Friday, April 16, 2004

Commissioner to hear from public Beginning April 22, 2004, Fulton County Commissioner Emma I. Darnell will hear directly from the people on a score of issues that concern them, from air pollution and other environmental matters to zoning issues and economic development. The series of meetings will take place over three months, ending in June. The face-to-face, informal sessions dubbed “Commissioner Emma Darnell Presents” will provide a setting for citizens for candid discussions. The aim is to help the Commissioner identify problems and create solutions. Darnell says the meetings will be held all across her district, “from Bankhead to Buckhead, from Peachtree Street to Collier Road.” “In government, you can do all the talking you want,” said Darnell. “However, if you do not stop and listen to the people and hear what they perceive are the problems, you are not doing a good job in serving them.” “I hope that these meetings will provide real solutions to problems our people face in areas of health and safety, environment, economic development issues and more,” said Darnell. Darnell says these meetings are designed for up to 100 citizens. The commissioner, who has held massive town hall meetings in the past, says she wants to be able to spend more quality time with people than you normally can when you have town-hall-type meetings that draw in excess of 250 people. The first meeting is slated for April 22, at 6 p.m. at the Harriett G. Darnell Senior Multipurpose Facility, 677 Fairburn Rd., S.W. Atlanta. The issue for this first meeting in the series is the environment including issues involving citizen concerns about air and noise pollution from the Fulton County (Brown Field) Airport; the ongoing water and sewer problem in Atlanta and flooding. For more information, contact the Commissioner's office at (404) 730-8222 or log-on to her Web site at www.myfultoncountyga.us/emma, 24 hours a day, seven day a week.