New DeKalb Ethics Officer Stacey Kalberman Discusses Role

Suspended CEO Burrell Ellis has just finished a prison sentence on a corruption conviction, which he is still appealing; Commissioner Elaine Boyer was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison on fraud charges; and a string of other ethics lapses resulted in a report from special investigator Mike Bowers that called DeKalb’s government culture “rotten to the core.”

In November, voters approved an overhaul of the county Board of Ethics. This spring, former state ethics commission chief Stacey Kalberman started her new job as DeKalb’s ethics officer. In 2014, Kalberman won a $700,000 judgment against the state, when a Fulton County jury agreed with her accusation that she was forced from her state ethics commission post because of her investigation of Gov. Nathan Deal’s 2010 campaign.

Kalberman thinks, through a combination of enforcement and education, she and the new DeKalb ethics board can make a difference in the county. She spoke with Denis O’Hayer on “Morning Edition.”