Clayton County Board of Commissioners FY2026 Q1/Q2 Performance Review - January 14, 2026
Clayton County Board of Commissioners FY2026 Q1/Q2 Performance Review - January 14, 2026
The Clayton County Board of Commissioners held its second day of Clayton Performance Reviews (CPRs) on January 14, 2026, covering the first two quarters of Fiscal Year 2026 (July-December 2025). Department heads presented operational achievements, challenges, and future initiatives across key strategic pillars: Communication & Image, Economic Opportunity, Fiscal Responsibility, Professional Growth, and Quality of Life. No public comments or official actions were taken; the meeting consisted of detailed departmental presentations.
Police Department Presentation
- Chief Dietrich Stanford reported on four strategic goals. Community engagement interactions exceeded the 3% increase target due to aggressive social media and traditional outreach. Crime reduction: stolen vehicle recoveries increased by 6.1% in Q1 and 9.3% in Q2, exceeding the 2% goal. Vacancy rate was maintained at 9.3% (Q1) and 11.1% (Q2), well below the 15% target. Professional development: 93 higher-level certifications completed, on track to exceed the annual goal of 5% increase. Quality of life: pedestrian fatalities decreased 33% in Q2; vehicle collision fatalities dropped 71% in Q2. Challenges included competitive compensation to retain personnel, need for new positions, and expanded training space due to doubled POST-mandated training hours. Future initiatives: a citizen self-reporting software, a co-responder program (mental health professionals with officers), a backup 911 facility, expansion of the real-time crime center, a drone-as-first-responder program, and a wellness program in partnership with Kennesaw State.
Fire and Emergency Services Presentation
- Chief Tim Sweat reported maintaining a vacancy rate below 6% (achieved 6.8% in Q2). Fire response time: goal under 10 minutes 30 seconds; achieved 11:02 in Q1 and 10:06 in Q2. EMS response time: goal under 10:30; achieved 15:27 in Q1 and 15:21 in Q2. Challenges: need for two additional ambulances (Med 12 in District 3, Med 14 in District 1) and one additional ladder truck, as well as expanded EMS capacity due to a 19% call volume increase since 2019 with no resource expansion. Population estimated near 350,000. New facilities: Fire Station 1 and Station 9 opening February 2026, Fire Station 15 (Lake City) opening late March/early April 2026, and new fire headquarters opening February. Future initiatives: finalizing ISO evaluation (currently Class 1), re-accreditation with Center for Public Safety Excellence, and securing funding for long-term resource expansion.
Office of Grants Administration Presentation
- Linda Boswell highlighted management of HUD grants (CDBG, HOME, ESG). Key accomplishments: Down Payment Assistance Program – 148 participants in homebuyer education workshops; Home Repair Program served 38 homeowners, including installing ramps for an 83-year-old resident; Homeless Education Program placed 15 families into permanent housing (goal of 10). Compliance: all environmental reviews and monitoring completed on track. Challenge: uncertainty of federal grant funding due to proposed budget cuts. Future initiatives: submit 2026 Action Plan by May 15, 2026, meet HUD timeliness test, apply for Georgia Initiative for Community Housing, and prepare 2028-2032 Consolidated Plan. Boswell was nominated for a 2026 Housing ATL Affordable Housing Award for Housing Retention Hero.
Office of Sustainability and Resilience Presentation
- Director David Vasquez reported on emergency management and resilience. Key: Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) 85% complete, BOC adoption targeted by Q3; flood mitigation project for Flint River (Upper Riverdale) underway, phase one study to be completed by May/June 2026; trained 171 employees and citizens in disaster preparedness; partnerships through LEPC for hazmat oversight. Future initiatives: rewrite hazard mitigation plan, prepare for FIFA 2026 impact (increased traffic, tourism). Staff recognized with Chamber of Commerce Valor Awards.
Community and Economic Development Presentation
- Director Patrick Ichike and Chief Cheryl Brooks reported on the newly merged department. Metrics: building permits processed at 90% rate (exceeded), business licenses and alcohol permits also met 90% benchmark. Job creation: unemployment rate steady at 4.4-4.5%. Small business incubator renovation underway (phase one complete). Future initiatives: implement impact fees (effective April 2026), zoning rewrite, countywide housing assessment, Terra Boulevard LCI ordinance, Rex Mill small area plan, and redevelopment nodes. Challenge: hiring and retention, budget constraints for training.
Library System Presentation
- Deputy Director Sherry Stanley reported strong engagement: 99,000 patrons in Q1, 79,000 in Q2; outreach events reached over 23,000 total. New card registrations increased from 1,362 to 1,500. Job fair partnerships: 1,910 citizens served in Q1, 1,103 in Q2. STEM, health, and financial literacy programs offered. Future initiatives: beautification projects, renovation/expansion of Riverdale Branch, hiring an on-site social worker, technology upgrades, replacement of Jonesboro Branch, and introduction of fee-based services. Partnerships with Goodwill, Senior Services (Meals on Wheels), and Office of Resilience for safety training.
Youth Services Presentation
- Administrator Sierra Dunn reported on programs for ages 14-24. Youth Commission received 65 applications (exceeded goal of 42). Career exposure: 107 youth introduced to career pathways from CTAE tours. Funding: secured $60,133 in grants and donations. Programs: coding boot camp, action meetings, and youth events. Challenge: insufficient staffing to serve 18-24 age group and long-term goal of reaching 4,800 youth. Future events: mentor matters, love and identity summit, seasonal job fair, coding boot camp.
Parks and Recreation Presentation
- Director Nicole Horn and Assistant Director Choice Stubbs reported on new performance metrics focused on outcomes. Grant funding: exceeded annual goal of $300,000 with $357,000 secured in first two quarters. Program participation: athletics registered over 1,200 youth; recreation services over 5,000; special events over 5,500 attendees. Customer satisfaction: over 90% across all divisions. Incident reports reduced from 167 in Q1 to 27 in Q2 (seasonal variation due to water park). Maintenance of 1,500 acres of green space: achieved 80% in Q2. Awards: Class A agency 4th District, Youth Engagement Award. Future projects: River's Edge phases 3&4, shade structures, aquatic center timing system, trail enhancements.
Office of Communications Presentation
- Administrator Valerie Fuller reported receiving 661 communications requests in first two quarters, a 9% increase over 2025. Video and photography requests doubled. Creative services (print) requests steady at 276 total. Media inquiries: 50 total. Campaign successes: 2027 SPLOST approved by 50%+ (estimated $412.7 million for capital projects); House Bill 870 (homestead exemptions for veterans, seniors, surviving spouses) passed with 90%+ approval. Social media: Facebook engagement rose 6% (goal 5%), Twitter/X followers declined. Website: 2.9 million clicks since July 2025. Future initiatives: ADA compliance by April 2026, government communicators week in February.
Key Outcomes
- All departments reported progress on strategic goals, with several exceeding targets (e.g., police vacancy rate, fire response time in Q2, grant funding for parks, library job fairs).
- Common challenges included: employee recruitment and retention, competitive compensation, need for additional positions and resources (police, fire, youth services), uncertainty of federal grant funding, and infrastructure constraints (training space, EMS capacity, facility conditions).
- Future priorities across departments focus on securing funding for expansion (fire stations, ambulances, police real-time crime center, library branches), implementing new technologies (police: drones, co-responder; fire: AVL dispatch; communications: ADA compliance), and fostering employee development (mentorship, cross-training, wellness programs).
- No formal votes were recorded; the presentations were informational updates to the Board of Commissioners and the public.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you. All right, gang, here we go. Hi, greetings and salutations to our citizens of Clayton County. Um, we feel it's an honor and a privilege. My name is Dietrich Stanford. I'm the chief operating for the Clayton County Board of Commissioners, and we have the pleasure of presenting out what we call our CPRs, affectionately known as our Clayton Performance Reviews. Here's an opportunity that you will hear from our collective leadership to talk more about their operational plans and some of the success and some of the challenges they may be facing in their respective departments. We hope that you will take it upon yourself to reach out to our respective departments so you have more questions. If you don't reach out, we also have a platform that we hopefully you'll take advantage of.gov. Again, that's CPR questions at Clayton County GA.gov. So the summation of what you'll hear, this reflects our day two of our presentations. Um this is a collective um presentation of two quarters worth of information. Um this is representative of July 2025 through December of last year, and again, we are looking forward to the presentations from our respective leadership. Um 2026 will continue to bring on some great things that we're looking forward to throughout the county, and we hope that you see as you reach out to our respective departments. We're very responsive and really addressing the things that you need in your respective communities. So with that, we'll get started with our presentations with our first leader. Our mission as an agency is to serve all citizens with excellence, and we execute that through partnerships and collaborations with our law enforcement partners and the community. As you look at our oral chart, you'll see that those commands report to me through the assistant chief of police. Those are four-facing personnel in the field. Those leaders handle our background in recruiting and our training for the entire department. And finally, we have our administrative division, which includes our crime intelligence group, our Titan unit, and they create the information that we use to suppress crime in Clayton County. All those individuals composed a allotted staff of 532 personnel, with the majority being forward-facing field personnel of 393 allocated slots. Right now we have 478 individuals occupying those slots. There's a connection, of course, with crime reduction and quality of life and economic opportunity. The more we're able to drive crime down, the hope is that we will attract economic development in the county. As we move to increasing our community engagement, there's a communication and image connection pillar, and of course, economic development. Every department in the county has a responsibility to work on the image of the county through their respective departments. Thus, if we engage our community appropriately, we hope to build a greater relationship and enhance public trust, and hopefully that spreads and attaches to the county's reputation. We intend with goal three to increase professional growth of our department employees. There's a profound professional growth management component and a fiscal responsibility component to that. Onboarding employees is costly. So when we onboard them, we want to keep them. If we're doing that correctly, we will reduce the cost of turnover. And finally, our last goal is to improve quality of life and the quality of life pillars in that title. And I'll address all of those goals as we move along. We'll start with communication and image. I just talked about it. We set a goal of increasing our interactions with the community by 3%. We have surpassed that goal and we're on track. And I will attest that as you look at these numbers, you see an astronomical increase in our contacts, and that's attributed to our community affairs unit being very aggressive with the social media footprint through Facebook and Instagram. The chief of police might not be as proficient, but he has young leaders within his agency who are way more proficient than he is, and we've grown that footprint. I am a firm believer, though, in face-to-face contact with our community, so we will continue those traditional engagement efforts. Staying within the goal of reducing and solving crime, we wanted to highlight this particular statistic. We set a goal of increasing the number of our stolen recovered vehicles by 2%. We're on track, and you see in quarter one, we had an increase in recovered vehicles of 6.1% and an increase in quarter two of 9.3%. You say, why is that important, Chief? Well, if you ever had your car stolen, you know that there's a insurance component associated with costs that is attributed not only to the citizens, but to the county as a whole. Our intent is to increase our recoveries, hopefully reducing the cost and impact to our citizens from an insurance point of view, and solving those crimes. And we are successful with that goal. You see our vacancy rate up here.
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