Celebrating
Wellness
Community
We Worship
19 years
GPTC host open house for new production studio ....page 3
Let’s Move! DeKalb takes childhood obesity head on....page 6
SERVING DEKALB, FULTON, GWINNETT, HENRY AND ROCKDALE COUNTIES
VOLUME 20 NUMBER 18
WWW.OCGNEWS.COM
n
Voices of Faith’s 50+ Ministry awards college scholarships...page 10
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/OCGNEWS
AUGUST 2, 2014
FREE
DeKalb’s Interim CEO May reviews year on the job, future goals By Joshua Smith
E
veryday Lee May wakes up with one mission on his mind: Restoring the faith of DeKalb County residents. A year ago, May hit the ground running after Gov. Nathan Deal appointed him to the county’s top seat as DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis stepped down to face a corruption court case. DeKalb was not only reeling from that case, but a racketeering case involving former DeKalb School Superintendent Crawford Lewis. “That was an interesting moment and a unique experience for myself and the county. We were in a position as a county that we were never in before. The anxiety, the uncertainty
about the future leadership of DeKalb really was at stake. People were wondering what was going to happen next,” said May. “Most people enter into a role like this with a transitional period of two to three months. I had a two-hour transitional period. Operating a government with a billion dollar budget, you have to keep an open dialogue with the thousands of employees here, keep a good relationship with commissioners and always think about what you can do next to successfully govern the county.” May, 38, is the youngest person to lead DeKalb, Georgia’s third-largest county with more than 700,000 residents. May served as DeKalb’s District 5 commissioner before he was tapped to See May, page 7
Photo by Joshua Smith/OCG News
Atlanta Public Schools employees to receive pay raise The Atlanta Public Schools employees will see their first pay increase in over five years, some of them beginning this week. The school system has implemented a district-wide pay increase plan that was announced by the Atlanta Board of Education in late June. The plan represents a $12 million increase in the system’s overall salary budget. All fulltime employees who were hired by the district prior to July 2014 will receive an adjustment that will be paid in equal amounts throughout the rest of the 2014-2015 school year or in a one-time payment, depending on the employee’s date of hire. “I am really happy to be able to reiterate the Board’s appreciation for the support that district employees have continued to provide to the students and families of Atlanta Public Schools,” said Dr. Meria J. Carstarphen, superintendent of the Atlanta Public Schools. “We have some very committed employees, and this is a direct, positive impact on their lives.” Wages for Atlanta Public Schools employees were frozen in 2009, as a result of major cuts to education across the state. Based on tenure and work schedule, some employees will see increases in their July 31 pay. Others will see the increase start in August. The amount of an increase will also vary, with those who were hired before June 2009 receiving the largest increase – a 5 percent raise. The average pay increase for employees will be 4 percent. “Having a great school district starts with having talented and dedicated employees, and we a committed to Atlanta Public Schools becoming one of the nation’s leading districts” said Dr. Carstarphen “I believe the children of Atlanta deserve this type of commitment.” Atlanta Public Schools is one of the largest school districts in the state of Georgia, serving approximately 50,000 students across 106 learning sites.
Richard Oden presents the homeowners with grant for $306,000.
Photos by Mackenzie N. Morgan/OCG News
Joy Freeman is all smiles about her new step-in tub.
Rockdale residents, county officials celebrate federally-funded home makeover program
I
By Mackenzie N. Morgan
t’s been 10 years since Joy Freeman has used a bathtub. Thanks to a grant from the Rockdale Community Home Investment Program (CHIP), the Rockdale senior citizen can now safely soak in her brand new handicap-accessible bathtub. “The last time I got in a bathtub I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to get out,” said Freeman who uses a walker due to limited mobility. “Getting a walk-in bathtub was my favorite part of the home renovation project and now I can take baths like I used to.” The Rockdale resident is among seven homeowners who received home rehabilitation funds and one new homeowner who received down payment assistance through the Rockdale CHIP grant. Several elected officials, homeowners and program executives and partners attended a cake cutting ceremony on July 31 at the J.P. Carr Community Center in Conyers to celebrate the program’s successful completion. “This is the second housing grant that Rockdale has received, but it is the first community home improvement program the county has received, so this was huge,” said Rockdale County Chairman and CEO Richard Oden. Other programs, such as the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), administered through the American Recovery Act of 2007, allows the county to sell affordable housing to eligible homebuyers through the purchase and redevelopment of foreclosed and abandoned
homes whereas CHIP recipients are able to get assistance with costly home repairs and down payment assistance. Oden said he made it top priority to seek local business to help get the job done. One of the partners, CEO and President of EW Capital Management, Joel Elliott, said the project was a great success. “It was a fantastic project. Some of the things we were able to do, the home owners would probably not have been able to do on their own. Most of the things we did were sustainable, making sure we made the homes energy efficient to reduce energy costs,” said Elliott. Michelle Lewis from the Department of Community Affairs said that although the application process can be intimidating, she encourages all communities to apply when the application process reopens. “In the long run, it is worth it to see homeowners who’ve never had air-conditioning receive AC units, roofing repairs, new appliances like stoves and refrigerators or even handicap-accessible home modifications such as lowered cabinets, wheelchair ramps, and widened doorways that all improve quality of living,” said Lewis. Lewis said the DCA received an award of $10.2 million in April of this year and would be allocating all of the funding to CHIP in the next round of grant applications. Normally, CHIP receives around $3 million See Home makeover, page 7