DeKalb city leaders are exploring ways to fill seats on some of the city’s resident-led boards, commissions, and committees, typically groups that offer advice or recommendations before policy-making.

At a recent public meeting, the City Council took a close look at a proposal to help support and encourage membership.

Three existing panels – the Human Relations Commission, Economic Development Commission, and Landmark Commission – do not meet regularly and have no active members.

Five existing panels – the Citizen Police Review Board, Airport Advisory Board, Building Code Review Board, Citizens’ Environmental Commission, Finance Advisory Committee, and Citizens’ Community Enhancement Commission – are not required by state statute but regularly meet on a defined schedule.

Other panels, such as the Police Pension Board, Planning and Zoning Commission, Fire Pension Board, DeKalb Public Library Board, and the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, are required to meet by state statute.

City Manager Bill Nicklas said he wants the council to get away from considering appointments from a “pure patronage” standpoint.

“... It’s who is known as a voice, but it’s not representative of anything but that person,” Nicklas said.

What that means is that changes could be in order for certain panels.

For the Landmark Commission, it means revising the municipal code to reflect that the panel may meet on an ad-hoc basis.

The Citizen Police Review Board, for example, may revert to meeting on an as-needed basis instead of having six set meetings on the calendar every year.

For the city’s Human Relations Commission, it means defining the panel’s membership using core social service agencies in town. They may include representatives from Safe Passage, Hope Haven, Family Service Agency, RAMP, and Elder Care Services.

Other city groups are required to remain as is under the law: The Board of Fire and Police Commissioners, the DeKalb Public Library Board, the Fire Pension Board, the Police Pension Board and the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Nicklas said he believes what he’s proposed will make a difference.

“This gets people involved who are in the trenches as well as board rooms,” Nicklas said. “And I think that’s important.”

The mission statements of these panels would remain unchanged.

Filling seats on citizen-led groups

How city leaders may decide to fill vacancies as they arise on these boards, commissions, and committees remains up in the air.

Nicklas said it’s clear that there is an appetite in the community for roles in public service.

“There certainly is vibrancy in our community with respect to wanting to do the right thing by our neighbors and by our fellow citizens,” Nicklas said.

Mayor Cohen Barnes expressed optimism about what’s proposed for the city.

But he said he’d prefer not to expand membership on the Human Relations Commission beyond representatives of core social service agencies and local churches.

“It keeps coming back to I’m going to the people that deal with this on a daily basis, that really understand what’s going on in the community, but in many ways from a holistic perspective,” Barnes said.

The city’s Human Relations Commission is tasked with reviewing city policy to ensure it’s fair and equitable or provide referrals to agencies for alleged discrimination complaints. Among other things, the group is meant to “foster a community that respects and supports the diversity and dignity of all people and promotes building strong relationships between its diverse citizens, groups, and organizations,” according to the group’s mission.

The process of filling appointments to city boards, commissions, and committees has opened itself up to public scrutiny in recent years.

Typically, the mayor is responsible for fielding, vetting, and making recommendations to fill panel vacancies with the consent of the City Council.

Council action on appointments to boards, commissions, and committees had become a source of contention, with some elected leaders calling into question the mayor’s authority to fill seats only with people that he may know and like in the community.

For years, officials have said they have noted the same five or seven people stepping into fill these roles.

Barnes expressed concern about giving the appearance that everyone appointed to city panels knows one another.

“I do worry it’s going to become a group of friends, which we’ve seen already,” Barnes said. “I do worry it’s going to become judge, jury, and executioner.”

But 6th Ward Alderman Mike Verbic said he wants to ensure that residents remain involved on city panels.

Verbic used to serve on the city’s Finance Advisory Committee.

“From a standpoint of these agencies being involved, I think it’s terrific from an expertise standpoint,” Verbic said. “But from a standpoint of voting membership, I believe it should still be residents. I think our efforts should be more specifically DeKalb residents, whereas these agencies are more of a regional view of services, not specific.”

JJ Wett, a former member of the Human Relations Commission, said he doesn’t think city leaders should support what’s been proposed to the council.

But he said if there’s no other alternative, the proposal as laid out provides the best way to get some panels to start meeting again.

Wett left the Human Relations Commission in early 2025 upon moving out of town.

“I think they’re missing how influence comes to nonprofits and how I was an employee of a nonprofit in DeKalb County for almost a decade, if not more,” Wett said. “We are led by the board members, who are some of the primary donors. ... You’re kind of keeping out the people who the actual social service community serves.”

Another area of debate is how the city may define the roles and responsibilities of anyone serving on these panels.

Historically, the only requirement to serve on DeKalb boards, commissions, and committees has been residency within 1.5 miles of city limits.

Fifth Ward Alderman Andre Powell suggested that roles and responsibilities on these panels be more clearly defined.

Before being appointed to the City Council, Powell used to serve on the city’s Human Relations Commission and Citizen Police Review Board.

“Before you assign any role, maybe you want to relook at what you want it to look like before you bring anyone into the role, so we have a clear path and understanding of what we expect people to do,” Powell said.

Meeting schedule debate

Some officials questioned how regularly certain panels need to meet.

Barnes said he doesn’t want to “handcuff” all the panels into having a set meeting schedule for the year.

“Another thing, I think, some of us could testify to is when you create a meeting structure, they have to meet all the time, they start looking for work,” Barnes said. “They’re creating issues that may or may not have been there, or they’ve been there, but they’re just not that big of a deal.”

Powell shared that sentiment.

“There was times when people were just looking for something to meet, or look and find a problem,” Powell said. “I feel like you got to be respectful of people’s time.”

Not everyone on the City Council agrees, however.

Verbic said he sees a problem with panels not meeting regularly.

“I see everyone’s point as far as management of time and whatnot,” Verbic said. “But I think if we can have a regularly scheduled time or meeting when the public knows that there will be an agenda or not, it would be terrific to be there, to be there for the public to set the agenda.”

Seventh Ward Alderman John Walker said he believes the proposal before the council is meant as a way to concentrate power in the hands of the few.

Before he was elected to the City Council, Walker served on two city boards: the Human Relations Commission and Citizen Police Review Board.

“It seems to me that there’s certain people who don’t want any of these [panels] around because they’re able to do what they want without any ... pushback,” Walker said. “I believe that if you claim you’re for everybody and you claim you’re about doing it right, getting it right and doing things the right way, then although people don’t come [to meetings,] you still have to get that opportunity for people to show up and voice their concerns and issues.”

The council directed the city manager to come back at a future meeting for a vote. No final decision on any board changes have been made to date.

Whatever happens with the Human Relations Commission, the mayor said he’d like to see some representatives from the city’s core social service agencies involved.

“It just seemed like a nice evolution for the Human Relations Commission in order to be able to accomplish that,” Barnes said.

The meeting schedule, roles, and responsibilities of certain DeKalb boards, commissions, and committees could be updated if city leaders throw their support behind the new proposal.

More discussion on this topic is expected to come at a future City Council meeting.