Inaugural DeKalb County Women's Commission Meeting - May 20, 2026
Inaugural DeKalb County Women's Commission Meeting - May 20, 2026
The DeKalb County Women's Commission held its first meeting on May 20, 2026, at 6:15 p.m. at 178 Sam Street. Commissioner Michelle Long Spears chaired the meeting, which included roll call, approval of the agenda, a presentation by the Junior League of DeKalb County on the commission's history and strategic vision, an overview of the enabling ordinance, and discussions on officer elections, meeting schedules, and procedural rules. The commission is the only county-based women's commission in Georgia.
Consent Calendar
- Agenda approved by unanimous voice vote (motion by Commissioner Katrina Young, seconded).
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made during this meeting, but Commissioner Spears proposed including a public comment period at future meetings, with a suggested format of three minutes per speaker for up to 10 speakers (30 minutes total). The commission will decide on this after electing a chair and vice chair.
Discussion Items
- History and Strategic Vision: Gabrielle Rogers and Victoria Anglin (Junior League of DeKalb County) presented the commission's origins. The Junior League began planning in January 2025 after Commissioner Spears proposed the idea in summer 2024. Over 80 stakeholders participated in listening sessions, leading to the mission: "The DeKalb County Women's Commission champions women and girls to lead, thrive, and transform our community through equity, opportunity, and advocacy." The vision: "We envision a thriving DeKalb County where every woman and girl has the power, resources, and opportunity to build wealth, live with dignity, and transform generations." Four priority focus areas were identified: education, economic empowerment and professional growth, health and well-being, and community and cultural identity. The Junior League received an international community impact award for this work.
- Ordinance Overview: Commissioner Spears explained the ordinance (unanimously approved by the Board of Commissioners on December 18, 2025) that established the commission. It includes 25 posts (one per commission district, CEO, school district, Decide DeKalb, Junior League, each municipality, and the Tax Commissioner's office). Terms are four years, with odd-numbered posts expiring in 2030 and even-numbered in 2028. Quorum requires at least 8 members; meetings can proceed without quorum but no votes can be taken. The commission must meet at least four times per year, advise the Board of Commissioners and CEO on policy and legislative matters, and report annually. No compensation is provided.
- Election of Officers: The commission deferred electing a chair and vice chair to the next meeting. Nominations were taken: for chair – Phyllis Mitchell (Post 2) and Gabrielle Rogers (Post 7); for vice chair – London Hornsby (Post 5) and Victoria Anglin (Post 11). Candidates will give 2-3 minute presentations at the next meeting, after which a vote will occur.
- Meeting Schedule: It was agreed that the current meeting (May 20) counts as Q2, and two additional meetings will be held in Q3 and Q4. The next meeting was set for August 26, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at 178 Sam Street (fourth Wednesday of August, after the county commission recess).
- Procedural Rules: The commission adopted Robert's Rules of Order by unanimous voice vote (motion by Cheryl Courtmeyer, seconded by Gabrielle Rogers). Discussion on developing custom procedural rules was deferred to a future meeting with guidance from the county attorney.
- Next Meeting Agenda: Items include approval of minutes, candidate presentations, county attorney presentation on the Georgia Open Meetings Act and ethics, Robert's Rules training, and discussion of subcommittee priorities (from the Junior League's four focus areas). Members will also submit short bios and photos for a roster. The commission will explore creating a dedicated email address (Women's Commission @ DeKalbCountyGA.gov) and a central document repository.
Key Outcomes
- Unanimous approval of the agenda and adoption of Robert's Rules of Order.
- Nominations for chair and vice chair: Phyllis Mitchell and Gabrielle Rogers (chair); London Hornsby and Victoria Anglin (vice chair). Elections will occur at the next meeting.
- Next meeting scheduled for August 26, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. (location TBD, likely 178 Sam Street). The commission will meet three times in 2026 (Q2, Q3, Q4).
- Plans to engage the county attorney for training on Open Meetings Act and ethics at the next meeting.
- Formation of a member roster with bios and photos, and exploration of a digital repository and dedicated email address to be managed by the chair or vice chair.
- Announcements: Juneteenth Festival on June 13 at Rainbow Park Amphitheater (with Climax and Moore's Day in the Time); Decatur World Cup Watch Fest from June 11 for 34 days (opening with Big Boy, War and Treaty, closing with Indigo Girls); Decide DeKalb Economic Development 101 on June 2 at Clarkston City Hall.
Adjournment
The meeting adjourned at approximately 7:30 p.m. by unanimous voice vote (motion by Gabrielle Rogers, seconded by Beverly Eccles).
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. My name is Commissioner Michelle Long Spears, and I am so proud to kick off our inaugural DeCab County Women's Commission meeting tonight. Thank you to each and every one of you for expressing interest and for dedicating your valuable time to serving on this commission. Tonight we have a robust agenda. We'll talk about the strategy went behind developing the commission, the ordinance that resulted from that, the number of posts, there are a total of 25 posts. We'll talk about some of the rules around quorum, et cetera. And we're going to have an amazing presentation by our partners in good, the junior league of DeCab County, who really took this project and ran with it in January of last year. So again, thank you all so much for being here. The next step up for our meeting tonight is to do a roll call. So I will turn it over to, and actually I formally called the meeting to order at 6 15 p.m. So what we're gonna do is go around the table and have all of our women's commissioners introduce themselves. Good evening. My name is Phyllis Mitchell, appointed from District 2, my wonderful commissioner who came up with this amazing idea for us to have such an entity to address the needs of women and girls across the CAP. Thank you. Good evening. Good evening. My name is London Hornsby. I am the Post 5 representative, um, representing Commissioner Marita Davis Johnson's office, and I'm really looking forward to this. I'm Shoshana Cohen Ben Yo are. I was appointed uh post six, appointed by Ted Terry. Good evening. I am Gabrielle Rogers, appointed by Dr. Commissioner Dr. Ladina Bowden, post seven. Good evening. Happy to be here. Katrina Young with Decide DeCab, and this is Post 10. Good evening. My name is Victoria Anglin. I'm Post 11, representing the Junior League of DeCab County. Good evening. I'm Beverly Eccles, Post 14, and I was appointed by Mayor Ann Lerner from the City of Tucker. Very happy to be here. Good evening. I'm Cheryl Courtmeyer. I'm one of the City of Decatur Commissioners, and I'm here representing Post 19. Welcome to Decatur. Good evening. My name is Joyce McKiveth, and I am here representing Post 18. And I was appointed by our awesome mayor, Shamika Reynolds, City of Lithonia. Hi, good evening, Raya Sarafman. Post 20, appointed by Mayor Lynn Joich with the City of Dunwoody. Happy to be here. Good afternoon or good evening, Joyce Neal. I'm over at the Tax Commissioner's Office, Chief Deputy on DeCab County Tax Commissioner's Office. Fantastic. Well, let's give all of you a round of applause. That went swimmingly well, and everybody was brief, so thank you very much. Next we'll move into some remarks. Oops, actually, before we do that, let's do the approval of the agenda, then we'll go into the welcome and remarks.
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