August 18, 2024
By: Dwayne Page
Electing to move?
Amid calls by some for stronger security measures at the courthouse and due to the need for more office and storage space itself, the DeKalb County Election Commission is seeking authorization from the county to eventually move it’s operations from the first floor of the courthouse to unused space at the county complex.
During a meeting of the county commission’s public works committee Thursday evening, Administrator of Elections Dustin Estes made the formal request on behalf of the election commission and explained the reasons for wanting to make the move.
“I am here on behalf of the DeKalb County Election Commission to formally request to move our offices from the courthouse to the complex,” said Estes.
“Why make this move? There is a strong effort to lock down the courthouse to a single point entrance with security screenings but that does not work for the type of traffic we have to our office especially during early voting times,” Estes explained.
“We are also outgrowing our limited office space at the courthouse, occupying shared space including the lower court room which we use for early voting and for our trainings, meetings, etc. Further, parking is limited around the courthouse and voters have to compete for parking especially during days of court”.
According to Estes, the election commission proposes moving to a larger space in the county offices portion of the county complex down the hall near the Assessor of Property office toward the rear of the building. That office is currently unfinished but if and when completed, Estes said it could suit the election commission’s needs.
“We want to have enough space to function properly and provide better accessibility and a more conducive work environment. We also want to keep our offices in close proximity to where early voting occurs in case there are any potential issues with voters should they need to update their addresses, etc.” explained Estes.
Administrator Estes provided the committee with an initial floor plan for how the large space could be renovated by adding walls and doors to create smaller offices for the administrator and deputy administrator, rooms for meetings, trainings, and early voting, and a place to keep election records, supplies, and storage of voting machines and equipment with a complex IT closet.
Even though the county complex has been in operation for 12 years, this particular room, originally intended for use by the county mayor’s office was never finished.
Estes said this room has no drop ceiling. It needs flooring with tile and while there are electrical outlets there are none for telephones. HVAC in the room is also not completely finished.
The committee voted to request that the county mayor seek estimates on renovating the office based on the election commission’s initial floor plan proposal but stopped short of making a final recommendation for approval until the estimates come in and a determination is made as to whether funds are available to do the work this budget year.
Even if approved, a relocation of the election commission office would still be months away and the public would have to be oriented on the layout and accessibility of the new location.
Meanwhile, Kim Luton, member of the election commission addressed the committee asking that some cleanup and repairs be done to community centers, especially those that serve as voting precincts.
“Some of our community centers are in terrible shape,” said Luton. At Temperance Hall during the election, we found trash in the building and even a snakeskin. Our poll workers cleaned it. The grass was extremely high, but somebody had mowed it this week. The Johnson’s Chapel community center is in the worst shape. There the handicapped ramp is coming out from the wall, the rails are down, and the sidewalks are buckled. We are just asking that you get some of these community centers in shape for the November election to make it easier for voters to access”.
“We have a person bid out to mow all county properties,” said County Mayor Matt Adcock. While he could not assure that all needed community center repairs could be done by the November election, County Mayor Adcock said he would have County Public Works Director Brian Reed take a look at it.
“I am absolutely ashamed of the condition that the community centers were in during the election, and I apologize for that, but we are going to take care of it,” said Reed, who has only been on the job as Public Works Director for a few weeks.