So, a coalition of folks want Elaine Boyer booted. We ask, where are these people when it comes to Sharon Barnes?
Hypocrisy? Surely not.
To refresh your memory, click here.
By Johnny Edwards
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A coalition of DeKalb County watchdog groups wants County Commissioner Elaine Boyer booted from office for abusing her county Visa card.
Two men lodged complaints with the Board of Ethics on Thursday against Boyer and her chief of staff, saying Boyer violated her oath of office and her top aide used his position for special privileges. The complaints were prompted by an investigation last month by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which found Boyer spent more than $12,000 on personal purchases, including airline tickets, rental cars and a ski resort booking.
Some of the purchases were made while Boyer and her husband were having financial problems.
The commissioner reimbursed many of the charges within days, weeks or months, but she paid back another $4,000 after the AJC began asking questions. She told Channel 2 Action News that “it never dawned on me that what I was doing was wrong.”
The newspaper also reported that she and her chief of staff, Robert Lundsten, spent more than $11,000 for restaurant meals at taxpayer expense in 2012 and 2013.
Thomas Owens, of Atlanta, and Joseph Newton, of Norcross, who filed the ethics complaints, say they have the backing of Joel Edwards of Restore DeKalb and Viola Davis of the DeKalb Unhappy Taxpayer and Voter group.
They are asking the ethics board to audit Boyer’s Visa card use, require her and Lundsten to pay back improper charges, find out if any other commissioners or their staffers have misused their cards, refer the case to the District Attorney for possible prosecution and request that the county’s purchasing card policy be revised to cover commissioners.
They also want Boyer removed from office — which the ethics board can do — and both she and Lundsten barred from ever working for DeKalb County again.
Lundsten said the complaints against him are the latest in ongoing personal attacks by Owens and Newton, who he has been sparring with for years. Boyer has not consented to interviews since the AJC published its investigation.
Two men lodged complaints with the Board of Ethics on Thursday against Boyer and her chief of staff, saying Boyer violated her oath of office and her top aide used his position for special privileges. The complaints were prompted by an investigation last month by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which found Boyer spent more than $12,000 on personal purchases, including airline tickets, rental cars and a ski resort booking.
Some of the purchases were made while Boyer and her husband were having financial problems.
The commissioner reimbursed many of the charges within days, weeks or months, but she paid back another $4,000 after the AJC began asking questions. She told Channel 2 Action News that “it never dawned on me that what I was doing was wrong.”
The newspaper also reported that she and her chief of staff, Robert Lundsten, spent more than $11,000 for restaurant meals at taxpayer expense in 2012 and 2013.
Thomas Owens, of Atlanta, and Joseph Newton, of Norcross, who filed the ethics complaints, say they have the backing of Joel Edwards of Restore DeKalb and Viola Davis of the DeKalb Unhappy Taxpayer and Voter group.
They are asking the ethics board to audit Boyer’s Visa card use, require her and Lundsten to pay back improper charges, find out if any other commissioners or their staffers have misused their cards, refer the case to the District Attorney for possible prosecution and request that the county’s purchasing card policy be revised to cover commissioners.
They also want Boyer removed from office — which the ethics board can do — and both she and Lundsten barred from ever working for DeKalb County again.
Lundsten said the complaints against him are the latest in ongoing personal attacks by Owens and Newton, who he has been sparring with for years. Boyer has not consented to interviews since the AJC published its investigation.
22 comments:
Dekalb officials have run amock and need to be brought to justice. We are eaten up with crooks.
The voters have been taken advantage of.
Just another overweight blimpo whose hands are more powerful than her words, whose hands have crazy glue on all ten fingers. Obviously, she was happy to pay back those monies in exchange for prosecution.
There is no difference between Boyer and Sutton with the exception that Sutton is in charge of the county's budget bs.
Who is next on the chopping block? No one has attacked Gannon yet, but lets see what is on the horizon. We the readers of this blog, are confident that something will eventually show up
You may want to refer the question to Thomas Owens, of Atlanta, and Joseph Newton, of Norcross.
You may want to refer the question to Thomas Owens, of Atlanta, and Joseph Newton, of Norcross.
Bob Lundsten is an arrogant ahole who has stated at several county functions that he runs Commssioner Boyer's office and everything must go through him. Someone needs to investigate the deals he has made with developers and business owner's to push through their projects. Look into the pressure that he has put on watershed and development to get projects green lighted or waived so to receive the paybacks. LIPPS night club to name one that he rode watershed on.
"It never occurred to me I was doing something wrong". ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? If I, or any other department employee, were to use a county credit card for personal purchases we would be fired on the spot -and- face legal charges. Even the newest and youngest employee of the county knows it is not only improper but illegal to use a county credit card for personal charges. Oh, I forgot, the commissioners are in such a rarified altitude up there in their offices they suffer from lack of oxygen. That would explain such stupidity.
Tom Owens and Joe Newton ???? Don't you know who they are? They are their own "special" kind of 5150 candidates with a trail of restraining orders. Looks like they are commenting here.
I want to see if Robert James will go after Ms.Boyer with the same vigor that he did when he went after the officers that broke the law. Time will tell.
The form you signed said "not for personal purchases." How much more clear does the policy have to be than that?
"I was meeting with constituents." That means you have to buy a ton of food for them and you? Why can't you just talk to them without spending tax payer dollars expanding your waistline? What a joke!
Everyone remember this incident. If she is not held accountable for signing a form where she acknowledged an understanding of county policy, you can't be either.
"She has paid back a total of $12,047 in personal expenses; roughly two-thirds of that was prior to anyone questioning her spending."
Is that something someone with criminal intent would do? I guess I am one of the few who still uses deductive reasoning. I also have a fair amount of distrust for what the media presents these days, so I am frankly disturbed by the "rush to judgment" here...something doesn't pass the smell test. Should she have done it? Maybe not. Are many others doing it? Probably.
This practice is quite common in the business world, and to a much larger degree. So just take a chill pill, and wait for everything to shake out.
Toms Owens
Joe Newton
Certifiable, look at the records. Stalking, peeping tom, restraining orders out the wazoo.
Not that it excuses Boyer, but these guys are nuttier than fruitcakes.
Ask John King, Chief at Doraville and Bridagier General in Georgia National Guard, Commander of 48th Brigade Combat Team with 3 overseas combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan under his belt .
He has had to deal with Owens for years. Give him a call.
Search the records.
Lundsten is really good friends with planning department. The planning depart signs off and they get kick backs.
@Anon 3:43 PM Why pay back something, that you did not know you had to pay back, prior to being told you had to pay it back? That is suspcious enough for me but I will wait to see how this plays out.
Even if she didn't read the firm she signed that clearly states "not to be used for personal purchases" wouldn't common sense and plain ol' honesty and integrity tell you you're not supposed to use county tax dollars to pay for personal expenses, like meals and family vacations. She only paid it back when she got caught. That's like a perp returning your stolen car and expecting to not be charged with theft by taking. Hey, I returned it!
She's always had trouble managing her finances. How many times did she file for bankruptcy? The m9st innocent explanation is she was using the county credit card as an interest free loan, which is still stealing. She's a perp.
And now she suspends her and her chief admin officers "p" cards. What a loon. She needs handcuffs placed on those wrists.
If this was any other county employee, they would be J-1'd and fired. Why is she any different ? Defrauding the government is a crime !
And you wonder why DeKalb County government officials are so corrupt.. There is no repercussions for their illegal activity. Robert James, this is on your watch ! Your office needs to start holding these county officials accountable for their actions !
He's overwhelmed by having the tables turned on him by Ellis. What a joke...
Come on prosecutors. You seem to have Ellis by his nutsack. Let's get the rest of the slime balls.
@3:43am So it is okay to steal and then pay it back. Does that really make it right. So you would let a perp go if he or she offered to pay for what they stole. Being white and privileged always seems to get you a pass. That that is a damn shame.
It's a cryin' shame that Ellis, Kevin Walton and Ellis' former secretary are now on PAID leave till something happens. Lee May and the rest of the Commissioners should suspend their pay. The District Attorney needs to get tougher and clean up the mess called Dekalb County Government.
And she still holds a position?!! What is wrong with your county? Does anyone have oversight on Dekalb?
Obviously after the school board had to be (mostly) removed from office due to all kinds of ethical violations, it should have been clear that we were not electing people who could even keep an eye on the schools. Obviously the corruption allegations and convictions have been on both sides of politics and either end of the county, regardless of race, sex or gerrymandering. So, what does the state do to help sort out the problems and repair the damage? Well, it looks like they are about to hand the same folks bringing us down locally the keys to their own cities, by approving all sorts of special considerations in order to make sure something in Central DeKalb gets approved even if no one here wants it. And rather than telling us to start small and see how we do, they refuse to listen to requests for incorporation into small towns and practically insist that we submit maps for cities that will become larger than any other city currently existing in the entire county. More money, more power, more local control to those who will only help themselves.
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