DeKalb County PECS Committee Meeting: Appointments, TADs, and Homelessness Ordinance - May 26, 2026
DeKalb County PECS Committee Meeting: Appointments, TADs, and Homelessness Ordinance - May 26, 2026
The Planning, Economic Development and Community Services (PECS) Committee of the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners met on May 26, 2026, to consider appointments to county authorities, receive updates on Tax Allocation District (TAD) finances, and discuss a proposed public safety ordinance addressing unauthorized camping and nuisance behaviors. The meeting was chaired by District 3 Commissioner Nicole Messiah, with Commissioners Robert Patrick (District 1), Laurence Longstreets (District 2), and Ted Terry (District 6) also present.
Consent Calendar
- Agenda item 2026-093: Minutes of the previous meeting were approved by unanimous voice vote.
- Agenda item 2026-0457 (Change Order #5 for Meal Services for Seniors): Extended the contract expiration for congregate and shelf-stable meals for seniors from the Department of Human Services through October 31, 2026, allowing time for a new RFP to be completed. The contract provides approximately 120,000 meals annually. Approved unanimously.
- Agenda item 2026-0487 (Landscape Maintenance Services for County Parks): Recommended awarding a three-year multi-year contract to The Simmons Group LLC, Grand Landscapes LLC, and Universal Landscaping LLC for a total amount not to exceed $573,576. The motion carried with Chair Messiah voting no, pending receipt of additional background information on The Simmons Group LLC.
Appointments
Agenda item 2026-0756: Jeremy Cole, PhD – Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority (Post 9) – Dr. Cole, Executive Director of Mosaic Health Center in Clarkston, testified that his top priorities would be strengthening the relationship between the Hospital Authority and Grady, improving the healthcare ecosystem, and expanding access to care. He described an "access crisis" in DeKalb County and stated that "contracting access to healthcare just makes no sense." He identified the largest cuts to Medicaid in U.S. history and lapsing Affordable Care Act subsidies as key challenges. Dr. Cole supported exploring a new hospital in South DeKalb, citing health care deserts. The committee voted unanimously to recommend approval.
Agenda item 2026-0757: Jerome Edmondson – DeKalb County Housing Authority (Post 3) – Mr. Edmondson, a veteran and entrepreneur with over 30 years in real estate and home buyer counseling, emphasized homeownership education and public-private partnerships. He described a cultural pattern where many families rent by default rather than own, and proposed leveraging relationships with financial institutions to create neighborhood lending programs. He stated that affordable housing means "something that you can appreciate, something that you can enjoy." The committee voted unanimously to recommend approval.
Discussion Items
Tax Allocation District (TAD) Financial Update – Q1 2026 – Tiffany Wills, Vice President of Redevelopment and Strategic Initiatives at Decide DeKalb, presented the quarterly update. Key data included:
- Current TAD fund balance across all five TADs: $34.4 million
- Year-to-date net income: $310,000 (including $72,000 in interest and $50,000 in expenses)
- Total TAD awards to date: $77.2 million
- Outstanding pending TAD awards: $75.8 million
- Pending applications under negotiation: $18.8 million total across all five TADs
Wills reported one new award in the Briarcliff/North Druid Hills TAD (South Peachtree Creek Trails Segments 3 & 5) for $915,000 to cover soft costs. The committee discussed TAD term expiration dates (Avondale and Kensington expire in 2029; Briarcliff, Market Square, and Southwest DeKalb have longer terms) and the feasibility of closing the Kensington/Memorial Drive TAD and creating a new one. Commissioner Terry asked about engagement with DeKalb County School District on a potential convocation center as a catalyst project. Wills confirmed ongoing conversations. Commissioner Patrick raised interest in exploring a TAD for the unincorporated 85/285 area. Chair Messiah noted that a new TAD could potentially start January 1, 2027 if acted upon by December 2026.
Agenda item 2026-0550: Ordinance on Public Safety – Unauthorized Camping and Nuisance Behaviors – Chair Messiah presented a substitute ordinance (changing "vagrancy" to "drifting" on legal advice) that addresses blocking of sidewalks, parks, and public property by unhoused individuals.
Commissioner Longstreets raised concerns that the ordinance was not posted in the Legistar system, preventing public access. He noted receiving about a dozen calls of concern and requested a two-week deferral to allow public review. Chair Messiah countered that the ordinance had been shared with commissioners and that legal review was completed before submission. DeKalb County Attorney provided procedural context, noting that the board had previously approved an item without an attachment and that best practices would include operational and legal review before agenda items are submitted.
Commissioner Terry suggested developing a written standard operating procedure (SOP) for enforcement, including outreach, notice periods, and a potential civil citation approach. He referenced a Houston model where one division issues warnings and another offers housing. Commissioner Patrick noted that the board had adopted a resolution about a year earlier stating it would not arrest people for homelessness in rights-of-way, and requested a legal comparison between that resolution and the proposed ordinance.
All commissioners expressed interest in collaboration with DeKalb's 13 cities and the DeKalb Municipal Association, and in exploring diversion programs and day shelter alternatives to arrest. The item was deferred two weeks to allow further review and amendments.
Agenda items 2025-0015 and 2025-0017 (Noise Ordinance revisions) – The committee deferred both items for two weeks at the request of Commissioner Patrick, who asked the law department to draft a decibel-only version of the noise ordinance for consideration. Chair Messiah noted the multiple versions already drafted and indicated more discussion was needed before a final decision.
Key Outcomes
- Dr. Jeremy Cole was recommended unanimously for appointment to the Fulton-DeKalb Hospital Authority (Post 9).
- Jerome Edmondson was recommended unanimously for appointment to the DeKalb County Housing Authority (Post 3).
- Meal Services for Seniors contract extension (Item 2026-0457) was approved unanimously.
- Landscape Maintenance contract (Item 2026-0487) was approved with Chair Messiah voting no, pending additional information on The Simmons Group LLC.
- Public Safety Ordinance (Item 2026-0550) was deferred for two weeks to allow public access via Legistar and to incorporate suggestions from commissioners, including written enforcement protocols, a civil citation option, and a legal comparison with the board's prior resolution against arresting people for homelessness.
- Noise Ordinance revisions (Items 2025-0015 and 2025-0017) were deferred for two weeks for the law department to draft a decibel-only version.
- The meeting was adjourned at approximately 5:05 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Great day, everyone. My name is Nicole Messiah, and I have the distinct honor and pleasure to serve as your District 3 Commissioner, along with the Chair of PECS, Planning Economic Development and Community Services. I serve along my other colleagues and PECS committee members, Commissioner Longspears from District 2, and Commissioner Robert Patrick from District One. I also recognize that we have Commissioner Ted Terry from District 6 along with today. If you've had an opportunity, committee members to review the minutes, I will entertain a motion. All right, I have a proper first. Second. And a second. Thank you so much, Commissioner Longspears, for your second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Thank you. And that is for agenda item 2026-093. The next area is appointments. And for those that are following along, we're midway through the page. That is 2026-0756. All commissioned districts to appoint Jeremy Cole PhD to post nine of the Fulton County, I mean Fulton DeCab Hospital Authority. And if you wouldn't mind, Mr. Cole, can you please join us? Thank you so much for coming. But there's here today, sorry you're so far away, but thank you again for joining us here in PEX. And we typically will start interviewing the same way we do others, and that's just you know, communicating some things uh about yourself, your previous experiences, and uh specifically highlighting those that are relevant to your service um potentially on the hospital authority. Great. Uh thank you so much, Commissioner. Um Jeremy Cole, I'm currently the executive director of Mosaic Health Center, which is a uh health center in Clarkston, Georgia, that serves folks without health insurance. I've been fortunate to spend my whole career in the nonprofit sector 26 plus years doing a variety of work both locally and Clarkston in the 2000s, and then I went uh global to UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund for 11 years and came back to Clarkston as the executive director of Mosaic Health Center in 2023. So, in terms of the first of all, I'm honored to be um to be nominated for this position, and I should say that in terms of my work uh in health care specifically. Certainly my time at UNICEF USA working globally. I learned a lot about um global health issues, but all those issues are often issues that we face here uh right here in DeCAB and in the metro area. And uh specifically my time at Mosaic Health Center of you know, learned a lot about the need to strengthen our health care ecosystem to care for the less fortunate and to provide uh for all in the community. So that gives you a little bit of my background. Thank you so much. That's exciting. So um if appointed, can you tell me what your top priorities as a member of the hospital authority would be and how specifically would you contribute to advancing the mission strengthening health care outcomes and ensuring the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of the hospital operations and partnerships? Well, I think um top priority um top a few of top priorities would be one first to continue to strengthen the relationship between the Fulton DeCav Hospital Authority and Grady. Um I know that that's a relationship that's ongoing and has been strengthened over the over the years, and that's an important relationship for the city. Um so that would be uh first. Um second, I would be uh second priority would be about strengthening the health care ecosystem generally. From my vantage point, I think we have a lot of great assets in the community. We've got to figure out ways to work uh better together, uh both between hospitals, but certainly also from uh the hospital perspective to clinics uh like like mine and like many clinics across Metro Atlanta. Um a lot of the uh the solutions are in place. We've got to got to connect the dots, and so I think uh that would be another priority for me in terms of you know strengthening the overall health care ecosystem in Metro Atlanta. I think all of that speaks to uh the need to serve a widening gap in those who are not being served. We see in the state and across the country, lots of folks are losing losing health insurance as those costs rise. And that puts a lot of financial pressure on hospitals like Grady, hospital systems. And so to your sustainability question, we've got to focus our efforts on, you know, at the hospital authority board on you know strengthening the case for expanding access to care rather than contracting it, which is what's happening now. And not only when you when you contract access to care, folks can't see a doctor, but also again the hospitals struggle financially because they have more folks without health insurance coming in through their doors, and no one can pay. So I think from a sustainability standpoint, uh it's a comprehensive approach, you know, to expand access to care. I can appreciate that.
openpublica.com