Lakeside Leadership Rears Its Head

It wasn't long ago that Tucker residents were hit with several 1-2 combination punches that left many of us reeling from the blows.  There was the news from SACS that our school system faced a loss of accreditation from the poor governance and financial mishaps of the elected board members.  Then, the state school board recommended that the Governor remove the entire board, which was followed immediately by the announcement by the Lakeside City Alliance (LCA) that they would be helping themselves to about half of the Tucker CDP, slicing it up to serve their own needs.

Unfortunately, the chaos created by the LCA may have also affected the Tucker community's ability to organize itself in a productive manner as the Governor's search for people to appoint to the replacement school board yielded only 10 resumes from our area.  Out of 400 or more, we gave ourselves a very small shot at landing anyone in the spot that was previously held by Dr. Pam Speaks.  Neighboring areas such as Stone Mountain and Lithonia had about 60 -75 applicants, by comparison, for the "at large" District 8.   Her position covered the "eastern" half the county, with the other half assigned to Dr. Eugene Walker, former board chairman.  

The odd interpretation of the state law may have had something to with it, however, so don't get too down on yourselves over this issue.  We had just recently voted for our District 4 and 8 representatives, so many people probably assumed that we did not have any spots on the board that the Governor would be replacing.  And, in fact, he left the newly elected members in their seats, for Districts 2, 4 and 6.  But, Dr. Pam Speaks, District 8, won re-election, but lost her seat anyway.  It was assumed that her removal was due to her service on the prior board, even though she was never accused directly of any wrongdoing.  

Dr. Speaks was a resident of the Smoke Rise community.  Her replacement is from the Lakeside area.  It is a bit ironic, don't you think, that the one community rising up against their lack of "local control" was doing so at a time when they had secured two of nine seats with their own residents on the Board of Education.  Clearly, "local" must have a different meaning in the LCA Guide To City Formation.  

District 4 includes both Lakeside High School and Tucker High School and has been represented for decades by residents who live near Lakeside High School.  Former Vice Chairman Paul Womack was elected in the 1970's during the desegregation times and then claims that "the community" wanted him back on the board during the 2000's.  

I'm sure he did not mean Tucker when he referred to "the community" as he barely recognized the names of our schools, even calling Tucker "South DeKalb" at times.  He is the one who wanted the cell phone towers, for example, despite widespread opposition.  His loyalty, like many legislators and especially former school board members, is with his own investments and his own community first.  He was as much a part of the problem that led to the SACS issues as any other board member in DeKalb.  Womack was known for many of the intimidation and abuse of power tactics described in that SACS report.

Womack has been basically out of sight since losing his re-election campaign to Jim McMahan, a Sagamore Hills resident who was previously the Lakeside Cluster PTA Representative.  But, Womack made a surprise guest appearance at the December school board meeting a few nights ago.  You can read his statement and watch it back on video on the Stan Jester Fact Checker blog.

Mr. Womack, who started the use of "Lakeside" as a reference for a community, not just a school, was very mad during his three minutes of free speech.  He is mad that the school board settled the lawsuit that has dragged on for years and was cited in the SACS report as a major problem for our school system.  He was mad that we did not get enough and I'm guessing that if he were still on the board, he would have voted against the settlement, insisting that the school system should hold out a little longer and demand more.  

What he is missing is the expensive side to prolonged litigation and the toll that such a fight has taken on our schools.  Money for attorneys must come out of the school system's "General Fund" by law.  That is the same fund that pays for classroom supplies, general upkeep of buildings, teacher salaries, books, paperclips, copy machines and more.  I am sure many parents can attest to the effects that this depleted general fund has had on our schools. 

The lawsuit was a construction battle stemming from misuse of SPLOST tax dollars.  Here's how I understand it in a nutshell:  Heery sued the school system for a cancelled contract that was then awarded to a firm who hired Tony Pope, the spouse of a school system administrator.  The school system filed a counter claim for something like $100 million which essentially was a way to try to get Heery to drop their lawsuit.  They didn't and the battle lagged on and on.  The attorneys were being paid, and paid well, at the expense of our children.  

It is the arrogance and finger pointing of Mr. Womack and other politicians that has caused a stagnation in development of our area and improvement in our schools.  I'm very glad to know that the appointed board, and a staff under Super. Thurmond's direction is doing the job they were asked to do - save accreditation and put our schools on a better path for the future.   I hope they all run for election when their appointments are up as I think the best thing we can do as a county is to return this group to office, in its entirety.

The voters in both the areas now being divvied up between "Lakesde" and "Tucker" worked together to prevent Mr. Womack from gaining his re-election in the last go-around.  And, opting for the candidate with the most school-related experience, many people voted for Jim McMahan in both the general and runoff election.  It was enough to stop Womack's return and, so far, the school board has functioned well under difficult conditions, proving that the quality of the candidate is more essential than primary residence zip code.  

I have often worried that Tucker was not being represented by this new appointed board, but I haven't spoken up about it because that really isn't an issue when you have a board that wants to improve education for all children.  It shouldn't be about how much you can get and it really should not be about demolishing or building structures, or lawsuits or even technology.  

Could we have gotten more money from Heery International if we had held out?  I don't really know, nor do I care.  That chapter of the DeKalb School System book is now closed and it's time to move forward.  I hope everyone makes a mental note of how much better and faster we can accomplish great things here when we all work together toward our common goals.  

Politics work when there are two sides to pit against one another as a "champion" is always needed to represent you.  But, politics aside, communities work best when they are able to listen to the needs of all who live there and work with one another to create opportunities for everyone. There is plenty of money to accomplish great things.  And, nothing against lawyers, but they probably get paid enough already.  Don't you think?  

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NOTE:  This is the first in a series of articles about the proposed incorporation of various parts of Central DeKalb into cities including Tucker, Lakeside and Briarcliff.  Members of the "Save Tucker from Lakeside City" discussion group on Facebook will contribute content on a periodic basis as the city debate moves forward. We invite you to "like" us on Facebook and join in the conversation if you care about the future of our community.  Thank you!
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