The party’s over and Clayton County has a full week of government meetings ahead. Former Sheriff Victor Hill may appear as a witness in Kyetha Sweeting v. Levon Allen, a federal employment trial, which starts Tuesday, July 11 at 9 a.m. in Atlanta.

Monday, July 10

  • 6 p.m.: The Clayton County Board of Education‘s 2023 schedule shows a regular meeting for today but no agenda has been published on the website and nothing for today appears in eBoard. We’re working to confirm whether the meeting has been cancelled for tonight.
  • 6 p.m.: The Jonesboro City Council holds its regular meeting at City Center. On tonight’s agenda (full packet with supporting documents here):
    • annual audit results and financial statements for the 12 months ending December 31, 2022. operating period ended December 31, 2022. Council will consider accepting “the annual RLGF report,” noting that all reports will be filed with the state for compliance and posted on the city’s website.
    • five public hearings, four of which are zoning and zoning-code-change related, including:
      • a conditional use permit application, 23-CU-010, for a townhome development, by Roderick Greer Turner III, Teresa T. Panitz, and Lisa C. Turner, property owners, and Templar Development, applicant, for property at 217 South Main Street (Parcel No. 05241D A001)
      • a related public hearing on a variance application, 23-VAR-002, “for various development standards” for those proposed townhomes
      • a proposed text amendment, Ordinance #2023-006, 23-TA-005, to the City of Jonesboro Code of Ordinances, Chapter 86 – Zoning, “relative to State directed revisions to the Georgia Zoning Procedures Act, more specifically revisions to requirements with notifications of zoning public hearings and appeals of zoning decisions”
      • another proposed text amendment, Ordinance #2023-007, 23-TA-006, to the City of Jonesboro Code of Ordinances, Chapter 34, Article I, Division 1 – Vacant Building Registry, which would create annual fees “for certain vacant buildings exceeding a specified period of vacancy”
      • another proposed text amendment Text Amendment, Ord. 2023-005, 23-TA-004, to the City of Jonesboro Code of Ordinances, Chapter 33 – Boards, Commissions, and Authorities, new Section 33-2, “concerning the creation of a Jonesboro Youth Council”
    • Finance Director Nina Robinson will present the city’s unaudited financial statements “for the operating period ending May 31, 2022”
    • The council will vote on the items from the above public hearings.
    • Other council business includes:
      • Memorandums of Understanding “for upcoming Clayton County / Clayton County Board of Education Building Projects”
      • proposals for Christmas decorations for Jonesboro City Center, Lee Street Park, and the Downtown District
      • an Intergovernmental Agreement for “the Provision of Election Services” between Clayton County and the city
      • a proposed investment policy; if adopted, Robinson will ask the the council “to consider a request to invest ‘idle’ funds in CDs at Bank of Ozark, Truist or GA Fund 1”
      • “adding a class of employees to be covered by the general fund resources and to approve the amendment of the general fund to add this cost to the personnel expenses in department 1300 Mayor and Council expenses.”
      • “Procurement and Purchasing Protocol Updated Spending Limits”
      • amended City of Jonesboro Personnel Policy, Section D: Personal Leave Items 5 and 6 – Maximum Accumulation and Payment for Unused Leave
      • consider a proposal from Netplanner for wifi and cameras at Lee Street Park
      • consider fee waivers for the Community Room for Dr. Floria Willis / Jonesboro Middle School in May 2024 and Lauren Langhorne Realty Group this month, as well as for Lee Street Park for Clayton County Public Schools in August.
    • Presentations include employee recognition, a Clayton County Health District update, and thePurple Passion Project for the Clayton County Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Clayton 2023 Cohort.
  • The City of Riverdale has once again cancelled its City Council meeting due to a lack of a quorum.
  • 6:30 p.m.: The Forest Park City Council will hold a special called meeting to discuss redistricting ward borders, possibly followed by an executive session. Every ten years, wards have to be redrawn in order to make sure each has about the same number of people. Doing so “involves making difficult decisions constricted by extremely complicated federal and state jurisprudence in the context of a political process,” the agenda notes. City Manager Ricky L. Clark, Jr. “has reached out to the Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office” to “jumpstart” the process. The only ways to redistrict a municipality are through a Local Act of the General Assembly or through the city’s home rule powers. You can attend the meeting in person or watch the livestream on the city’s YouTube channel.
  • 6:30 p.m.: The Lake City City Council holds its work session, followed by the regular meeting at 7 p.m. The work session will address project updates, city events, and discussion of a city representative for the Clayton County Land Bank. The regular meeting will consider ARPA funds, “additional funding for tree purchase,” an “Administrative Extension of Zoning Compliance for 5496 Jonesboro Road,” a proclamation for 811 Day, employee recognition, and a report from the police department.

Tuesday, July 11

  • 5:30 p.m.: The Clayton County Board of Commissioners holds its work session. On the agenda: Communications Administrator Valerie Fuller will give a presentation on the county’s communications policy, Human Resources Director Pamela Ambles and broker MMA will present the second quarter Quarterly Benefits Update, which “will focus on future consideration of benefits strategies for Plan Year 2023.” HR also will ask the BOC to consider approving expansion of the county’s school leave policy. 3. Expansion of School Leave Policy (Human Resources Director, Pamela R. Ambles) On behalf of the employees of Clayton County, Human Resources is requesting the Board of Commissioners’ consideration and approval of expansion of the school leave policy ” all full-time employees without consideration of the school system the child(ren) is enrolled.” Since 1999, the county has given employees eight hours a year so parents can take part in their children’s events at Clayton County Public Schools.
  • 6 p.m.: Invest Clayton (Development Authority of Clayton County) holds its monthly meeting at Lake City Community Center, 5471 Jonesboro Road, Lake City. On the agenda: election of the new board chair and updates on the Department of Natural Resources building and Small Business Program. The board also will consider a funding request from Nourishing Hands and Aerotropolis Atlanta’s third annual Honors Dinner. An executive session is scheduled for real estate, personnel and potential litigation. No mention of Roman United is on the public agenda. You can attend in person or dial in to listen at 1-605-472-5254, then enter 136500# if prompted. However, when The Clayton Crescent tried to dial in, a recording stated the call would “incur a once-cent per minute charge.”
  • 6:30 p.m.: The Morrow City Council holds its work session, followed by the regular meeting at 7:30 p.m.. On the work session agenda is Resolution 2023-06, which would amend the city’s pay scale to reflect a 3% increase and the numbers of positions for each department this fiscal year (see chart below). The regular agenda is pretty sparse except for that resolution, unspecified proclamations, and an executive session on personnel matters. It’s not clear from the published agenda whether any positions are being cut or added, although a list of personnel is included in the agenda packet.
  • 6 p.m.: The Jonesboro Downtown Development District meets at City Center. Agenda highlights include consideration of termite quotes for 166 S. Main Street, plus updates from the Promotions/Organization and Design Review Committees.

Wednesday, July 12

Thursday, July 13

  • TBA

Friday, July 14

  • TBA

We ask that you send events and meeting notices directly to editor@claytoncrescent.org with the subject line Agenda. Please do not rely on Facebook posts and the like to get the word out about government-related events!

Robin Kemp is executive editor and CEO of The Clayton Crescent, which she founded in 2020. She has worked for Gambit, CNN, The Weather Channel, Clayton News, Henry Herald, and numerous freelance outlets....

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