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Opponents of creating news cities and proponents of creating a new city of LaVista Hills have each issued blistering statements about corruption in DeKalb County.

But while the two groups agree that the county government is in dire need of reform, they disagree about whether a new city is part of the solution.

DeKalb Strong and LaVista Hills YES each issued statements about two recent news events: A hastily approved deal to spend public money on soccer fields and a scathing letter by an independent investigator calling DeKalb’s government “rotten to the core.”

Both statements condemned the decision to block public comment before the soccer deal was approved in a 4-3 vote. Both statements also referenced the summary report published by former attorney general Mike Bowers who was hired to investigate corruption in DeKalb. While LaVista Hills YES held up Bowers’ letter as proof that residents in the proposed 65,000-person city would be better off governing themselves, DeKalb Strong blasted the county’s handling of the investigation.

“If anyone in the LaVista Hills area is still not sure whether they support forming a city, these events clearly demonstrate the need for us to have our own government that operates more efficiently and effectively,” LaVista Hills YES! Chair Allen Venet said in the letter, adding that he is not claiming any government is “immune from corruption.”

“We’ve worked with you,” DeKalb Strong wrote to CEO Lee May. “We’ve attempted to support you. We’ve even at times defended you. All of the misdeeds above are reminiscent of a time recently passed when citizens were disengaged and county government was rather free to misbehave. That freedom no longer exists. Citizens are watching. Media is watching. The board and the supporters of DeKalb Strong are watching. County government WILL be held accountable. Please give us evidence that you’re going to make genuine effort to change the conduct of county government.”

DeKalb Strong President Marjorie Snook told Decaturish that the steady drip of negative publicity for DeKalb is making it easier for cityhood groups to sell their message to voters. But she said the creation of new cities is not a panacea for DeKalb’s troubles.

“It makes it easier because they’re leading people to believe they will get a separate government independent of DeKalb County by forming a new city, but that’s not what a new city does,” Snook said. “Residents will still get most of their services from DeKalb. The county still handles tax assessments. The county police force you’re going to call if something serious happens. When we have a pothole in the road, the water system underneath the road is just as often as not the culprit causing the pothole.

“Yes, they’re using it because they’re trying to tap into voter frustration, which is frustration we feel. We agree with them the situation with DeKalb County is unacceptable. They’ve tried to portray us as pro-county. We’ve never been pro-county. We are pro good governance.”

Venet said his group feels cityhood is not going to solve all of the problems with DeKalb’s government, but new cities are a part of the solution.

“We all understand the county will continue to be there and will continue to provide county-wide services,” Venet said. “Our real focus is creation of a city is part of the solution. Right now we have a county that is doing too much and doing it poorly. If the unincorporated parts of the county become cities, shifting some of the governmental services to cities, then we have a county government that has less to focus on.”

He added, “The other, I suppose, one thing Marjorie and I certainly agree: We all want a better DeKalb County. It’s a question of whether cityhood helps that effort or hinders that effort. We think it helps that effort and we respect their different opinion.”

Here are the two statements from LaVista Hills YES and DeKalb Strong: