While it was not as he had hoped, Fayette County Board of Commissioners Chairman Steve Brown noted that the efforts he and others made to get changes to proposed Atlanta Regional Commission rules were not in vain.
“We did get some changes in the system,” Brown said a few days after the Oct. 22 vote to approve the proposed new bylaws. Brown is a member of the ARC board by virtue of his election position.
A number of elected officials across the region, with Brown perhaps the most vocal, objected to changes that would further centralize power in the hands of the ARC board chair. Another matter of much discussion was the fact that community improvement district (CID) officials are able to serve on the board – one is currently the chair – that is seen by some as a conflict of interest.
The amended bylaws passed with no change on the CID issue and little movement otherwise. A key alteration that Brown and others lobbied for was the quorum requirement on the Transportation and Air Quality Committee, which had initially been recommended to be 40 percent.
A motion by Tyrone Mayor Eric Dial (one mayor from each county in the region also sits on the board) to change the quorum to a simple majority was seconded by Brown and approved.
Another area where concessions were sought was the Governance Committee, where it was feared the ARC board chair’s authority to hand-pick members would throw it far out of balance in favor of a specific part of the region.
The final structure that was approved requires that the committee have at least four county commission heads, four mayors and four citizen members. Brown pointed out in recent weeks that such a move could still leave the group in the hands of only four counties, but that was as much compromise as could be reached.
Brown had proposed that the old executive committee, comprised of the commission chair from each county, be restored for a broader distribution of leadership.
While he did not vote in favor of the proposed new bylaws (Dial and citizen member Bob Reeves of Fayette County did), Brown acknowledged, “It was progress over the draft they turned in before.”
As for the CID issue, Brown thinks it is not over and could even wind up in court.
