FreePress 8-27-15

FreePress
FRIDAY, august 27, 2015 VOL. 18, NO. 21 FREE
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South DeKalb
Senior Center
to open soon
Group looks to
revitalize old Bruce
Street School
local, 2A
local, 9A
A PUBLICATION OF ACE III COMMUNICATIONS
Nature presentations
explore beyond books
education, 18A
Hardeman
Beau
Hardeman,
chess
grandmaster,
leaves legacy
by Ashley Oglesby
ashley@dekalbchamp.com
Beau Hardeman was truly a
remarkable chess player, friend
and mentor to generations of
chess players and scholars. He
died Aug. 7 on what would have
been his mothers 98th birthday.
He achieved grandmaster
status, awarded to chess players
by the World Chess Federation,
and had a very high rating, although he would never disclose
his ranking. Hardeman was the
first chess coach at the Paideia
School in Atlanta and went on
to teach hundreds of children
how to play chess. To many, he
became their mentor.
In 1995 Hardeman launched
his Beau Hardeman Annual Invitational Chess Tournaments
in which he coached students
from kindergarten through 12th
grade at Gresham Park Recreation Center.
Recreation Center Director
Wannetter Terrell said the tournaments started small but after
10 years outgrew the office space
and moved into the gymnasium.
Terrell said Hardeman was
serious and passionate about
chess, life and education. She
said, He would talk, teach and
play all at the same time.
Terrell said Hardeman would
approach parents and their chil-
DeKalb Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson organized a bus tour of

District 5 for commissioners and other county officials.
DeKalb Commissioners Nancy Jester, Kathie Gannon, Jeff Rader and

Sharon Barnes Sutton ride the MARTA bus to District 5. Photos by
Andrew Cauthen
County officials tour District

5s assets, challenges
by Andrew Cauthen
andrew@dekalbchamp.com
DeKalb Countys commissioners
and other government officials boarded a MARTA bus Aug. 21 for a threehour tour of DeKalbs fifth district.
The bus, accompanied by a fourmotorcycle police escort, traveled by
the Kensington Station area and the
site of the proposed Atlanta United
Football Club soccer headquarters
and practice fields. The tour included
Indian Creek MARTA station; the new
south campus of Georgia Piedmont
Technical College; DeKalb Medical
Hillandale; Lithonia Industrial Boulevard; Lithonia, the districts only city;
Stonecrest Mall; and Davidson-Arabia
Mountain Nature Preserve.
The tour was the idea of District 5
Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson, the countys newest commissioner.
She said, the tour was not really for
me.
I [have] lived, worked and played
and gone to church in this district for
30 years so I knew what we had in the
fifth district, Johnson said. My husband [Congressman Hank Johnson]
was a commissioner in this district before he went to Congress.
Im very familiar with the district,
but the challenge I think we have in
the 5th District is to attract economic
development and also keep the nature
See Hardeman on page 15A
championnewspaper
See District 5 on page 15A
championnews
Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May toured the district he once represented.
District 5 chief of staff Alana Griggs checks a passenger list for the District 5 bus tour.
championnewspaper
champnews
local
Page 2A The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, August 27, 2015
South DeKalb Senior

Center to open soon
by Andrew Cauthen
After lengthy delays, the
South DeKalb Senior Center
is nearly complete and is expected to open in October.
We are now roughly 98
percent of the way done,
said DeKalb County project
manager Aaron Worthy.
Were very close to achieving substantial completion
and turning the building
overto commence operation.
At a cost of approximately $3 million, the center
is being paid for using U.S.
Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant funds.
Once completed, the center will be a 15,400-squarefoot facility with amenities
including community meeting rooms, computer lab, fitness area, 1,400-square-foot
covered porch, kitchen and
more. Additionally, the center will include classrooms
to accommodate the various
activities requested by the
community and a dining
hall.
They wanted a large
room for gatherings, meetings and entertainment, said
Allen Mitchell, the countys
interim, human and community development director. They wanted a room to
have meals every day because
this center is a center that
has congregate meals. They
eat here every day.
The center is expected
to daily serve 150 to 200 seniors, ages 60 and up.
What is unique about
this particular buildingis
you have an indoor walking
track for seniors, Worthy
said. The hallways are much
wider than your standard
5-foot hallways. These are
roughly 7.5 feet, so seniors
can actually use this as a
walking trail.
[Because the facility is

for] active seniors, we wanted to designa walkway
which allows indoor tracks,
Mitchell said.
Notwithstanding weather conditions,winter, summer, etc., you can be inside
in the air-conditioning or in
the heatand thats a good
thing, Mitchell said. For
those who care not to do
that, you can sit on the porch
and observe and relax and
enjoy yourself.
The center is located at
1931 Candler Road, Decatur,
adjacent to the Scott Candler
Library.
The Candler Road senior
center is one of three senior
facilities recently constructed
by the county. It was the
first one to get underway, but
problems were encountered.
Construction commenced on this project in
2012under a previous
contractor, Worthy said.
That contractor defaulted
on his performance bond.
The bond was called in early
August 2014.
The bonding company
did due diligence and hired
a completion contractor in
February.
When the project was restarted, it was approximately
65-70 percent complete,
Worthy said.
Mitchell said that although there have been
complaints about construction delays, I think that in
the end we will win over all
citizens who had concerns.
Weve had some early reviews of [the center] and
theyve been extremely excited.
Mitchell said the senior
center is about enjoying
having a leisure life, being
able to do the things you
like to do and seeing your
friends.
Public Notification:
Application has been made to the Federal Communications Commission

(FCC) for a new communications structure along railroad right of way near
MP 622.57, PTC Doraville, Atlanta, GA 30340. The FCC Form 854 file
number is file# A0977616. The structure type is an non-lighted monopole
with a total height including antenna of 63 feet to tip. Interested persons
may review the application by going to www.fcc.gov/asr/applications and
entering the Form 854 File Number. Interested persons may raise environmental concerns about the proposed structure by filing a Request for Environmental Review with the FCC. The FCC strongly encourages interested
parties to file online any Requests for Environmental Review; instructions
for making such filings can be found at www.fcc.gov/asr/environmentalrequest , or by paper copy to FCC Requests for Environmental Review, Attn:
Ramon Williams, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, D.C. 20554.
County officials say the South DeKalb Senior Center is expected to open in October. Photos by Andrew Cauthen
local
The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, August 27, 2015Page 3A
Former ethics board

chairman to run for
Brookhaven mayor
by Carla Parker
carla@dekalbchamp.com
Four days after resigning
as DeKalb County Board of
Ethics chairman, John Ernst
announced his bid to run for
mayor of Brookhaven.
The Brookhaven mayors
seat is up for election in
November. Rebecca Chase
Williams, the former District 1 councilwoman and
mayor pro tem, was sworn
in as mayor in June to fill the
mayor seat vacated by J. Max
Davis.
The citys charter allowed
Williams to be appointed
by fellow councilmembers
since the election for that office was less than 12 months
away in November.
Ernst said he is running
to bring the city together.
Im running to make the
citys park system the best,
develop a Brookhaven Beltline, bring permanent property tax relief, andcreate an
open and more transparent
government, he said.
Ernst, who is a lawyer,
started his law practice in
2005. At Ernst Legal Group,
he specializes in real estate
transactions, bankruptcy
litigation and personal injury
cases.
Ernst served as chair-
man of the DeKalb Board

of Ethics from 2013 to 2015.
His resignation came a day
after the ethics board found
DeKalb County Commissioner Stan Watson guilty
of violating the county code
of ethics. However, Watson
was not removed from office
or suspended, which Ernst
urged.
Ernst grew up in the
Hampton Hall neighborhood
of Brookhaven. He received
a bachelor of arts degree in
history at Emory University.
After college, he served as
assistant to former Georgia
Gov. Roy Barnes.
Ernst later received a
juris doctorate degree from
the University Of Georgia
School of Law.
During his time in law
school, he served as a prosecutor in the Athens-Clarke
County District Attorneys
office and was a summer
clerk for the Honorable John
J. Ellington of the Georgia
Court of Appeals.
After law school, he
served as the attorney of the
majority caucus in the Georgia House of Representatives
during the 2004 legislative
session.
Ernst is married with two
children.
John Ernst (center) talks with supporters during his campaign kickoff cookout at Blackburn Park on Aug. 23.
Ernst served as chairman of the DeKalb Board of Ethics from 2013 to 2015. Photos by Travis Hudgons
Supporters gathered at Blackburn Park in Brookhaven to kickoff John Ernsts campaign.
OPINION
Arthur Blank isnt the only Memorial Drive investor

Memorial Drive has not
seen a dollar of development
in two decades.
Thats what interim
CEO Lee May said after the
DeKalb County Board of
Commissioners voted 4-3 to
approve an incentive package to pave the way for billionaire Arthur Blank, a cofounder of The Home Depot,
to bring the headquarters
and practice fields of Atlanta
United Football Club, a major league soccer franchise,
to the county.
Days later, after criticism
from the three commissioners who voted against the
deal and from some residents, May echoed his rhetoric, saying Memorial Drive
had not seen one dollar of
investment along that cor-
Andrew Cauthen
Managing Editor
@AndrewChampNews
ridor.
Thats not quite the case.
On Memorial Drive,
four miles east of the proposed soccer facility, a
148,000-square-foot Walmart
was opened in 2013. Developers razed a defunct Subaru
car dealership near the cor-
ner of Memorial Drive and

Hairston Road to build the
store that has created approximately 300 jobs.
When the Walmart was
announced, DeKalb County
Commissioner Sharon
Barnes Sutton said the presence of the new Walmart
should attract other businesses to the area.
Its going to bring jobs to
our community, Sutton said.
Its going to improve the tax
base and its an opportunity
to direct the traffic down Memorial Drive.
Less than two miles west
of the proposed soccer site,
is the Belvedere community.
Once in a state of decline,
this community has seen
some stabilization, and even
a bit of growth, since 2008
when a Walmart was opened

at the site of the Avondale
Mall.
During its grand opening
DeKalb Commissioner Larry
Johnson said the Decatur
Walmart would bring a surge
of vitality to Memorial Drive
as customers come back.
Walmart is a critical
component in the redevelopment of the Memorial Drive
area, Johnson said at the
time. Their presence will
motivate others to invest in
the area.
In the wake of the
Decatur Walmart came Aldis
grocery store, Sonic Drive-in
and Zaxbys. The renovated
building that once housed
Aarons Rents has been purchased by UHaul.
And in April community
leaders and DeKalb County

officials convened on Columbia Drive, two blocks from
Memorial Drive, for the official opening of the 80-unit
Columbia Senior Residences
at Forrest Hills.
The Memorial Drive corridor, while by no means is
back to its heyday, is stable,
slowly improving and is increasingly being gentrified.
This is the corridor that
Arthur Blank is coming to,
not as a savior, but as an
opportunist who is only
promising to give 12 jobs to
DeKalb County residents.
He knows a good deal, and a
good area, when he sees it.
His bucks arent the first
in the past two decades and
wont be the last.
Letters to the editor
Open letter to CEO of DeKalb County

and board of commissioners
Dear ICEO Lee May and DeKalb
Board of Commissioners
I am very disappointed with the
vote and the way the BOC conducted
itself in terms of the soccer field venture with Mr. Arthur Blank.
The last minute notice and urgent
need to have a decision on the matter
of the soccer field has been happening
too many times with major projects
related to stadiums and large sums of
money. I was deeply disappointed
with some of the DeKalb BOC commissioners that voted not to allow
the residents and citizens of this great
DeKalb County a voice at the last
commission meeting on August 4,
2015. I can only describe that kind of
behavior as arrogant and tyrannical. I
have noticed that rarely in big ticket
items are citizens given all the facts,
and the time to make an informed decision. The propaganda is propagated
through the grapevine to confuse and
misinform the voters into supporting
projects that lead to nowhere. Where
are the evidence and the proof?
Take a look at the Atlanta and the
deals made in the past and the promises made to depressed economic
communities. There has not been
much economic development with recent stadiums based on the history of
Georgia Dome stadium, Turner Field,
or the Flowery branch HQ or practice
field for the surrounding communities. I do not know where the idea that
this will spur economic development
on Memorial drive came from, but
someone needs to take some time do
some research and do their homework
before using taxpayer money on a pipe
dream with a thirty year commitment.
The first rule of marketing is location, location, location. Why now, and
who will benefit? What is the rush?
The 41 acres is not going anywhere.

We deserve better from our leaders. We want a deliberate and open
process, and an economic study done
before this deal is finalized and completed. The minority communities
seem to always get the land fields and
stadiums, but serious economic development in the surrounding communities never seems to follow with the
promises.
I attended the August 11, 2015 4pm
press conference, and I stand with and
represent those who want this process
to slow down and be open. The citizens deserve better.
Expediency over process, and money over people. What we think does
not matter to certain commissioners.
The people voices were silenced. No
time for debate or discussion, take
the deal, no other offer. This is what
economic development looks like on
steroids.
ICEO Lee May acted like Donald
Trump with Taxpayers money. Arthur
Blank acted like the host on Lets Make
A Deal. The DeKalb County Commissioners who voted in favor of the
soccer field acted like 4 blind mice. I
agree that Arthur Blank and the other
billionaires should be paying their fair
share.
Citizens Against Cityhood in
DeKalb and Concerned Citizens for
Effective Government believe that
there should be a better deal and process.
Ed Williams, chairman
Concerned Citizens for Effective Government
Citizens Against Cityhood in DeKalb
Is it a good deal for us?

by Steve Bradshaw
Aug. 11, 2015
I dont know if the new soccer
stadium agreement is a good deal for
the taxpayers of DeKalb County or
not. I sincerely hope that it is. The
Memorial Drive corridor certainly
needs a shot of development adrenalin. Even so, Im not sure if the deal
that was recently approved by the
Board of Commissioners is the right
vehicle for facilitating the economic
development that we need.
Im skeptical primarily because
of the nature of this process. The
whole things struck me as being
rushed. Consequently, I have some
questions.
If this is such a good deal why
wasnt there more time for the Board
of Commissioners to conduct thorough due diligence? If this is such a
good deal why wasnt there time allotted for public comment before the
vote for approval? After all, its our
money that the Commissioners are
spending, not theirs.
It is not a stretch to say that
there currently exists a trust deficit between the citizens of DeKalb
County and our government leaders. Given the cloud of corruption
that currently hangs over DeKalb
County you would think that said
leaders would err on the side of more
transparency, not less; more public
engagement, not less. But, that did
not happen.
Moreover, as a general proposition I am somewhat dubious of
sports stadium deals as a driver of
broad based and sustained economic
development. In the excellent book
The King of Sports author Gregg
Easterbrook offers multiple examples
of sports stadium deals whereby the
team owners do very well and taxpayers are left holding the bag. I would
highly recommend this book to all
concerned citizens.
Additionally, $12 million is a
lot of money. Could this expenditure
be put to better use elsewhere? How
many public safety officers could this
fund? How many potholes could be
filled?
The truth of the matter is that
we wont really know if this is a good
deal or not for a few years to come.
In the meantime politicians can point
at a shiny new object and say look at
what we did. They can do this secure
in the belief that the average citizen
does not know any better. They are
betting that the average citizen will
be distracted and mesmerized by the
shiny new object and come to the
simple conclusion that our leaders are
doing something, rather than asking
the critical questions that should be
asked.
As previously stated I dont
know if this is a good deal for the
taxpayers of DeKalb County or not.
I certainly and sincerely hope that
it is. If it is I will be the first to congratulate the folks who put this deal
together.
But, what if it turns out not to
be a good deal for us? Then what?
At that point I guess we would just
reflect on the lyrics from Rihannas
song Take A Bow where she says
that was quite a show, very entertaining.
Steve Bradshaw is a candidate for the
DeKalb County District 4 Commission
seat
OPINION
One Mans Opinion
We put cash on the

table to get a major development in that area. The deal
is done, and its a good deal
for DeKalb County, so said
Interim DeKalb County
CEO Lee May on August 12,
2015, defending the deal to
give 40-acres of county land
and $12-million in taxpayer
funding to billionaire Arthur Blank to locate practice
facilities forour new Major
League Soccer (MLS)franchise team, The Atlanta
United, along Memorial
Drive at I-285.
Ive loved soccer since the
days of my childhood and
DeKalb YMCA leagues.We
won the county championshipand were state runnersup one year, and I played all
the way through high school.
An early fan of the Atlanta Chiefs, I was able to
witness Pele playing in an
exhibition at Atlanta-Fulton
County Stadium.During
Atlantas Olympic year, I
witnessed one of the most
incredible soccer matches
Ive ever seen, during a gold
medal match between Brazil
and its motherland, Portugal.
Brazil won in overtime, instantly transforming Athens,
Ga, to Rio during Carnivale (Gold medal game was
played in Sanford Stadium).
So, I was among many
initially thrilled to hear that
Falcons owner Blank was
bringing MLS Soccer to At-
DeKalb, not so United
Bill Crane
bill.csicrane@gmail.com
Columnist
lanta, for play in his new stadium in late 2017.

Though never a fan of
the new stadium, nor replacing the 22-year old Georgia
Dome; that deal is long
done and the die cast.But
as bad as I think that deal is
for the city of Atlanta, state
of Georgia and Falcon fans
(nowfacing sticker shock on
the prices of Personal Seat
Licenses and season tickets)
this deal for DeKalb taxpayersis much worse.
The DeKalb Commission
in a vote of 4-3, after denying
all public comment, rushed
to judgment and a vote on
a contract giving Blank a
rather large blank check40
plus acres of interstate frontage along Memorial Drive
at I-285; a parcel reachingto
Kensington Drive and nearby
Kensington MARTA station;
a property tax waiver on all
property and improvements;
and $12 million in cash.

DeKalb County will house
the Parks and Recreation Department in one of the buildings to be constructed. Blank
will build a 3,500-seat stadium and three soccer practice fields, as well as an office
building to house the offices
of Atlanta United.Later developments may include
additional indoor training
facilities.This site is larger
than the land surrounding
the new Braves SunTrust
Park in Cobb County.
ICEO May justifies the
expense as needed along a
troubled corridor, and states
that the facilities will be a
much-needed catalyst for
economic development.
I consider myself a realist,
not a pessimist, but lets look
at the track record in this
category here in Atlanta.
How much economic
development or expansion can you recall around
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium?The Omni?The Georgia Dome?Turner Field?
Falcons practice facilities in
Suwanee?
The Gwinnett Commission similarly touted the
beautiful G-Braves stadium,
and significantly over cast
both ticket sales and area
economic expansion. As a
result, the commission there
must make unplanned annual appropriations to cover the
debt service of what is argu-
ably the most amenity-filled

stadium in minor league
baseball.
Atlanta United owner
Blank noted the coincidence
and irony of returning,
across the street, to the location of his first Home Depot
store. The company has long
since left that building for
greener pastures in DeKalb
County and elsewhere. But
Atlanta United will play its
games in downtown Atlanta,
in the new stadiumwhere
the Falcons receive all ticket,
concession and parking revenues, to help finance the new
stadium. The DeKalb soccer
complex will pay no property
taxes and only generate marginal sales tax revenues.
Kudos to DeKalb Commissioners Nancy Jester, Kathie Gannon and Jeff Rader,
who all voted against the
proposed deal, who are continuing to ask some tough
questions and are calling for
regular and monthly updates
on the projects cost, timeline
and developments.
There remain numerous
unanswered and significant
questions. Will DeKalb high
school athletes, currently
with a shortage of stadia,
have access to the facility or
practice fields?Will DeKalb
taxpayers be given discounts
or free passes to scrimmage
and pre-season practice
games on the campus?
I think I know just what
DeKalb citizens are getting

out of this deal. I just wish
I had taken the time several
years ago to pick up an extra
box across the street at that
first Home Depotan extralarge box of wood screws,
and save us allseveral million in the process.
Bill Crane also serves as a
political analyst and commentator for Channel 2s Action
News, WSB-AM News/Talk
750 and now 95.5 FM, as well
as a columnist for The Champion, Champion Free Press
and Georgia Trend. Crane is
a DeKalb native and business
owner, living in Scottdale. You
can reach him or comment on
a column at bill.csicrane@
gmail.com.
F ree P ress
Let Us Know What You Think!
THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS encourages opinions from its readers. Please
write to us and express your views. Letters
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Send Letters To Editor, The Champion Free Press, P.
O. Box 1347, Decatur, GA 30031-1347; Send email
to Andrew@dekalbchamp.com FAX To: (404)
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releases and advertising: Thursday, one week prior
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Chief Financial Officer:
Dr. Earl D. Glenn
Managing Editor:
Andrew Cauthen
Production Manager:
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Photographer:
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Staff Reporters:
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Inc., 114 New Street, Suite E, Decatur,
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Statement from the

publisher
We sincerely appreciate the
discussion surrounding this and any
issue of interest to DeKalb County.
The Champion was founded in 1991
expressly to provide a forum for
discourse for all community residents
on all sides of an issue. We have no
desire to make the news only to
report news and opinions to effect
a more educated citizenry that will
ultimately move our community
forward. We are happy to present
ideas for discussion; however,
we make every effort to avoid
printing information submitted to
us that is known to be false and/or
assumptions penned as fact.
local
Charlene Edwards
Charlene Edwards decided to walk the walk rather
than talk the talk.
During a mission trip to
the Dominican Republic, Edwards said she noticed people discussing what should
be done and who should lead
the way to help people living
in the slums in that country.
But, there were not any
tangible action items being
placed on the solution table;
just a bunch of talking, Edwards said. I decided then,
that I would rather be quiet
and do what is needed than
appear on red carpets and
do nothing. So I returned to
Atlanta and gathered some
like-minded friends and we
started working.
Edwards, 53, founded
The Action Not Words Project Inc. (TANWP) in 2009.
Located in Dunwoody, the

organization focuses on
creating communities that
provide for residents while
teaching them to grow their
own food, adopt healthier
lifestyles and contribute to
the maintenance of the environment.
We began as a charity
to provide basic living necessities to underfinanced and
underrepresented populations in the Dominican

Republic and the greater
Atlanta area, Edwards said.
We have grown to provide
the skills and resources
needed to enhance the quality of life for all citizens by
encouraging environmental
stewardship, the sharing of
resources and community
empowerment.
The inclusion of green
sustainability has added an
extra sense of urgency to preserve our green spaces while
assisting others to grow their
own food or at least become
more cognizant of what they
are consuming and how it is
affecting the environment,
Edwards added.
TANWP has been working with the residents of Lithonia to restore the historic
Lithonia Cemetery and add a

micro urban farm. Edwards
said she envisions TANWP
being an integral member of
the Lithonia community.
The micro urban farm
will not only provide the
needed organic produce and
food items, it will also serve
as a hub for sustainability
education, environmental
health resources and community well-being, she said.
TANWP also provides
health and wellness services
for seniors and disabled veterans throughout Fulton and
DeKalb counties.
We began providing
resources and services for
other organizations that have
the same basic mission as
our own at the inception of
our nonprofit. Many charities rely upon donations and
grants that might not cover

some of the basic needs of
their recipients, she said.
We work toward filling the
gap of services for those providing quality giving.
Edwards said volunteering is important because providing service or resources
without expectation of receiving anything in return
creates great karma.
I also feel whatever it is
you want to see happen in
this world, you must be willing to put in the work, she
said. Therefore, since I want
to live in a healthy, peaceful,
loving world, I must be willing to apply my resources to
see that happen. As they say,
what goes around, comes
back around.
If you would like to nominate someone to be considered as a future Champion of the Week, please contact Andrew Cauthen
at andrew@dekalbchamp.com or at (404) 373-7779, ext. 117.
The open house allowed residents to voice what city should focus on
with the comprehensive plan.
Lithonia residents viewed and discussed options of the citys comprehensive plan.
Lithonia holds comprehensive

plan open house
by Carla Parker
Lithonia is updating its
comprehensive plan and has
invited residents to a Aug.
17 open house to share their
thoughts on what the citys
goals and direction should
be.
A comprehensive plan
outlines a framework for the
development of an area, recognizing the physical, economic, social, political, aesthetic and related factors of a
community, according to the
Atlanta Regional Commis-
sion (ARC). Lithonia Mayor

Deborah Jackson said the
city is required to do a major
update every 10 years.
Every five years we do
an update of the five-year
work plan, Jackson said.
The last time the city did a
comprehensive plan was in
2010, and this is the stage of
updating that. The Department of Community Affairs
changed a lot of the requirements and theyve made it
much more manageable, and
were getting assistance from
the Atlanta Regional Commission to actually do the
writing this time. Last time

we had a citizens group to
do it.
During the last comprehensive plan update, Jackson
said the city accomplished a
few goals, including updating
the zoning ordinance and a
housing inventory.
We were able to do
more community outreach,
and some of the big things
were the redevelopment of
the [Lithonia] Plaza, Jackson said. We were able to
get a grant from the DeKalb
Development Authority to
remediate the asbestos on
See Lithonia on page 11A
The open house allowed residents to share their thoughts on what the
citys vision should be. Photos by Carla Parker
local
AroundDeKalb
Avondale Estates
Dance theater to hold concert
Avondale Estates based City Gate Dance

Theater announced its season repertory concert
Black and White, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. The concert will be held at Balzer Theater located at 84
Luckie Street Northeast in Atlanta. The concert
will be a recognition of world events, stories of
love and signs of peace. Tickets can be purchased
at www.dancestudio-pro.com.
Brookhaven
Public meetings scheduled for Murphey

Candler Lake study
As part of Brookhavens Murphey Candler
Lake watershed study, representatives from Sustainable Water Planning and Engineering will
host the first round of public meetings on Sept.
2 and 9. Both meetings will be held from 7 to 8
p.m. at Lynwood Park Community Center. There
will be a presentation followed by an open house
to answer questions. The focus of the meetings is
to collect concerns from the community for the
Nancy Creek watershed and Murphey Candler
Lake. Lynwood Park is located at 3360 Osborne
Road.
Chamblee
Food truck rally continues in Doraville

Its not a bad idea to spend a summer day enjoying music with family and friends and binging
on food truck treats.
On Sept. 9 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., the city of
Doraville will present its Doraville Food Truck
Rally on Park Avenue.
The event will be held in partnership with the
Atlanta Street Food Coalition and will continue to
be held on the second Wednesday of each month.
The event will give residents the chance to
meet elected officials and enjoy food, fun and fellowship with friends and neighbors.
Decatur
Clerk of Superior Court to host free notary

training
DeKalb County Superior Court Clerk Debra
DeBerry and the Georgia Superior Court Clerks
Cooperative Authority are hosting two free notary
training sessions on Friday, Sept. 25. The first session is 9 to 10:30 a.m., and the second session is
11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
This training workshop is open to the public and recommended to anyone who is a notary
public Georgia or would like to become one.
It is important to remember that a notary
public should perform their duties to the utmost
extent of the law, failure to do so could result in
costly lawsuits and penalties as a notary is liable

for his or her actions, states an announcement
about the sessions.
To reserve a seat to attend either session, contact Twinette Jones at (404) 371-2250 or tajones@
dekalbcountyga.gov.
The sessions will be at Maloof Auditorium,
1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur.
Atlanta Audubon Society backyard

sanctuary tour set for Sept. 19
Atlanta Audubon Society (AAS) will host
its annual Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary Tour on
Saturday, Sept. 19 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.The tour
will feature four properties along a 7-mile route
through Decatur, on the east side of Atlanta, with
an optional fifth stop at the Georgia Native Plant
Society (GNPS) Fall Plant sale at Stone Mountain
Park.
Tickets may be purchased online at www.AtlantaAudubon.orgor by calling (678) 973-2437.
Tickets are $15 for AAS and GNPS members and
$20 for nonmembers. All proceeds will support
the education and conservation efforts of Atlanta
Audubon Society.
The tour sites include Woodlands Garden, as
well as the homes of Deb and Douglas Wilson,
Carolyn and Max Brown, and Mary Kimberly
and Gavin MacDonald, all of Decatur.
Each property has been certified by Atlanta
Audubon Society as a Certified Wildlife Sanctuary because it provides five essential criteria for
attracting wildlife and birds:food sources, nesting
sites, bird feeders, shelter and water sources.Visitors will have the opportunity see various native
plants and trees in different settings that attract
birds, butterflies and other wildlife. AAS staff and
volunteers will be available at each site to guide
visitors through the habitats.
The mission of Atlanta Audubon Society is to
protect Georgias birds and their habitats through
education, conservation and advocacy. For more
information on the tour, visit the AAS website at
www.AtlantaAudubon.org.
Dunwoody
Dunwoody Sunday cycle
On the first Sunday of each month bicyclists
from Dunwoody and surrounding neighborhoods
gather at Village Burger, 1426 Dunwoody Village
Parkway at 2:30 p.m. to prepare for a 4.5-mile
loop ride around the city.
The event is a monthly community activity sponsored by Bike Walk Dunwoody March
through November.
There is a short pre-ride safety review and the
group sets off at 3 p.m. Helmets are required anda
bicycle with gears is recommended to handle the
hills.
The route is a 4.5-mile loop around Dunwoody with mostly right turns. The group will not
ride in inclement weather or hazardous road conditions. Everyone is welcome.
Lithonia
Stonecrest Library to hold book sale

The Friends of Stonecrest Library will be having a book sale.
Various genres of books, including fiction,
nonfiction, textbooks, encyclopedias, childrens
and romance series, will be available for sale.
The sale will be Saturday, Aug. 29, from 10
a.m. to 4 p.m.
Stonecrest Library is located at 3123 Klondike
Road, Lithonia. For more information, call (770)
482-3828.
Fundraiser to benefit young science lovers

A local nonprofit is raising funds to help
youth attend the National Organization for the
Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and
Chemical Engineers Science Bowl in Orlando,
Fla., Sept. 24-26.
The public is invited to a fundraiser on Saturday, Aug. 29 where a painting by Guyanese artist
Harold Boscom will be raffled.
The group also will sell $10 barbecue plates
including fish, jerk or barbecue chicken, and vegetable plates.
Donations also can be made at www.youcaring.com/teamphoenix, or by mailing contributions to Celebrate Our Children Foundation/Kim
Hodge, 5357 Beechwood Forest Dr., Lithonia, Ga.
30038.
Stone Mountain
Historical society to host event
The Stone Mountain Historical Society will

hold its monthly event Sept. 17. This months
event is One Place Study of Stone Mountain Village. Attendees can research and learn about the
villages families, historic buildings and the community. The event will be held at Wells Brown
House located at 1036 Ridge Avenue. For more
information, email stonemtnhistoricsociety@
gmail.com.
County commissioner to take monthly

community breakfast to Stephenson High
School
Commissioner Stan Watson is taking his
monthly community cabinet breakfast on the
road.
He is partnering with Stephenson High School
PTSA which will facilitate the free community
breakfast on Saturday, Sept. 5, from 9 to 11 a.m.
Representatives for the East Police Precinct
and DeKalb Emergency Management Agency will
be provide tips, information and resources to promote safety.
The address is for Stephenson High School is
701 Stephenson Road, Stone Mountain.
local
Former county commissioners

husband sentenced for stealing
John Boyer, the husband
of former DeKalb County
commissioner Elaine Boyer,
has been sentenced to one
year and one day in federal
prison for conspiring to steal
county money.
On Feb. 24, John Boyer,
63, of Stone Mountain,
pleaded guilty to conspiring
to commit mail fraud. Boyer
was sentenced Aug. 19 to
federal prison, three years
of supervised release, and
ordered to pay approximately
$87,000 in restitution.
Elaine Boyer was convicted on similar charges in
September 2014.
John Boyer used his
wifes position as a DeKalb
County commissioner to
steal thousands of dollars in
taxpayer funds, said U.S. Attorney John A. Horn.The
Boyers scheme put county
money in their pockets and
ultimately left the citizens of
DeKalb County holding the
tab.
In a county that has
recently seen its share of corruption cases, this is a particularly sad chapter, Horn
said.
According to information presented in court, in
2009, Elaine and John Boyer
experienced financial difficulties.
As a result, an unlawful
kickback scheme was devised to obtain money from
DeKalb County, stated a
news release from the U.S.
Attorneys Office.
In September 2009,
Elaine Boyer hired family
friend Marion Rooks Boynton as a political advisor
allegedly to assist her with
Clarkston residents decide

on community projects
Elaine Boyer is serving time in a federal prison after pleading guilty to
fraud. Her husband John was sentenced Aug. 19 for conspiring to steal
county money. Photo by Andrew Cauthen
government consulting, according to federal charges.

As part of the scheme,
false invoices were submitted to Elaine Boyers office
for services supposedly rendered by Boynton, according to the news release. In
fact, Boynton performed no
services for DeKalb County
government, Elaine Boyers
office, or the citizens of
DeKalb County.
According to court information, Elaine Boyer used
the false invoices as a basis to
authorize payments to Boynton. From September 2009
to November 2011, DeKalb
County issued approximately
35 checks to Boynton for
consulting services that were
never performed. In total,
DeKalb County paid Boynton more than $85,000.
John Boyer then instructed Boynton to deposit the
money into a bank account
used by the Boyers, the news
release stated. Boynton fun-
neled approximately $60,000

of county money into an account used by the Boyers to
pay personal living expenses.
In August 2014, Elaine
Boyer resigned as District
1 commissioner and was
charged with conspiring
to commit wire and mail
fraud.After pleading guilty,
she was sentenced on March
20 to 14 months in prison
and ordered to pay approximately $87,000 in restitution.
On Aug. 11, a grand
jury returned an indictment
against Boynton, 73, of Saint
Simons Island, on charges of
conspiracy and substantive
federal program theft.
The sentencing of Mr.
Boyer further illustrates that
there are consequences for
those who assist or entice
public officials with regard to
criminal corrupt activities,
said J. Britt Johnson, special
agent in charge of FBI Atlanta Field Office.
DeKalb County School District public

safety department has launched a new truancy unit to catch students skipping classes.
Director of Public Safety Donald Smith
said, This is new to my department but truancy units are not new. The rationale is very
simple. When our kids are not in school,
theyre out there committing crime.
Smith said his goal is to get the kids off
the streets, get them back in school and hope
that we can get them back on the right path.
Smith said the department has noticed
many students skipping school to break into
homes and commit other crimes.
While participatory budgeting can be implemented

in a number of ways, varying
from city to city, the basic
idea is pretty simple: get people involved in how public
funds are spent.
This year Clarkston officials launched a community
budgeting initiative for the
2015 fiscal year, allocating
$10,000 to the participatory
Terry
project and organized community meetings for resi-
See Clarkston on page 10A

Doraville2015LMIGPavingProject
SealedBidsfortheconstructionoftheCityofDoravilles2015
LMIGPavingProject,whichgenerallyconsistsofapproximately
2.05milesofpavementresurfacing,willbereceivedbytheCity
atCityHall(3725ParkAvenue,Doraville,GA30340)until2:00
P.M.localtime,September24,2015.Atthattime,thebidswill
bepubliclyopenedandreadaloud.Formoredetails,contact
SamSerioat(678)4174000orsserio@keckwood.comorvisit
theCityswebsitetodownloadthecompleteannouncementat
http://www.doravillega.us/procurementopportunities/.
PUBLIC NOTICE
Public safety officers to focus on truancy

by Ashley Oglesby
by Ashley Oglesby
He said, We have a responsibility to

make sure these students stay in school.
Smith assigned two officers to the new
unit. The officers will be an important piece
in terms of helping our young people get
their education. The most important thing is
that we need to get them off the streets, he
said.
The DeKalb County School District currently has 71 police officers, 120 security officers and 125 crossing guards.
Smith said everyone plays a vital role in
this effort. He said the department will also
seek assistance from individual school.
DeKalb schools have more than 2,000
cameras to help officers monitor school activity.
Elderly (62+) Project-Based

Housing Choice Voucher (HCV)
Waiting List Opens
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
APPLICATIONS FOR WAITING LIST
WILL BE ACCEPTED ONLINE ONLY
www.dekalbhousing.org
Applicants requiring reasonable accommodations
because of a disability, language translation, or
communication in an alternative format may call the
Waiting List Hotline at 404-270-2590 between 8am - 5pm.
local
Group looks to revitalize old Bruce Street School

by Carla Parker
Lithonia is in the preliminary stages of coming
to an agreement to transfer
ownership of the old Bruce
Street School to the Lithonia
Downtown Development
Authority (DDA).
The Lithonia City Council will meet Sept. 8 about the
agreement. Once the ownership is transferred, the DDA
will lease the building to Eagle Rock, an education and
community development
cooperation. Fred Reynolds,
an Eagle Rock representative,
said they plan to renovate the
property.
The plan is to bring
people in from the community to revitalize the building
to get people involved, he
said. We want to partner
with the Lucious Sanders
Recreation Center to get the
children involved with the
project as well.
Eagle Rock plans to use
the building to offer training
in trade jobs such as construction, carpentry, facility
maintenance and more. An
agreement with DDA will
allow Eagle Rock to have a
long-term lease on the property, while the city could only
offer an agreement up to five
years.
Lithonia City Councilman Al Franklin, who is also
the DDA boards vice chairman, said the reason why the
DDA was interested in taking ownership of the school
building is because Eagle
Rock wants a long-term
agreement.
They want a long-term
agreement because theyre
investing their own personal
capital, Franklin said. For
them to have an agreement
thats less than three to five
with a commitment coming
from the city is not really
strong enough for them to
say theyre going to take on
that particular facility.
The DDA has the ability to go up to 50 years on an
agreement, Franklin added.
That gives [Eagle Rock]
more stability, more comfort
in knowing that they can do
it.
Franklin said the DDA
will put together an agreement where the city will have
an opportunity to be a beneficiary of the DDA taking
over the building.
That means from a financial prospective the city
has an opportunity to earn

[money], he said.
Bruce Street School was
established as the first school
for the African-American
community in DeKalb County after the Lithonia Public
School system was incorporated in 1938. Ownership of
the structure was transferred
Lithonia city officials are trying to find ways to revitalize the old Bruce
Street School property. Photo by Carla Parker
to the city sometime in the

1980s.
The buildings exterior
granite walls remain intact,

but the interior and roof have
deteriorated.
local
Dunwoody residents
to name new park
Director of Dunwoody Parks and Recreation Department Brent Walker

shares his vision for Dunwoody parks.
by Ashley Oglesby
Dunwoody officials are
asking residents to help them
name their newest park at
Pernoshal Court.
The Name Your Park
contest began Aug. 5 and will
run through Sept. 30.
Participants are encouraged to vote on five potential
park names: Pernoshal Park,
Hightower Trail Park, Muskogee Park, Old Buck Park
and Magnolia Park, or provide a write-in name.
Director of the Parks
and Recreation Department
Brent Walker said since
the contest launched the response has been great.
It gives public buy-in to
the process and makes this
project more of a community
effort. Wherever we can get
public input and feedback its
always a good opportunity,
said Walker.
He added, Theres a lot
of folks out there that may
have some good ideas that
need to be heard so this is a
good way for us to get that
input.
Each contest participant
will be allowed one vote.
After all votes are submitted
the winning name will be
identified by city staff and
announced by the mayor
and city council members on

Dec. 14 at 6 p.m.
Walker said the contest
stemmed from inquiries
about how to take part in
naming Dunwoody parks.
He said, We havent
had any new parks until
this year. When we opened
Georgetown Park that one
was kind of easy because its
in Georgetown, it was a nobrainer to name that one.
The new park will be
located on Pernoshal Court
and Shallowford Road. Since
there is already a Shallowford
Park in Chamblee, Walker
said they decided on a community involvement project
to get as many people possible involved in the process.
We were wondering
how we were going to name
this park. We looked at some
other cities and what their
criteria is. We dont have a
committee or anything like
that as part of the city to
name city properties or parks
so we thought that wed just
put it out to the citizens and
do a little contest to see what
they wanted, Walker said.
The new addition is expected to be approximately
five acres and the largest
newly built park created
since Dunwoodys incorporation.
In addition to a multi-
use trail, the park will have a

centralized pavilion and restroom facility, exercise equipment, 162 parking spaces,
fields for sports and basketball courts with a pickle ball
court overlay, which Walker
said is popular among the
citys senior citizen demographic.
Walker said the park
will also feature terrace seating and serve as a venue for
outdoor events and performances.
The new park sits between the citys Brook Run
Park and Georgetown Park.
Walker said, As were
building this one, were also
connecting our trailways
system from Brook Run
Park, through this new park,
across Shallowford and into
the section of trail that weve
already built into Georgetown Park.
He said the trails will,
give people another option
to not only get to their parks
but also to be able to get
through the city without having to use their vehicles.
Walker said eventually
the city would like to connect the trails all the way to
Perimeter Mall but that is
more of a long-term goal.
Walker said, Brook Run
Park to Chamblee Dunwoody will be done by the
end of this year but thats
only about a third of the
way.
Were excited to get
it done. We plan to have it
completed by the end of this
year and then start looking
at future park plans and what
were going to be doing next,
Walker said.
He added, We will be
rolling out the update for the
parks master plan. Its been
five years since we did the
last master plan. So in the
coming months we will start
the process of public input
meetings
Name your Park contest rules and additional
details on voting procedures
are available at the online
contest portal at www.connectdunwoody.com.
Clarkston
Continued From Page 8A
dents to brainstorm about

how they want the money to
be spent.
Committees made up of
Clarkston residents, property
owners and business owners,
were encouraged to serve as
voting members of the budgeting initative. Individuals
who did not fit into any these
categories were encouraged
to participate in the discussion and research of proposed projects.
The committees selected
five projects to be presented
to the city council for final
approval: Little Free Libraries, an effort presented
to encourage reading in
Clarkston; park benches;
canvas bags to discourage
plastic bag use; a seniors
program and a wildflower
project.
City council approved
every item except the wildflower project at their Aug. 5
council meeting.
The Little Free Libraries
project was given $450 for
approximately five libraries,
park benches $1,200, canvas
bags $1,200 and the seniors
program $4,000.
Mayor Ted Terry said,
Because the wildflower
project wasnt funded I decided to take it upon myself
to try and raise at least $500
to pay for some of the landscaping work that were going
to need to do the wildflower
project. The majority of the
city council did not want
wildflowers on city property.
Terry said the wildflowers
will instead be planted in the
fall on Brockett Road.
Terry launched the resident committees in February
2015 shortly after he was
elected.
We had four different
standing committees on
some issues that people selfselected. They wanted to do
one for education, one on
public parks, one for a welcoming committee and one
on public safety, he said.

During the 2015 budget
cycle Terry said he requested
to allocate funds for the participatory budgeting process.
Following the allocation
of $10,000, three meetings
during a three-month span
were organized for citizens
to meet and share ideas. The
committees voted on the final ideas in June.
People oftentimes dont
want to come to a council
meeting and dont want to
attend a work session but
they have a lot of really great
ideas, said Terry.
He added, We should
provide a mechanism and a
vehicle for them to express
those ideas and for people to
come together and innovate.
You want people to have a
safe space where they can say
this is what I want for my
community.
Terry said his hope for
next years participatory
budgeting process is for it to
be a longer process, not in
the sense of spending more
time talking about ideas or
deciding on ideas but actually having this sort of persistent and sustained effort for
residents to feel comfortable
saying here are some problems in the community and
wed like to fix them. We can
use some of those committee
systems that are designed for
residents to come together
and figure out these ideas,
said Terry.
He added, Hopefully if
I can get the council to approve next years budget, the
same allocation of funds for
the community budgeting
process, these committees
will feel more confident because they know that they
have funds that they can sort
of compete for to propose
these ideas that theyre passionate about.
Public Notification:
Application has been made to the Federal Communications Commission

(FCC) for a new communications structure along railroad right of way
near MP 624.7, Atlanta, GA 30341. The FCC Form 854 file number is
A0977465. The structure type is an non-lighted monopole with a total
height including antenna of 63 feet to tip. Interested persons may review
the application by going to www.fcc.gov/asr/applications and entering
the Form 854 File Number. Interested persons may raise environmental
concerns about the proposed structure by filing a Request for Environmental Review with the FCC. The FCC strongly encourages interested
parties to file online any Requests for Environmental Review; instructions
for making such filings can be found at www.fcc.gov/asr/environmentalrequest , or by paper copy to FCC Requests for Environmental Review,
Attn: Ramon Williams, 445 12th Street SW, Washington, DC 20554.
local
Home furnishings retailer IKEA, through its Life Improvement Challenge, donated approximately $10,000 in furniture and other improvements to renovate the CHRIS Kids girls group
home in Stone Mountain.
Girls home wins makeover from home furnishings retailer

by Kathy Mitchell
While new curtains and
a fresh paint job at home
might make most folks smile,
for teenage girls living in a
group home the change is
truly exciting, according to
Carmen Pruitt, supervisor of the CHRIS Kids girls
home in Stone Mountain.
The facility recently
won a competition among
nonprofit organizations
nominated for a makeover
by employees of home furnishings retailer IKEA. After
an approximately two-week
process of voting among
IKEA employees and customers, the CHRIS Kids facility was chosen to receive a
renovation valued at $10,000
through the companys Life
Improvement Challenge.
CHRIS Kids is one of approximately 120 American
charities since 2011 to receive products, installation
services and design expertise
through the IKEA charitable
program.
IKEA employees came
to the home, which houses

up to six young women
between the ages of 14 and
18, and painted, installed
window treatments, rugs,
shelving and storage, furniture, home dcor pieces and
more. There were about
10 employees working on
the project and they wanted
everything to be exactly
right, Pruitt recalled. At one
point they discovered that
some curtains were about
two inches too short. They
took them out and replaced
them.
The makeover included
improvements in the living
room, dining room and basement recreation area. Also
included was renovation of
the serenity rooma place
for the young women to go
for quiet meditation.
Group homes normally
have donated furniture,
which typically is previously
used, according to Brittany
Burnett, vice president of
development for CHRIS
Kids. Even when we receive
new furniture it gets quite a
bit of wear and tear over the

course of a few years so its
really delightful to get brand
new furniture, she said, adding that when there arent
enough donations program
money must be used to replace dilapidated furniture.
Thats money thats very
much needed in other aspects of our programs.
The girls were so excited
when they learned that we
had won and that excitement
carried through the whole
process. They wanted to help
the IKEA people who were
doing the makeover. They
loved having new chairs to
sit in while they study and
being surrounded by fresh
bright colors. It was really
uplifting, Pruitt said.
Like the other group
seven metro Atlanta homes
in the CHRIS Kids JourneyZ
program, the girls home
in Stone Mountain houses
young people who have had
to be removed from their
homes and placed under
the states custody. Usually
parental rights have been
Lithonia
the city-owned part of the Plaza. Now were

working on identifying what will it take to
separate the two structures so it can be demolished.
The city is working with a developer,
Wendover Housing Partners, which wants to
do a housing development on the city-owned
portion. The developer proposed a $12 million apartment complex development that
will include 75 units consisting of 24 onebedroom, 45 two-bedroom and six threebedroom apartments.
Jackson said new development within Lithonia Plaza is the top issue for residents and
city officials.
People want to see [changes to the plaza] happen, Jackson said. Thats been a long
time issue since the development of the plaza, some people thought it was a bad idea at
the time 50 years ago and now were looking

at bringing in some development that will be
much more consistent with the historic character of the city.
Residents are also interested in having
more businesses in the city, according to
Jackson.
We want to reach out to the private sector to diversify the types of businesses that
we have in the city, she said. We also want
to increase community activities. Were very
excited about restarting programing at the
Lithonia Amphitheatre. Were continuing
with the upgrades that we started a couple of
years ago and have had some private donations to our Downtown Development Authority that will allow that to happen.
terminated and the youth are

at great risk for exploitation
and bad outcomes, according to CHRIS Kids.
Most youth in the JourneyZ Program have experienced severe physical, sexual,
and/or emotional abuse and
neglect as well as other traumas; as a result have serious
behavioral and/or mental
health issues.They are
typically two or more years
behind their peers both socially and academically, the
CHRIS Kids website states.
Most have been placed in
group homes by the Department of Family and Childrens Services or the juvenile
justice system.
Young people living in
our group homes typically
have lived in seven other
places since leaving their
family home, Burnett ex-
plained. Having a safe and

attractive home environment
means a great deal to their
emotional wellbeing.
Founded in 1981 by
Junior League of Atlanta,
CHRIS KIDS is headquartered in DeKalb County and
serves the entire metropolitan area. Its mission is to heal
children, strengthen families
and build community.
Were not just giving
these girls a place to live,
Burnett said. We provide
individual counseling to help
them get their lives on track.
We help them with life skills
and provide educational
tools. Its so important that
they have a home they can
feel good about. So many
of them did not have that at
earlier points in their lives.
This has been a huge win for
all of us.
RequestforProposals
TheCityofChambleeseekstheservicesofaqualified
consultantand/orcorporateentitiesinterestedindevelopinga
comprehensiveParksandRecreationMasterPlanfortheCityof
Chamblee.
SealedproposalswillbereceivednolaterthanThursday,
September17,2015,at2:00PMatChambleeCityHall.RFP
documentsmaybeobtainedfromtheStateofGeorgia/DOAS
websiteathttps://ssl.doas.state.ga.us/PRSapp/.Additional
informationisavailablefromtheChambleeCityManagers
officeat7709865026.
RequestforProposals
TheCityofChambleeseekstheservicesofaqualified
consultantand/orcorporateentitiesinterestedindevelopinga
citywideStrategicEconomicDevelopmentPlanfortheCityof
Chamblee.
SealedproposalswillbereceivednolaterthanThursday,
September17,2015,at4:00PMatChambleeCityHall.RFP
documentsmaybeobtainedfromtheStateofGeorgia/DOAS
websiteathttps://ssl.doas.state.ga.us/PRSapp/.Additional
informationisavailablefromtheChambleeCityManagers
officeat7709865026.
local
Tour of District 5
DeKalb County commissioners and officials spent the morning of
Aug. 21 touring District 5 in south DeKalb to learn about its assets.
Photos by Andrew Cauthen
A new campus of Georgia Piedmont Technical College has opened on

Wesley Chapel Road.
Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May and Commissioners Kathie Gannon, Stan Watson, Jeff Rader, Mereda Davis
Johnson, Nancy Jester, Larry Johnson and Sharon Barnes Sutton pose for a group picture outside of This Is It
restaurant on Panola Road.
In November 2014, Acuity Brands Inc., a lighting solutions provider, announced its relocation to this building in Panola Industrial Park and the
creation of 700 jobs for DeKalb and Rockdale counties.
Interim DeKalb CEO Lee May and Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson during the District 5 tour.
An old barn is one of several historic sites in the Arabia Mountain

National Heritage Area.
Lithonia Mayor Deborah Jackson and Charlie Monroe, a manager at Davidson-Arabia Mountain Nature Preserve, talk to the tour participants.
An old apartment complex is being demolished near Memorial Drive.
The District 5 bus tour visited the Sandstone Estates neighborhood, with its large homes.
In
local
WEEK
Pictures
On Aug. 21 reality court TV show Judge Penny Brown visited DeKalb Countys Cedar Grove High School. Band students, cheerleaders and other student organization performed for the
special guest.
The visit was a collaboration with The Atlanta Dream team for Pennys You Matter tour.
Photos brought to you by DCTV

DeKalb County begins one-day-a-week sanitation collection service July 6, 2015
Residential customers will have same-day garbage, recyclable materials and yard trimmings collection
For more info, call or visit:
(404) 294-2900
www.rollingforwardtoone.com
local
Avondale Estates officials

discuss Fenner Dunlop property
by Carla Parker
While some members of the
Avondale Estates Board of Mayor
and Commissioners are pleased with
the progress made in the Euramex
development proposal, one commissioner is not happy with the lack of
certain details.
During its Aug. 19 work session officials discussed the most
recent plans presented by Euramex
Management Group on the 13-acre
Fenner Dunlop property purchased
in October 2014.
Mayor Jonathan Elmore said he
and Commissioners Lindsay Forlines and John Quinn met with EurEuramex Management Group is working with Avondale Estates city officials on a developamex in the spring and were shown
ment for the 13-acre Fenner Dunlop property.
a rough draft illustrating what Euramex planned on the property.
said. The greenspace that theyre
hope to continue to hear from [the
They came back to us recently
giving us, in my opinion, are courtresidents]and I have every confiand showed us more of a refined
yards for the townhomes and the
dence were going to come out with
plan, Elmore said. They responded a situation that addresses our needs
apartments. Theyre not anywhere
to some of our concerns. Were still
and [creates] something that we can close to the Town Green [park].
talking to them, asking them to look be proud of.
Elmore is pushing for more
at some things.
greenspace to the developers.
The thing we have to be conElmore said Euramex is propos- scious of is striking a balance beThe greenspace that they are
ing townhouses and apartments, a
providing is kind of nestled in the
cause were asking for a lot of stuff
parking deck, greenspace, a grocery
townhouses, he said. Theyre still
and we dont have a lot of money to
store, retail spaces and a public space throw at it ourselves, Quinn added. working on that, and we hope to
for the property. Elmore said his top My biggest fear is that if were too
have that soon.
criterion for the development is that rigid, too demandingthat well end
Giager was also concerned about
it feed into the character of Avondale up with the developers throwing up
the number of apartments and lack
Estates.
of mixed-use buildings.
their hands and walking away. Im
From my point of view, the
Theyre apartment builders
pleased with the progress were seeimportant thing is the community,
ing, and Im carefully optimistic that and managers, theyre not mixedhe said. Thats why Im doing thing were going to get this done.
use people and they told us that
this, I think thats why were all doForlines said she is excited about straight out, he said. Were zoned
ing thisis the tremendous sense of what has been presented so far.
for mixed-use, I want to see mixedcommunity that we have here and
use where 75 percent of it is in one
We are about to get some fanjust making sure this new developbuilding. I dont think thats in the
tastic development for our downment fosters that sense of commucharacter of Avondale and right now,
town, she said. Im very pleased
nity and build on our sense of comI think we have to put a heavier foot
with where we are. They get us they
munity. That to me is the criteria.
get this city, theyre working with us down.
The mayor and commission have and theyre listening. I believe were
One resident asked when the
had several meetings with Euramex
plans and developers will be preabout to do something really great,
to express what they would like on
bringing in a lot of components that sented to the public. Elmore did not
the propertya mixed-use develop- the majority of our citizens have
have a definitive answer.
ment with greenspace. Quinn said
As to when theyre going to
wanted for a long time.
both sides are listening to each other.
present something, I honestly dont
Mayor Pro Tem Terry Giager
My view is a lot of progress has was the only commissioner to speak know, he said. Were working on
been made since our initial meeting against the tentative plans.
that. Theyre working on some drawquite some time ago to get someings. Weve begun talking a little bit
We have requested more retail,
thing that looks more and more like we have requested more greenspace
about the process, but we may need
Avondale, Quinn said. Were not
to call a special work session.
and we havent received it, Giager
through with that process yet. We
DeKalb solicits residents to serve on audit oversight committee

In the interest of fostering accountability at all levels of the organization, DeKalb County Government is creating an Audit Oversight
Committee (AOC) as authorized by
the Georgia General Assembly in
House Bill 599 (signed into law May
12, 2015). This committee will function independently in conducting
performance and financial-related
audits for all departments, offices,
agencies, and programs of the Coun-
ty. The objective is to ensure County

programs are effectively achieving
the purpose for which they were authorized and funded.
County residents interested in
volunteering to serve on the fivemember committee are invited to
submit their resumes to executiverecruiting@dekalbcountyga.gov.
To be eligible for service on the
committee, applicants must reside in
DeKalb; possess expertise conduct-
ing performance or financial audits;

have a minimum five years of experience and certification as one of
the followingpublic accountant,
internal or performance auditor, or
management accountant; or 10 years
relevant professional experience.
Committee members will serve a
one- or four-year term.
Rsums will be accepted
through Sept. 11.
Indictment against
ex-judge dropped
A former DeKalb County judge
was indicted by a grand jury Aug.
20 but the indictment was dismissed
four days later.
Former Superior Court judge
Cynthia Becker was indicted Aug.
20 by a Cobb County grand jury on
four counts of making false statements to the state Judicial Qualifications Commission which was investigating her for ethics violations.
Becker also was accused of two
counts of making false statements in
writing to the commission.
Hart County District Attorney
Parks White dismissed the charges
against Becker, who in turn signed a
consent order with the commission
promising to never again seek judicial office.
White said Becker also delivered
a written apology for what in the
dismissal were erroneous statements that became the object of this
legal investigation and prosecution,
according to the Daily Report.
I am deeply sorry for my incorrect statements that I made to the
JQC, said Becker, according to the
Daily Report. I did not properly
prepare for the Sept. 8, 2014, JQC
meeting. The passage of time (almost 10 months) made my memory
poor and caused me to make these
statements to the JQC that were
wrong.
Becker came under fire for her
handling of the case against former
school superintendent Crawford
Lewis, who originally faced charges
including violation of the Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and three counts of theft.
In a plea agreement with prosecutors, Lewis agreed to serve as a
key witness for the state to avoid jail
time. At Lewis sentencing hearing
last year, however, Becker rejected
the agreement and sentenced Lewis
to serve a year behind bars.
That decision by Becker was
reversed Oct. 24, 2014, by the Georgia Court of Appeals, which stated
Beckers failureto adhere to the
terms of the negotiated plea would
likely offend the integrity and reputation of the criminal justice system
even more than any unkept promise
made by a prosecutor.
Three days after the appellate
courts decision, Becker ordered
new trials for former schools construction chief Pat Reid and her
ex-husband Tony Pope, an architect,
who were found guilty of defrauding
the school district of more than $1
million.
Becker also ordered Reid, who
had been sentenced to 15 years, and
Pope, who received an eight-year
sentence, to be released from prison
immediately. The pair were re-arrested in May and resentenced.
local
Hardeman
dren no matter if they were

coming to the recreation
center for basketball, dance
or other activities and talk
to them about the benefits of
playing chess.
His one rule was, If you
came in there you were not
coming back out until he was
done. It was not going to be a
lot of in and out. He was really serious at all times about
chess, Terrell said. Hes going to be missed.
Terrell said the recreation
center staff and members had
become accustomed to the
chess program and had plans
to continue the tournaments
this fall.
During the summer of
2011, Hardeman expanded
his chess tutelage initiative
and formed a partnership
with Unconditional Love for
Children, Inc., (ULC) a nonprofit educational and youth
foundation based in Stone
Mountain. This partnership
fostered relationships and
outreach that provided many
youth and young adults access to organized chess and
the long-term benefits.
The 20th tournament was
held in May of this past year.
Over the years, hundreds of
students had the opportunity
to participate in Hardemans
tournaments.
Through Hardemans
efforts, the following institutions formed new chess
venues: Nicks Barbershop
in Stone Mountain, Green
Forest Christian Academy in
Decatur, Georgia Perimeter
College in Clarkston, The C.
Freeman Poole Senior Chess
Club Players in Cobb County;
and Harvest Lodge Home in
Decatur.
Unconditional Love for
Children, chess coordinator
Barry Gray worked alongside Hardeman and his ULC
classes.
Gray said Hardeman, believed in keeping students
engaged. When they lost a
game while playing with him,
they did not become agitated
or despondent; they simply
pleaded for a rematch. Beau
wanted his students to think
strategically and play chess
like a predator, ever mindful of the next big move. He
instilled in them a sense of
character, competitiveness,
self-confidence and challenged their young minds to
think under pressure.
Gray added, Beau encouraged students to be competitive in their schoolwork
as well as chess, join the United States Chess Federation

and participate in local and
nationally rated chess tournaments.
In 1962 Hardeman
graduated with honors from
Campbell Street High School
where he was the statistician
of the football team, sang in
the chorus and was active in
many other school activities.
During his junior and senior
years of high school, he was
selected as one of 11 students
to participate in an accelerated program at Volusia
County Community College.
Hardeman didnt wait
until high school to make his
college decision. He discussed
attending Morehouse College in the seventh grade and
never wavered from his determination to do so. In September of 1962, he achieved
his dream of attending the
college of his choice.
At Morehouse College
Hardeman was introduced to
the game of chess by friend
Eric Mitchell at the Canterbury House near campus. It
was then that Hardeman first
discovered his lifelong love
for chess.
After attending Morehouse
for three years, Hardeman
enlisted in the United States
Air Force where he spent four
years. During his years in the
Air Force, he represented his
division at many chess tournaments.
Hardeman returned to
Morehouse College and majored in Mathematics with
a minor in Chemistry. He
graduated in 1971 and began
working for Stanford Research Institute International
in Palo Alto, CA at the beginning of the computer era.
Hardeman worked with
Douglas Engelbart, the
inventor of the computer
mouse.
When he left California,
he moved to Atlanta, which
became his permanent home.
He later returned to Morehouse where he was instrumental in the development
and teaching of computer science courses.
Hardeman retired from
AT&T in January 2014.
In addition to his career
and his love for chess, Hardeman was a poet and writer.
He published two poetry
books during his militant social activist days in the 1970s
in California.
Planning Director Andrew Baker was the main guide for the tour around the district. Photo by Andrew
Cauthen
District 5 Continued From Page 1A

of the somewhat rural suburban flavor,
Mereda Johnson said.
What I wanted to do was to show all
of my commissioners the 5th district, she
said. I wanted them to see it and I wanted
them to have an appreciation for the possibilities that [are] here in the 5th district.
Mereda Johnson said, Its a unique
district in that a large percentage of the
district is residential and [theres] so much
potential for commercial. [There is] so
much that the fifth district can do to attractsubstantial businesses into the [district].
With its medical centers, greenspace
and MARTA rail station, District 5 is
poised to attract meaningful development, Johnson said. We have enough to
sell ourselves, and we have not done that
before. Id like to see us be proactive and to
do that I wanted the other commissioners
to have an appreciation of the 5th district.
That was the reason that I requested this
tour.
Andrew Baker, the countys director
of planning and sustainability, said, The
purpose of the trip was really to expose
the general commissioners to the assets as
well as some of the potential opportunities
within District 5 because its not often that
they get to drive and see and detail the different things that are happening and being
developed in District 5.
Baker said District 5 assets include
South DeKalb Mall, Stonecrest Mall, its
industrial areas and DeKalb Medical Hillandale.
The challenges are to expose and have
a coordinated strategy to link those assets
and opportunities to the strategic economic development plan, Baker said.
Another great gem and a great asset is
Arabia Mountain, Baker said.
I think the best-kept secret is Arabia
Mountain, he said. I think theres a lot
of opportunities for itto really bring
people and tourism to that particular area,
because then they could stay at the hotels [and have] connectivity to Stonecrest
[Mall].
Commissioner Nancy Jester said, It
was great to be on this tour with my fellow commissioners and the CEO and all
the other folks. It was great to be able have
an interactive conversation and hear from

different folks narrating the tour that have
a lot of expertise in different areas.
The highlight of the tour was the Arabia Mountain area and learning about the
heritage sites there, she said.
I thoughtgoing to the city of
Lithonia and hearing from the mayor was
particularly interesting, Jester said.
Lithonia Mayor Deborah Jackson,
who took the District 5 tour, told the participants about the historic Bruce Street
School, the first public school for Blacks in
DeKalb County. She also talked about the
citys history in the granite industry.
That was fascinating and I really appreciated learning that, Jester said.
District 5 has some beautiful conservation areasthe park lands, Jester said.
Thats a real jewel and we need to make
sure were protecting that.
The district has some areas where
blight needs to be addressed and where
redevelopment needs to be addressed and
we talked about that on the tour, Jester
said.
I look forward to working with the
county and my fellow commissioners to
make sure those things happen and we
can revitalize some of those areas and redevelop some of those areas that need to
revitalized, Jester said.
I think District 5 has a unique position because its positioned so advantageously with regards to transportation and
close proximity to the other counties to
our south, she said. As economic activitystarts to increase with increased traffic through the Port of Savannah, I think
District 5 is positioned to be a transportation hub [and] a distribution hub.
Interim DeKalb County CEO Lee May
called the tour unprecedented, saying
it was the first time in his nine years in
county government that all the commissioners and the CEO have been on a tour
together.
I really believe this will work to bring
us closer together with greater understanding at least of District 5, May said.
I think we ought to redo this for all of the
districts. I know District 5 because I represented it for almost nine years, but I dont
know District 1, 2, 3 and 4 that way.
local
Decaturs public works building wins award

by Andrew Cauthen
Decaturs Eloise T. Leveritt Public Works Building
Project was recently named
a 2015 Public Works Project
of the Year by the American
Public Works Association
(APWA).
The award goes to the
city of Decatur, as the managing agency; Hogan Construction Group, the primary
contractor; and Stevens &
Wilkinson, the primary consultant. The award will be
presented during APWAs
2015 International Public
Works Congress & Exposition awards ceremony in
Phoenix, Ariz., on Aug. 31.
The public works building project is being honored
in the category for structures
costing $5 million to $25
million.
Very few public works
facilities get the opportunity
to turn into what this one
turned into, said David
Junger, Decaturs assistant
for its public works facility,
The Eloise T. Leveritt Public Works building has been recognized by a

national organization. Photo by Travis Hudgons
city manager over public

works. So much of what we
do is in the field. But here
we moved in all of the permitting operations into one
place. If you have a construction project in the city, youre
now coming to one building
to handle everything.
The city of Decatur held
a ribbon-cutting ceremony
located at 2635 Talley St., on

March 24. The state-of-the
art building creates a one
stop shop for construction
related permitting and enforcement. It also is a joint
facility with City Schools of
Decaturs maintenance department.
The building, which has
attained LEED Gold status,
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
was expanded from 15,000

square feet to 30,000 square
feet and included the purchase of an adjacent building
used for shop and storage
space and may provide space
for a small retail incubator.
Building improvements include all new systems, finishes, furniture and equipment.
The facility also features low
maintenance flooring, offices
with natural lighting and waterless urinals.
Its a nice building,
Junger said.
We look at our public
works folks just like we do
police and fire [personnel],
Junger said. When we have
a bad storm, the people that
are going to be out there on
the front lines with police
and fire are public works
[personnel.]
We try to take care of
our police and fire [personnel], public works folks are
equally important, Junger
said.
Junger said, The old
building didnt have much of
a break room, so when the

crewscame in for lunch at
11:30 [a.m.], they sat out in
a couple of our warehouse
buildings and ate, Junger
said. Now we have a real
break room.
For department meetings, the workers met in
a motor maintenance bay
where we do all of the maintenance on our fleet, Younger said. Now we do that in
the break room.
The building is named
after the citys former mayor
pro tem and commissioner
Elosie T. Leveritt who
served from 1957 to 1972.
The APWA Public Works
Projects of the Year awards
are presented annually to
promote excellence in the
management and administration of public works
projects, recognizing the alliance between the managing
agency, contractor, consultant and their cooperative
achievements.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
DeKalb County 2014-2018 Consolidated Plan for HUD Programs to include HOME FUNDS AVAILABLE FOR DEKALB COUNTY COMMUNITY HOUSING
the 2016 Annual Action Plan
DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS (CHDOS) & MULTI-FAMILY, RENTAL
PROPERTY DEVELOPERS
On September 17, 2015, the DeKalb County Human and Community Development DepartGRANT APPLICATION PROCESS FOR
will begin accepting applications from non-profit, affordable housing developers who are
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) ment
interested in becoming Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs). Applications
2016 FUNDS
and general information may be obtained beginning September 17, 2015 at the DeKalb County
On September 17, 2015 the DeKalb County Human and Community Development
Department will begin accepting applications from faith-based organizations,
community organizations, municipalities, non-profit agencies and other entities
interested in applying for Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG funds for the Year 2016. All applications or requests are
subject to future HUD funding for these programs. CDBG and ESG applications and
general information may be obtained beginning September 17, 2015 at the DeKalb
County website; www.dekalbcountyga.gov. For more information, please join us at
the meetings or call (404) 371-2727.
Application/Information/Technical Assistance Workshop

Date/Time
Location
Thurs., Sept. 17, 2015
Wesley Chapel Library
11:00 AM 12:30 PM
2861 Wesley Chapel Road
Decatur, Georgia 30034
This meeting is very important given the funding reductions in the various programs!
website: www.dekalbcountyga.gov. To receive information regarding the application process,

please join the DeKalb Human and Community Development Department at the Application/
Technical Assistance Workshop on September 17, 2015.
Owners/developers are invited to apply for loans to assist in the construction or rehabilitation
of multi-family, residential projects in DeKalb County. Funds are provided as HOME Investment
Partnership Program loans through an application underwriting process. Applications may be obtained beginning September 17, 2015 on the DeKalb County website, www.dekalbcountyga.gov.
To receive information regarding the application process and loan requirements, please attend
the Application/Information/Technical Assistance Workshop on September 17, 2015.
Application/Information/Technical Assistance Workshop

Date/Time
Location
Thurs., Sept. 17, 2015
Wesley Chapel Library
10:00 AM 11:00 AM
2861 Wesley Chapel Road
Decatur, Georgia 30034
This meeting is very important given the funding reductions in the various programs!
Public Hearings
The DeKalb County Human and Community Development Department
is conducting two Public Hearings.
Date/Time
Date/Time
Thurs, Sept. 24, 2015 at 6:30 PM
Thursday, January 21, 2016 at 6:30 PM
Community Needs
Proposed Budget/Annual Action Plan
Community Needs
Proposed Budget/Annual Action Plan
Maloof Auditorium
Maloof Auditorium
Maloof Auditorium
Maloof Auditorium
1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur, GA
We will present the proposed 2014The purpose of this public hearing is to We will present the proposed 2014-2018 The purpose of this public hearing is
to solicit input from the public regard- 2018 Consolidated Plan including the
solicit input from the public regarding
Consolidated Plan including the 2016
ing community needs and priorities.
2016 Annual Action Plan, proposed
community needs and priorities. We
Annual Action Plan, proposed budget
We will discuss general information
budget and solicit public questions
will discuss general information
and solicit public questions and/or
concerning the 2014-2018 Consoliand/or comments.
concerning the 2014-2018 Consolidated
comments.
dated Plan including the 2016 Annual
Plan including the 2016 Annual Action
Action Plan, application submission
Plan, application submission process,
process, and program updates.
and program updates.
Public Hearings
The DeKalb County Human and Community Development Department
is conducting two Public Hearings.
Date/Time
Date/Time
Thurs., Sept. 24, 2015 at 6:30 PM
Thurs., Jan. 21, 2016 at 6:30 PM
BUSINESS
Comics and craft beer come

together at My Parents Basement
by Kathy Mitchell
Many business owners say
their enterprise started with a
dream. Usually they mean a figurative dream. Tim Ensor, one of
the owners of newly opened My
Parents Basement in Avondale
Estates, said the pub and comic
book shop concept came from a
literal dream.
I actually woke up having dreamed about opening a
place like this. Even the name
My Parents Basement was in
the dream, said Ensor, who explained that he grew up a home
where the basement was devoted
to games, toys and comics.
Ensor and the friends who
became his business partnersDave DeFeo and Lawson
Wrightall have backgrounds in
the restaurant industry and were
all working in Decatur restaurants when they decided to start
their own.
We all do some of everything here, but my partners have
been more involved in developing the menu while Ive focused
on the beers, he said. My Parents Basement features 29 on tap
beers, many of which are local
craft beers. There also are two on
tap craft sodas and an on tap iced
coffee.
Since My Parents Basement
opened on Aug. 12 business has
been brisk at both lunch and dinner times, said Ensor, who describes the bill of fare as American pub with lots of sandwiches
and small plates. We make our
own hot pocket and the Philly
cheesesteak is really good.
Ensor, who describes himself
as an on-and-off comic fan, said
one event the sparked the launch
of a new business was the gift
of approximately 25,000 comic
books. A friend from high
school donated the comic books
after a bookstore he owned
closed. And the comics were literally stored in his parents basement, he said.
My Parents Basement carries both new and used comics,
but the focus is on new editions.
Comics come in every Wednesday, according to Ensor. We
have possible 150 titles at one
time and more than 2,000 books.
Customers can come in, buy the

latest editions of their favorites
and sit and read as they have a
beer. Noting that hanging out is
encouraged, he said customers
are welcome to bring in board
games and play as long as they
like while they eat and drink.
He said the shop offers a
combination of classic comics
such as those featuring super
heroes and independent comics
with fantasy themes that appeal
more to adult audiences. Despite
its being a pub, My Parents Basements includes childrens titles
and welcomes families.
Comics appeal to wide range of
readers. Some are children and
young adults, but some there are
lots of older comic book readers as well, Ensor said. There
are people who enjoyed comics
when they are children who are
rediscovering them. Comics are
popular with all ages right now.
In recent years, Comic
books have turned into the Superman of the print media industry, according to an article
in USA Today, which states the
printed comic book remains a
highly prized valuable that collectors can resell and store. Plus,
blockbuster movies based on
comic book heroes, such as Iron
Man, are great publicity.
The partners see the focus
of My Parents Basement equally
divided between its identity as a
pub and its identity as a comic
store, according to Ensor.
After looking around for
a suitable place, the partners
settled on the North Avondale
Road building that for years had
been The James Joyce Pub then
briefly reopened under several
different concepts before closing for three years. The building
looks much the same as it did in
its earlier uses, but because it had
been closed for years cleaning,
painting and remodeling were
necessary. Its really a beautiful
building and we were just showing it some love by fixing it up,
Ensor said.
This is a great location, he
continued. So many customers are telling us that theyre so
happy to see this location open
again.

Co-owner Tim Ensor says he literally dreamed of opening a comic book bar.
Some area residents have commented that

they are pleased to see the space that for
many years was the James Joyce pub open
again.
Approximately 150 comic book titles are available at

any given time.
The bar features 29 on tap beers, many local craft brews.
InclusIveness
DeKalb Chamber of Commerce Two Decatur Town Center, 125 Clairemont Ave., Suite, Decatur, GA 30030 404.378.8000 www.dekalbchamber.org
EDUCATION
Gregg Greer holds his large male Iguana.
Greer talks to a group of students about the milk snake and allows them to feel the texture of the snakes skin.
Nature presentations
explore beyond books
by Ashley Oglesby
In the fall of 2010 naturalist Greg Greer
launched Mr. Gregs Reptile Roadshow,
a one-of-a kind mobile habitat for that he
uses to travel and teach children about reptiles.
Greers roadshow gives youngsters
hands-on, up-close and personal experiences with non-venomous lizards, snakes,
alligators, turtles and tortoises. The experience for children is much more than what
Greer calls a circus act.
Greer doesnt simply walk around a
room with animals for oohs and aahhs. He
said he is passionate about educating children on reptiles.
Greer conducts presentations for
schools, scouting groups, home schools,
special events and birthday parties. His recent show at Dunwoodys Butterfly Festival
attracted thousands of attendees with presentations on a blue tongued skink, a milk
snake, a monitor lizard and more.
Theres so much mystery around reptiles. Theyre so misunderstood. Almost
every adult fears them and so education is
so important for the kids, Greer said.
Greer works with students as young as
3. He said each of his programs is designed
to be different depending on the grade
level.
Frequently Ill talk about patterns as

a means of introducing young kids to live
reptiles. They get these great big grins on
their faces when I ask for instance, what
the pattern of Indian star tortoise is? Some
youngster puts his hand up and says its an
AB pattern. They get so excited about it.
When that happens, youve got them, he
said.
He added, Its almost like every other
year is where there are major changes in the
comprehension levels of a student. I
really have to be very cognizant and ask a
few questions when I first go into a school
to know exactly what level the students
are.
Greer has worked with reptiles for
more than 40 years; as an executive director
of the Chattahoochee Nature Center, in the
herpetology department at Zoo Atlanta and
for 13 years as a naturalist in ecotourism
traveling the world as an expedition leader
to wildlife regions such as Africa, Australia,
South America, Antarctica and Asia.
Greer said, because of my years with
the Chattahoochee Nature Center where we
worked with a lot of schools and obviously
environmental education was the mission
of the nature center, as it is with Dunwoody
Nature Center I have just carried on that
same mission with what I do and a lot of
people have learned of my business.
Greer said his business has sustained
See Explore on page 19A
Students pet Greers albino Burmese python which was rescued from hurricane Katrina. The snake is just over 12 feet in length.
Gregg Greer holds an African spurred tortoise.
EDUCATION
New state law benefits dual

enrollment students
by Kysa Anderson Daniels
A new Georgia law,
which went into effect July 1,
is aimed at streamlining the
process and cutting costs for
students interested in dual
enrollment.
New Move on When
Ready (MOWR) legislation
(SB 132) combines existing
dual enrollment options,
including MOWR, Accel
and the HOPE Grant, into
a single program, making
it easier for students and
their parents to navigate the
process of attending college
while still in high school.
It also permits students to
choose from a wider selection of dual enrollment
courses.
The Georgia Student Finance Commission will administer the program, which
is funded by state appropriations and postsecondary institutions.
Georgia Perimeter Col-
lege educates more dually

enrolled students than any
other college or university
within the University System
of Georgia. This spring,
some 1,300 of them took
classes across GPCs five
campuses.
According to Gina
Gavin, Georgia Perimeter
director of early college
programs, the new MOWR
guidelines allow eligible
high school students to attend college without having
to pay for tuition, fees or
books. Previously, students
were responsible for their
books and/or student fees,
depending on their dual enrollment funding option.
This is a major change
but a great opportunity for
high school students, Gavin
said.
State appropriations will
pay the tab for dual enrollment tuition. The state also
will allocate $50 per student
per semester for student fees.
MOWR state funds provide

$25 per semester hourup
to 15 hoursfor textbooks.
The postsecondary institution must pay any remaining
book costs.
We are still in the process of ramping up for these
changes, which will have
significant impact on the
number of dual enrollment/
MOWR students we serve
going forward, Gavin said.
Courses taken under
Move on When Ready will
not count against hours allotted for HOPE Scholars.
A number of frequently
asked questions for the
MOWR Act are listed at the
Georgia Department of Education website.
Georgia lawmakers
passed the measure earlier
this year. It went into effect
July 1 and will roll out fully
this fall.
Chamblee Middle School gets new principal

The DeKalb County
School District has announced the appointment
of Jos Manuel DeJesus
as principal of Chamblee
Middle School (CMS). DeJesus is a veteran educator who
brings 22 years of experience
to CMS, including his most
recent job as principal of
Denn John Middle School in
Osceola County, Fl.
Mr. DeJesus is an outstanding school leader and
we are happy to welcome
him to DeKalb County,
said District Superintendent
Dr. R. Stephen Green. His
track record of accomplishments will serve the best
interests of the students and
staff at Chamblee Middle
School.
I am excited and honored to have the opportunity
to serve this school community, said DeJesus. Chamblee Middle School is an
exceptional school with an
outstanding staff, and I am
committed to making sure
that the tradition of excellence continues.
An accomplished principal with more than a decade
in middle school leadership
positions, DeJesus has served
DeJesus
as principal for Gwinnett

Countys Berkmar Middle
School and Beaver Ridge Elementary School and as assistant principal at Berkmar
High School and Berkeley
Lake Elementary School. He
has taught middle and high

school mathematics and
served as a middle school
assistant principal in Palm
Beach County, Fl. DeJesus is
also a graduate of Gwinnett
Public Schools Quality-Plus
Leader Academy.
Bilingual and fluent in
Spanish, DeJesus has had the
opportunity to work with
students and educators from
many backgrounds and has
served as a Title 1 specialist
in the Migrant Program and
as an ESOL coordinator.
He earned his masters
degree in educational leadership from Florida Atlantic
University and a bachelors
degree from Chapman University. A father of three,
DeJesus also served for 10
years in the U.S. Navy.
DEKALB COUNTY VOLUNTEER

AUDIT OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE
DeKalb County Government seeks two County residents to serve as volunteers on the 5-member Audit Oversight Committee as required by House
Bill 599 of the Georgia General Assembly. This committee will function
independently in conducting performance and financial-related audits for
all departments, offices, agencies, and programs of the County.
Interested individuals must meet the following requirements:

Reside in DeKalb

Possess expertise conducting performance or financial audits

Minimum five years experience and certified as one of following -

public accountant, internal or performance auditor, management

accountant; or ten years relevant professional experience

Serve one- or four-year term
Rsums accepted 8/24 9/11/15 at
executiverecruiting@dekalbcountyga.gov
Explore Continued From Page 18A

through repeat clients at
schools and scouting organizations.
He said, Once I get into
the school or into the scouting organization they typically call me numerous time
through the year and have
me do programs.
From the age of four
Greer said he never wanted
anything other than to learn
and be involved with wildlife
and reptiles were a big part
of that.
Greers father was in the
navy and as a result they
traveled a lot.
He said one of his fondest memories is catching a
snake for the first time, a

California king snake in San
Diego, Calif.
Greer has now collected
approximately 100 animals
for his business. He said he
has enough of each animal to
only work an animal once a
week.
With maintaining a collection of any type animal
its really important to make
sure that whatever youre doing is not stressing them out,
he said.
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religion, sex, nationalorigin, handicap or familial status.
SPORTS
Oglethorpe hires new SWD alumna Jasmine Riddick

cross country, trackreceives ITA academic honor
and-field coach
The Oglethorpe athletic department hired Kirk
Shellhouse as the new head
cross country/track-and-field
coach.
We are extremely excited to welcome Kirk Shellhouse to Oglethorpe University and to the Stormy Petrel
family, said Director of Athletics Becky Hall. With his
experience in recruiting and
his belief in the Division III
philosophy, Kirk is an ideal
fit for us.
Shellhouse comes to the
Stormy Petrels by way of
Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where he served
as the cross country/trackand-field assistant coach for
the 2014-15 season. While
there, his teams won mens
and womens Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
(SCAC) championships in
outdoor track and field in
2015. In addition, he coached
four All-Region cross country honorees, 23 total AllSCAC honorees and seven
SCAC individual championship winners.
Before his time at Trinity, he worked as the assistant
coach at Defiance College in
Defiance, Ohio, from 2012 to
2014, where he was a part of
teams that won the womens
outdoor and indoor trackand-field championships
in the Heartland Collegiate
Athletic Conference in 2014.
While there, he also received
his master of arts in education in 2014.
Shellhouse also served as
an assistant coach at Oberlin
College in Oberlin, Ohio, in
the spring of 2011, as well
as serving as a head and assistant coach at the high
school level in Ohio. He has
a USA Track and Field Level
1 coaching certification.
I am extremely excited
to join the Oglethorpe University family and want to
thank Becky Hall and the rest
of the search committee for
this opportunity, Shellhouse
said. The overall vision
and importance of athletics
being an extension of the
classroom makes this institution special. We will begin to
build upon an already wellestablished cross country/
track-and-field program
with these values in mind. I
do believe that Oglethorpe
presents a unique and special
Kirk Shellhouse will take over the

coaching duties for cross country
and track and field.
atmosphere for any student

and that the cross country/
track-and-field athletes will
excel as we move ahead.
Shellhouse received a
bachelor of science degree in
history and education from
Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio in 2010. While at
Heidelberg, he competed for
the Ohio Athletic Conference cross country championship team at the school in
2009 and for the conference
track and field championship
team in 2010. Shellhouse
took part in four NCAA
Division III cross country
championships and one
Division III track-and-field
championship as a studentathlete. He served as a student assistant coach for the
program in the fall of 2010.
We are excited to see the
cross country and track-andfield teams continue to grow
and to reach new heights
under Kirks leadership, Hall
said.
The Oglethorpe cross
country season will begin
Sept. 5 leading up to the SAA
Cross Country Championships Oct. 31. The Petrels
will be looking to improve
on a pair of eighth-place finishes in last years event. The
track-and-field season begins
with the exhibition indoor
portion in mid-January followed by the outdoor season,
which begins in March. The
Petrels finished fifth as a
team in the womens track
and field competition and
seventh in the mens at the
2015 SAA Track-and-Field
Championships.
The Intercollegiate Tennis

Association (ITA) has named
Johnson C. Smith University womens tennis player
Jasmine Riddick to its 2015
All-Academic Team.
Riddick, a DeKalb
County native, currently
carries a 3.76 grade point
average at JCSU where she
is pursuing a dual degree in
business administration and
economics.
A rising senior, Riddick competes in tennis at
No. 5 and No. 6 Singles, and
at the No. 3 Doubles positions. She along with teammate Nichelle Heard, of
Douglasvilles, Chapel Hill
High School, were the only
two student-athletes from
the Central Intercollegiate
Athletic (CIAA) Conference
named to the ITA All-Academic Team.
To earn ITA ScholarAthlete status a player must
be a varsity letter winner,
have a grade point average of
at least 3.50 (on a 4.00 scale)
Southwest DeKalb alumna Jasmine Riddick is one of two athletes from

the CIAA Conference named to the ITA All-Academic team.
for the current academic

year, and been enrolled at
their present school for at
least two semesters (including freshman thorough senior year).
The ITA annually recognizes more than 3,000
student-athletes on an individual and team basis from
more than 500 different varsity tennis programs.
A 2012 graduate of
Southwest DeKalb High
School, Riddck completed
her scholastic academic career with a 3.89 grade point
average.
While at SWD she lettered in tennis for two years
and was team-captain, as
voted by her teammates, in
the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
Athletes of the Week

The Champion chooses a male and female
high school Athlete of the Week each week
throughout the school year. The choices are based
on performance and nominations by coaches. Please
e-mail nominations to carla@dekalbchamp.com by
Monday at noon.
LaBron Morris
Sydney Morlan
MALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

LaBron Morris, Cedar Grove (football): The senior running back rushed
for 167 yards on 18 carries and scored two touchdowns in the 36-0 win over
Southwest DeKalb on Aug. 21.
FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Sydney Morlan, Marist (golf): The sophomore golfer recently won the
15-18 age group Club Championship at the Atlanta Athletic Club. She rallied
from a 4 shot deficit on the final day over another Marist player, Mimi Taylor
to win.
SPORTS
n Nash, Dunwoody open season with win

by Carla Parker
Michael Nash got his first win as a head
coach after Dunwoody defeated Clarkston
32-14 at Hallford Stadium Aug. 21.
It feels real good, Nash said. These kids
deserve it. They worked their tails off and
theyve believed in the promise that we made
to them that were going to get there. Were a
long way from getting there, but were going
to get there and those guys believe in it. They
have faith and theyre going to persevere.
The Dunwoody Wildcats defense dominated the entire game, allowing only one
score, but the offense took a while to get on
the same page. Dunwoody fumbled on its
opening drive and, Clarkston defensive lineman Julian Morgan was there to scoop the
ball up and return it 50 yards for a touchdown, giving the Angoras a 6-0 lead.
The Wildcats got their first points of the
game on a safety when a bad snap over the
punters head rolled to the back of the end
zone to cut Clarkstons lead to 6-2. The defense forced another safety, closing the gap to
6-4.
Dunwoodys offense got in sync just
before halftime when quarterback Nick
Pastrone connected with wide receiver Jake
Oliver on a 38-yard touchdown pass, giving
Dunwoody its first lead of the game, 11-6.
Nash said the offense is still learning the
new systemhence the slow start.
Were going from a run-oriented offense
to a passing [offense], Nash said. So, its going to take us awhile, but we have great kids
and theyre getting it.
Turnovers continued to plague Clarkston
in the second half. Clarkston quarterback Antonio Mills fumbled in his own end zone, resulting in a safety and extending Dunwoodys
lead to 13-6.
Running back Brashaun Askew extended
the Wildcats lead to 25-6 on two rushing
touchdowns from 37 and 9 yards out respectively.
Clarkstons Deshamion Paden had a big
Photo by John Silas
return on the kickoff, running down to Dunwoodys 7-yard line to set up a 7-yard rushing
touchdown by Emrik Foster. Foster scored
on the two-point conversion, cutting the lead
to 25-14.
However, Dunwoody ended Clarkstons
momentum with an 11-yard touchdown run
by Josh Hudgins, to bring the score to a final
of 32-14.
Dunwoody is off next week, while
Clarkston will take on Lithonia Aug. 28, 7:30
p.m. at Avondale Stadium.
McEachern 50, Tucker 14
The Tucker Tigers are 0-for-2 in the
Corky Kell Classic after falling to the
McEachern Indians 50-14 at the Georgia
Dome Aug. 22.
This years game was less competitive
than last years 32-29 overtime loss to Norcross. The Tigers defense could not find a
Dunwoody quarterback Nick Pastrone (18) eludes Clarkston defendway to stop the Indians high-power offense,
ers. Photo by Travis Hudgons
allowing 361 yards and 48 points in the first
half.
McEachern went up 21-0 in the first
quarter before the Tigers got on the board late
in the first quarter on a 35-yard touchdown
pass from Garrett Rigby to Jeremiah Shelley
to cut the lead to 21-7.
The Indians went on to score 27 unanswered points in the second quarter.
Tucker scored on its opening drive of the
second half with a 10-yard touchdown pass
from Rigby to Mason Miller to change the
score to 48-14.
McEachern extended its lead to 50-14 in
the fourth quarter after rushing Rigby to the
back of the end zone for a safety.
Other Scores
Aug. 21
Cedar Grove 36, Southwest DeKalb 0
M.L. King 20, Columbia 7
Miller Grove 41, Towers 7
Redan 28, Lakeside 0
Stephenson 53, Arabia Mountain 22
Clarkston defensive lineman Julian Morgan, left, recovers a fumble

and return it 50 yards for a touchdown. Photo by Travis Hudgons
Tuckers Demarko Durr (8) breaks-up an attempted reception. Photo by John Silas
SPORTS
Saints All-State running back LaBron Morris had 18 carries, 167-yards and two touchdowns against
Southwest DeKalb. Photo by Travis Hudgons
Cedar Grove freshman receiver Jayden Haselwood, right, catches a pass from a
fake punt. Haselwood splits two defenders with the 55-yard pass for a touchdown.
Photo by Travis Hudgons
Cedar Grove shuts out Southwest DeKalb in season opener

by Mark Brock
Miller Grove 41, Towers 7
A defense with three highly recruited and

preseason All-State players played like they were
on a mission as the Cedar Grove Saints shutout
the Southwest DeKalb Panthers 36-0 in the season
opener for both teams at Panthersville Stadium on
Aug. 21.
The Saints defense limited the Panthers to 110
yards of offense on 47 plays (2.84 yards/play), did
not allow a score and scored a touchdown on a bad
snap on a punt while the Saints offense led by senior
All-State running back LaBron Morris (18 carries,
167 yards, 2 TDs) and junior quarterback Jelani
Woods (99 yards passing, 2 TDs) scored five times.
The defense forced a three and out on the first
series of the game and the offense answered as
Morris set up his own four-yard touchdown with
6:58 to play in the first quarter by breaking off a 49yard run to the Panther seven yard line. The Saints
led 6-0 after the point-after failed.
Following another three and out by the Saints
defense Woods scrambled and found Kanuris
Cummings open in the end zone for a 16 yard
touchdown pass for a 12-0 lead with 2:40 left in the
first quarter.
Two drives later Morris started with a 35 yard
run that helped set up his 11 yard scamper for an
18-0 lead for the Saints at the half.
Cedar Grove opened the second half by
faking a punt at their on 45 that ended with a pass
from Woods to freshman Jayden Haselwood that
covered 55 yards as Haselwood split defenders on
the way to the end zone to make it 24-0 with 9:13
left in the third quarter.
Four minutes later as the Saints defense forced
another punt the snap was high and Cedar Groves
Adrian Fendell chased down the ball to recover
in the end zone for a 30-0 Cedar Grove advantage
with 5:03 left in the third quarter.
Demetrius Tharpe entered the game for Morris
and took his place to add 70 yards rushing on 5
carries, including a 25 yard scoring run with 10:10
to play to round out the scoring at 36-0.
Cedar Grove (1-0) moves on to face the 1-0
Hallandale (FL) Chargers, a 36-21 winner over
Miami High on Aug. 20, in the Chick-fil-A Battle
of the Borders on Aug. 29 at 2:30 p.m. at Hallford
Stadium. The Panthers (0-1) face Columbia (0-1) in
an 8 p.m. game at Panthersville on Aug. 28.
The first game at Panthersville on Aug. 21

turned into a 41-7 Miller Grove Wolverines victory
over the Towers Titans in the season opener for
both teams.
Towers got the early lead as Torrance Marables
47 yard run set up the Titans in Wolverine territory
on the opening drive of the game. Quarterback
Demeterice Gilbert then hooked up with receiver
DeAngleo Evans on a 29 yard pass play which
included Evans going the final 20 yards after
Ezekio Gouch would then take over the

game for Miller Grove as he would score the next
three touchdowns to blow the game open. Gouch
returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown and got
loose on a 47 yard run as Miller Grove took a 21-7
lead into the half.
Gouch opened the second half with an 85 yard
kickoff return in which he got excellent blocking to
allow him to cutback twice to avoid defenders on
the way to the end zone for a 28-7 Wolverines lead.
Williams would use his arm for the final two
scores of the game in less than a minute late in the
Ezekio Gouch (5) runs back an 85-yard kickoff return for a

touchdownit was his second in the game. Photo by Travis
Hudgons
Raylon Richardson (8) leaps over a Towers defender to

catch a 47-yard pass. Photo by Travis Hudgons
breaking a pair of tackles for a 7-0 Towers lead with

6:22 left in the first quarter.
The Wolverines would knot the game at
7-7 with 28.5 seconds left in the first quarter as
quarterback Davion Williams snuck over from the
one for the score and Okevius Hawkins added the
point after to start a string of 41 unanswered points.
The play was set up by a 47 yard pass from Williams
to 6-6 Raylon Richardson who went up and hauled
in the pass over the Towers defender.
third quarter. Touchdown passes of 18 yards to

Jalen Stuckey and 31 yards to Norman Thrasher
just 59 seconds apart finished the scoring with
Miller Grove up 41-7 heading into the fourth
quarter.
Miller Grove (1-0) travels on Aug. 28 to face
Pebblebrook (1-0), a 40-0 winner over Whitefield
Academy last week. Towers (0-1) has a bye week
coming up before facing Lithonia on Sept. 4.
local

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FRIDAY, august 27, 2015 VOL. 18, NO. 21 FREE

A PUBLICATION OF ACE III COMMUNICATIONS

DeKalb Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson organized a bus tour of

DeKalb Commissioners Nancy Jester, Kathie Gannon, Jeff Rader and

County officials tour District

See Hardeman on page 15A

See District 5 on page 15A

Page 2A The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, August 27, 2015

South DeKalb Senior

[Because the facility is

Application has been made to the Federal Communications Commission

The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, August 27, 2015Page 3A

Former ethics board

man of the DeKalb Board

Supporters gathered at Blackburn Park in Brookhaven to kickoff John Ernsts campaign.

The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, August 27, 2015Page 4A

Arthur Blank isnt the only Memorial Drive investor

ner of Memorial Drive and

when a Walmart was opened

leaders and DeKalb County

Letters to the editor

Open letter to CEO of DeKalb County

The 41 acres is not going anywhere.

Is it a good deal for us?

The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, August 27, 2015Page 5A

One Mans Opinion

We put cash on the

DeKalb, not so United

lanta, for play in his new stadium in late 2017.

and $12 million in cash.

ably the most amenity-filled

DeKalb citizens are getting

Statement from the

Page 6A The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, August 27, 2015

Located in Dunwoody, the

underrepresented populations in the Dominican

Lithonia Cemetery and add a

grants that might not cover

Lithonia holds comprehensive

sion (ARC). Lithonia Mayor

writing this time. Last time

See Lithonia on page 11A

The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, August 27, 2015Page 7A

Avondale Estates based City Gate Dance

Public meetings scheduled for Murphey

Food truck rally continues in Doraville

Clerk of Superior Court to host free notary

costly lawsuits and penalties as a notary is liable

Atlanta Audubon Society backyard

Stonecrest Library to hold book sale

Fundraiser to benefit young science lovers

The Stone Mountain Historical Society will

County commissioner to take monthly

Page 8A The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, August 27, 2015

Former county commissioners

Clarkston residents decide

government consulting, according to federal charges.

neled approximately $60,000

DeKalb County School District public

While participatory budgeting can be implemented

project and organized community meetings for resi-

See Clarkston on page 10A

Public safety officers to focus on truancy

Page 2A The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, August 27, 2015

The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, August 27, 2015Page 3A

The Champion FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, August 27, 2015Page 4A

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