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FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014 VOL. 17, NO. 10 FREE
A PUBLICATION OF ACE III COMMUNICATIONS Serving East Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, Decatur, Doraville, Dunwoody, Lithonia, Pine Lake, Tucker and Stone Mountain.
FREEPRESS
6,000 grads fip their tassels in DeKalb
FOLLOW THE MONEY
A series revealing purchases on county-issued P-Cards by DeKalb County Commissioners, ofcials and assistants.
From Smoothie King to iTunes
In DeKalb
We Trust?
See page 12A
See story on page 15A
THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014 PAGE 2A
LOCAL NEWS
MARTA CEO: Were continuing to get better
B e c a u s e y o u g e t
w h a t y o u p a y f o r .
Thanks to the money saving tips on the Georgia Power website, I learned exactly how to turn my renovation into a reward.
First, I got $50 for taking advantage of the Georgia Power Refrigerator Recycling Program. Then, I got a rebate for
purchasing ENERGY STAR
certifed appliances, and since these appliances use 10 to 50 percent less energy than
standard models, I get the beneft of a lower monthly bill. For more information on tips and rebates, visit georgiapower.com/save.
Certain restrictions apply. Must be a Georgia Power customer. Rebate available through November 30, 2014.
Customer must submit receipt/invoice for the ENERGY STAR
appliances and received rebates in return.
by Carla Parker
carla@dekalbchamp.com
When Keith Parker took over as MARTA
general manager and chief executive officer in
December 2012, he said the transit system had a
$33 million deficit, an unfavorable public image
and a tense relationship with state lawmakers.
In the last 17 months, Parker and MARTA of-
ficials have made improvements to move MAR-
TA in a positive direction. MARTA has gone
from a $30 million deficit to a $9 million surplus,
bus and train services have improvedincluding
the addition of 88 new buses, relationships with
lawmakers have improved, and MARTA is safer
due to the Ride With Respect code of conduct.
Parker said the last 17 months have been trans-
formational.
We had to take on a number of different
challenges and we focused them on three areas:
employees, customers and financial stability,
Parker said. And I think weve been able to make
significant improvements in all three areas.
Parker said the most difficult thing he had
to deal with was the budget. Over the past three
years, MARTA had to make several cuts to stabi-
lize the budget.
The agency stopped investing in employees
in many respects, he said. We had to stop giving
raises and it also impacted our customer service
because we made so many cuts and raised fares
so much that getting the budget stabilized was
necessary before we could do anything.
MARTA was able to recover from the finan-
cial turmoil. The $33 million deficit that MARTA
was facing when Parker came in turned into a $9
million surplus in less than eight months. MAR-
TA also has balanced the budget for the current
fiscal year, which has only been done twice in the
past 15 years.
We will end up with a $15 million surplus in
fiscal year 14, Parker said. I think those things
have been a dramatic improvement.
Parker said another dramatic improvement
has been the relationship with state legislators
and Gov. Nathan Deal.
Just a year and a half ago when I was com-
ing in, there were very tense meetings with many
of the elected officials and what were seeing
now is that theyre very supportive, Parker said.
Theyve all made very vocal overt comments
about MARTAs leadership and how they think
were moving in the right direction and some of
them had said that weve completely turned the
agency around.
MARTA has battled with lawmakers and
citizens in the past about extending bus and rail
services to other counties in the metro Atlanta
region. In 2012, voters rejected a Transporta-
tion Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or
TSPLOST. The tax would have funded $6.14 bil-
lion of regional transportation projects selected
See MARTA on page 16A
MARTA general manager and chief executive offcer Keith
Parker said his time with MARTA has been transformational.
Photo provided
THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014 PAGE 3A
by Carla Parker
carla@dekalbchamp.com
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
(CPR) is an easy life-saving tool to
learn, but not many people know
how to perform it.
To change that, DeKalb County
fire rescue partnered with Ameri-
can Medical Response for the AMR
World CPR Challenge Day May 21
in observance of National Emergen-
cy Medical Week. AMR technicians
were at the Fire Rescue headquar-
ters, a few fire stations and other
locations across the county teaching
people how to do compression-only
CPR.
This is the first year DeKalb has
partnered with AMR for this event,
which is a part of DeKalbs Emer-
gency Medical Service public educa-
tion.
DeKalb Fire/Rescue spokes-
man Capt. Eric Jackson said it is
important that people know how to
perform CPR because a lot of regu-
lation and procedures have changed
in regards to CPR and people need
to know what to do in case of an
emergency.
Someone could be rendered un-
conscious right in front of you, and
you want to be able to know what to
do, Jackson said. You dont want to
be there standing in front of them
helpless and not knowing what to
do.
With compression-only CPR,
mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is
not required.
Its all about chest compres-
sions, said Daniel Seagraves, an
emergency medical technician with
AMR. Once youve check for a
pulse and called, you just have to do
chest compression until the EMT
arrives.
Seagraves said compression-only
CPR is easy and something every-
one can learn. At the fire rescue
headquarters, 34 people had come
in the first two hours to learn how
to do it.
It only takes 30 seconds, its not
hard, he said.
AMR started the worldwide
event last year in an attempt to train
as many people as possible in one
day. According to AMRs website,
sudden cardiac arrest unexpect-
edly takes the lives of thousands of
Americans each year.
Annually, AMR crews care for
more than 25,000 sudden cardiac
arrest patients. Studies show that
survival from sudden cardiac arrest
can be doubled or tripled if CPR
is administered until emergency
medical services arrive, according to
AMR.
Crime Briefs
Compression-only CPR lesson taught
MARTA CEO: Were continuing to get better
EMT Daniel Seagraves teaches Ramonda Taylor (left) and Willie Adams how to perform compression-only CPR. Photos by Carla Parker
ONE MANS OPINION
The Tea Party, Mad Hatters...or Haters?
I dont think... Alice, to The Mad
Hatter, ...then you shouldnt talk,
said the Hatter, at the Tea Party from
Lewis Carrols Alice In Wonderland.
In March 2009, the Tea Party Pa-
triots (TPP) was founded in Georgia
by Jenny Beth Martin, Mark Meck-
ler and Amy Kremer.In February
2009, Martin, a former GOP staffer
and volunteer, was facing poten-
tial foreclosure of her home.Her
husbands temp services firm was
facing bankruptcy.The couple had
begun another business cleaning
houses and declined help from a
federal loan program which might
have helped keep them in their
home.While enroute to a cleaning
job, Martin heard a radio rant by
CNBC business commentator Rick
Santelli. This is America! How
many of you people want to pay for
your neighbors mortgages (when
they have) an extra bathroom and
cant pay their bills?
Martin says Santellis words
goaded her into action and soon
after she organized the first Tea
Party rally in Atlanta. The initial Tea
Party agenda was narrow and well-
defined, as was its mission: To at-
tract educate, organize and mobilize
our fellow citizens to secure policy
consistent with our three core values
of fiscal responsibility, constitution-
ally limited government and free
markets.
What had begun simply as a
grassroots organization with con-
ference calls, online chats and
blogs, quickly mushroomed into
a movement.By tax day, April 15,
2009, Atlanta Tea Party cofounder
Debbie Dooley led a rally which
drew 20,000 in protest of excessive
taxation.Colleague and Atlanta Tea
Party co-founder Julianne Thomp-
son became a spokeswoman for
the movement and was frequently
interviewed or appeared on a variety
of network and cable news outlets as
well as leading national dailies.
By the fall of 2010, the Tea Party
reported the existence of 2,200 local
chapters, and an online community
of 115,311 members, and following
the GOP landslide election and re-
turn to majority in the U.S. House,
Tea Party leaders quickly became
sought-after power brokers and
counselors, and in a few cases, can-
didates. By the 2012 election cycle,
the modest enterprise had begun
to expand its footprint, areas of in-
volvement and focus into a variety
of unfamiliar territories, including
national energy policy, ethics and
government transparency laws,
GOP party primaries and party
leadership elections...and ardent
opposition across Georgia to the
T-SPLOST transportation improve-
ments sales tax increase.
But then, a funny thing hap-
pened while grooming that lawn
and maintaining those grass roots.
Tea Party officers, formerly vol-
unteers, frequently began morph-
ing into highly compensated and
self-overseen political consultants
and operatives.The I.R.S. initiated
reviews of the nonprofit status of
multiple Tea Party chapters.Various
Tea Party entities fought to maintain
the privacy and non-disclosure of
their expenditures.And a Tea Party
Patriots Super PAC was created to
finance like-minded candidates and
campaigns.
A recent review by the Washing-
ton Post of the required financial
filings by the TPP reveal that co-
founder Jenny Beth Martin drew a
salary as president of the TPPs non-
profit arm of reportedly $272,000
during the 2012 fiscal year.And
Martin draws another $15,000 per
month for strategic consulting as
chairwoman of the TPP Super PAC,
bringing her 2014 compensation to
more than $450,000.And while the
TPP has raised an impressive $7.4
million since 2013, it only spent
$184,505 supporting actual can-
didates.Martin also employs her
cousin as another strategic consul-
tant.The largest expense of many
Tea Party entities is salaries for a
limited few.
From the hot whistling kettle
with almost every GOP leader want-
ing to learn their tune, the Tea Party
seems to be falling out of step with
even its own membership, still pri-
marily volunteer activists and retir-
ees disenchanted with self-dealing,
career politicians...and likely to
have a low threshold for self-dealing
activists/consultants cutting them-
selves big checks with minimal over-
sight and gettin while the gettin is
good.
It was, in part, the Tea Partys cry
that the sky is falling that elevated
and escalated the national debates
over deficit spending, the debt ceil-
ing, financial markets bail-out, GM/
Chrysler buy-outs, stimulus spend-
ing, etc. But what started out as an
effort to recall Paul Reveres mid-
night ride for liberty or the Boston
Tea Party is now starting to more
resemble Alices Mad Hatter on a
tear, orif the re-election campaign
against Georgia House Speaker Da-
vid Ralston is any indicationmore
simply Mad Haters. Its time to sim-
mer down a bit, and perhaps put
on a pot of some good herbal tea
and clear your collective heads.Sen.
Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and Ted
Cruz (R-Texas) are still counting on
you.
Bill Crane also serves as a political
analyst and commentator for Channel
2s Action News, WSB-AM News/Talk
750 and now 95.5 FM, as well as a col-
umnist for The Champion, Champion
Free Press and Georgia Trend. Crane
is a DeKalb native and business owner,
living in Scottdale. You can reach him
or comment on a column at billcrane@
earthlink.net.
Bill Crane
Columnist
THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014 PAGE 4A
OPINION
Morehouse School of Medicine,
a historically Black institution, es-
tablished to train physicians, bio-
medical scientists and public health
practitioners to improve the health
and well-being of people of color
and the underserved urban and ru-
ral populations in Georgia and the
nation, invited Nathan Dealthe
conservative Republican governor
of Georgiato deliver this years
commencement address. One of the
reasons given for the invitation is
the governor granted the medical
school $32 million of Georgia tax-
payer money.
A group of community activists,
led by Rev. Timothy McDonald,
Sen. Vincent Forte and Derrick
Boazman, vigorously protested the
invitation and the governors speech
the morning of the graduation.
They protested the governors
being honored to address the gradu-
ates of this historically Black school
for a number of reasons with the
most notable being the governors
refusal to expand Medicaid in Geor-
gia.
Specifically, the expansion of
Medicaid under the Affordable
Health Care Act would have provid-
ed as many as 650,000 low-income
residents health care coverage with
the federal government funding 100
percent of the cost for three years,
and 90 percent thereafter. Gov. Deal
rejected the expansion because he
said it would be too costly in the
long run.
I agree and support the protes-
tors charge that the Republican gov-
ernors refusal to accept Medicaid
expansion and the federal assistance
that accompanied it, not to mention
other egregious acts of the governor
against minorities, are compelling
reasons for why the governor should
not have been invited to speak. In-
deed Morehouse should not honor
or align itself with those politicians
or political parties that so consis-
tently work against its mission and
interests.
Historically, White politicians
and parties willing to support mea-
sures aimed at assisting Blacks have
consistently commanded the major-
ity of the Black vote.
For instance, from the end of
the Civil War until the beginning of
the Great Depression, Blacks over-
whelmingly supported Republicans.
Republicans earned Black support
because on issues affecting race,
they were more progressive and sup-
portive of Black interests than the
Democratic Party for many decades.
Yet, in spite of the support of the
Republicans during the last half of
the 19th century, Blacks generally
understood that there were limited
alternatives under Americas system
of representative democracy. Under
the circumstances, Black people ne-
gotiated the best deal they could.
The political landscape for Black
and White Americans began to
change dramatically during the
Great Depression and subsequent
New Deal legislation and programs
that gradually turned the Repub-
lican Party into a minority party
among Black voters.
The real political revolution oc-
curred in the 1964 presidential race
between incumbent Democratic
President Lyndon Baines Johnson
and conservative Republican chal-
lenger Sen. Barry Goldwater. Sen.
Goldwater voted against the 1964
Civil Rights Act outlawing racial
segregation in public accommoda-
tions. Johnson supported the act,
got it passed and Black Democrats
rewarded him with 94 percent of
their votes in that election. For
Black Americans the choice between
the Democrats and conservative Re-
publicans was clear.
Goldwater adamantly opposed
any issue or measure that supported
Black interests and by his actions,
specifically indicated a willingness
to have Republicans regarded as a
White party, prepared to represent
White Americans and defend their
interests. This is not to say that the
conservative Republicans were big-
ots or reactionaries, but rather they
felt a need to use racial codes or
themes to consolidate enough White
Americans as a self-conscious racial
majority.
It is clear that Gov. Deals many
acts as governor to either ignore or
harm minority interests, such as the
refusal to expand Medicaid, is evi-
dence that he does not deserve and
certainly has not earned the honor
to be commencement speaker at the
historically Black medical school.
Even worse, the governors ac-
tions send a very strong unspoken
message that Republicans believe
they can win political offices with-
out Black votes. More importantly,
in sending the message of neither
wanting nor needing Black votes,
Republicans feel that they can at-
tract even more votes from a much
larger pool of White Americans.
It is imperative that Blacks and
other minorities acknowledge and
counter this type of conservative Re-
publican strategy by requiring Re-
publican leaders and office seekers
to identify and address specific is-
sues of interest to minority commu-
nities. Ultimately, minorities must
be vigilantlike the medical school
protestorsto ensure whatever hon-
or or recognition given to elected
officials is legitimately earned.
OPINION
THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014 PAGE 5A
Governor Nathan Deal honored by Morehouse School of Medicine
Gene Walkerk
Columnist
Let Us Know What You Think!
THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS encourages opinions
from its readers. Please write to us and express your
views. Letters should be brief, typewritten and contain
the writers name, address and telephone number for
verifcation. All letters will be considered for publica-
tion.
Send Letters To Editor, The Champion Free Press, P. O. Box 1347,
Decatur, GA 30031-1347; Send email to Andrew@dekalbchamp.com
FAX To: (404) 370-3903 Phone: (404) 373-7779
Deadline for news releases and advertising: Thursday, one week
prior to publication date.
EDITORS NOTE: The opinions written by columnists and contribut-
ing editors do not necessarily refect the opinions of the editor or
publishers. The Publisher reserves the right to reject or cancel any
advertisement at any time. The Publisher is not responsible for
unsolicited manuscripts.
Publisher: John Hewitt
Chief Financial Of cer: Dr. Earl D. Glenn
Managing Editor: Andrew Cauthen
Production Manager: Kemesha Hunt
Photographer: Travis Hudgons
Staf Reporters: Daniel Beauregard
Carla Parker
Lauren Ramsdell
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The Champion Free Press is published each
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Phone (404) 373-7779.
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FREEPRESS
STATEMENT FROM THE PUBLISHER
We sincerely appreciate the discussion
surrounding this and any issue of interest to
DeKalb County. The Champion was founded in
1991 expressly to provide a forum for discourse
for all community residents on all sides of an
issue. We have no desire to make the news
only to report news and opinions to effect a
more educated citizenry that will ultimately
move our community forward. We are happy
to present ideas for discussion; however, we
make every effort to avoid printing information
submitted to us that is known to be false and/or
assumptions penned as fact.
Drepwalker@yahoo.com
THE CHAMPION FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014 PAGE 6A
COMMUNITY
by Lauren Ramsdell
lauren@dekalbchamp.com
Dunwoody Mayor Mike
Davis confrmed May 23
that he has selected Nor-
cross-based Slavin Manage-
ment Consultants as the
search frm to select a new
city manager.
Tere were several ex-
cellent frms, Davis said.
But the tiebreaker was the
success we had [with Slavin]
last time.
Slavin helped select the
Dunwoodys frst city man-
ager, Warren Hutmacher, at
its incorporation in 2008.
Hutmacher announced
his resignation March 25
in order to become the city
manager of neighboring
Johns Creek. Hutmacher
was previously the city man-
ager of Norcross. Dunwoody
Chief of Police Billy Grogan
was appointed Dunwoodys
acting city manager on April
25.
Te job posting on
Slavins website states the
city is looking for an ex-
perienced, knowledgeable
manager who is creative,
enthusiastic, entrepreneur-
ial, progressive and proac-
tive. Te individual will be
receptive to new ideas, very
customer service oriented,
outgoing and friendly.
Te cost of the frms ser-
vices is estimated to be in
the mid-$20,000 range, ac-
cording to Davis. No salary
has been posted for the city
manager position, but Hut-
macher earned an estimated
$166,000 plus benefts,
including an automobile
stipend. Te minimum base
salary outlined in the city
manager employment agree-
ment is $145,000.00, with
benefts and the opportunity
for annual merit increases.
If you would like to nominate someone
to be considered as a future Champion
of the Week, please contact Andrew
Cauthen at andrew@dekalbchamp.com
or at (404) 373-7779, ext. 117.
DWAYNE ROWELL
Champion
of
theWeek
A lifelong volunteer,
Dwayne Rowell frst
found Te Society of St.
Vincent de Paul an inter-
national Catholic service
organization during a
Hands On Atlanta event in
2009.
He knew of the So-
cietys thrif store on
Chamblee Tucker Road.
Afer years as a volunteer
and employee of the At-
lanta Food Bank, Rowell
started volunteering at the
thrif store. Later, when it
converted to the Societys
Georgia Area Conference
Support Center, Rowell
stayed on.
Rowell grew up around
the globe, as his father was
in the Army. One of his
frst memories of serving
others came from when he
was living in France.
I remember being on
a school bus, and the nuns
habit used to be blowing
in the wind, and shes driv-
ing the bus, he said. And
once a week they took all
of us kids to a senior
care home. We were re-
quired to go to this place
once a week, to see the
elderly people, and they
loved us. We played cards,
they talked to us, they read
us books, so it was an en-
joyment factor for them to
have us coming. But that
was my frst taste of vol-
unteering, of going some-
place and doing something
for other people, and I
never forgot it.
At St. Vincent de Paul,
Rowell does everything.
He ofen comes straight
from his job at Georgia
State.
Its important for vol-
unteers... that we learn
diferent phases of the op-
eration he said. You can do
everything and then you
can apply these skills to go
somewhere else to actually
work.
Rowell said that, in the
past, he struggled with ad-
diction. He was homeless,
and relied on support for
clothes, food and access
to computers for his job
search. He is now six years
sober and advises others
on their own job searches.
I tell you, as a person
who has been in need in
the past... theres more of
an initiative to volunteer
someplace.
Rowell said he has seen
volunteering lead directly
to employment, like his
own time at the Atlanta
Community Food Bank.
A woman he counseled
to spend time volunteer-
ing during her job search
was then hired at Grady
Hospital, where she spent
four hours a week for two
months.
You might feel like
youre somewhat alone,
you cant network or you
dont know people and
then you start to realize,
no, everything is kind of
connected, he said. It
may not seem that way in
the big picture but it actu-
ally is. Volunteering is a
door-opener.
NOTICE OF PROPERTY TAX INCREASE
The Mayor and City Council of the City of Lithonia has tentatively adopted a millage
rate which will require an increase in property taxes by 22.25%.
All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearing on this tax increase to be held at
City Hall, 6980 Main Street on June 16, 2014 at 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. A third public
hearing will be held at City Hall on June 23, 2014 at 6:00 p.m.
This tentative increase will result in a millage rate of 19.869, an increase of 3.616 mills.
Without this tentative tax increase, the millage rate will be no more than 16.253 mills.
This proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $26,000 is
approximately $37.00. The proposed increase on non-homestead property with a fair
market value of $53,000 is approximately $76.00.
The proposed tax increase will enable the City to meet anticipated obligations and to
establish a reserve fund.