits residents to serve on audit oversight committee

Euramex Management Group is working with Avondale Estates city ofcials on a develop-

ment for the 13-acre Fenner Dunlop property.

8/20/2019 FreePress 8-27-15

15/24

HardemanContinued From Page 1A

District 5 Continued From Page 1A

th chamion FRee pRess, FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015 pag 15A LOcAL

dren no matter i they werecoming to the recreationcenter or basketball, danceor other activities and talko them about the benefits o

playing chess.His one rule was, “I you

came in there you were notcoming back out until he wasdone. It was not going to be aot o in and out. He was re-

ally serious at all times aboutchess,” errell said. “He’s go-ng to be missed.”

errell said the recreationcenter staff and members hadbecome accustomed to thechess program and had planso continue the tournamentshis all.

During the summer o

2011, Hardeman expandedhis chess tutelage initiativeand ormed a partnershipwith Unconditional Love orChildren, Inc., (ULC) a non-profit educational and youthoundation based in Stone

Mountain. Tis partnershipostered relationships and

outreach that provided manyyouth and young adults ac-cess to organized chess andhe long-term benefits.

Te 20th tournament washeld in May o this past year.Over the years, hundreds otudents had the opportunity

o participate in Hardeman’sournaments.

Trough Hardeman’sefforts, the ollowing insti-utions ormed new chess

venues: Nick’s Barbershopn Stone Mountain, Green

Forest Christian Academy inDecatur, Georgia PerimeterCollege in Clarkston, Te C.Freeman Poole Senior ChessClub Players in Cobb County;and Harvest Lodge Home inDecatur.

Unconditional Love orChildren, chess coordinator

Barry Gray worked along-ide Hardeman and his ULCclasses.

Gray said Hardeman, “be-ieved in keeping students

engaged. When they lost agame while playing with him,hey did not become agitated

or despondent; they simplypleaded or a rematch. Beauwanted his students to thinktrategically and play chessike a predator, ever mind-ul o the next big move. Henstilled in them a sense o

character, competitiveness,el-confidence and chal-

enged their young minds tohink under pressure.”

Gray added, “Beau en-couraged students to be com-petitive in their schoolwork

as well as chess, join the Unit-ed States Chess Federationand participate in local andnationally rated chess tourna-ments.”

In 1962 Hardemangraduated with honors romCampbell Street High Schoolwhere he was the statisticiano the ootball team, sang inthe chorus and was active inmany other school activities.During his junior and senioryears o high school, he wasselected as one o 11 studentsto participate in an acceler-ated program at VolusiaCounty Community College.

Hardeman didn’t waituntil high school to make hiscollege decision. He discussed

attending Morehouse Col-lege in the seventh grade andnever wavered rom his de-termination to do so. In Sep-tember o 1962, he achievedhis dream o attending thecollege o his choice.

At Morehouse CollegeHardeman was introduced tothe game o chess by riendEric Mitchell at the Canter-bury House near campus. Itwas then that Hardeman firstdiscovered his lielong loveor chess.

Afer attending Morehouseor three years, Hardeman

enlisted in the United StatesAir Force where he spent ouryears. During his years in theAir Force, he represented hisdivision at many chess tour-naments.

Hardeman returned toMorehouse College and ma- jored in Mathematics witha minor in Chemistry. Hegraduated in 1971 and beganworking or Stanord Re-search Institute Internationalin Palo Alto, CA at the begin-ning o the computer era.

Hardeman worked with

Douglas Engelbart, theinventor o the computermouse.

When he lef Caliornia,he moved to Atlanta, whichbecame his permanent home.He later returned to More-house where he was instru-mental in the developmentand teaching o computer sci-ence courses.

Hardeman retired romA& in January 2014.

In addition to his careerand his love or chess, Harde-man was a poet and writer.He published two poetry

books during his militant so-cial activist days in the 1970’sin Caliornia.

o the somewhat rural suburban flavor,”Mereda Johnson said.

“What I wanted to do was to show allo my commissioners the 5th district,” shesaid. “I wanted them to see it and I wantedthem to have an appreciation or the possi-bilities that [are] here in the 5th district.”

Mereda Johnson said, “It’s a uniquedistrict in that a large percentage o thedistrict is residential and [there’s] so muchpotential or commercial. [Tere is] somuch that the fifh district can do to at-tract…substantial businesses into the [dis-trict].”

With its medical centers, greenspaceand MARA rail station, District 5 is

poised to “attract meaningul develop-ment,” Johnson said. “We have enough tosell ourselves, and we have not done thatbeore. I’d like to see us be proactive and todo that I wanted the other commissionersto have an appreciation o the 5th district.Tat was the reason that I requested thistour.”

Andrew Baker, the county’s directoro planning and sustainability, said, “Tepurpose o the trip was really to exposethe general commissioners to the assets aswell as some o the potential opportunitieswithin District 5 because it’s not ofen thatthey get to drive and see and detail the di-erent things that are happening and being

developed in District 5.”Baker said District 5 assets includeSouth DeKalb Mall, Stonecrest Mall, itsindustrial areas and DeKalb Medical Hill-andale.

“Te challenges are to expose and havea coordinated strategy to link those assetsand opportunities to the strategic econom-ic development plan,” Baker said.

Another “great gem and a great asset” isArabia Mountain, Baker said.

“I think the best-kept secret is ArabiaMountain,” he said. “I think there’s a loto opportunities or it…to really bringpeople and tourism to that particular area,because then they could stay at the ho-tels [and have] connectivity to Stonecrest

[Mall].”CommissionerNancy Jester said, “It

was great to be on this tour with my el-low commissioners and the CEO and allthe other olks. It was great to be able have

an interactive conversation and hear romdifferent olks narrating the tour that havea lot o expertise in different areas.”

Te highlight o the tour was “the Ara-bia Mountain area and learning about theheritage sites there,” she said.

“I thought…going to the city oLithonia and hearing rom the mayor wasparticularly interesting,” Jester said.

Lithonia Mayor Deborah Jackson,who took the District 5 tour, told the par-ticipants about the historic Bruce StreetSchool, the first public school or Blacks inDeKalb County. She also talked about thecity’s history in the granite industry.

“Tat was ascinating and I really ap-

preciated learning that,” Jester said.District 5 has “some beautiul conser-

vation areas—the park lands,” Jester said.“Tat’s a real jewel and we need to makesure we’re protecting that.”

Te district has “some areas …whereblight needs to be addressed and whereredevelopment needs to be addressed andwe talked about that on the tour,” Jestersaid.

“I look orward to working with thecounty and my ellow commissioners tomake sure those things happen and wecan revitalize some o those areas and re-develop some o those areas that need torevitalized,” Jester said.

“I think District 5 has a unique posi-tion …because it’s positioned so advanta-geously with regards to transportation andclose proximity to the other counties toour south,” she said. “As economic activ-ity…starts to increase with increased tra-fic through the Port o Savannah…, I thinkDistrict 5 is positioned to be a transporta-tion hub [and] a distribution hub.”

Interim DeKalb County CEO Lee Maycalled the tour “unprecedented,” sayingit was the first time in his nine years incounty government that all the commis-sioners and the CEO have been on a tourtogether.

“I really believe this will work to bringus closer together with greater under-

standing at least o District 5,” May said.“I think we ought to redo this or all o thedistricts. I know District 5 because I repre-sented it or almost nine years, but I don’tknow District 1, 2, 3 and 4 that way.

Planning Director Andrew Baker was the main guide for the tour around the district. Photo by AndrewCauthen

8/20/2019 FreePress 8-27-15

16/24


LOCAL

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

DeKalb County 2014-2018 Consolidated Plan for HUD Programs to include

the 2016 Annual Acon Plan

GRANT APPLICATION PROCESS FORThe United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

2016 FUNDSOn September 17, 2015 the DeKalb County Human and Community DevelopmentDepartment will begin accepng applicaons from faith-based organizaons,community organizaons, municipalies, non-prot agencies and other enesnterested in applying for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Emer-gency Soluons Grant (ESG funds for the Year 2016. All applicaons or requests aresubject to future HUD funding for these programs. CDBG and ESG applicaons andgeneral informaon may be obtained beginning September 17, 2015 at the DeKalbCounty website; www.dekalbcountyga.gov. For more informaon, please join us atthe meengs or call (404) 371-2727.

Applicaon/Informaon/Technical Assistance WorkshopDate/Time Locaon

Thurs., Sept. 17, 2015 Wesley Chapel Library11:00 AM – 12:30 PM 2861 Wesley Chapel Road

Decatur, Georgia 30034This meeng is very important given the funding reducons in the various programs!

Public HearingsThe DeKalb County Human and Community Development Department

is conducng two Public Hearings.Date/Time Date/Time

Thurs., Sept. 24, 2015 at 6:30 PM Thurs., Jan. 21, 2016 at 6:30 PM

Proposed Budget/Annual Acon PlanMaloof Auditorium

1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GAWe will present the proposed 2014-2018

Consolidated Plan including the 2016Annual Acon Plan, proposed budget

and solicit public quesons and/orcomments.

Community NeedsMaloof Auditorium

1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GAThe purpose of this public hearing is tosolicit input from the public regardingcommunity needs and priories. We

will discuss general informaonconcerning the 2014-2018 ConsolidatedPlan including the 2016 Annual AconPlan, applicaon submission process,

and program updates.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

HOME FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR DEKALB COUNTY COMMUNITY HOUSING

DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS (CHDOS) & MULTI-FAMILY, RENTALPROPERTY DEVELOPERS On September 17, 2015, the DeKalb County Human and Community Development Depart-ment will begin accepng applicaons from non-prot, aordable housing developers who areinterested in becoming Community Housing Development Organizaons (CHDOs). Applicaonsand general informaon may be obtained beginning September 17, 2015 at the DeKalb Countywebsite: www.dekalbcountyga.gov. To receive informaon regarding the applicaon process,please join the DeKalb Human and Community Development Department at the Applicaon/Technical Assistance Workshop on September 17, 2015.

Owners/developers are invited to apply for loans to assist in the construcon or rehabilitaonof mul-family, residenal projects in DeKalb County. Funds are provided as HOME InvestmentPartnership Program loans through an applicaon underwring process. Applicaons may be ob-tained beginning September 17, 2015 on the DeKalb County website, www.dekalbcountyga.gov.To receive informaon regarding the applicaon process and loan requirements, please aendthe Applicaon/Informaon/Technical Assistance Workshop on September 17, 2015.

Applicaon/Informaon/Technical Assistance Workshop

Date/Time Locaon Thurs., Sept. 17, 2015 Wesley Chapel Library 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM 2861 Wesley Chapel Road

Decatur, Georgia 30034This meeng is very important given the funding reducons in the various programs!

Public HearingsThe DeKalb County Human and Community Development Department

is conducng two Public Hearings.

Date/Time Date/TimeThurs, Sept. 24, 2015 at 6:30 PM Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 6:30 PM

Community NeedsMaloof Auditorium

1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GAThe purpose of this public hearing is

to solicit input from the public regard-ing community needs and priories.We will discuss general informaonconcerning the 2014-2018 Consoli-

dated Plan including the 2016 AnnualAcon Plan, applicaon submission

process, and program updates.

Proposed Budget/Annual Acon PlanMaloof Auditorium

1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GAWe will present the proposed 2014-

2018 Consolidated Plan including the2016 Annual Acon Plan, proposedbudget and solicit public quesons

and/or comments.

by Andrew [email protected]

Decatur’s Eloise . Le-veritt Public Works Building

Project was recently nameda 2015 Public Works Projecto the Year by the AmericanPublic Works AssociationAPWA).

he award goes to thecity o Decatur, as the man-aging agency; Hogan Con-truction Group, the primary

contractor; and Stevens &Wilkinson, the primary con-ultant. he award will be

presented during APWA’s2015 International PublicWorks Congress & Exposi-ion awards ceremony in

Phoenix, Ariz., on Aug. 31.

he public works build-ng project is being honoredn the category or structures

costing $5 million to $25million.

“Very ew public worksacilities get the opportunityo turn into what this oneurned into,” said David

Junger, Decatur’s assistant

city manager over publicworks. “So much o what we

do is in the ield. But herewe moved in all o the per-mitting operations into oneplace. I you have a construc-tion project in the city, you’renow coming to one buildingto handle everything.”

he city o Decatur helda ribbon-cutting ceremony

or its public works acility,

located at 2635 alley St., onMarch 24. he state-o-the

art building creates a “onestop shop” or constructionrelated permitting and en-orcement. It also is a jointacility with City Schools oDecatur’s maintenance de-partment.

he building, which hasattained LEED Gold status,

Decatur’s public works building wins awardwas expanded rom 15,000square eet to 30,000 squareeet and included the pur-chase o an adjacent buildingused or shop and storage

space and may provide spaceor a small retail incubator.Building improvements in-clude all new systems, inish-es, urniture and equipment.he acility also eatures lowmaintenance looring, oiceswith natural lighting and wa-terless urinals.

“It’s a nice building,”Junger said.

“We look at our publicworks olks just like we dopolice and ire [personnel],”Junger said. “When we havea bad storm, the people thatare going to be out there on

the ront lines with policeand ire are public works[personnel.]

“We try to take care oour police and ire [person-nel], public works olks areequally important,” Jungersaid.

Junger said, “he oldbuilding didn’t have much o

a break room, so when thecrews…

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