Suspended DeKalb school board member Eugene Walker: ‘I will not quit or step aside.’
Suspended DeKalb school board member Eugene Walker says his removal by Gov. Deal violates the constitution.
In a pro/con today, suspended DeKalb Board of Education member Eugene Walker explains why the governor was wrong to suspend him and five other board members Monday. Taking the other side is state House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta. Please read her piece here.
Here is Dr. Walker’s piece. Please focus on his arguments, which are the same ones that the lawyer for the deposed school board will put forth in court later this week. It is important to understand that under challenge is not just the removal of the DeKalb board, but the constitutionality of the state law that permits the governor to step in and yank school board members.
By Dr. Eugene Walker
The governor is wrong in his decision to suspend members of the DeKalb County Board of Education.
The DeKalb School District has been placed on probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, a private accrediting institution with considerable sway in the education community. SACS has made a multitude of allegations, some of which I agree with, but all of them were developed unilaterally in a shrouded process.
The leadership of SACS is not elected by the public, does not have to conform to open meetings and open records laws, and is not subject to constitutional due process as SACS sits in judgment of public institutions and elected officials.
The DeKalb Board of Education, like all school boards, is a public institution. We have open meetings, open records, due process, and we are accountable to the people who elect us into office. If there is cause to remove a member, such as an indictment or if a member resigns or passes away in office, the voters return to the ballot box to name the successor.
It is the democratic process: the electorate chooses its representative leadership. My constituents elected me, my colleagues’ constituents elected them and Gov. Deal’s elected him. It’s the model our founding fathers took great pains to create. It’s the way it should be.
What we have here is the state of Georgia once again meddling in local affairs. Rather than funding local school systems properly, the General Assembly chose to write Senate Bill 84, a popular but undemocratic law to impose state will on local politics. The governor has been hamstrung by an onerous law that gives an inordinate amount of power to a private company, SACS, and an appointed state Board of Education. One member of this board was appointed only last week and home schooled her children to boot.
This law, which requires the state Board of Education to recommend the removal of all or none of the school board members, if it were constitutional to begin with, replaces the legitimate will of the voters with that of an appointed group. This process is a clear attempt to circumvent or get around the democratic process — citizens electing and holding accountable their elected officials.
We have had problems on the DeKalb Board of Education. The DeKalb Board of Education is composed of Democrats, Republicans, black, white, men, women, liberal, conservatives and tea partiers.
By virtue of the electoral process, all are represented and have a seat at the table. The wisdom of the voters created the diversity, which is good and healthy for a representative democracy.
These problems of communication and respect for each other have been brought to our attention, and we are working on them. We have hired a new interim superintendent, we have passed a responsible budget, we have identified resolutions to many of the issues raised by the mighty SACS and I have resigned my chairmanship to effectuate the additional changes that are needed as we move forward.
It is against this backdrop that I take a stand to fight for and preserve the democratic process and remain hopeful that those who believe in and support the U.S. and state Constitution will join. I will not quit or step aside. Gov. Deal is wrong to thumb his nose at the U.S. and Georgia constitutions, and he knows he is wrong.
I place my faith in God and the voters of DeKalb County, not elitists under the Gold Dome who never set foot east of Moreland Avenue.
–from Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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194 comments Add your comment
lbrad
February 26th, 2013
10:30 pm
And then he start selling them at the schools that he was over to the childrens everyday after school….I thought that everything that is made at a school the money goes back to the school? How can you have two board members over the same school but it states that they are in two different districts..
Private Citizen
February 26th, 2013
11:21 pm
His concept of cultural representation is weird and leaves a lot of people out. Democrats, Republicans, black, white, men, women, liberal, conservatives and tea partiers.
He leaves out Latin, Asian, Indian, African, Muslim. DeKalb County has all of these in abundance. He expresses cultural diversity and representation as black / white, and political. That’s a big deal, right there.
ashley longworth,Ph.D.
February 26th, 2013
11:45 pm
skipper is “on to something” The electorate in these education districts such as Dekalb and Clayton make poor choices because of their own mental abilities or lack thereof. Let them elect their own kind for, say, Dogcatcher, and that’s it. Appoint the school boards. No multi-million dollar “contracts” No more out-of-towners from who-knows-where; no more hyphenated names. Lose the administrators. The PTA could do a better job.
BossHoG
February 27th, 2013
12:05 am
Academicians in America are all too often like 5 wheeled bicycles. Not good at what they are, not capable of doing anything else. This thanks to a Federal and state takeover that robs local control and the powerfully inept teachers union, NEA.
These school board aw-ficials care nothing about what’s best for the students or the schools
They can’t get another job paying anything close to their present pay, if they can even get another job.Of course they won’t go quietly! Good job Gov, run these slobs out of DeKalb County too.
RAMZAD
February 27th, 2013
12:47 am
Only in DeKalb County could an incompetent, inept, apologetic, and racist lightweight like Eugene Walker be scrounged up, trumped up, flushed up, hurried up and talked up to be perceived as the second coming of Jesus Christ, while 99,000 children lay in dire terror about the pending meaning of their school certificates. Eugene should be ashamed enough to leave DeKalb County for good.
Truth in Moderation
February 27th, 2013
1:04 am
Leviticus 19 “You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. But in righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.”
Good advice. I pray the Board members will receive righteous judgement.
JANET
February 27th, 2013
5:42 am
This is the problem—-selfishness on the members of the board—-it is not about them,it is about the children.
John
February 27th, 2013
6:35 am
Will this bozo please step down and shut up. He is a joke and how he was elected to start with is beyond belief. Has anyone actually understood one word that comes out of his blubbering mouth. He is a joke and needs to away ASAP.
Wandering Tao
February 27th, 2013
6:39 am
Walker’s argument for retaining his position covers a wide range of topics, including SACS, Founding Fathers, God, democratic process, elitism, politics, and representative government, but includes not a single word about the 100,000 children in the DCSS. For Walker, its all about him.
markoo
February 27th, 2013
6:43 am
Walker does a nice job of attacking those who are accusing him of acting improperly instead of actually defending himself. That right there tells me all I need to know.
Pardon My Blog
February 27th, 2013
6:43 am
@Hamilton – thank you for finding those clips on Walker’s previous misdeeds. His only interest is in keeping all the income streaming in. He like several others are profiting big from being on the Board.
Rep. Abrams did the right thing and stood up for the students and taxpayers and against the black power base. Walker and Crew and had many opportunities to do the right thing but didn’t because he felt he was above the law. The Governor had to step in before the system was irretrievably lost.
catlady
February 27th, 2013
6:43 am
Funny that he cites open meetings, when his group, under his leadership, has failed to do so.
He will go down swinging, taking as much lawyer money as possible with him. On principle.
However, I would like to see this law NOT dependent on SACS accreditation, a bogus “accolade.”
bootney farnsworth
February 27th, 2013
6:57 am
@ frustrated,
did you have a point somewhere? anywhere?
markoo
February 27th, 2013
7:00 am
To quote Dr. Eugene
“…not elitists under the Gold Dome who never set foot east of Moreland Avenue.”
Those “elitists” you criticize were elected by the same democratic process you praise so much. So tell me Dr: How is the process good when it elects you and bad when it elects them?
bootney farnsworth
February 27th, 2013
7:02 am
I understand Gene the machine feels wronged. and I understand the desire to vindicate oneself.
however, its not like Gene is facing charges -he should be, but that’s for elsewhere- or he his losing his benefits and primary income.
if he wants to fight this, fine. his right to do so.
but the honorable thing to do, and the more politically effective thing to do, is to step aside during the process
bootney farnsworth
February 27th, 2013
7:03 am
@ catlady
there does seem to be a Hitleresque quality to this. if I can run DeKalb, I’ll burn it to the ground.
Littleman1
February 27th, 2013
7:21 am
One thing I noticed about the current boards bio’s Is only one has any true business experience. Most Bio’s indicate community organizer, parent or volunteer.
tim
February 27th, 2013
7:22 am
The man just doesn’t “get it”.
He should say he’s embarrassed and he failed the children of dekalb.
When is he going to use that race card……like some are already doing.
Private Citizen
February 27th, 2013
7:34 am
Levitas said his proposal came as a response to a situation this year in which Walker, as chairman of the DeKalb Development Authority, was prepared to vote on tax incentives requested by an Atlanta developer. The plan would have exempted Sembler Co. from paying 20 years of property taxes on portions of its planned Town/Brookhaven mixed-use development.
Sembler interests donated more than $20,000 to Walker’s 2008 campaign for the school board post. Walker delayed disclosing virtually all of the money on campaign finance reports until he had won a Dec. 2 election runoff.
Walker resigned from the authority after growing criticism of the contributions and of his dual role sitting on both the school board and the authority’s board.
http://atlantaunfiltered.com/2009/12/08/dekalb-school-board-tables-discission-of-ethics-code/
Private Citizen
February 27th, 2013
7:38 am
that quote / article begins:
Dec. 8, 2009 — A combative Eugene Walker on Monday talked the DeKalb County school board into holding off on discussing a proposed ethics code for board members.
Walker, a former state senator, took a shot at state Rep. Kevin Levitas in doing so. Levitas last month proposed a state law giving the DeKalb board “a clear set of principles” to follow.
“It baffles me to no end,” Walker said, “that because a legislator really of no standing is saying he wants to pass an ethics bill against the DeKalb school board, this board is going to get upset and act on it.”
At Walker’s request, the board tabled consideration of a six-page code of ethics before school board attorney Judy O’Brien even had a chance to make her presentation on it.
bootney farnsworth
February 27th, 2013
7:38 am
Gene, point by point:
-the governor may be politically wrong, but as of today he has the right to do this. as former chair, Gene should understand with power comes the right to use it.
-SACS: no kidding SACS is an out of control entity. where were these protests before? while they are an unelected entity, its one he chosen to work with until the BOE excesses got so bad even a good old boy club couldn’t ignore it. and SACS is not obliged to do ‘due process” as you see it.
side note-the SACS chair Belle Wheelan ….black female.
-due process? open records? the DeKalb BOE? in what universe?
-the democratic process? try again. yes, the board was elected. so were the state legislators, and (sadly) governor Deal. and working within that process, they established rules and reg to govern the state, especially when it comes to usage of state money. this IS the democratic process. BTW: Gene, did you vote for Obama?
-someone home schooling is totally unrelated to Gene’s misdeeds, or the right/ability to do a job.
but it is a shameless strawman intended to stir the educational community to his side.
-when DCSS is wasting and abusing state money, the door is open for the state to ask and act.
it is not a violation of citizens rights – it is an enforcement of them. if DCSS got by on only local taxes, donations, and federal money then Gene might have a point. but not now.
-you have had problems with the BOE, then list the traditional political buzzwords, while throwing in Tea Party for strawman effect again. yet you fail to mention exactly what these problems are. the problem IS the out of control board and its messanic former Chair.
- you JUST NOW discovered issues in the board? JUST NOW?
-your interim super was hand picked by you. and lead off by talking about how much he needs you.
and you resigned under pressure, not out of any moral imperative. your selection of Mr Thurmond is a direct violation of the democratic process you claim so vital and infallible
-please stop wrapping yourself in the flag and shoveling horsecrap at the same time. Gene is not standing up for truth, justice, and the American way. Gene is standing up for Gene. fine. just don’t try to convince anyone otherwise.
-as covered before, until shown otherwise, Gov Deal IS acting within his legal and constitutional rights. if Gene is so concerned about constitutional and representative purity- he should request Mike Thurmond to resign
-nice race baiting “east or Moreland” there Gene.
-quit referencing God. please. God is not invested in your holding on to power. perhaps He should be, and it would not be in your favor, but He has much bigger issues to fry than a corrupt county level despot.
bootney farnsworth
February 27th, 2013
7:39 am
quick notes:
sorry about spelling and swapping of 1st / 3rd person pronouns.
bootney farnsworth
February 27th, 2013
7:41 am
@ tim
I’d say Gene “gets it” very well.
which is why he’s fighting so hard. he’s trying to forestall an investigation which would likely trigger a long overdue RICO investigation.
Truth in Moderation
February 27th, 2013
7:47 am
“The governor is wrong in his decision to suspend members of the DeKalb County Board of Education.
The DeKalb School District has been placed on probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, a private accrediting institution with considerable sway in the education community. SACS has made a multitude of allegations, some of which I agree with, but all of them were developed unilaterally in a shrouded process.
The leadership of SACS is not elected by the public, does not have to conform to open meetings and open records laws, and is not subject to constitutional due process as SACS sits in judgment of public institutions and elected officials.
The DeKalb Board of Education, like all school boards, is a public institution. We have open meetings, open records, due process, and we are accountable to the people who elect us into office. If there is cause to remove a member, such as an indictment or if a member resigns or passes away in office, the voters return to the ballot box to name the successor.
It is the democratic process: the electorate chooses its representative leadership. My constituents elected me, my colleagues’ constituents elected them and Gov. Deal’s elected him. It’s the model our founding fathers took great pains to create. It’s the way it should be.
What we have here is the state of Georgia once again meddling in local affairs. Rather than funding local school systems properly, the General Assembly chose to write Senate Bill 84, a popular but undemocratic law to impose state will on local politics. The governor has been hamstrung by an onerous law that gives an inordinate amount of power to a private company, SACS, and an appointed state Board of Education.”
In PRINCIPLE, I agree with the above. Again, IT IS THE CITIZENS’ job to hold these elected officials accountable, ESPECIALLY FOR ANY CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. Again, if these Board members BROKE THE LAW REGARDING AN UNBALANCED BUDGET, WHY HAVE THEY NOT BEEN PROSECUTED?
Removing them unconstitutionally without a criminal indictment UNDERMINES THE CONSTITUTIONAL FREEDOMS FOR POSTERITY! How LAZY AND SELFISH of you, Dekalbites! Is it illegal to hire relatives? If so, THEN PROSECUTE THEM! THIS GOES ON ALL OVER THE COUNTRY! ALL RACES! If you would like that to be against the law, then get a law passed! Remember, God will judge you RIGHTEOUSLY. Be very afraid
Private Citizen
February 27th, 2013
7:54 am
Walker’s not even from DeKalb. he might have “the Look” but he moved to DeKalb.
And the Bushes aren’t from Texas, either. They’re from Connecticut and New Hampshire. But they moved to Texas and put a big hat on and the Texas people fell for it – hard. The quality of living in the state rocketed downhill, too. I knew a teacher out there, real square right wing type, and when GW was governor, she said she hated his guts, he was so incompetent.
___________________
Waker is a con man. He has a technique. He insults any politician who tries to regulate him and then he plays stubborn and righteous and calls upon God. He refuses to even address the things that are not square, so this does not confuse the simple people. It is a method he does and he is consistent: he ignores the issue that he is a part of (like a sociopath) – which is one reason he is an incompetent manager, he refuses to address anything and gets offended about his duties, then he insults the politicians trying to correct him or protect the county, and then he calls upon God and mixes it up with some church / civil rights vibe.
Truth in Moderation
February 27th, 2013
8:06 am
If the PUBLIC schools are failing your children, Dekalb, it is your DUTY as a parent to use your ALTERNATIVES, private or home school. Can’t “afford” it? WELL WHOSE FAULT IS THAT? You made FREE WILL financial and marriage/divorce/baby daddy choices. Don’t put your PERSONAL FAILURES onto other citizens, AND UNDERMINE THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL FREEDOMS! Your choices just may have CONSEQUENCES. Now you run to “Uncle Deal” TO FIX IT.
SHAMEFUL!
Truth in Moderation
February 27th, 2013
8:12 am
“HILLARY CLINTON’s not even from New York. She might have “the Look” but she moved to New York.”
Judging RIGHTEOUSLY…..
Truth in Moderation
February 27th, 2013
8:14 am
“Waker is a con man. He has a technique. He insults any politician who tries to regulate him and then he plays stubborn and righteous and calls upon God.”
He has been RICHLY REWARDED for his behavior. If what he does is ILLEGAL, why haven’t you PROSECUTED HIM??????
Judging RIGHTEOUSLY…….
glenp
February 27th, 2013
8:22 am
FM Fats
February 26th, 2013
3:54 pm
He’s got a problem matching singular subjects to singular predicates.
————————-
HE HAVE??
Alton McLendon
February 27th, 2013
8:23 am
If Mr Walker’s position is that the law used by Gov. Deal to suspend the board members is constitutional, my question to him is “when did you come to this realization?” Was it when the law was applied to you? I would assume that as a responsible board member, when the law was passed, you would have been concerned about the constitutionaly of it at that time and would have moved to address the matter then. Instead, your crying foul when the law is used against you just demonstates your selfishness and feeds your delusions of grandeur. Drop the challenge and go live your life. You have given plenty of years to public service. Let youth and new blood have an opportunity to serve.
Bobby
February 27th, 2013
8:27 am
Eugene Walker as well as most of the other older black members of the Dekalb school board have no interest in the education of black students. They only worry about themselves. And that is the disgrace of Eugene Walker. His doctorate degree is a joke as is he himself.
Bobby
February 27th, 2013
8:30 am
Bring on the City of Lakeside and Lakeside public schools so children in our district can have the education they should be entitled to as we were in our youth.
Truth in Moderation
February 27th, 2013
8:37 am
“so children in our district can have the education they should be entitled to as we were in our youth.”
@BOBBY
So when can I expect your check for $10,000? My home school is ENTITLED to this money so we can have TOP NOTCH resources.
DFACS will be paying your home a visit if you don’t comply.
Judging RIGHTEOUSLY….
Don
February 27th, 2013
8:41 am
Mr. Walker and the other DeKalb School Board members have shown they care about one thing, and one thing only – keep their jobs anyway they can. They rarely mention any actions they have taken to ensure a good learning environment for the kids under their watch. They have shown they do not know how to run the school system and have no idea of what is happening under their watch (i.e., the lost millions that was suppose to go towards new school books). They need to be removed and replaced with some competent people. The real scary thing is that the just-removed members of the School Board were elected, so it is really the fault of the electorate that those members were on the Board. Hopefully, in the future, the electorate will do their due-diligence and elect competent people for the Board.
Doris M
February 27th, 2013
8:48 am
The Dekalb Board members do need to go, but the procedure in getting them out is the problem. Does the governor have power over the voters of DeKalb County? SACS is a private concern answerable to whom? I guess these kinds of questions will be answered in court. Now just who pays for the lawsuit? You guessed it — The Taxpayers!!
FDNH
February 27th, 2013
8:49 am
Gene…go AWAY. Just go away. Sit your [butt] down.
Travesty
February 27th, 2013
9:05 am
The idea that the ONLY way to remove a public official from office is just plain wrong. Impeachment is a mechanism outside of the voting process that can be used to remove public officials from office. Some impeachment measures call for a public vote, but many do not. Maybe SACS has too much power, but that’s a wholly separate issue than whether he has a right to retain his chair. Now he chooses to waste taxpayer money to fight this ridiculous claim? Screw that clown.
George
February 27th, 2013
9:12 am
Dr. Walker please go home ,you have had your chance and you have failed
Light
February 27th, 2013
9:15 am
I agree that the Governor having to step in do and take action reeks of unconstitutionality. But at least it has everyone’s attention now that there is a problem in DeKalb. The true test to me is what will the taxpaying citizens of DeKalb do to protect their children’s educational rights, because I fault the apathy of the voters for not being engaged enough to vote people who are right for the job, not because you like them because they are popular or their name is familiar with them. We should demand more of all of elected officials in DeKalb and hold them accountable and quit letting them snowball us with their feel-good antics. Many are ego-driven and just care about being in a position of leadership and power, now the children or the county.
Light
February 27th, 2013
9:19 am
CORRECTED POST: I agree that the Governor having to step in and take action reeks of unconstitutionality. But at least NOW it has everyone’s attention that there is a problem in DeKalb. The true test to me is what will the taxpaying citizens of DeKalb do to protect their children’s educational rights, because I fault the apathy of the voters for not being engaged enough to ELECT people who are QUALIFIED AND COMPETENT for the job, not because you like them because they are popular or their name is familiar. We should demand more of all of OUR elected officials in DeKalb and hold them accountable. We should stop letting them snowball us with their feel-good antics. Many are ego-driven and just care about being in a position of leadership and power, NOT the children or the QUALITY OF LIFE in the county.
George
February 27th, 2013
9:19 am
Bobby Lakeside has drugs,violence and every other issue that Dekalb has.Girls having sex at school all Races are disrespectful to teachers and staff good luck Bobby it is every dam where and Lakes side is no exception PLEASE
Ned
February 27th, 2013
9:32 am
Dr. Walker states: “We have open meetings, open records, due process, and we are accountable to the people who elect us into office.”
I think one of the issues–and I happen to doubt the wisdom and constitutionality of the ‘removal process BTW–is that closed meetings (Exec session) are used excessively and inappropriately, that accounting records are anything but open, and that therefore it is quite difficult to hold board members, not to mention the army of appointees at DCSS headquarters, accouitable to the public.
Pardon My Blog
February 27th, 2013
9:33 am
@George – Lakeside has the same issues that St. Pius has, Marist has, GAC has, should I go on? I remember when St. Pius was the school that the kids that got kicked out of Lakeside went. It just gets swept under the rug at the Private Schools.
I would like to see the teachers command respect, I have too often seen them laughing at some of these “bad actors” instead of disciplining them. Same goes for the secretaries in the office.
bu2
February 27th, 2013
9:45 am
So the leader denigrates the other side for ignoring the poor people and children in his district. Yet he’s grandstanding and badmouthing the other side instead of paying attention to the task at hand and doing what he is supposed to do. The Republican side wants school choice and wants an Alamo with lots of casualties including their own rather than compromise an inch. There hasn’t been a legal budget in years. Voters on each side accuse the other of being racist or stupid or electing idiots while theirs are good.
Well if you think that calls for removal, you’ve got to kick out President Obama and all of Congress. But the Constitution is a bit of an impediment.
These problems aren’t unique to Dekalb. Across the country there’s been a lack of rational discourse and a group of egotistical leaders more interested in getting elected or “winning” than doing their job.
Artagus
February 27th, 2013
9:46 am
Did I miss it, or did he in no way say anything about what’s best for the school children??
Who stands for the children?
February 27th, 2013
9:49 am
Mr. Walker: You do make some good points; however, you should have thought of them and acted on them years ago. On your issue of due process. Was due process used when a job came open; were all applicants considered; can you this day give the voters a complete list of family/friends who are on the county payroll. Sir, when you speak of the founding fathers, yes, they were passionate about the people’s rights to elect their representatives; however, they also recognized that there was a counter point to that. Should that representative be found to have committed a wrong while in office, there was a higher authority (sorry, Gene, the founding fathers left God out of it); to remove that person. Case in point: President Richard Nixon who occupied the highest office in the land. He woke up to the reality that he was not above the law. There was a higher authority ready to remove him had he not mercifully spared the country by resigning. It’s often referred to from the highest office to county offices as checks and balances. In short, the Gov. simply had to do what he did. The voters didn’t particularly care for it, but understood nonetheless. Now, you state that the School Board did have its problems. You go on to state the Board is made up of diverse backgrounds. So, we know that. You left it at that. Expound on the problems if you will, and expound on how those problems grew to the proportion they did. In short, Mr. Walker, too little too late. Please step aside as gracefully as you can and let’s see if we remedy this situation as best we can, not so much for us, the taxpayers (although we do need a break from having to swallow the Board’s legal fees—but that’s another story), but for the children.
Ken wilson
February 27th, 2013
9:52 am
Thank you Gov Deal, now when are you coming to Sumter Co. to solve the same problem with our county?
Cynthia
February 27th, 2013
10:02 am
I just read an article in the NY Times in which Michael Thurmond states, “replacing the board would erode public confidence and that racial differences could be at the root of some of the board’s discord and needed to be discussed more openly”. First of all Mr. Thurmond, public confidence is already eroded! Second, racial differences? Really? Why don’t you openly discuss what you mean by “racial differences”?
R Hearn
February 27th, 2013
10:23 am
This is one of the few times that I do think that Gov. Deal did the right thing in suspending the Board Members. Sorry Eugene, but perhaps if you were a little less self serving, and a little more caring in your actions as a School Board member, you would not be facing a judge on Friday. The kids have to come first, not your own special interests and pet projects. Be a man, step aside!
OriginalProf
February 27th, 2013
10:25 am
**Formerly Prof for more than a year, I find someone else has registered under that name with AJC–not me. So now Prof is OriginalProf.**
I just want to explain Dr. Walker’s allusion to “east of Moreland Avenue.” Moreland Avenue is the boundary line between Fulton County and DeKalb County. East of it is DeKalb, and west of it is Fulton County.