Dekalb County Operations Committee Meeting - June 18, 2026
Dekalb County Operations Committee Meeting - June 18, 2026
The County Operations Committee, chaired by Commissioner Marita Davis Johnson, met on June 18, 2026, to consider several contract change orders and renewals, discuss recommendations from the Charter Review Commission, and debate a proposed resolution to create an independent salary commission for the Board of Commissioners. The meeting included approvals of eight administrative items and a deferred item, as well as substantive discussion on the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches.
Consent Calendar / Routine Approvals
- Approval of Minutes (June 2, 2026): Motion by Commissioner [not specified], seconded, unanimously approved.
- Item 260764 – Change Order for Maloof Annex Auditorium Renovation: Increase contract funds by $156,965 and extend term to December 31, 2026. Approved unanimously after discussion about previous incremental requests and assurance that no further changes are anticipated.
- Item 260893 – UPS System Maintenance Contract Term Increase: No additional funds, term extended through September 30, 2026. Approved unanimously.
- Item 260942 – Janitorial Services Contract Increase: Funds and term increased through December 31, 2026, total not to exceed $1,928,998. Approved unanimously.
- Item 260954 – On-Call Plumbing Services Contract Increase: Funds and term increased through July 31, 2027, total not to exceed $1,800,000. Approved unanimously.
- Item 260996 – Fire Sprinkler System Inspection Contract Renewal: Second renewal with cap increase, total not to exceed $177,340. Approved unanimously.
- Item 2603 – Architect/Engineering Services for Fire Stations 18, 19, 20: Design phase funding of $1,394,490 approved. Discussion included future solar readiness and the scope of renovations.
- Item 260771 (Substitute) – Oracle Cloud Services Contract: Substitute amount of $13,093,950.76 approved after correction of a calculation error identified by audit.
Item Deferred
- Item 260953 – HVAC Contract Renewal: Deferred pending return from audit review.
Discussion Items
Charter Review Recommendations (Section 21 – Department of Finance)
The committee discussed two proposed changes from the Charter Review Commission.
- Section 21A: Proposed adding “except as otherwise provided by resolution of the governing authority,” which would allow the Board of Commissioners to alter the Department of Finance’s statutory duties by a simple resolution. The County Attorney clarified this would shift power from the General Assembly to the local governing authority (including the CEO). Commissioners expressed concerns that this would blur executive-legislative lines. Commissioner Terry argued the change merely enables the checks and balances already inherent in the governing structure and criticized the process as rubber-stamping the CEO’s opposition. The committee ultimately rejected the addition, voting to keep the existing language.
- Section 21B: Proposed adding a requirement that financial statements be posted on the county website within 30 days. All members agreed to this transparency measure. The committee will continue charter review discussion at the next meeting on July 7, 2026, starting on page 12.
Resolution 260999 – Independent Salary Commission for Board of Commissioners
Commissioner Terry introduced a resolution to create a seven-member independent commission to review and recommend future compensation for commissioners. He argued it would remove conflicts of interest and follow best practices from other jurisdictions. Commissioner Davis Johnson questioned the necessity and independence of a panel appointed by commissioners themselves. Commissioner Terry countered that the resolution would create an objective process and noted the commission could be appointed by HR instead. After debate, a motion to deny the resolution was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- All change orders and contract items on the consent calendar were approved, except the HVAC renewal which was deferred.
- The Charter Review Commission’s proposed amendment to Section 21A (allowing resolution-based changes to Department of Finance duties) was rejected; the amendment to Section 21B (posting financial statements on the county website) was approved.
- The resolution to create an independent salary commission (Item 260999) was denied.
- The next meeting of the committee will be July 7, 2026, where charter review discussion will continue.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the county operations committee. I'm Marita Davis Johnson, and I chair uh this committee. The uh commissioners that served on the commission with me, uh Commissioner Ladina Bowden and Commission and I'm sorry, she she just got her four years. Oh, that's right. Yeah, she just got her four years. Uh-huh. And uh Commissioner Robert Patrick. And so um with that have oh, I'm sorry, and Commissioner Ted Terry is just like a committee member because he's here every time we meet. So well, welcome again. Mm-hmm. Okay. So um have you all had an opportunity to uh read the minutes of June the second, 2026? Yes, ma'am. I move to approve item 2026 0369. Second. Okay, all in favor. I okay, those um minutes are approved. Okay, the next one seconds. Where is my opposition? Is this okay? Oh I see the rest. Okay. Those are your minutes. That's not the best. Um, okay. Okay, I'm sorry, I'm getting it together. Our first item is 260764. All commissioned districts. It's a change order. The contract number 1352 862, uh, infinite quality construction, uh, contract statewide contract by use by the Department of Facility Management to obstact to obtain construction services for the Maloof Annex Auditorian. So you can increase the contract firm funds and term due to December 31st uh 2026 and to ratify the previously provided contract term increase awarded to F H pension as in Nielsen and Associates LLC amount not to exceed 156,965 and zero cents. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, commissioners. Uh yes, this is uh this is for the Blue Fannyx Auditoriums for the renovation. We have two things we have uh with the change order. We have the extension of time to take us out to the completion of the project. Uh we give that a safe date that allows us to do all the final items we need to do on this project, such as the punch list verifications, uh warranties, guarantees, final payment systems, verification, that sort of thing. Uh in addition to that, we have uh the change order for 156,000. That uh what that includes is A V infrastructural electrical upgrades, J boxes for the projector screens, can lights at entry, light bar. Uh we had uh unforeseen condition at the flooring where there was no vapor barrier, so we had to apply epoxy flooring. We had some HVAC upgrades, uh, and a big portion of this was low voltage and access control. Uh we also had the mill work for uh mobile security desk, fire alarm code upgrades, and taking the mop sink conversion to a floor sink for uh code upgrade as well, and that's what's included in the change order. Okay. Are there any questions? Okay. Uh I recognize that we recently had a request to extend to increase funds, and and that was just in April. What was that two months ago? Just clarify what's different in the last year. Yeah, and we were trying to expedite that so we could keep the construction going, but at that time we did not have this pricing in. And especially for the uh the biggest part that we were waiting for with the low voltage and access control.
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