The stage is set next week for dueling proposals to install a new head of DeKalb County’s embattled Recorders Court.
The court, which handles traffic tickets and county ordinance violations, has been accused of losing millions of dollars in uncollected fines under the management of the current chief judge, R. Joy Walker.
DeKalb Chief Executive Officer Burrell Ellis has named Judge Nelly Withers to succeed her after her term ends this year. Ellis also named deputy clerk Kathy Crumbley to replace Joyce Head as clerk. But commissioners say Ellis has no statutory authority to make the judicial appointment.
Commissioner Jeff Rader contends that only the commission has that authority. Still, this week, he introduced a resolution to appoint the same people Ellis named. Another commissioner, Sharon Barnes Sutton, wants to step back and establish a formal selection process that could involve a panel of community representatives.
All the options will be on the table at the commission meeting Tuesday, but Barnes Sutton said there will likely be no decision until the board meets afterward on Dec. 15.
AJC
Thursday, December 3, 2009
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21 comments:
I have grown so tired of this group of commissioners fighting the CEO on every single issue. There comes a point to where they are just being obstructionist for no reason whatsoever. Everything takes twice as long as it should because they insist on a big fight regarding every issue. Ellis is a pretty popular CEO and he is right on most things. A couple of these commissioners will be voted out of office if this trend continues.
As to this specific issue regarding Judge Withers being the Chief Judge of Recorders Court, I think she is an outstanding choice. All of the officers who have testified in her court room over the last several years know Judge Withers and respect her. The officers know that she will dismiss their case if it is weak but she is very fair and she is very tough. Over the years I have noticed that it has become VERY difficult for people to lie to Judge Withers and get away with it. A lot of experience and wisdom obtained over time.
The fact is that virtually every area of the county government contained corruption or incompetence when CEO Ellis took office. This thanks to the criminal Vernon Jones. The new CEO still has a lot of work to do in cleaning this up and Recorders Court is just one of many departments.
On a separate but related topic, does anyone know anything about this nut job Rainwater who Vernon hired a few years ago? He works for risk management and I hear he met with a large group of police supervisors yesterday. He berated them, insulted them and cursed at them. He said he wanted officers to begin getting citations when they are involved in an accident on duty. Can DeKalb Officers do some research and find out what happened?
On duty citations for accidents.... if that is the case, then the administrative penalty issued by the accident review board should be reduced to take into account the criminal penalty that the county will be leveling on the officer.
10-80, hell no....might get into a 41.
10-18, hell no...might get into a 41
Hey...it's dangerous to be a cop and accidents happen. Why give us less incentive to do our jobs.
If we are talking about Jack Rainwater, he unsuccessfully ran for Clayton County Sheriff as a Republican in 2008. Not much was known about him and his questionaires in local media kept everything short and simple. No details, no elaborations.
Not jack, Chris Rainwater. used to be a city manager somewhere.arent the commissioners voting to eliminate the CEO & hire a County Manager at this next meeting too?
Well they figure they have the 4-3 vote to get rid of Ellis. There a little upset hes trying to get rid of Joy Walker in recorders Court.
Isn't Rainwater (risk management) the same guy who nearly killed himself using bug bombs in his house?
On duty citations.....here officer sign your WARNING ticket. I for one will not write a fellow officer a ticket or if I do have to will be pretty hard to prosecute the case if I can't recall the facts.....
Yeah it is Chris Rainwater and I want DeKalb Officers to find out what happened in the meeting with all of the supervisors. I hear it was ugly and Rainwater risk (pardon the pun) getting his ass beat if he continues to curse at and insult officers in this way.
Judge Withers for Chief Recorders Court Judge? YES!! A great choice!
What does Mr. Rainwater drive? Better not violate a law. If this becomes a policy, expect me to be fair and give "equal protection under the law" Mr. Rainwater, county vehicle or not.
To the first commenter, I would say that allowing an executive to do whatever he wants, no matter what the rules say, is bad procedure. Just because the commissioners were too scared or ignorant to challenge Vernon Jones doesn't mean that they shouldn't assert their rightful authority now. A good executive should appreciate checks on his power.
It seems apparent that the commissioners are right that the CEO has never had the authority to appoint people to these two positions. Since Commissioner Rader is nominating the same women, I see no reason to be that upset. And what is so wrong with Commissioner Sutton's proposal to have a formal selection process?
The Commissioners aren't upset about Ellis trying to make the changes to Recorder's Court. What bothers them is the amount of power he has, the same as it was for Vernon. It opens the door to more of the same of the past 8 years. At the way the system is set up now, Ellis has more power over DeKalb County than what the Mayor has over the city of Atlanta. That needs to be changed!!!! I think Vernon was a prime example of how this works.
What are the particulars on the meeting that this idiot had with the PD supervisors? What was said in rebuttal?
Just start following everyone that leaves that employee parking lot at recorder's court and PO on any violation. That will change this will change BS thing pretty quickly. And just like the other guy said, my testimony against any officer will be "Judge I do not even remember responding to this accident".
Thanks for the 4th grade civics lesson but I clearly understand that the Board of Commissioners is an independent body and they are not obligated to go along with every single thing the CEO wants. The fact is that some of these commissioners have fought the CEO on every single issue for the past year without exception. Some of these commissioners fought the CEO on the Terrell Bolton dismissal. That alone speaks volumes. You would have to be an absolute idiot to think that Terrell Bolton should still be the police chief.
Judge Withers should be the Chief Judge of DeKalb Recorders Court. Not because CEO Ellis wants her but because she is extremely qualified and she would do a great job. Hopefully the commissioners can at least agree on this.
Concerning the meeting with the moron Rainwater, I have heard that some of the supervisors fired back at him with heavy artillery. I hear that Rainwater said that, “most police officers are assholes.” According to my sources, Lt. Mike “Sweet Roll” Williams, along with a few other supervisors were angry and did their best to stand up to Rainwater and defend the police.
Rainwater needs to take his attitude out the door. His comment makes HIM the a$$hole. Is he a "little" guy? Does he have a grudge to bear? Probably some very dirt under that rock.
Signed,
Citizen Who Loves You
WTF?? Why does Ellis get a pass!?? If it had been VJ-you'd be all up in it. Why is it wrong that they question his authority to make certain decisions. If he has the authority, the will should be granted. Ugh!
The commissioners can't vote 4-3 to get the CEO out. Take a social studies class. The State Legislature would have to pass a bill, through the House and Senate to get that approved.
Ellis gets a pass because he is a decent and honest human being with character and values. V.J. is an arrogant, despicable, lying, stealing jackass who should be in prison. Of course the only people who feel that way about him are me and a few hundred thousand other people.
Simple enough for you?
I heard about the meeting with Rainwater. I heard he was rude and cursed at supervisors who are all veterans; not only once, but several times. He was a VJ hire, which is just another reason to can his ass. I hear it's not the first time he has been off the chain in a class, either. By the way, can anyone tell me what happens to an officer who curses at someone? Yep, that's right they get written up and sometimes suspended. Can someone do something? Mr. CEO, since I feel that you are all about professionalism and customer service, don't you think that all county employees should have the same attitude? At the very least, the CEO needs to investigate this and if (I meant when) it is shown that Rainwater is an egotistical jerk who cares only about his own self importance and is sooo mad about getting a ticket in an at fault accident several months ago that he was REALLY upset about, then Rainman needs to be FIRED. Some of us are trying to make Dekalb a better place to work and live; clearly, Rainman is NOT.
To Anon who thinks Ellis should get a pass: No, Ellis is not VJ, thank goodness. But the main fault with the CEO position is too much power...which is why the citizens voted on the referendum to limit the CEO power. My point was that it doesn't matter who is in the position, they shouldn't get a pass. If the responsibility of appointing judges lies with the CEO, then fine. If it has to go thru the BOC first, then fine. But follow the law. Clearly neither party is clear on who has the authority to make such appointments.
Perhaps Dekalb should concentrate on obtaining it's revenue from more above board methods instead of harassing citizens by squandering police resources on collecting revenue (traffic tickets).
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