OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Clayton County Board of Commissioners Regular Business Meeting - February 12, 2026

Board of Commissioners — Thursday, February 12, 2026
BodyClayton County, Georgia
SessionBoard of Commissioners
DateThursday, February 12, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:52:23

Transcript — Verbatim
0:05

All right, everyone, good evening.

0:08

All right.

0:08

I'm so happy to see every we're so happy to see everyone out here tonight.

0:12

Um the September 2nd 2025 board meeting is now called to order.

0:19

The date excuse me and the time is 6 o'clock p.m.

0:22

Next we will have roll call.

0:25

District one here.

0:26

District 3.

0:27

President District 2 and District 4.

0:31

Present.

0:31

All right.

0:32

Thank you.

0:32

Thank you.

0:33

Thank you.

0:33

Did I say anything?

0:34

No.

0:34

Uh-huh.

0:35

You want to say something?

0:36

No, yeah.

0:37

Oh, here, yeah, yeah.

0:39

All right.

0:40

And district four.

0:42

We everyone is here.

0:42

The chairwoman is here.

0:44

All right.

0:44

Next, we will go into our invocation.

0:46

Um, I want to thank you all again for coming out tonight.

0:49

And our invocation will be done by Pastor David Arnold of Anointed Vision of Hope.

0:55

And thereafter, we will have our Pledge of Allegiance.

0:58

Pastor Arnold, excuse me will you please come up?

1:02

Thank you.

1:03

All right.

1:03

All right, everyone, please stand.

1:13

Dear Lord, we come to you saying thanks for this day.

1:17

Thank you for giving us the opportunities that you've given us in this lifetime to make a difference in this community.

1:23

Bless this meeting on tonight.

1:25

You said you put a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, and God, we're counting on you to do that.

1:31

Bless us, motivate us to do the right things in Jesus' name we pray.

1:35

Amen.

1:37

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, individual with liberty and justice for all.

1:50

Amen.

1:51

Thank you.

1:55

Thank you, Pastor Armor, for that wonderful prayer.

1:58

All right.

1:59

Next, we're going to move on to the adoption of the agenda.

2:03

But um before we adopt the agenda, we have some items that we need to add to the agenda.

2:08

We're gonna add the special call meeting and minutes for August 28th, and we're gonna also add the minutes from our August 19th regular board meeting.

2:19

Also, Commissioner Reese would like to add a proclamation.

2:23

Um it's for a wonderful citizen who's turning 102 years old.

2:28

Is that correct?

2:29

Oh yeah.

2:33

So we definitely want to add that tonight.

2:35

So again, um we will I need you all to adopt the agenda with those additions, as well as are there any uh items that you'd like to move to the regular agenda as well.

2:47

Uh Commissioner, uh yes, it's not on the agenda, so uh it's not moving something.

2:53

I would like to add or get consideration, and I'm not sure if anybody if a representative is here, but someone from the housing authority.

3:04

I would like to I guess maybe ask, make an ask of them to um provide the money for the Calvary Refuge um Center if they would give Calvary the 200,000 that they are needing so I don't know if I should just have somebody from housing here represented so that uh that consideration should be made because I think we need to do that as soon as possible because when they made the ask of us uh week or two weeks ago, I believe they were in need, dire need then.

3:45

So I'm sure it's just as much or just as bad now.

3:49

I believe they were covered through September.

3:51

Yeah, okay.

3:51

So if we can get the housing authority to take that over for us, um, since they are one of our boards that we appoint, and I believe they are sufficient as far as funds and all.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural██████████████████████████26%
Homelessness█████████████████████21%
Economic Development█████████9%
Zoning And Land Use███████7%
Personnel Matters█████5%
Veteran Services████4%
Public Comment████4%
Board Appointments████4%
Senior Services███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Clayton County Board of Commissioners Regular Business Meeting - February 12, 2026

This regular business meeting on February 12, 2026 (transcript indicates September 2, 2025) included presentations, proclamations, public comments, consent agenda approval, and several regular agenda items. Key discussions covered data center text amendment, merger of economic development departments, HUD CAPER report, zoning hearing schedule, 2026 benefits, board appointments, and housing authority funding for Calvary Refuge. The meeting adjourned after executive session and approval of opioid settlements and interim clerk appointment.

Presentations & Proclamations

  • Veteran of the Month: Dr. Donald McCantz, U.S. Army veteran and entrepreneur bringing EV fast charging stations to Clayton County.
  • National Senior Center Month: Proclamation for September 2025, recognizing senior centers and their contributions.
  • National Kinship Care Month: Proclamation honoring kinship caregivers, noting over 250,000 children in Georgia raised by relatives.
  • National Preparedness Month: Proclamation highlighting emergency planning, flood prevention presentation on September 18, 2025, and Code Web alert system.
  • Forest Park Youth Volleyball: Proclamation for the Red Panthers, back-to-back champions (2025 and 2025-2026 seasons).
  • Irene Wilson's 102nd Birthday: Proclamation celebrating her life, faith, and community service.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Dr. Henry Anderson: Praised the county's bi-yearly departmental performance reviews led by Chief Stanford and Chief Merkison; distributed materials.
  • Orlando Gooden: Raised concerns about data center size and energy use (e.g., Project Excalibur at 6.6 million sq ft), criticized fire chief's handling of a church incident, and questioned motives of a previous speaker.
  • Sylvia McCants: (Brief comment, not detailed.)
  • Mickey Garber: Urged capturing economic opportunity near the airport for an international market with upscale retail; noted no current lobbyists.
  • Tamala Lachey: Highlighted Clayton County's high eviction rate (8.5% vs national 1.6% and state 3.8%), lack of accessible rental assistance, and disconnect between resources and residents; requested bridging the gap.
  • Dr. Lawanda Falami: Supported Lachey's statements, recounted personal experiences helping families with eviction, criticized slow or non-responsive assistance programs, and noted racial disparity in eviction lines.
  • Shaleen Jewels (District 1): Requested expedited conditional use permit for her property at 5262 Bouldercrest Road (former auto service center); impacted by a nearby halfway house for former prisoners and sex offenders; had 12 purchase offers from auto service operators.
  • Judith Cotton (District 4): Asked about HUD-VASH program for homeless veterans (first raised June 2024), requested a line item for the Veterans Advisory Board, criticized infrequent zoning meetings (only twice a year) slowing development, and noted the eviction court backlog (383 cases on one docket).

Consent Calendar

  • Approved as a single motion (all items except those moved to the regular agenda or removed). Items included: contract amendments for Fire Stations #1, #9, #15 and headquarters; rescinding legal services award (PSA #25-33); purchase of NetApp drives; budget amendments (4-23 through 4-27); permit refund; street light request; resolutions 2025-184 (Georgia Power for CCSO EV charging), 2025-185 (utility easement for Fire Station #1), Ordinance 2025-187 (marijuana possession civil violation), resolution 2025-188 (American Red Cross shelter agreement), resolution 2025-190 (truck parking and landscaping standards), resolution 2025-191 (utility easement for Rex Park), resolution 2025-193 (data center moratorium), and resolution 2025-194 (removal of Demario Swain from SWMA, though later removed). Item 18 (resolution 2025-189) was moved to the regular agenda; item 22 was removed; item 25 was removed; items 26-31 moved to regular agenda.

Discussion Items

  • Calvary Refuge Funding and HUD Funds: Commissioner Hambrick moved to request the Housing Authority pay $200,000 to Calvary Refuge. After discussion—the Housing Authority was already evaluating the request—the motion was withdrawn. A subsequent motion to hold Resolution 2025-186 (HUD CAPER) until September 16 failed (vote not tallied). Resolution 2025-186 was later approved.
  • Resolution 2025-189 (Ellenwood PUD Text Amendment for Data Centers): Initiated a text modification to remove data centers from the planned unit development. Approved unanimously.
  • Community Development and Economic Development Merger: Approved personnel changes merging the two departments: added positions (Building Permits Chief Administrator, Community & Economic Development Director, Economic Development Chief Administrator, Economic Development Project Manager) and deleted positions (Director and Assistant Director of Community Development, Economic Development Officer). Resulted in $116,980 savings to general fund and $354,000 cost to hotel-motel fund. Effective immediately.
  • Resolution 2025-186 (HUD CAPER): Approved to submit the Comprehensive Annual Performance and Evaluation Report to HUD. Earlier motion to hold failed.
  • Resolution 2025-195 (Zoning Hearing Date): Approved a special zoning hearing on December 16, 2025, to consider future land use map amendments, rezonings, and conditional use permits, clearing backlog before zoning code rewrite.
  • 2026 Benefits Year - Medical for Active Employees: Approved continued contracts with Kaiser Permanente HMO (premium cap 8% for 2027, $175,000 wellness budget) and self-funded plan with UMR/Quantum Health ($200,000 wellness budget, enhanced navigation). Total county premium: $13,936,716.
  • Removal of Agenda Items: Item 25 (Resolution 2025-192 to terminate IGA with Development Authority) removed from agenda to allow renegotiation. Item 22 (Demario Swain removal) removed as already addressed in prior meeting; reappointment noted.
  • Board Appointments:
    • Sports & Entertainment Council: Gerald McClellan (2 years), Dr. Ralph Simpson (2 years, alternate), Tamara Scott (1 year, at-large). Commissioner Hambrick and Chairwoman deferred their appointments.
    • Tahisha King appointed Interim Clerk of Commission (Grade 20, Step 11) with salary $62,833.
  • Opioid Settlements: Approved participation agreements for Purdue Pharma and Sandoz (national opioid litigations), authorizing Chairwoman to execute documents.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent agenda approved.
  • Resolution 2025-189 approved (initiate data center text amendment).
  • Merger of Community Development and Economic Development approved.
  • Resolution 2025-186 approved (HUD CAPER submission).
  • Resolution 2025-195 approved (December 2025 zoning hearing).
  • 2026 benefits plan approved.
  • Sports & Entertainment Council appointments approved (McClellan, Simpson, Scott).
  • Tahisha King appointed Interim Clerk of Commission.
  • Opioid settlement participation approved.
  • Item 25 (terminate IGA) removed from agenda; renegotiation to proceed.
  • Motion to hold resolution 2025-186 failed.
  • Motion to request Housing Authority fund Calvary Refuge withdrawn.
  • Item 22 (removal from SWMA) removed (reappointment via consent).

Meeting Transcript

All right, everyone, good evening. All right. I'm so happy to see every we're so happy to see everyone out here tonight. Um the September 2nd 2025 board meeting is now called to order. The date excuse me and the time is 6 o'clock p.m. Next we will have roll call. District one here. District 3. President District 2 and District 4. Present. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Did I say anything? No. Uh-huh. You want to say something? No, yeah. Oh, here, yeah, yeah. All right. And district four. We everyone is here. The chairwoman is here. All right. Next, we will go into our invocation. Um, I want to thank you all again for coming out tonight. And our invocation will be done by Pastor David Arnold of Anointed Vision of Hope. And thereafter, we will have our Pledge of Allegiance. Pastor Arnold, excuse me will you please come up? Thank you. All right. All right, everyone, please stand. Dear Lord, we come to you saying thanks for this day. Thank you for giving us the opportunities that you've given us in this lifetime to make a difference in this community. Bless this meeting on tonight. You said you put a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, and God, we're counting on you to do that. Bless us, motivate us to do the right things in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God, individual with liberty and justice for all. Amen. Thank you. Thank you, Pastor Armor, for that wonderful prayer. All right. Next, we're going to move on to the adoption of the agenda. But um before we adopt the agenda, we have some items that we need to add to the agenda. We're gonna add the special call meeting and minutes for August 28th, and we're gonna also add the minutes from our August 19th regular board meeting. Also, Commissioner Reese would like to add a proclamation. Um it's for a wonderful citizen who's turning 102 years old. Is that correct?

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