Clayton County Board of Commissioners Performance Review Day 1 – August 12, 2026

On August 12, 2026, starting at 9:00 AM, the Clayton County Board of Commissioners held Day 1 of its Clayton Performance Reviews (CPRs). Chief Operating Officer Dietrich Stanford opened the meeting, saying department leaders would report on third- and fourth-quarter fiscal year performance (January–June 2026), including successes and challenges. No formal board votes were recorded during this performance-review session. Citizens were invited to email questions to CPRquestions@ClaytonCountyGA.gov, and the remaining departments were scheduled to present on Day 2.

Fire Department

• Fire Chief and EMS Director Tim Sweat presented. The department's mission statement was updated December 1, 2025 as part of a new five-year strategic plan approved by the Board of Commissioners in July 2026.
• Staffing/vacancies: The chief opened by saying the department is staffed with 400 personnel, then reported 487 total personnel, with 417 (85.6%) assigned to 17 fire stations on 24-hours-on/48-hours-off shifts and 70 (14.4%) in administrative roles. Vacancy goal was 6% or below; actual was 9.0% in Q3 and 7.29% in Q4.
• Recruitment/retention: The high school pathway program expects 23 returning seniors in 2026-27 and 48 potential juniors. After multiple remediation attempts, 15 personnel became civil service protected. Recruit Class 2601 began April 25 with 30 recruits; Class 2602 was scheduled to start the following Monday with 35 recruits.
• Fire response times: Benchmark is 10 minutes 30 seconds; actual was 11:32 in Q3 and 11:05 in Q4. AVL dispatch issues prompted an October 20 meeting with vendor Central Square. An ISO evaluation identified the need for two additional fire apparatuses; the FY27 budget added 36 new positions. On July 18, a heavy rescue squad and an additional engine at Station 2 were stood up in preparation for Fire Station 15 opening.
• EMS response times: Benchmark is also 10 minutes 30 seconds; actual was 15:27 in Q3 and 15:01 in Q4. The FY27 budget added two transport units, increasing from 14 to 16: Med-12 in District 3 on August 15 and a second unit at Station 14 in District 1 on September 12. The last EMS expansion was in FY19; call volume has grown over 19%, and since then 5,836 single-family and 4,062 multifamily homes have been built.
• The chief said he considered adjusting response-time goals to 11 minutes for fire and 15 minutes for EMS, but after consulting with the accrediting body he decided not to change them.
• Future initiatives: Station 1 and fire headquarters opened April 20; Station 9 opened June 22; Station 15 is scheduled to open within weeks. FY27 funding supports 36 positions, fire apparatus, and transport units; reaccreditation is scheduled for 2028; SPLOST funding is being sought for Fire Stations 2 and 13.

Parks and Recreation

• Director Nicole Horn reported approximately 451 employees, including 196 seasonal staff. The department received over $357,000 in grant funding against a $300,000 goal, from the Community Development Block Grant, Georgia Recreation and Parks Association Boost Grants, the Clayton County Public Health Department, and the National Recreation and Parks Association.
• Athletics served over 3,000 athletes against a goal of 2,500, and programs served over 11,000 participants across five recreation centers. The special services division did not meet its goal of 10,000 attendees and 27 events, serving about 9,000 participants due to weather-related cancellations.
• Customer satisfaction rates were 95% for recreation services, 97% for special services, and 93% for athletics. The department maintains 1,500 acres of green space and aimed to maintain 80% each quarter, but achieved 77% due to wet weather. It has 90 facilities and inspected 89 because Lakeview Amphitheater is under renovation.
• New measurements for incident reports and green-space maintenance were introduced; year-over-year comparisons will be available next fiscal year. The department set a goal of 25 hours of training per employee per quarter, with FY27 tracking to begin.
• Completed initiatives include renovation of fields 1–9 at Gerald Matthews Sports Complex; modular restrooms opened at Rum Creek, Marl Lake City, and Rex Parks; the concession stand side remains closed pending equipment. Summer camp had the largest enrollment in two years with 450 children; the department replaced over 9,000 linear feet of chain-link fence, sold 55 monthly and 32 annual tennis-center passes, automated pavilion reservations, and automated cabana/umbrella/cool canopy and birthday-party reservations at Spooky Splash Water Park, reducing complaints.

Central Services

• Deputy Chief Procurement Officer Jalise Williams presented on behalf of Chief Procurement Officer Carol Rogers. The department has 32 staff members.
• Purchase order cycle time goal was under 10 days. Q3 had 1,876 purchase orders and met the goal; Q4 had 1,492 purchase orders and averaged 15.9 days due to end-of-fiscal-year closing.
• The department certified one SLBE in Q3 and one in Q4; its fiscal-year goal was a 12% increase, and it reported being at a 4% increase to date. No certifications were completed this quarter because new employees were in training.
• Risk management tracked preventable vehicle claims: 36 in Q3 and 31 in Q4.
• Challenges include staff retention and hiring, plus a need for more positions in contract administration and vendor performance. Succession work includes standard operating procedures, shadowing, weekly/monthly/quarterly meetings, and industry training through NIGP, UPPC, and PPA.
• Future initiatives include tier levels and certification incentives, a contract administration plan (CAP), use of the RFX management module in BitNet to streamline the RFP process, and continued growth of the mentorship/protege program.
• Accomplishments include reaching $1 million in surplus sales through GovDeals, launching the county's fifth cohort of the MPP for IT and computer operations, and hosting certification workshops and "how to do business with the county" sessions.

Extension Services

• Agricultural and Natural Resources Agent Sergio Sosa presented on behalf of interim coordinator Dr. Rebecca Aka. The department experienced significant staffing transitions, including a county extension coordinator vacancy and the departure of an administrative specialist and the 4-H agent by May 2026.
• The department delivered ArcFest/Agricultural Fest on April 18 and maintained soil and water testing services despite vacancies.
• Challenges identified included overlapping vacancies, single points of dependency, weak 4-H communication and data processes, and budget/position approval delays. Responses included clarifying ownership, centralizing critical processes, strengthening annual planning, redistributing work, and cross-training staff.
• The FY27 goal is to move from temporary coverage to sustainable systems with permanent leadership, clearer processes, stronger performance measurement, and consistent service to Clayton County citizens.

Senior Services

• Deputy Administrator Tonetta White reported that Senior Services is supported by 117 employees, including full-time, part-time, grant-funded, and paid-instructor positions.
• Positive aging activities: annual goal 50; Q3 and Q4 each had 16 activities, for a combined 73 activities in the fiscal year, exceeding the goal by 23.
• Training and certification: quarterly target was 76 employees; 117 participated in Q3 and 83 in Q4, both exceeding the target.
• Health and wellness participation totaled 18,600 in Q3 and 20,575 in Q4.
• Challenges include aging infrastructure and growing demand for services; responses include targeted facility improvements, phased upgrades, and service capacity evaluation.
• Future initiatives include painting and a new sound system at Frank Bailey Senior Center, completing the final phase of improvements at the Kinship Care Resource Center, and expanding services for homebound residents.
• Mayfest 2026 achieved a Guinness World Record for the largest core fitness class with 420 participants.

Elections and Registration

• Elections Director Shauna Dozier reported that the county has about 210,000 registered voters and 70 election-day polling locations.
• The department processed 41,673 voter registration applications; of those, 3,214 were new voters.
• Three elections were supported: the March 17 special election for Judge Pamela Ferguson had 3.2% turnout, about 6,100 voters; the May general primary had about 25% turnout, roughly 48,000 voters; the June runoff had 8% turnout, roughly 17,000 voters.
• Voter experience rating averaged 4.8 out of 5. Ballot processing time stayed under about 1.5 minutes even with a longer primary ballot.
• Outreach included 99 deputized citizens and participation in County Commission District 3's Citizens Academy.
• Poll workers complete four hours of training per election; staff maintain state accreditation through GAVRIO with 12 CEUs per year. Two certified national election officials were reported, with a third graduating soon.
• Challenges include changing state laws and increased scrutiny of election processes. Short-term priorities include a runoff special election continuing into Q1, National Voter Registration Day in September, school voter education, and settling into a newly renovated elections center.
• Long-term priorities include preparing for the 2028 election year, implementing a mail barcode ballot tracking system, updating continuity of operations plans, improving election-night reporting, and planning for a new voting system.

Tax Assessor

• Chief Appraiser Emmett George presented. The office's mission is to provide an accurate annual assessment of all real and personal property in Clayton County.
• Property visits in Q1/Q2 were just over 4,000 because staff were working on Board of Equalization hearings; visits increased once those hearings finished. All 272 carryover appeals from the first two quarters were worked, heard, and settled.
• Department of Revenue compliance metrics: the sales ratio for 2025 was 39.41, down from 39.1 in 2024, below the 40 optimum and above the 38 threshold needed to fully assess public utility bill-outs; the county has been below 40 for 15 years. The coefficient of dispersion was 6.91 for 2025, down from 4.29? actually reported as 6.91 versus 4.29 in 2024? The transcript states "Last year we were at 4.29. We've just got our number that's 6.91," meaning 2025 rose to 6.91 but remains well below the 15 threshold. The price-related differential was approximately 1.0 for the last two years, indicating no bias toward higher- or lower-valued properties.
• Challenges include House Bill 566, which delayed assessment notices by two months; notices were not sent until June 30, and the appeal deadline was that Friday. Staff certification requires 40 hours every two years, with classes and testing increasingly outside the metro Atlanta area, creating budget strain.
• Succession planning promotes from within; a manager retiring after 20 years has an in-house successor identified. Future initiatives include new field mobile devices, online business filings implemented in Q3, a more complete online appeals module next year, and pursuit of IAAO/international accreditation.
• The office reported resolving 99% of appeals without superior court involvement.

Corrections

• A corrections representative identified in the transcript as Warden Amy presented the three divisions: prison, refuse control, and code enforcement. Staffing was reported as 161 positions filled with 11 vacancies, with the department currently at 87%. The inmate population averaged between 215 and 227 from January through June, fluctuating based on Georgia Department of Corrections assignments.
• Goals include increasing GED attainment, with instructors increased from two to three and expanded classroom/tutoring, challenged by frequent inmate transfers and limited instructional time. The department attended 8 community outreach meetings, and it had one field-officer vacancy for outside work details.
• Challenges include staffing shortages, salary disparities affecting recruitment and retention, and reduced operational capacity. Solutions include cross-training, continued recruiting, employee development, and engagement.
• Future initiatives include a countywide code enforcement summit, a code enforcement court with a part-time judge, replacement of aging mowers and tractors, prison security system upgrades, chiller and generator replacement, and an inmate landscape program to reduce contract costs within 3–5 years.
• Accomplishments include the Trash Amnesty Program across multiple sites in four commission districts, a code enforcement collaboration meeting on April 29, 2026 with representatives from eight municipalities, a citizen ride-along program, and support for county events including Mayfest, June Jam, Egg Extravaganza, and Day at the Capitol.

Communications

• Communications Administrator Valerie Fuller reported that the Office of Communications has 12 team members.
• The team filled 720 communications requests in Q3/Q4, an 8.5% increase from Q1/Q2. FY26 requests totaled 1,381, compared with 1,309 in FY25.
• The office produced 104 internal/external newsletters plus 12 SPLOST newsletters, and 13 podcasts; June had the top podcast month with 1,360 plays. Creative services handled 566 print/design requests in FY26, including approximately 400 print requests.
• Engagement metrics included 60 participants in Image Matters brand training, a 23.26% increase in e-newsletter open rate since July 1, 2025, and 30,417 visits to the Clayton SPLOST website. The Clayton County website visit figure appeared in the transcript as "5,477 and 10" since July 1, likely a transcription error.
• Top request sources were the Board of Commissioners with 416, Parks and Recreation with 152, IT with 122, Senior Services with 91, and Library Services with 78.
• Q4 work included new social media best practices and campaigns launched in May, including a Concourse C display at the Atlanta airport featuring Spooky Splash Water Park and Community/Economic Development. ADA compliance is a current focus with the legal and technology departments.
• Government Communicators Week events included Backstage Pass with 200 participants, Meet the Messengers with 40 registered, Image Matters with 60 employees, the State of the County event hosted by the chairwoman with 400 participants, and Mayfest 2026 assistance with approximately 2,622 participants.
• The agenda item was titled "Communications Legislative Request," but the communications presentation focused on office operations and did not include a separate legislative request.

Key Outcomes

• No formal motions or votes were taken; this was a departmental performance-review update.
• Citizens can submit follow-up questions by emailing CPRquestions@ClaytonCountyGA.gov.
• Day 2 of the Clayton Performance Reviews was scheduled for the following day, August 13, 2026, to cover the remaining departments.
• Notable upcoming operational dates announced: Fire/EMS vendor meeting with Central Square on October 20; Med-12 transport unit in service August 15; second added transport unit September 12; Fire Station 15 opening within weeks; and Recruit Class 2602 starting the following Monday.