Gannon Responds To Brookhaven Ethics Complaint

UPDATE at 6:32 pm: Commissioner Kathie Gannon's office issued the following statement in regard to BrookhavenYES' ethics complaint against DeKalb County. Her statement concerns Davis Fox, a staffer who engaged in a series of emails with other elected and appointed officials, over the issue of Brookhaven cityhood:

"Mr. Fox's title is policy and projects manager. As such, he analyzes issues. He has no authority or ability to implement recommendations. He is an analyst, not a decision-maker. It is absurd to draw broad conclusions from any number of things he may have written about any of a number of issues."

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UPDATE at 2:13 pm: DeKalb County says it has not engaged in a political process in the debate over Brookhaven incorporation.

Responding to BrookhavenYES' ethics complaint against the county that was filed early Friday afternoon, DeKalb spokesman Burke Brennan issued this statement:

"DeKalb County has been in receipt of several hundred emails concerning the Brookhaven issue, including some that have requested specific information.  DeKalb County has not engaged itself in a political process, however, it has responded to requests for information and service delivery, as usual. The County has also attempted to offer facts to citizens about the real cost of providing services and capital improvements to various parts of the county."

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BrookhavenYES has filed a complaint with the Georgia Government Transparancy and Finance Commission, formally charging that DeKalb County has allegedly been using taxpayer-funded resources and personnel to defeat  pro-cityhood efforts.

“We first started filing open records requests to the county back in late June,” J. Max Davis, chairman of BrookhavenYES, told Patch. “There have just been too many instances in which the county seems to have been colluding with cityhood opponents over talking points and press releases and press conferences.”

At the heart of the complaint are a series of emails that BrookhavenYES says it obtained through open records requests to the county. One e-mail sent by Davis Fox, a staffer of , to Commissioner Jeff Rader and other DeKalb personnel, appears to outline a series of steps and talking points that can be used to support cityhood opponents.

The emails obtained by BrookhavenYES are attached to this article, along with a copy of the official complaint filed against DeKalb County.

“These emails that we’ve obtained are just the tip of the iceberg,” Davis said. “DeKalb has been claiming exemptions on some of the others that we’ve requested, but we believe they’re holding back the most damaging ones until the election is over and it’s too late.”

Patch has contacted Gannon’s office for a reply, but had not received one at the time of this posting.

Stay with Patch throughout the day as updates become available.