Present*:
Mayor J Max Davis, District 1 Councilwoman – Rebecca Chase Williams, District 2 Councilman – Jim Eyre, City Clerk – Susan Hiott, Interim City Manager – Marie Garrett, Interim City Attorney – Bill Riley, * District 3 Councilman – Bates Mattison, joined later

The meeting got under way with a review of the City Charter by Bill Riley. The first topic was a discussion on Term Limits.

"We’ve looked at that [Term Limits for the Mayor] and term limits are only of course for the Mayor, there’s been some discussion of having 2 full terms instead of a partial term and a full term for the Mayor. After some research we think that probably we’re going to need to have that passed at the Legislature rather than by home rule since it is an election matter”, said Riley. “If that’s something that you [Mayor Davis] desire we can certainly get it into this years hopper and see if we can’t get it through if that would be the desire of the Council on that.”

Mayor J Max Davis and the City of Brookhaven have released their 2013 Proposed Budget.

"As required by the City Charter, it is my pleasure to submit for your consideration the proposed Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 budget for the City of Brookhaven. Over the years, many citizens have
poured countless hours and worked passionately to create true local control and a more responsive government for Georgia’s newest City. I look forward to working together to create a vibrant and proactive City; one focused on accessibility, transparency and provision of the level of services our citizens deserve. We have been entrusted to provide nothing less and together we will be held accountable as stewards. As Brookhaven’s first mayor, I ask you to join me as we meet the needs of our great community."

"The FY 2013 budget will present challenges. As was expected, our first year budget revenues are significantly less than they will be in our first full year of operations and revenue projected for 2014. However, our FY 2013 Budget anticipates enough revenue to support a responsive and transparent City while remaining within the millage rate cap outlined in the charter. For our first year, I recommend we adopt the 3.35 mill maximum outlined in the charter. Though my preference is a lower millage rate, I do not feel that would be a responsible recommendation for our first year due to the high level of demands from years of neglect, the significant revenue sources not received until 2014, a troubled real estate market just starting to rebound, and the unknown expenses we may face during our first year. With that being said, it is my strong desire that staff and Council exercise the restraint and oversight needed to reduce this rate for our residents as early as next year."

"During our first year the City will lack the financial reserves needed in order to stabilize the cash
flow needs of operations as compared to what we will have in 2014."

On the heels of last nights Brookhaven Town Hall Meeting, Mayor Davis informed the citizens that 2014 will bring a full budget - just as the CVI predicted with "no surprises."

On several occasions, during City of Brookhaven City Council Meetings, the topic of a Brookhaven Police Force has been discussed. The conversations have been very consistent - that plans are for the City to assemble a Police Force in Summer 2013...but it has also been discussed - nearly in the same breath - the need to get a Permanent City Manager hired as soon as possible, who will ultimately hire the Chief of Police.

In an email sent out by Mayor J Max Davis on January 23rd, Mayor Davis explains, "We should have our City Manager search wrapped up in February. This will let us start building our Police Department which should be up and running this Summer."

Some factors that will play a roll in the creation of our own Police Force are adopting the 2013 Budget, the number of officers our budget will support, Intergovernmental Agreements (IGA) for Special Units such as S.W.A.T., Bomb Squad, Gang Units, etc. And not to mention, what the Brookhaven IGA with the County for Police has/will cost the City while we are getting our framework solidified. It really does boil down to what we can afford as a City - across the board.

The First Town Hall Meeting by an elected City of Brookhaven official was held on Wednesday night in the Recreation Building at Ashford Park. Jim Eyre, City of Brookhaven Councilman for District 2; along with the Mayor and fellow Councilpersons, have been hard at work building the foundation on which our new City of Brookhaven will rest. 

The meeting began with a presentation by Councilman Eyre - providing a snapshot of what has transpired during the first 30 days in the life of our new city. "With the city being in existence for 30 days now, I want to take an opportunity to let you know where we've been...we've gotten official business out of the way, we've passed codes, we've passed ordinances, we've passed resolutions, that set us up as a city...now we can start looking forward to the fun stuff [park master plans, etc.] - we've got the building blocks set." 

After Jim completed his presentation, he took questions from the audience and had a great open exchange of information and ideas. One of those questions was, "How much money has been spent so far?" Councilman Eyre answered, "We've asked that question. We're supposed to be getting a budget report shortly. While we have been constructing the real budget, we just signed the vendor contracts this week and Marie [Garrett - Interim City Manager] is getting a summary of those." Councilman Eyre, assured the attendees that he too is anxious to get the summaries and is pushing to have those as soon as possible. In terms of the actual full budget, Councilman Eyre explained that the Brookhaven Fiscal year was established to run from January 1st to December 31st - and that the 2013 Budget will likely be established in mid to late February each calendar year. Additionally, Councilman Eyre noted that there will be public meetings once the budget is nearing it's adoption date.

First of all The Post would like to welcome our FIRST City Employee - Susan D. Hiott, MBA, MMC.

Prior to last nights City Council meeting, we had a chance to chat with Susan and found her to be delightful. In her current role as the City Clerk of the City of Smyrna (soon to be Brookhaven), Susan's responsibilities include:

• The City Clerk is the official record keeper for the City and is appointed by the Mayor and Council. Responsibilities of the City Clerk’s Office include recording and maintaining the Council's official actions in minutes, coordinating and distributing the agenda, maintaining contracts, ordinances, resolutions, and agreements and coordinating the records management and retention program for the City. The City Clerk attests signatures of Mayor and Council and is official keeper of the City seal and affixes its impression on documents whenever required. The City Clerk oversees the adoption and publishing of the Code of Ordinances.  The City Clerk is the designated Open Records Officer and helps to ensure that all open record requests are in accordance to the Open Records Act.  The City Clerk is also the administrator for the Court Services Division.
  
  

During our conversation with Susan, she said she has been studying our community and recognizes some similarities. Susan is a resident of Smyrna and is looking very much forward to getting started with our city.

Official Press Release here.

Dekalb County CEO, Burrell Ellis, recommends charging the new city of Brookhaven 2.5 million dollars for 3 months of temporary services-primarily for police. That figure is more than one million dollars higher than the county charged the City of Dunwoody when it launched in 2009 (found on page 23 in the 2009 Dunwoody Budget).

The Dekalb 2013 Executive Budget Recommendations state the following: 

"Brookhaven will likely require a transition (for at least 3 months) before they are ready to assume operations, similar to the start up of Dunwoody in 2009, especially in the Police operations; therefore, we anticipate a reimbursement of $2.5 million for these temporary services. If Brookhaven does not request any transition services, Police personnel will be reduced through attrition." 

Dekalb County Chief Communications Officer, Burke Brennan tells the Post, “It's a reasonable estimate for the minimum amount of services until an Inter Governmental Agreement can be worked out.” 

We spoke to Brennan the week before Christmas. At that time, he told us there had been no formal negotiations for an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) on transition services. Brennan added, “[Brookhaven] Elected leadership have reached out to the staff of Dekalb County. There have been some informal conversations.”

At the December 28th City of Brookhaven Council meeting, Interim City Attorney Bill Riley, told the council “I've already spoken to the Assistant County Attorney on this...to work on police, 911 and municipal court transfer. The 911 would be essentially the same as fire as it is right now. It will be seamless. “ 

The Carl Vinson Institute (CVI) conducted a study to determine if the City of Brookhaven was viable. That study estimates that Police Services would cost Brookhaven 5.5mm for an entire year. If Dekalb County does in fact charge 2.5mm for 3 months of service, that equates to 10mm – nearly double CVI estimate. Brookhaven City officials state that the 2.5mm number as it appears in the Dekalb County 2013 Executive Budget Recommendation is believed to be a “placeholder”.

A phone call to Brookhaven City Hall from the Post was not returned. But, District 2 Councilman, Jim Eyre responded to an email.

“Brookhaven will strive to negotiate as favorable terms as possible for the city and are providing the resources necessary to complete these negotiations on behalf of the City”, commented District 2 Councilman, Jim Eyre. 

We will continue to follow this developing story and keep you posted.