Clayton County Board of Commissioners Work Session - February 12, 2026
Clayton County Board of Commissioners Work Session - February 12, 2026
This work session of the Clayton County Board of Commissioners was called to order at 5:30 p.m. on February 12, 2026, and adjourned at 6:58 p.m. All four commissioners were present. The meeting included three presentations: a reorganization proposal for the 4C (Clayton County Community Cares) program to support a new health and wellness clinic, a report on developing a championship-caliber sports and entertainment complex, and a request from the Solicitor General for budget flexibility to address staffing and recruitment challenges.
Discussion Items
- 4C Program Reorganization Proposal (Fire Chief Tim Sweat and COO Landry Merkison): Fire Chief Sweat proposed reorganizing the 4C program's unfilled positions to create a staffing model for a new health and wellness clinic under construction at the Fire and Emergency Services headquarters. The clinic will provide pre-employment medical exams, annual health screenings for all sworn fire personnel, and potentially expand countywide. In 2024, the 4C program diverted over 4,500 calls from the 911 system. The reorganization would save $35,317 annually. The clinic will also serve as overflow for Southern Regional Medical Center's emergency room and include simulation training. Chief Sweat noted that the clinic aligns with NFPA 1582 standards, CFAI accreditation recommendations, and the county's strategic plan. Commissioners questioned the scope (initially fire employees, potential countywide), integration with existing mobile clinics, and liability for overflow patients. The clinic is expected to open early summer and will initially operate Monday-Friday.
- Game Changer Nation Report (COO Landry Merkison, Rob Hanna of Game Changer Nation, and Parks and Recreation Director Nicole Horn): Rob Hanna presented an 86-page feasibility report recommending Clayton County construct a new championship-caliber sports complex rather than renovating existing parks. Existing parks lack necessary infrastructure, hospitality, and land capacity. The sports tourism market is projected to grow from $618 billion in 2024 to $2.089 trillion by 2033. Comparable facilities like Rock Hill Sports Complex (South Carolina) generated over $82 million in economic impact in fiscal year 2023, and Boombaugh Sports Complex (Florida) generated over $214 million since opening. The proposed complex would include 8 basketball courts, baseball/softball fields, soccer/football fields, indoor spaces for competitive cheer, and sensory-inclusive fields. Estimated economic impact: $12 million in year one, growing to $85 million by year five. The county would likely use a public facilities authority to issue bonds. Commissioners expressed support for diversifying revenue and workforce development opportunities.
- Solicitor General Additional Positions (Solicitor General Charles Brooks and HR Director Pam Ambles): Solicitor Brooks requested budget flexibility to hire and promote within his 42-member office, which has 5 vacancies. He noted that crime has tripled in 21 years while staff has not doubled, and pointed to a national prosecutor vacancy crisis. He asked for the ability to budget at the highest step of each position's grade to allow competitive hiring and promotions without needing board approval for each reclassification. He also highlighted that the office generates revenue (over $1.2 million in fines year-to-date in FY25) and historically returns funds to the general fund. Commissioner Allen suggested partnering with local universities for internship pipelines. Chairperson recommended waiting for the FY26 budget process, though Solicitor Brooks noted a prior mid-year review was promised but not conducted.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken during this work session; all items were presented for discussion and future consideration.
- The board took the presentations under advisement. The Fire Chief's reorganization and the Game Changer Nation proposal will be revisited during upcoming regular meetings.
- The Solicitor General's request for budget flexibility will be considered during the FY26 budget process, with possible earlier amendments discussed.
- The board expressed general support for exploring the sports complex and acknowledged the need to address staffing in the Solicitor's office.
Meeting Transcript
Call to order. The date is February 11, 2025, and the time is 5 30 p.m. We're going to do roll call at this time in you district commissioners. You can just say whether you are present or not. District one here. District 3. Present. District 2? Yeah. And District 4. Present. Thank you. All commissioners are present tonight. First, on our agenda, ladies and gentlemen, do you have any preliminary items for the next board meeting that you would like to discuss? I was trying to get it to you. Excuse me. And we were trying to get these out to you all a little earlier, but I still want to make sure you all had them. So does anyone have anything they'd like to discuss tonight? All right. Well, seeing none, we will move forward with our agenda. Next on our agenda are our presentations for tonight. And our first presentation will be from 4C program reorganization proposal from Fire Chief Tim Sweat. Thank you, Madam Chair, Madam Vest Chair, members of the board. I'll be before you twice this evening for these first two presentations, once to tee up Chief Sweat. We're kind of kind of putting these together. Our first presentation tonight is going to save you money this year and next year, and then my next presentation is going to make you money. So we hope you enjoy both of them. But this is kind of, I guess, the next phase of some programming that we started back when I was still fire chief, and this is tied directly to the new clinic that is currently under construction over at the new Fire and Emergency Services headquarters by Southern Regional Medical Center. So this reorganization will go to directly support those clinic operations, which hopefully they stay on track and will open early summer. So this will kind of set the stage and let the chief go ahead and start to um to hire some folk and get them trained. This will kind of be yet another first of its kind for Clayton County fire and look at how we can find ways to reduce costs internally as far as hiring and health and wellness of our employees, but then also provide additional wraparound services for our constituents. So with that, I'll kick it over to Chief Sweat and let him walk you through his presentation. Thank you so much. Thank you, Chief Sweat. Thank you, Chief. Madam Chair, Madame Vice Chair, members of the board, thank you so much for allowing me to come before you tonight and speak to the uh proposed reorg for our 4C program. So currently the 4C program, which is the Clayton County Community Cares program, operates with the following staffing. One captain, an integrated health systems director, a benefits coordinator, a licensed clinical closure worker, four nurse practitioners, and five paramedic lieutenants. And to develop community-based health care opportunities with a goal of improving community health while maximizing efficient use of the 911 emergency services. The proposed operations as Chief Merck alluded to as we move into the second phase of incorporating our health and wellness clinic. The proposal includes the continuation of the 4C program as it currently operates with its existing staff. Just a note in 2024 alone, this program took over 4,500 calls out of the 911 emergency system, and those individuals needing our assistance were treated on a one-on-one basis by this program. So our goal is to continue that program as it has paid max dividends in the community. We would like to use the unfilled 4C positions to create a staffing model moving forward for our clinic operations. Through this, we'll create an environment for cross-training of staff to maximize the use of the workforce and impact of the programming. The clinic operations will include the following. One I have asked through Director Ambles and Chief Staff Attorney Reed to kind of walk me through how we can go about we fire being able to conduct our own pre-employment medical exams for all future Clayton County Fire and Emergency Services employees. Once improved, that will be a direct savings to the general fund. Right now, Director Ambles, all those costs reside in her budget for the onboarding of my personnel when it comes to their medical assessment. So my ask through the clinic operations that we be allowed to conduct those pre-employment medical screenings moving forward, and I'll hit on that just a little bit deeper further along in the conversation.
openpublica.com