OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Special Call Meeting of DeKalb County Operations Committee – April 16, 2026

Board of Commissioners & Committees — Thursday, April 16, 2026
BodyDekalb County, Georgia
SessionBoard of Commissioners & Committees
DateThursday, April 16, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:30:44

Transcript — Verbatim
0:05

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to a special call meeting of Ops, the um County Operations uh committee.

0:16

Uh we welcome you here today, and I'm sorry that we're getting started a little late.

0:23

I was behind a stall car for a minute.

0:27

But um we'll get the meeting started.

0:31

My committee members here with me today is Robert Patrick, Commissioner Robert Patrick, and Commissioner Ladina Bowden.

0:40

And uh with that, we're gonna start with we stopped started with the rules on last meeting.

0:49

So let's start with first today.

0:55

Really then, blue but rules.

1:00

Okay, we should be able to finish the rules today.

1:03

Okay, and uh with that, is Shannon here?

1:09

Oh, okay.

1:11

I thought I saw John for a minute.

1:13

But he's just visiting it to show the baby.

1:17

Not to work.

1:18

Okay.

1:20

Okay, Shannon and um you're doing the channel.

1:29

I am prepared to support the central staff in our discussion, and I brought our updated notes.

1:35

Oh, okay.

1:35

So I can gladly support.

1:37

Are we starting with the charter review or the standing procedural rules?

1:41

We're starting with the rules.

1:43

And uh we left off with Shannon.

1:46

The last conversation or the we left off with unanimous consent Tuesday.

1:53

I'm sorry.

1:54

We left off with the uh discussion of unanimous consent.

1:58

The committee, I don't think came to a consensus.

2:00

There is a request what page of we are page seven of the document titled Items for discussion in the ops committee.

2:13

And that is unless uh otherwise required by law.

2:18

Any preliminary item may be actually the bond.

2:21

Is that what we that's my page seven?

2:27

It should be a orange uh header number four unanimous consent.

2:32

Yeah.

2:33

Yes.

2:33

Yes.

2:35

Um Tuesday, the committee was having discussion over the processes for putting items onto the consent agenda.

2:46

However, we did not have a consensus as to where we wanted to land, whether that would require um five votes, a unanimous seven unanimous board or a two-thirds majority.

2:58

Okay, yeah, I remember discussing that.

3:00

And I thought that we talked about um two-thirds majority of five votes.

3:08

I think we stayed with five votes.

3:12

Okay.

3:13

Yeah, we were still discussing, and and uh just to say it again.

3:16

I guess I'm more can comfortable with the idea of unanimous consent, as and it's the seven uh people.

3:22

We do that currently right now with the consent agenda itself, and I think probably it's just a good thing to stick with us, just for consistency.

3:29

You know, okay.

3:30

Now, uh, are we talking here about um commission items because that's where the discussion led last time, not on.

3:43

We talked about discretionary funding for commission items, not the general um consent.

3:54

I mean, for so you're so you all are saying even with commission items that you want to put in, put on.

4:04

It needs to be unanimous consent.

4:07

Yeah.

4:08

And then if there's a question, and we do this already in practice, hey, I'm comfortable with this item.

4:13

Let's have a discussion and pull it from that consent agenda.

4:16

Okay, I'm fine with that.

4:19

Okay, okay.

4:20

So this is so the committee is gonna keep the languages as unanimous, full board consent.

4:26

Can I remind the committee of one item, madam chair?

4:28

Uh-huh.

4:30

As I followed the discussion, there were two points that did not come up this morning that I think are relevant.

4:35

One, I know you're saying unanimous consent, but the alternative was five votes, not two-thirds, to make sure that it was a full five required instead of the seven.

4:47

And I realize Commissioner Patrick's pushing for the seven and seems to have support with the other committee members.

5:00

The other issue that came up that you've not discussed this morning is the notion of ward courtesy and expenditures from discretionary funds or district funds in some other form.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████41%
Election Administration██████████████████████████26%
Voter Registration███████████████15%
Public Engagement█████5%
Pending Litigation█████5%
Appointments████4%
Ethics And Governance████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Special Call Meeting of DeKalb County Operations Committee – April 16, 2026

The DeKalb County Operations (Ops) Committee held a special call meeting on April 16, 2026, to continue discussions on standing procedural rules and the Charter Review Commission's recommendations. Key topics included unanimous consent procedures, voting tabulation districts (VTDs), eligibility requirements for commissioners and the CEO, vacancy succession, and a proposed rule to automatically remove agenda items that receive four no votes.

Consent Calendar

  • None discussed; the meeting focused on rule changes and charter review items.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were received.

Discussion Items

  • Unanimous Consent and Preliminary Items: The committee finalized language requiring unanimous consent of all commissioners present to place items on the consent agenda, including walk-on items. The language now reads "unanimous consent of the commissioners present" and adds "including walk-on items" after "any preliminary item." A motion may still be made to move an item from preliminary to consent if needed.
  • VTDs (Voting Tabulation Districts): Director Keisha Smith explained that VTDs are technical tools used by the Census Bureau and are not referenced by the elections department for operations. After debate, the committee agreed to keep VTDs in the charter for reference, but also directed that GIS should maintain accessible maps with census data and VTDs, with a charter reference to where the data is housed.
  • Eligibility for Commissioner and CEO: The committee discussed updating age and residency requirements to mirror state law (minimum age 21, residency 12 months for commissioners; CEO age 30, residency 5 years currently). Legal analysis from Deputy Attorney Welch suggests state law caps the age at 21 and residency at 12 months, which could require lowering the commissioner age from 25. The committee deferred final decision to obtain further legal clarification, including the source of the current 25-age requirement and whether registered voter status should be added as a qualification.
  • Vacancy Succession: The committee reviewed language for temporary vacancies (e.g., suspension of CEO). Concerns were raised that the proposed language only covers suspension, not other incapacitations (e.g., coma). Members agreed to broaden the language to any form of incapacitation and asked the law department to research state and federal practices and propose a time-based or cause-neutral mechanism.
  • Automatic Removal of Failed Agenda Items: A proposed rule would automatically remove a non-zoning agenda item that receives at least four no votes (denial) without needing a separate motion. Supporters argued it reduces disrespectful motions to deny and aligns with the new legislative vetting process. Opponents cited unintended consequences, such as blocking contracts or forcing re‑introduction. The committee deferred to the law department to study operational and legal implications and report back.

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimous consent language approved as amended: requires consent of all commissioners present for preliminary/walk-on items; staff to finalize wording.
  • VTDs will remain in the charter; GIS department to maintain accessible maps; charter to reference where data is available.
  • Age/residency requirements for commissioners and CEO deferred for legal research; staff to provide analysis on state law caps and history of current requirements.
  • Vacancy language to be broadened beyond suspension; law department to research and propose inclusive language for any incapacitation.
  • Four-no-vote automatic removal rule deferred; law department to assess implications and report at the next committee meeting.
  • The committee agreed to continue charter review and rule discussions at future special call meetings, with the next scheduled for Tuesday, April 21, 2026 (committee of the whole).

Meeting Transcript

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to a special call meeting of Ops, the um County Operations uh committee. Uh we welcome you here today, and I'm sorry that we're getting started a little late. I was behind a stall car for a minute. But um we'll get the meeting started. My committee members here with me today is Robert Patrick, Commissioner Robert Patrick, and Commissioner Ladina Bowden. And uh with that, we're gonna start with we stopped started with the rules on last meeting. So let's start with first today. Really then, blue but rules. Okay, we should be able to finish the rules today. Okay, and uh with that, is Shannon here? Oh, okay. I thought I saw John for a minute. But he's just visiting it to show the baby. Not to work. Okay. Okay, Shannon and um you're doing the channel. I am prepared to support the central staff in our discussion, and I brought our updated notes. Oh, okay. So I can gladly support. Are we starting with the charter review or the standing procedural rules? We're starting with the rules. And uh we left off with Shannon. The last conversation or the we left off with unanimous consent Tuesday. I'm sorry. We left off with the uh discussion of unanimous consent. The committee, I don't think came to a consensus. There is a request what page of we are page seven of the document titled Items for discussion in the ops committee. And that is unless uh otherwise required by law. Any preliminary item may be actually the bond. Is that what we that's my page seven? It should be a orange uh header number four unanimous consent. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Um Tuesday, the committee was having discussion over the processes for putting items onto the consent agenda. However, we did not have a consensus as to where we wanted to land, whether that would require um five votes, a unanimous seven unanimous board or a two-thirds majority. Okay, yeah, I remember discussing that. And I thought that we talked about um two-thirds majority of five votes. I think we stayed with five votes. Okay. Yeah, we were still discussing, and and uh just to say it again. I guess I'm more can comfortable with the idea of unanimous consent, as and it's the seven uh people. We do that currently right now with the consent agenda itself, and I think probably it's just a good thing to stick with us, just for consistency. You know, okay. Now, uh, are we talking here about um commission items because that's where the discussion led last time, not on. We talked about discretionary funding for commission items, not the general um consent. I mean, for so you're so you all are saying even with commission items that you want to put in, put on. It needs to be unanimous consent. Yeah. And then if there's a question, and we do this already in practice, hey, I'm comfortable with this item.

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