Politics & Government

Can Lee May Save DeKalb County?

A local blog for DeKalb County police officers asks whether the county's interim CEO can help stabilize and revitalize DeKalb.

By Hunt Archbold

There is a local blog called:DEKALB OFFICERS SPEAK

Are you familiar with it? It states that:Β "This blog page was established so DeKalb County Police Officers including their family and friends may have a place to hold discussions, post news and vent without fear of retribution."

Earlier this month there was a post entitled,Β Can Lee May Dave DeKalb County?

Like many of the posts, it was followed by a string of anonymous comments. Courtesy of DEKALB OFFICERS SPEAK, we're posting the short blog post here in its entirety with a couple of of comments, as well.

And we're asking you, can interim DeKalb CEO Lee May save a struggling county that is being pulled in so many different directions?

Can Lee May Dave DeKalb County?


Lee May has promised a push in hiring police officers. He has promised one time pay bonuses.Β 


At the same time, we are losing officers at an astonishing rate. In September alone, we have lost over 25 officers!

With the bad economic news that the county is still struggling and running a deficit, can he save the county?

It seems everybody wants to secede from the county. To mention just a few; Oak Grove, Stone Crest, Tucker, Lakeside, South DeKalb and Druid Hills. They all site lack of services and police protection. They say they can do it better.

How can Lee May keep them from fleeing? How can he keep running the county with deficits? He need look at Fulton County and beyond to Detroit to see the future if he can't stem the tide.

Just a small sampling of comments from anonymous users of the site:

  • "Lee May seems like a really good guy and it seems like he wants to do the right thing. He could turn DeKalb County around but he would have to be willing to stand up and make the tough decisions. He would have to be willing to fire people who need to be fired and tell people NO when necessary. Does he have that in him? We can only hope."
  • Lee May is clueless. You can save the county by saving Lakeside, which does not seem to be a priority. We are too worried about putting Center officers on specials rather then assigning them to the proposed Lakeside area to reduce call response time. How stupid is this place? When Lakeside incorporates, thats another $30 million in lost revenue.

What do you think, can Lee May save DeKalb County?


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