Davis Makes His First Committee and Board Appointments

Brookhaven Mayor J. Max Davis has made his first committee appointments, a process he said "was the hardest I've gone through as mayor so far."

"More than 30 names came across my desk," Davis said. "Some of these people I knew, and others I'd never met before.

"I asked several questions of every single one of them, the most important being, 'Are you able to put aside any personal biases you have to make the best decisions possible for Brookhaven?' "

The appointments were announced during Tuesday night's city council meeting.

Stan Segal, named chairman of the city's planning commission, was a strong advocate for cityhood here on Patch. He was also a member of Citizens for North DeKalb, the group that funded a study to determine if it was feasible to create a city.

Hope Bawcom, who sought the District 3 city council seat now held by Bates Mattison, will sit on the Zoning Board of Appeals. Bawcom also endorsed Davis in his runoff election against Sandy Murray.

Jed Beardsley, a member of the now-defunct Brookhaven Commission, will also sit on the zoning board.

Also, Shannon Cameron was appointed to the planning commission. Cameron was an early proponent of cityhood, and was also involved in one of Brookhaven's bitterest elections in District 2. Cameron's organization, Start Brookhaven Right, sent out mailers claiming that Jim Eyre said "Brookhaven is a cancer," right here on Patch.

Eyre was being challenged for the District 2 seat by another cityhood proponent, Russell Mitchell.

"Shannon is a very successful and intelligent person who served BrookhavenYES in a communications capacity," Davis said. "She's very reliable and dedicated to the city."

"I commend the citizens who stepped up to serve on the boards and committees for the city," Eyre said in a statement. "Their commitment to provide their time and talents will ensure Brookhaven's future is strong and decisions made on behalf of the are well founded."

Davis said his appointments' political leanings were secondary when he made his decisions.

Another planning committee appointment, John Hess, "was a NoCity advocate and someone who supported my opponent in the mayoral runoff," Davis said. "He was recommended to me by Eyre, who also supported Sandy. But after speaking with him, I was satisfied with his answers and believe he'll be an asset to the planning committee."

Hess' appointment has drawn the ire of Drew Valley resident Michael Schwartz, who says Hess has repeatedly violated DeKalb County's code ordinances  prohibiting vehicles being parked on the grass.

"He has repeatedly shown his disregard for established governmental rules and law by continually failing to adhere to the warnings given to him by DeKalb County code enforcement," Schwartz said. "He generally believes that a code or zoning regulation is elective."

Davis is anticipating appointing two to four more people to the city's alcohol review board; seven to nine people for a development authority; and seven to nine people for a parks and recreation committee.

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Brookhaven's first set of committees and boards are:

Zoning Board of Appeals 

• Tim Nama, chair
• Corey Self
• Hope Bawcom
• Glenn Viers
• Don Bolia
• Kent Gipson
• Jed Beardsley

Planning

• Stan Segal, chair
• Shannon Cameron 
• Jack Hondred
• Adrian Schmidt
• John Funny
• Rob Francour
• John Hess

Alcohol Board

• Joseph Patin, chair

Related Items:

Patch's Complete Coverage of the Brookhaven City Council

Patch's Complete Coverage of Brookhaven's Incorporation