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Contact Information for Rep. Kevin
Levitas:
Legislative Office Address:
409 Coverdell Legislative Office Building,
Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Legislative Office
Phone Number: 404-656-0116 Home Phone
Number: 404-634-9171 Email
Address:kevinlevitas@bellsouth.net
Reminder: Town Hall Meeting at Tucker High
School |
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Wednesday, April 30
Please join State Sen. Steve Henson,
DeKalb Police Chief Terrell Bolton and me for a
Town Hall Community Meeting
on:
Wednesday, April 30, at 7:00 PM,
in the Tucker High School
Cafeteria
Come make your voice
heard about important issues affecting our
community and the State.
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DEKALB COUNTY GOVERNMENT REFORM
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General Assembly Delegation
Begins Long Overdue Government Restructuring
Process
In addition to the statewide measures that
I reported on in my last newsletter, the General
Assembly this session passed a very important
piece of "local" government-reform legislation for
DeKalb County: Senate Bill 52. If approved
by DeKalb voters in a referendum this November, SB
52 would finally allow the County Commissioners to
set their own meeting agendas and to preside over
the meetings.
Remarkably, these
powers--and too many others--are currently
reserved for the Chief Executive. This results in
an excessive concentration of power comprable to
allowing the Governor of Georgia to set the agenda
for the General Assembly and to preside over its
sessions. Moreover, the Chief Executive possesses
nearly override-proof veto authority. SB 52 would
begin the shift in DeKalb's government back toward
a true balance of power.
Although I would
have preferred to see passed the more
comprehensive reform legislation that I introduced
earlier this session (House Bills 1310 and
1311), SB 52 represents an important first
step in the restructuring process. My legislation
would have given the Commission additional powers
that they currently lack, such as investigation
and oversight authority over the operations of the
County government and the ability to contact
administration staff without having to first seek
the permission of the Chief Executive. I will
continue to advocate for greater reform of
DeKalb's government next session. (To read my op-
ed piece on the need for reform, which appeared in
the AJC last fall, click here.)
As the House sponsor of SB 52, I found
only four colleagues willing to co-sponsor the
measure after it was passed by the Senate and sent
to the House in 2007. Under House procedural
rules, passage of local legislation requires a
majority of delegation members to sign the bill.
In the case of DeKalb, a majority is ten or more.
(The Senate has a similar rule.)
However,
after the introduction this year of my legislation
and discussion of it and a similar measure
introduced by Rep. Mike Jacobs, momentum built
towards passage of some measure of government
reform. Credit is also due to the House Delegation
and particularly to Delegation Chairman Stan
Watson who appointed a special subcommittee, on
which I served, charged with the responsibility of
forging a compromise measure, based on my
legislation, for the full delegation to consider.
The subcommittee did an excellent job, and
the full delegation came together for a frank and
thoughtful discussion of the compromise bill.
Unfortunately, once an agreement was finally
reached, there was not enough time under
complicated General Assembly procedural rules for
consideration and passage by the Senate in the
waning days of the session.
The only
available vehicle then was SB 52, to which only
slight modifications were permitted by those same
rules. So a decision was made to proceed with the
best available reform measure. Although it is only
a first step, it is an important one and one which
I hope will receive voter support this November. I
expect and hope that this governmental-reform
legislation will be expanded in the future.
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LIST OF DEKALB DELEGATION MEMBERS
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In response to a request by a reader of
this newsletter, I am providing a contact list,
drawn from the General Assembly website, for the
other House and Senate members of the DeKalb
Delegation.
REPRESENTATIVES:
Pat
Gardner (D) - 57th District 668 East Pelham
Road Atlanta, GA
30324 404-873-9944 pat@patgardner.org
Robbin
Shipp (D) - 58th District 154 Chester
Ave Atlanta, GA 30316 404-656-6372 (Capitol
Office) robbin@shippforus.com
Georganna
Sinkfield (D) - 60th District Coverdell
Legislative Office, Suite 511 Atlanta, GA
30334 404-656-6372 (Capitol
Office)
Fran Millar (R) - 79th
District 5249 Brooke Farm Drive Dunwoody, GA
30338 404-487-7329 fran.millar@wachovia.com
Mike
Jacobs (R) - 80th District 3823 Granger
Drive Atlanta, GA 30341 770-452-2811
georgiamike@comcast.net
Jill
Chambers (R) - 81st District 4372
Stonington Circle Atlanta, GA
30338 770-458-7732 jillchambers@msn.com
Kevin
Levitas (D) - 82nd District 2496 Greenglade
Road NE Atlanta, GA
30345 404-634-9171 kevinlevitas@bellsouth.net
Mary
Margaret Oliver (D) - 83rd District 150 E.
Ponce de Leon Avenue Suite 230 Decatur, GA
30030 404-377-0485 marymargaret.oliver@house.ga.gov
Stacey Abrams (D) - 84th
District 1912 Hosea Williams Drive Atlanta,
GA 30317 404-378-9434 staceyabrams@gmail.com
Stephanie Stuckey Benfield (D) -
85th District 940 Artwood Road NE Atlanta,
GA
30307 404-377-7014 stuckey@mindspring.com
Karla
Drenner (D) - 86th District PO Box 348
Avondale Estates, GA 30002 404-508-4128
(Capitol
Office) dren16999@aol.com
Michele
Henson (D) - 87th District 4140 Creek Stone
Court Stone Mountain, GA
30083 404-296-1442 michele.henson@house.ga.gov
Billy
Mitchell (D) - 88th District PO Box
88 Stone Mountain, GA
30086 770-465-8800
Earnest "Coach"
Williams (D) - 89th District PO Box
436 Avondale Estates, GA 30002 404-656-0202
(Capitol Office)
earnest.williams@house.ga.gov
Howard
Mosby (D) - 90th District 2101 Sugar Creek
Falls Drive Atlanta, GA 30316 404-656-0287
(Capitol Office)
Stan Watson (D) -
91st District 4299 Sherwood Oaks
Drive Decatur, GA 30034 678-360-0742
(Cell) stan_watson@matria.com
Pam
Stephenson (D) - 92nd District 1201
Peachtree Street Building 400, Suite
2020 Atlanta, GA
30361 404-815-7400 pam.stephenson@house.ga.gov
Vacant
- 93rd District
Randal Mangham (D) -
94th District PO Box 639 Decatur, GA
30031 404-525-0100 repmangham@gmail.com
SENATORS:
Curt
Thompson (D) - 5th District 6320 Glenbrook
Drive Tucker, GA
30084 404-575-2223 curt.thompson@senate.ga.gov
Emanuel
Jones (D) - 10th District PO Box
370244 Decatur, GA
30037 770-964-8888 emanuel.jones@senate.ga.gov
Dan
Weber (R) - 40th District 1117 Winterhall
Lane Dunwoody, GA
30338 404-442-1810 dan.weber@senate.ga.gov
Steve
Henson (D) - 41st District 2643 Sterling
Acres Drive Tucker, GA
30084 404-243-5107 steve.henson@senate.ga.gov
David
Adelman (D) - 42nd District PO Box
1231 Decatur, GA
30031 404-853-8206 david.adelman@senate.ga.gov
Ronald
B. Ramsey (D) - 43rd District 5271
Snapfinger Woods Drive Decatur, GA
30035 404-281-9948 ronald.ramsey@senate.ga.gov
Gloria
Butler (D) - 55th District 6241 Southland
Trace Stone Mountain, GA 30087 404-656-0075
(Capitol
Office) gloria.butler@senate.ga.gov
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ADDITIONAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INFORMATION |
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If you are interested in more detail about
what happened at the General Assembly this
session, then please feel free to call or write me
or visit the General Assembly website: www.legis.ga.gov.
The website provides direct access to the text of
legislation and vote tallies as well as schedules
and live coverage of committee
meetings.
(Another resource is offered when
the General Assembly is in session by Georgia
Public Broadcasting through a television program
called "Lawmakers," which airs daily at 7 PM and
rebroadcasts at 5:30 AM the following morning. The
program covers each day's events at the
Capitol.)
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