Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the August 18th Committee of the Whole.

I am Commissioner Shaira Johnson, Presiding Officer and District 4 Commissioner.

So we it's been a while since we've had a committee of the whole, um, but we'll get right back into this.

So we'll start with our committee reports.

Commissioner Terry from the FAB committee.

Yes, good morning.

Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer.

I will report on the August 11th Finance Audit and Budget Committee chaired by myself, um, and committee members, Commissioner Michelle Long Spears and Commissioner Shakira Johnson.

Also joining for the discussion was Commissioner Robert Patrick and Commissioner Nicole's Messiah.

We had our lead discussion on the water bill of rights.

We had a presentation from the legal defense fund group.

And a couple of things I'll just highlight from there that I think um CO Williams is going to come back to the committee with we discussed the current one for one uh debt payment plan uh policy um that's being implemented, I think um in September, is it when you're doing the one the one by one, the one for one right now?

Okay, so that's launching now.

And then we did discuss um uh and actually Commissioner uh Shakara Johnson had a really good idea about um having sort of different tiers and where we could potentially pilot out different approaches that would be a way for us to study different um debt repayment plans.

Um one of the the main goals, Commissioners um in this discussion is one creating an equitable approach to the the past debt, but also um with the goal of the policy that will help us uh recoup the the most amount of of uh past water debt.

Um and so we did go through that.

So the I believe that we did share the presentation from Mr.

Wheaton and the um NAACP legal defense fund.

Um, but but we'll re reshare that as well uh if folks missed it.

We did discuss the housing investment bond bond program, and so that was approved out of FAV, and I believe uh next Tuesday, right?

Zach, we'll have the um the final bond uh I guess bid or placement coming back to the board for approval.

We also we didn't have time for everything on the agenda.

So okay, that's right.

Yes, we did um recommend approval for the renewal of the urban league uh of Greater Atlanta contract for the DeCab County Water and Sewer Customer Assistance Program.

They did uh request all commissioners to um help get the word out about all of the water assistance programs, and so they um are eager to come to commissioners' events, um have their um collateral in our newsletters, etc.

Um, as we try to get uh more information out about all of the assistance programs that we've all um uh voted on and supported.

So appreciate the Urban League for the work they're doing.

And then we did have a couple contracts that I don't need to get into necessarily because they're pretty basic.

Um, and we did, and this is maybe just for the good of the whole, the solicitor general did come to the committee uh for um basically kind of a longer range plan on lease space, and so um uh she requested an additional 106,000 dollars for the remainder of 2026, um, but basically showed that um by assuming the lease of the vacant office space uh at 160 Claremont from the district attorney's office and some other consolidation, they'd be able to save money um between now and 2030.

So that was I think uh welcome news, and so the committee did recommend approval of that.

And everything else was deferred, so we'll pick that back up uh next Tuesday at the FAB committee.

I yield back.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Terry, Commissioner Bolton for the ERPS report.

Good morning, everyone.

I am Ladina Bolton, our Super District 7 Commissioner, Deputy Presiding Officer, and Chair of Employee Relations and Public Safety.

Serving also on that committee with me are Commissioners Nicole Messaya and Commissioner Marita Davis Johnson.

Our last meeting was Tuesday, July 7th.

Commissioners Patrick Long Spears and Terry attended those meetings with us for discussion.

We did not have a long agenda that day, but we did have great discussions, one on EMS services.

That update took quite a bit of time, the majority of time for that meeting.

And this was to add a death benefit for beneficiaries so that um employees could receive their full pension if they were to pass or die in the line of duty.

Out of district one, you guys may remember item 20250683.

This was to approve a resolution to address egregious littering and the illegal dumping of scrap tires that have been on the agenda for some time.

And we were really excited to go ahead and approve that item and move it forward because community members had been asking about it.

Out of district two, one of the items we had a little bit of discussion on 2026 0596.

As you may recall, this is an ordinance to regulate the restraint and transportation of animals and for other purposes.

So we held that item in committee.

We do look forward to having a discussion on it this afternoon in committee, as well as item 0728, which is another ordinance out of district two, and this is to amend the code to regulate the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in pet shops.

So we had not had a discussion on this item yet, but we do look forward to discussing it today in committee.

Out of district six, item 0769.

This is a resolution requesting the administration to establish independent civilian oversight and auditing for the CABS Digital Shield Initiative and Surveillance.

This one we have not discussed either, but of course, it is on today's agenda for the ERPS Committee.

And with that, I yield back.

Thank you, Commissioner Bolton.

Um Commissioner Patrick for PWI.

Uh good morning, Madam Uh Presiding Officer, Board of Commissioners, as well as to the public.

I'm uh Commissioner Robert Patrick, serve as the chair for public works and infrastructure.

My colleagues on that committee are uh our presiding officer Shakira Johnson, as well as my colleague Commissioner Ted Terry.

Uh we have had several items that we discussed before the break.