Vernon Jones
 |
 |
Vernon Jones (Born 31 October 1960) is a United States Democratic Party politician from Georgia currently serving as CEO of DeKalb County.
Vernon Jones was born on October 31, 1960, in rural North Carolina. From there he went on to attend North Carolina Central University in Durham, earning a B.A. in business administration in 1983. Jones would later graduate from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government's Executive Program.
Jones began his career working in the telecommunications industry, first with WorldCom and later with BellSouth Corporation, where he was part of a team that established wireless communications in Montevideo, Uruguay. Always interested in public policy issues, Jones sought election to the Georgia House of Representatives from Dekalb County, Georgia. He served as a state representative for eight years, from 1993 to 2001.
In 2000, Jones was elected chief executive of DeKalb County, a position in which he presides at meetings of the county Board of Commissioners. He is also responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of a 7,000-employee civic workforce and a $2.6 billion budget within the state's second most populous county. He has the honor of being the youngest person to hold this position. Since being elected, Jones has been active in purchasing land for the county to be used as parks, as well as a landmark initiative requiring all senior county employees to disclose financial information to prevent any conflicts of interest. (There have since been audits to show misuse of funds by several county employees.) Jones was re-elected in 2004.
However, Jones's time in office has not been without controversy. As soon as Jones was elected to office, he asked his staff to refer to him as "Mr. CEO." Jones has twice voted himself a pay raise while in office, despite campaign promises that he would not do it, instead saying that a "calf must lick its own heel from time to time." Jones is paid more than Gov. Sonny Perdue.
Jones also insists to have a five-man security detail with him at all times, despite the fact that no previous CEO has opted for the protection and there is no perceived threat on Jones's life at any time.
Allegations have arisen of his assaulting of a female constituent, as well as shoving County Commissioner Elaine Boyer into a wall. In December 2004, Jones was accused of raping a woman, though he claims the action was a consensual threesome. The victim maintains her story, but dropped charges; and police investigation was flawed, as the victim's name and identification were not redacted for press use. Furthermore, Jones has had a bad relationship with the DeKalb Police Department. As for 2008, DeKalb has had four police chiefs in the past five years. In fact, Jones hired current police chief Terrell Bolton after Bolton was fired from Dallas, Texas. Bolton was not on a short list of recommended chiefs that the department put together. Former police officers created a blog — DeKalb Officers Speak — to speak out against Jones's policies that undercut police officers.
Jones has been sued for systematically promoting under-qualified blacks to management positions in DeKalb County over qualified whites — an instance of reverse discrimination, and technically illegal and unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. In a secret deposition, Jones was quoted as saying, "I don't know the Constitution. I know DeKalb County." In the video, Jones also admitted to using the word "nigger" to other black workers, and admitted that he did not think that its use was offensive.
Jones also vetoed a DeKalb County Commission resolution to change bars' closings from 4:30 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Outside of the office, Jones is active in a number of community and civic organizations, including the Advocates for Seniors; New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia; Youth Prevention Services; and the National Black M.B.A. Association. He is also a founding member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Stone Mountain Alumni Chapter.
Jones in the past has voted for George Bush, saying that his choice to do this was because "Al Gore and John Kerry never campaigned in Georgia," despite the fact that both presidential candidates did.
Finally, Jones has had to fight personal rumors that he is a homosexual. According to many of his close assistants, he is a closeted homosexual, but the rumor has never been verified by reliable sources.
2008 U.S. Senate campaign
On 23 March, 2007 Jones announced that he was running for the United States Senate against incumbent Republican Saxby Chambliss.
In campaign literature, Jones appears in a picture next to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. However, Obama said that he not only never posed with Jones, but that Obama did not even know who Jones was, and that he certainly did not endorse Jones. In response, Jones only blamed the "liberal media" for trying to ruin his campaign.