Emst & Partners Attorneys at Law 1954 Airport Road John A. Emst, Esq Suite 112 Telephone: (678) 392-3862 Drew Bishop, Esq. Atlanta, GA 30341 Facsimile: (678) 392-3877 August 14, 2015 Via Email Correspondence Interim C.E.0. Lee May DeKalb County Board of Commissioners 1300 Commerce Drive Decatur, Georgia 30030 Dear Interim C.E.0, and Commissioners, hereby resign my position as Chairman and member of the DeKalb County Board of Ethics. ‘When | joined the board over two years ago, we had a budget of $16,000, lacked full membership, were in a suspended slate, and had a number of old and languishing complaints. Today, I'm proud to say that we have dealt with dozens of complaints and have a more robust budget for counsel and investigators to root out unethical behavior. Ithas been a great honor to help restore this important board in our county. | expect that we shall continue to see progress in creating a more ethical government. I will be encouraging DeKalb voters to approve a referendum for further ethics reform in November. We must actively promote transparency in the county and do a better job of holding our elected officials accountable. We must not just give lip service to the essential job of solving this orisis of confidence in DeKalb, wish my fellow members the best of luck and | look forward to a better future for our county, Sincerely, GCE co: Clara Black-DeLay Susan Neugent Thelma Grier Edwinett Fay Perkins-Murphy Christopher Bruce Nikki Forman Gene Chapman