John Eaves - Fulton County Chairman

A word from Commissioner Eaves at North Fulton Chamber of Commerce Meeting
Everyday, we come to work here.
Everyday, we raise our children here.
And everyday, we have the chance to take what we have here, and make it better.

Making things better is the simple goal and common aspiration of the more than one million people who call Fulton County home.

A lot is expected of government in making this simple goal a reality. And in these best of times, worst of times moments, meeting these expectations has become daunting to say the least.

Nonetheless, three things remain constant no matter what we think of the times.

Our proper governing conscious must always be viewed as:

Having an unyielding commitment to sound fiscal policies;
Making exceptional services the rule not the exception, and;
Ensuring a highly developed partnership between the public and private sector.

The Fulton County Budget
In the toughest economy in a generation, John Eaves has guided Fulton County in a fiscally responsible manner. Despite the recession, Eaves has produced three consecutive balanced budgets without raising general fund taxes, and cut government spending in a fair and equitable manner without jeopardizing the city's finances or basic county services. Fulton County employees serve an estimated population of more than one million residents. While many surrounding governments have been forced to implement huge layoffs and in some instances reduce services, in 2010 Fulton County successfully approved a $908.4 million budget that held the line on the millage rate and only minimally impacted services and staff.

In fact, the County has maintained a stable millage rate of 10.281 over the three years Commissioner Eaves has served as Chairman. The rate is well below the all time high rate of 13.34 mills in 2001. Further, by consolidating services and implementing cost-saving measures and efficiencies, the number of employees has steadily reduced from 6,300 in 2006 to the current level of 5,500.

Fulton Industrial Boulevard
Amid growing concerns about public safety and the appearance of the Fulton Industrial Boulevard corridor, members of Chairman Eaves’ staff partnered with several Fulton County agencies for a physical clean-up including utilizing code enforcement to facilitate the cleaning of properties neglected by property owners in the area. Public safety presence was increased to reduce criminal activity.

About the Joint Fulton County - DeKalb County Committees on Transportation and Healthcare
Within the metropolitan region, Fulton County and DeKalb County are the only counties providing significant financial support to Grady and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), though both entities clearly serve the region. Concerned about the financial futures of Grady and MARTA and the human and financial impact on both counties, Chairman Eaves spearheaded the effort to create the Joint Fulton County – DeKalb County Committees on Transportation and Healthcare. The committees are comprised of the Chairman of Fulton County, the Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb County and two members from their respective Commissions.

Joint Fulton County – DeKalb County Committee on Transportation
Committed to regional transportation supported by all counties involved, Chairman Eaves devoted much energy and time in brokering a joint transportation effort between Fulton County and DeKalb County. MARTA provides essential public transportation services to Fulton County, DeKalb County and the entire metropolitan area. Despite that fact, Fulton County and DeKalb County are the only counties providing significant financial support to MARTA.

As part of this process, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution in October, 2008 in support of “Concept 3”. The “Concept 3” plan is the vision of leaders—from multiple local, county and state agencies—unifying the efforts of MARTA, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA), and other transit systems to create a real regional transportation system by improving on what currently exists. The plan calls for extending bus service to the counties without a local bus service, extension of the MARTA rail and construction of a series of commuter rail lines where they make sense. State-of-the-art transit technologies like light rail, bus rapid transit, and modern streetcars will be utilized to unclog the bottlenecks and get the system moving.

Joint Fulton County – DeKalb County Committee on Healthcare
Healthcare has been a focal point for Chairman Eaves and since assuming office he has worked diligently to protect the access to quality healthcare for Fulton County residents and at the same time protect the financial interests of the County. The Chairman aggressively pursued privatization of the largest trauma hospital in the state in an effort to help right the financially sinking ship.

As is the case with MARTA, Fulton County and DeKalb County have been the major funding source for the provision of the regional healthcare services and emergency care provided by Grady. Committed to fulfilling the fundamental duty of Fulton County officials to protect and promote public health and welfare, the Board of Commissioners approved a resolution sponsored by Chairman Eaves to form a joint Fulton County- DeKalb County Committee on Healthcare.

The joint Healthcare Committee developed and approved 10 recommendations that were subsequently approved by the Fulton County Board of Commissioners in October 2009.

Highlights of the recommendations:
• Encourage County employees to utilize healthcare services at Grady
• Take appropriate steps to establish a Universal Health Card to correctly identify patients for services, expedite referrals and cut wait times.
• Identify innovative, evidence-based ways to redirect patients to Neighborhood Clinics where they will have a medical home.

Mayoral Council
In these complex times coordination between governments is critical in order to maximize services and dollars. Anxious to facilitate dialog between the 14 governments within Fulton County, Chairman Eaves led the formation of the Mayoral Council which provides a platform for collaboration between the municipality leaders and an open forum for discussion with the Chairman. The Council has positively impacted service delivery agreements between the cities and the County.

Fulton County Global Youth Leadership Program
As an international student and a former Peace Corps manager and volunteer, Chairman Eaves understands the increasing interconnectivity of peoples and cultures around the world and the significance of international exposure for young people in expanding their horizons. In 2007, Chairman Eaves partnered with the existing Fulton County Youth Commission to create the Fulton County Global Youth Leadership Program. Through the privately funded program, 30 Fulton County students have traveled to South Africa, Germany and Turkey where the potential future leaders experienced firsthand the people, the cultures, issues and problem solving methods utilized in those communities.

The student’s experiences include staying in the homes of hosts, educational exchange forums between Fulton County students and their visiting counterparts, presentations before government and civic entities, and performance of community service, and the development of recommendations on how to address issues of mutual interest, health and obesity, education, youth employment and homelessness.

For one visiting student from South Africa, the visit was truly life changing. Boris Dobrijevic of South Africa fell in love with Morehouse College and determined it was his college of choice. He has since earned a full scholarship and will begin classes in the fall of 2010.

Re-entry Task Force
Improving the public safety of our Fulton County residents is one of Chairman Eaves’ highest priorities. Reducing crime requires a multi-level approach involving long-term strategies. Resources are no longer available to local governments across our nation that would allow for putting and keeping people in jail as the primary solution.

Under the Chairman’s leadership, Fulton County is developing innovative programs to address recidivism –programs that will require accountability from the violators of our laws with the most repeat offenders, and who have demonstrated over and over that they can not overcome the behavior issues that keep them going to jail.

The Board of Commissioners will start the process of reclaiming lives, reducing cost and relieving overcrowding in the Fulton County jail. The adopted resolution authorized the County to compete for up to $750,000 in Federal funds, to local governments under the Second Chance Act. The money would be used to reduce the number of repeat offenders in the County Justice System.

A significant part of the process included the formation of the reentry task force comprised of all of the leaders of the Fulton County Criminal Justice agencies as well as justice and law enforcement representatives from the state and local agencies.

In October 2010, Fulton County received notification from the United States Department of Justice that among 1,000 applicants, 116 agencies and 17 counties that Fulton was awarded $749,733. The grant also allows for an annual renewal for that amount for up to three years.

The participants will receive assistance related to the issues that have led to their cycle of offending, and assist them to change their behavior while they are serving sentences at the Fulton County jail and for 18 months after release.

Funding will provide training for jail detention officers, assessment tools for those persons booked into the jail, case management and coordinated services delivered by the Fulton County Department of Human Services and non-profit service providers both in the jail and upon release.

Law enforcement officers will be designated to track participants when they are released into the post-jail portion of the project.

Community involvement will also be an important component of the project. In addition to the grant award, the Fulton County Reentry Task Force has committed $1.4 million of in-kind services from their agencies, including case management, dedicated staff, housing, employment services and substance abuse and mental health services.

Inmates will be served at the Fulton County Jail, which houses inmates from throughout the county.

Participating inmates will continue to be served following discharge from the Fulton County jail.