Good evening Mayor, Council, and Staff,
My name is Malaika Wells. I live at in District 4. I’m the current president of the Stonecrest Citizens Coalition.
Thank you for the robust discussions at the January 9th meeting. I appreciated the engagement from all involved. And also appreciate Councilman Rob Turner’s and Councilwoman Alecia Washington’s voiced concern for community members who need and/or utilize extended stay facilities. Thank you for being mindful of the whole of our socioeconomic ecosystem.
I’m here to ask that you continue to broadcast and stream committee meetings – whether required by law or not, as this facilitates citizen engagement and participation.
Concerning the ARPA funds, Stonecrest citizens have continued to express their concern with the city giving these funds to DeKalb County Schools and have articulated that these funds should NOT be given to DCSD but would be better used by making them available to local and county nonprofits who are or desire to provide extracurricular, academic, cultural and other programming for students and youth who live within the city limits. I support a special called meeting on the ARPA funds and look forward to the city working to ensure that there is significant public input and participation in this meeting.
Concerning the ethics board, I support option 1 which seems to reflect the will of community members who shared in the SCC Facebook members forum on October 23, 2022. Of note, we have at least one resident who has previous employment experience with a ethics commission who, with other citizens, is a tremendous asset in creating an ethics board we can be confident in.
Also, the Charter Review Commission has been languishing. Why is this important and long overdue commission not on tonight’s agenda and when will the council begin to appoint members?