4th Annual "Taste of Tucker"

Fourth annual “Taste of Tucker”

Event:

A street festival featuring food from local restaurants, great music, a farmers market, and fun for all ages.  Also a fundraiser for a worthy cause.

Date / Time:

Saturday, Oct. 19, 1-6 p.m.

Location:

Main Street in downtown Tucker

Participating Restaurants:

Bambinelli’s, Big Tex, Brockett Pub, Chick-fil-A, The Comeback, El Toro, Grecian Gyro, Growler Time, L’ Thai Organic Cuisine, Hushpuppies, IHOP Tucker, Kochi, Local No. 7, Longhorn Steakhouse, Lunch On Main, Marlow’s Tavern, Matthews Cafeteria, Riverside Pizza, Smoke Rise Country Club, Sprig, Sweet Dee’s Bakeshop, and Uncle Maddio’s; all booths sponsored by Restaurant Equipment Services

Great Food:

You get to sample amazing appetizers, entrees and desserts from a variety of local restaurants.  Sample sized portions will be offered, with prices ranging from $1-$4.

Beverages:

Soft drinks will be provided by Keller Williams Tucker Northlake and water by Hero Water.  A beer truck provided by Bud Light will be on site.

Music:

Five Star Iris, Midnight Revival, Buck O’ Five and Business Casual will perform on the Cofer Brothers Main Stage

Special Attractions:

A secondary stage with open-mic karaoke, sponsored by Beth Kellerman Nationwide Insurance.  A Kidz’ Zone with inflatables, sponsored by Chick-fil-A and Stone Point Church.  The Tucker Farmers Market featuring produce and goods from local growers and artisans.

Designated Charity:

Proceeds go to NETworks Cooperative Ministry, a coalition of nearly 20 area churches which provides food and financial assistance for low income neighbors in Northlake-Embry Hills-Tucker.  Last year’s event raised enough money to support 50 individuals and families.  Festival goers are encouraged to bring donations of pop-top and microwaveable foods.

More Info:

www.tasteoftucker.com

Stonecrest Update

The Proposed City of Stonecrest

Following are the latest versions of the map for the proposed City of Stonecrest, in southeast DeKalb County, Georgia.  You can find the latest information on Stonecrest here.

A Racial Dot Map of DeKalb County

One Dot Per Person for the Entire United States

A fascinating map of the United States is now available on line which illustrates the racial makeup of the entire country by displaying 308,745,538 color coded dots geographically, one for each person at the location they were counted in the the United States at the time of the 2010 census. Each dot is color-coded for race and ethnicity.

The map was created by Dustin Cable, a demographic researcher at the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service. A full explanation of the methodology used, and the entire map itself, can be found here.

Following the jump are two maps, one of which overlays DeKalb County and its existing and proposed cities over the map, and a second map which focuses on the proposed City of Tucker.

Clyde, the Orangutan

I often use Clyde the Orangutan, from the San Diego Zoo (but now living in the Rolling Hills Wildlife Adventure in Kansas), as my internet avatar, largely because he is far more photogenic than I am. Orangutans are incredible animals, fully deserving of our respect and protection.  For more information check out the Orangutan Conservancy web site, here. An interesting article on Clyde himself can be found here.

Orangutans are actually Great Apes, not monkeys, a common misconception of the uninformed and uneducated. Amazingly enough, biologists have recently demonstrated that orangutans are FAR more intelligent, perceptive and empathetic than certain loud-mouth champions of the LCA. A video of Clyde after the break.

Save Tucker From Lakeside City

Or, Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Cheryl Miller, the lone administrator of the Facebook page Save Tucker From Lakeside City, seems to be very challenged by map reading. Currently on her Facebook page, she is asking for some help in deciphering a DCSD map from 2011 which indicates how the high school attendance areas were to change after the 2011 redistricting. (And YES, Cheryl, the map is quite correct.) She seems to be VERY confused about the location of the Idlewood Elementary School attendance zone relative to the Tucker cluster, and then further asks for some help in determining how the proposed City of Lakeside borders overlay the new attendance areas. A snapshot of her current posting follows (in case she wisely decides to remove it from her Facebook page.

After the break -

Tucker - Property Appraisal Maps

DeKalb County Property Appraisal Maps

When considering various questions about property types, sizes, and ownership, or when looking at potential city borders, it is sometimes very helpful to refer to the Property Maps provided by DeKalb County through the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner web page. Although very useful, these maps do not offer the wealth of information available through the County GIS Office, but they are, as far as I know, the only information available on line.

Normally to access these maps, one has to go through a somewhat tedious, but not difficult, process. After you first go to the Tax Commissioner web page, you then click on the Property Tax line on the left menu, which will take you to a new window, where you must enter limited information on either the street name, the property owner's name, or the property address. After a few more steps, and based on how detailed the information is that was first entered, this will ultimately lead you to a page with the Property Tax Information for a particular piece of property.

DeKalb Property Assessments

DeKalb County Property Assessments

On a subject dear to every homeowner's heart, here is a map, distributed last year by County Commissioner Jeff Rader, which shows the percent change in residential property assessments between 2011 and 2012. This will allow you to compare how your assessment changed when compared to your neighbors or how your neighborhood changed compared to other neighborhoods. No credit is taken on the full version of the map; presumably it was created by the DeKalb County GIS Department working with the Property Appraisal Department.

The map can be found after the break.

Scottdale

Why Scottdale?

When comparing the relative merits of the City of Briarcliff vs. the City (With No Name Yet) (as proposed by the LCA) one glaring difference is Briarcliff's inclusion of the Scottdale Community within its proposed city borders. On many of the comment threads on the Patch neighborhood news sites, the LCA's most vocal Champion, RandyRand, continuously and passionately berates the City of Briarcliff Initiative (COBI) for this decision. In general, he claims that because Scottdale is a 'SLUM', it will be a drag upon Briarcliff's city finances, will require a disproportionate share of police services, and will somehow depress property values throughout the new city. (I have included RandyRand's postings, along with other related postings from the Patch, at the end of this article.) I believe that everyone concerned about incorporation should therefore teach themselves a bit regarding Scottdale, as to be in a better position to understand the arguments.

Scottdale is clearly a challenged community, but is it a slum? I would say NO, it is not a slum, regardless of it current circumstances. I would offer that its best days are ahead of it, and maybe, just maybe, its inclusion in one of the proposed cities may just be just the spark it needs to take it there. From the Wikipedia article on Scottdale:

Neighborhood Group Calls for Cityhood Action

The Tucker Patch has posted an article written by Harry Powell, President of the Tucker Historical Society. I am reprinting it here as it seems to have slipped under the radar over on the Patch but it still has some very relevant information on the various incorporation movements and the General Assembly.

You can check out the original article here.
____________________________________

Residents are urged to speak out.

By Harry Powell, President of Tucker Historical Society

As you know, Tucker Historical Society participated in the Tucker Together community meetings to share information and help educate our Tucker neighbors regarding the various aspects of city incorporation. 

A new group, Tucker 2014, has been formed to take the next steps (feasibility study fundraising, research, committee formations, volunteers to help, etc). 

(Cont.)

Atlanta Magazine Weighs In On Incorporation

An interesting article posted a little over two weeks ago on Atlanta Magazine's Daily Agenda blog, written by Scott Henry.  The facts are a little off, but hey! - The City of Tucker Initiative got a shout out!  That's always welcome!

You can check it out here.

Tucker On 11Alive

The TUCKER★2014 kick-off meeting, held Monday night at the Greater Good BBQ,  made the 11Alive news casts on Tuesday, in articles by reporter Blayne Alexander.  Her article can be found here, and the video, featuring our very own Sonja Szubski, after the break.

Why Briarcliff/COBI Has Swayed Me

An interesting editorial on the North Druid Hills / Briarcliff Patch by Frannie D., regarding his/her preference for the City of Briarcliff as proposed by the City of Briarcliff Initiative, as opposed to the LCA's proposal for the City (With No Name Yet).

The original posting on the Patch can be found here. (As usual, a spirited comment thread follows the editorial on the Patch.)

The editorial follows after the break.

Politics in DeKalb County

2012 Presidential Vote in DeKalb County

The attached map is a graphic representation of the 2012 Presidential Vote, Barack Obama (D) vs. Mitt Romney (R), in DeKalb County.

Each county precinct is color coded to represent the percentage of the vote each candidate received. The number within each precinct indicates the percent vote received by Obama.

This is a quick and simple illustration of the political spectrum across the county. The data was taken from a report titled Statement of Votes Cast, DeKalb County, State of Georgia, General Election, November 6, 2012 taken from the Georgia Secretary of State website, which can be found here.

The map can be found after the break.

Tucker 2014 Kick-off Meeting Tonight

TUCKER★2014 Kick-off Meeting & Fundraiser Tonight

July 8, 2013, between 7:30 and 9:30 PM
Greater Good Barbecue
4431 Hugh Howell Road
Tucker, GA 30084

A Tale of Three Cities - How Things Are Shaping Up

There's been a lot of movement within the Three Cities these last few weeks.

The LCA, proposing the City (With No Name Yet), has signed a contract with the CVI for their feasibility study, and that work is under way.  So now we should assume that, with the LCA having completed their purpose, they will now be closing down and an all new pro-city advocacy group is now primed to take over.  (Most likely exactly the same folks. At least they won't have to pretend any more.) Let's hope they've got a better working name for their new city.  I also hope they come up with a better motto than "There's No There, There!"

The City of Briarcliff has come on like gangbusters, raised the funds for the feasibility study in record time, and arrangements are currently being made with the CVI.  Taking in almost all of unincorporated north DeKalb inside I-85 and I-285, their financial situation is undeniably strong, they will be taking in the prestigious Druid Hills community, Emory University and the CDC, and their cause looks inevitable.

Bringing up the rear is slow-and-steady Tucker, arguably the only community involved that has a real history going back over 100 years, and a long record of dedicated community service.  Their finances and support look solid so if their exhausted so-called community leaders will just get out of the way, there'll be no stopping them.

The LCA got out of the gate early, (before anyone even knew they existed!) and took an early lead, but they seem to be faltering and don't seem able to stand up to the unquestionable strength of Briarcliff. The common sense and history behind Tucker cannot be denied. So, all in all, there's only one logical outcome of the current incorporation movement, and the LCA will be left standing on the sidelines.

Let's Get Ready to Rummmmbbbblllle!!!!

An open invitation to the Lakeside Community Alliance (LCA) and the City of Briarcliff Initiative (COBI) to discuss the pros and cons of either proposed city.  If you have good reasons to support either the LCA or the COBI, put them in a comment here. Why is one to be preferred over the other?

As the maps for the two incorporation movements overlap by a substantial amount, only one will survive the Governmental Affairs committees in the Georgia General Assembly.  Only one will be placed before voters for approval.  The battle to be engaged will be over the hearts and minds of our Senators and Representatives in the General Assembly.  Let the debate start here!

Quae resonat in aeternum vitam!

Update: An editorial posted by Frannie D. to the Patch.

A New Model for Cooperation

Another article posted to the AJC on June 18, 2013

Burrell Ellis, is CEO of DeKalb County. Despite his recent indictment on felony charges, he finally weighs in on the incorporation movement currently raging in DeKalb County. His article was posted to the AJC along with the previous article written by Mary Kay Woodworth and Jason Lary.

Disregarding his recent difficulties, its about time that someone representing DeKalb County stepped up to address the burning issues driving the incorporation movement. It remains to be seen if his successor chooses to pursue this issue in a positive manner and offers real constructive solutions, or if he will fall back on the old-news and inconsequential standard response of DeKalb County leadership of shouting 'No, No, No ! ! !'
________________________________________________________________________________

A New Model for Cooperation

By Burrell Ellis, CEO, DeKalb County

Since 2008, DeKalb County has seen a growing interest in cityhood and annexation movements. For some communities, that interest is related to localized control and having more say on how taxes should be spent. For others, it is about obtaining additional revenue to support growing demands for services. Some neighborhoods are even now exploring options to incorporate merely as a defense mechanism from being drawn into other proposed cities where they lack “common interests.”

Cities Are DeKalb’s Path to Prosperity

An article posted to the AJC on June 28, 2013.

This is an article posted to the AJC's Atlanta Forward blog, jointly written by Mary Kay Woodworth, Chairperson of the LCA, and Jason Lary, Chairman of the Stonecrest City Alliance.

The main article, as found on the AJC site, is only accessible by those who have bought into the AJC's premium services.  The blog article, however, can be accessed here.


________________________________________________________________________________

Cities are DeKalb's Path to Prosperity

By Mary Kay Woodworth and Jason Lary

Inappropriate zonings. Lack of sufficient police protection. Pot holes that go unfilled. A need for economic development.

The Hot Potato Being Tossed About By Chamblee, Brookhaven and DECA

Century Center Office Park

Tom Hogan, Councilman for the City of Chamblee, wrote a very interesting article on his Facebook page regarding the recent controversy over the potential annexation of Century Center into the City of Brookhaven. Like the Northlake area, Century Center is an office and commercial district that is coveted by adjacent municipalities for its considerable tax potential. However as Century Center is much denser and more office based than a commercial district like Northlake, its revenue stream will be far more positive.  

A recent history.  The proposed City of Brookhaven had originally included Century Center in its early maps, but backed off after local opposition.  This was followed by its inclusion in the DECA vote over annexation into Chamblee, which lost by an extremely narrow margin. (A second effort for DECA annexation into Chamblee, which continues to include Century Center, is currently underway.) The LCA's first map for the proposed new City (With No Name Yet) included Century Center, along with other commercial areas north of I-85, but they quickly backed off after a sharp backslash from the representatives and communities in the adjacent areas. 

Recently, the property owners of Century Center contacted the City of Brookhaven to consider the direct annexation of Century Center into the new city.  Annexation of a commercial, institutional or industrial district differs from the annexation of a residential district as no public vote is required. (If an area has no residents, no vote is possible.)  The General Assembly, in its infinite wisdom, has provided a variety of means for an existing municipality to annex adjacent commercial/industrial/institutional districts, all of which will ultimately require enabling legislation by the state, but again, no vote of local residents. Its strictly a negotiated and technical process between the landowners, the interested city, and the state government.  

Mr. Hogan's article explores these issues.  His article after the break.

LCA Reaches Fundraising Goal

Mary Kay Woodworth, Chairperson of the Lakeside City Alliances, announces that the LCA has reached its fundraising goal of $30,000 for the state required feasibility study, and has contracted with the Carl Vinson Institute of the University of Georgia to conduct that study.

The video, after the break.

Betsy Parks' Virulent Rant

An LCA Supporter Speaks Out. How Sad.

In my commitment to respect ALL views in the community regarding incorporation, I was fortunate enough to run across this virulent posting by an ardent and outspoken LCA supporter, Ms. Betsy Parks. I say fortunate only because I, as is my habit, managed to copy her words before she thought it appropriate to delete them. Let the lesson be learned, Ms. Parks, that once its on the Internet, it will never die.

Ms. Parks, in her passionate support for the LCA and their proposed City (With No Name Yet), chose to start a blog under the auspices of the Tucker Patch. This was her first post to that blog. She had attended the final informational meeting put on by Tucker Together, held Monday night, June 24th, at the First Christian of Atlanta in Tucker. (Was she a spy, planted there by the LCA?) This is her summation of that meeting. I can't be sure if she was trying to be cute, or funny, or ironic, or sarcastic in her rendition, but it quickly becomes clear that she failed at whatever she was trying to accomplish. She did manage, however, to thoroughly embarrass herself and her patrons at the LCA. She must have realized this as she deleted the post from The Patch only after a few short hours, once the commentary began to come in.

I do believe that both Ms. Parks, in particular, and the LCA, by extension, owe the Tucker community and the Steering Committee of Tucker Together a heartfelt and sincere apology. In the ongoing debate regarding incorporation and the differences between Tucker and the City (With No Name Yet), there is really no need to stoop so low as this in order to support your cause. The LCA will only continue to lose respect and support as long as they allow the likes of Ms. Betsy Parks and RandyRand to represent their interests in the public forums.

Her words and vile tone will not be easily forgotten. 

Following is her post, copied verbatim from the Tucker Patch.  The only editing performed on the post was due to formatting concerns when transferring to Blogger, and to eliminate superfluous lines. The few comments that followed her posting are included.

I will refrain from further commenting.  Her words speak for themselves.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

The Proposed New City of RandyRand

RandyRand - Our Hero!

I've gotten to know RandyRand so well over these last few months, that I felt so sorry for him when he mentioned yesterday that he didn't have a map of his very own.  So I did one for him!

After the break:

6/28/13 Update! Revised Map!

A Spat Over The City of Briarcliff Initiative

Over on the North Druid Hills - Briarcliff Patch, there is a nasty spat going on between our old friend RandyRand, LCA head Mary Kay and a spokesman for the City of Briarcliff Initiative, Herman Lorenz. (You can find their conversation here.) I know Herman to be a well spoken, upright and respectable gentleman, whereas RandyRand . . . well, a mutual friend claims he is a decent guy in real life, which is hard to believe given his irrational posting, but we all know how Internet anonymity allows all the crazy to come out.  Anyhow, the dispute revolves around the City of Briarcliff Initiative's origins, its puzzling relationship to its predecessor, and the old news City of Lavista Hills.  This was my attempt to weigh into the conversation, but the Patch's new commenting software has proven inadequate to my purposes.  So, here it is for all its worth.

Gentlemen

Allow me to help resolve this spat over the Lavista Hills map.

Tucker 2014

The new pro-city pro-advocacy group for the City of Tucker

At the final Tucker Together informational meeting held last night at the First Christian Church of Atlanta, Sonja Szubski announced the formation of the pro-Tucker advocacy group TUCKER★2014. This will be the primary community based group actively pursing incorporation of the City of Tucker.  Their website can be found at www.Tucker2014.com, and their Facebook page here.

A critical TUCKER★2014 organizational meeting will be held on Monday, July 8th, at the Greater Good BBQ, from 7:00 to 8:30 PM.  Any and all Tucker residents interested in and committed to the Tucker community should attend.  Many volunteers will be needed as TUCKER★2014  picks up the mantle from Tucker Together and moves forward with the critical work necessary to raise community awareness, work with the legislature on the enabling legislative, and to secure the final vote for approval in 2014.

Here is Sonja's introduction to TUCKER★2014 from her new blog on the Tucker Patch:

My name is Sonja Szubski and I am a proud resident of Tucker. 

I would like to thank Tucker Together for getting the ball rolling and taking on the task of educating the Tucker community on what is involved in becoming a City in Georgia.Tucker Together has done a great job in educating, but to move Tucker forward we need a group that will not be restricted by its 501(c)(3) status. So I am pleased to announce the formation of Tucker 2014. Tucker 2014 is a group of Pro City of Tucker neighbors that are working in conjunction with Tucker Together and taking up the fundraising for the feasibility study. Tucker 2014 will also be attending neighborhood hosted meeting to discuss just how Tucker can best benefit from incorporation.

Tucker Together Informational Meeting

Tucker Together Informational Meeting

7:00-8:30PM, June 10, 2010

First Christian Church of Atlanta
4532 Lavista Road, Atlanta, GA 30084

Subject:  Parks & Recreation

Stonecrest Update

The Proposed New City of Stonecrest in south DeKalb County

Things are moving quickly in south DeKalb County as Jason Lary pursues his dream for a new City of Stonecrest, centered around Stonecrest Mall.  As currently conceived, Stonecrest would be the largest city, by land area, in the county.

Mr. Lary and other Stonecrest supporters have formed the Stonecrest City Alliance and are actively raising funds for the state required feasibility study.  The SCA has also been receiving support from area politicians.

A CrossRoadsNews article, dated May 24, 2013, on recent developments in Stonecrest, can be found here.

Another article on Stonecrest, from The Champion, dated May 17, 2013, can be found here.

Update 9/3/13:  Newer maps for Stonecrest can be found here.

New maps for Stonecrest, showing how the proposed city has grown even larger, have been recently issued.  After the break . . .

ONE DeKalb

Here is an interesting website I ran across today, http://planningdekalb.net/.  Although it contains some very interesting material on zoning and planning issues, it is also very incomplete in many areas.  It's a beautifully designed site but there is no way to tell who or what is behind it.  It's all about DeKalb County, but doesn't seem to have been created by the County. They refer to their group or organization as ONE DeKalb.  You should check it out.

From their About Us page:

DeKalb County is home to 300+ neighborhood and civic organizations. These organizations represent the County’s diverse neighborhoods and communities. ONE’s goal is to engage these organizations for the purpose of making them a viable, organized, engaged, and active voice in their community and county government. ONE is also the vehicle through which the CEO and Board of Commissioners will use to promote community engagement, facilitate neighborhood capacity-building and increase the flow of information to citizens about County departments and programs.

They have posted an interesting document titled Zoning Code Update, dated May 7, 2013, which can be found here.  Public comments were to have been submitted by June 7, 2013 (too late now!), with a Public Involvement Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 18, 5-7pm, in the Maloof Auditorium.  Check out their Zoning Code Update page here.

As near as I can tell, the site has been around for over a year, but hasn't been very active.  It will be interesting to see how it develops in the next few weeks or months.

Briarcliff Goes Public

The City of Briarcliff Finally Goes Public

Proponents of the proposed new City of Briarcliff have finally gone public by providing a website to make information available to local residents concerning their proposal, and to raise funds for the state required feasibility study.

You can find their website here.

The Briarcliff site also has a new map for the proposed city, as seen below.  A full pdf version of the map can also be found on their website, here.

The City of Tucker Initiative would like to welcome the City of Briarcliff Initiative to the World Wide Web, and commends them for their choice of a name as they move forward.  A wise decision indeed.

The Next Tucker Together Informational Meeting - May 21, 2013

Informational Meeting
May 21, 2013 - 7pm
St. Andrews Presbyterian Church

Brandon L. Bowen

Please join Tucker Together next Tuesday, May 21 at 7:00 PM at St Andrews Presbyterian Church for the 2nd in a series of meetings to explore the processes and possibilities of Tucker becoming a city.  We welcome guest speaker Brandon L. Bowen,  partner with civil trial firm Jenkins & Bowen, who will discuss zoning and planning possibilities in a potential city of Tucker and as a county service.  There will be an opportunity for questions and answers.

Areas seeking to incorporate must provide at least three of the following services, either directly or by contract:  law enforcement; fire protection/fire safety; road and street maintenance or construction; solid waste management; water supply and/or distribution; waste water management; storm water collection and disposal; electric or gas utility service; code enforcement (building, housing, electrical, etc.); planning and zoning; or recreational facilities.  We will be continuing through this list at subsequent meetings.

Tucker Together’s goal is to provide access to information so that we can explore our options as a community.  We are also accepting donations to fund a feasibility study that will help us better understand Tucker’s viability as a city.

For more information, please visit Tucker Together on line.

Donations can still be made to Tucker Together at their donation page.

Car magnets will be available for $10.00 at all Tucker Together events, at Cofer Brothers and at Local 7.  All proceeds go towards funding the feasibility study.

T-shirts with the Tucker, GA magnet graphic can still be bought from Yellow Llama, either at their store at 2321 Main Street, or through their website at YellowLlama/TuckerTogether.  A major portion of the proceeds will go towards the Tucker Together feasibility study fund.

Donate to Tucker Together!

Donations Needed!

Tucker Together needs your help to fund the feasibility study for our community!

Feasibility studies take into account the residential, commercial and industrial areas of a community to attempt to determine an estimate of what those different revenue sources would generate.

Please go to the Tucker Together website to make a direct donation.

Car Magnets

Tucker, GA car magnets can be bought at any Tucker Together event for $10.00.  All proceeds will go towards the Tucker Together feasibility study fund.

Yellow Llama

T-shirts with the Tucker, GA magnet graphic can be bought from Yellow Llama, either at their store at 2321 Main Street, or through their website at YellowLlama/TuckerTogether.  A major portion of the proceeds will go towards the Tucker Together feasibility study fund.

For our friends at the LCA . . . 

Tucker Together Informational Meeting, April 30, 2013

 Informational Meeting, April 30, 2013

Tucker Together's first information meeting was held at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church on Lavista Road in Tucker.  With the general purpose of these informational meetings being to provide Tucker residents and business owners with basic information to allow them to make an informed decision about incorporation, this meeting's particular focus was on Public Safety.  The meeting was moderated by Ann Rosenthal.

The first half of the meeting featured a presentation  by the DeKalb County Police Department, represented by Police Chief Cedric Alexander.  An audio recording of the meetings introduction, the presentation by the DCPD, and a follow up Q & A session for just the police can be found here.  (This audio clip is edited to just include the police presentation.)

A concern raised by several attendees was that the Public Safety discussion was limited to just the county police as there were no representatives from any of the smaller cities.  It would have been much more helpful to have heard of how police services are offered and budgeted in some of DeKalb's cities, which might have included Dunwoody and Decatur, as their experiences would be more consistent with a proposed City of Tucker police department.

The other half of the meeting featured representatives from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, to include Dr. Katherine Willoughby and Prof. Jim Martin. The audio recording of their presentation and the followup Q & A  session can be found here. (This audio is also edited to include only their portions of the meeting.)

Tucker Together's next informational meeting will be held on May 21, 2013, also at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. The focus of this meeting is believed to be Planning & Zoning.

Audio for the DeKalb County Police (with meeting introduction by Ann Rosenthal)

Audio for the Andrew Young School

The Tucker Initiative Answers Some Questions.

The audience was encouraged to ask questions of all the speakers after their presentations, and those questions and answers are included in the audio recordings.  However, some of the answers were either too short and lacking in detail, or the intent of the question was misunderstood.  So, the Tucker Initiative is offering its own answers

Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver's Town Hall Meeting

Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver

Incorporation Town Hall Meeting

Last night, May 6, 2013, Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D), Decatur, held a Town Hall Meeting at Clairmont Hills Baptist Church, featuring several members of DeKalb County's delegation to the Georgia General Assembly, other local elected officials, and spokesmen for the various community groups investigating incorporation. They were there to discuss the various cityhood bills that were dropped in the final days of the General Assembly, the goals and concerns of the local communities, and the impact incorporation may have on DeKalb County. Overall, it was a compelling and comprehensive review of the current community interests in incorporation.

Legislators in attendance at the meeting included:  Sen. Fran Millar (R), Dunwoody, Sen. Jason Carter (D), Decatur, Rep. Michele Henson (D), Stone Mountain, Rep. Pam Stephenson (D), Atlanta, Rep. Tom Taylor (R), Dunwoody, Rep. Howard Mosby (D), Atlanta and Rep. Scott Holcomb (D), Atlanta.

Conspicuous by their absence were Sen. Steve Henson (D), Tucker, Rep. 'Coach' Williams (D), Avondale Estates, and Rep. Billy Mitchell (D), Stone Mountain.

The sole representative for DeKalb County was Commissioner Jeff Rader, District 2. In view of the importance and potential impact incorporation will have on DeKalb County, it was very disappointing that no other elected official from DeKalb County was in attendance. Among those absent, along with CEO Burrell Ellis, were Commissioner Elaine Boyer, District 1, Commissioner Kathie Gannon, Super District 6, and Commissioner Stan Watson, Super District 7. Considering the fact that much of the motivation driving the incorporation movement is directly related to the failure of county leadership, it is quite telling that our elected officials chose not to be involved or to engage their constituents in these important discussions.

The various community groups represented at the Town Hall Meeting included the Lakeside City Alliance (Bernie Knight), Tucker Together (Michelle Penkava), City of Stonecrest (Jason Lary), Briarcliff (Don Broussard), Druid Hills Civic Association (Bruce McGregor), and Chamblee Annexation (Elmer Veith).  Other speakers included Tom Gehl of the Georgia Municipal Association, Nancy Love of the Civic Association Network (CAN) and Andrea Arnold, representing the City of Decatur.

Audio Recording of the Town Hall Meeting

For those of you who were unable to attend the Town Meeting but would like to hear the entire presentation, a recording of the entire two-hour long meeting can be found here.  In particular, I am making this audio recording available for the senior leadership of the LCA who were not in attendance.

The Tucker Patch at the Town Hall Meeting

Tucker, Lakeside Cityhood Discussed at DeKalb Cityhood Meeting

The Tucker Patch was also at Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver's town hall meeting, and this morning posted an informative article with several short video segments of the various speakers, including Tucker Together's very own Michelle Penkava.

Michelle Penkava

You can find the article here.

Please go to the Tucker Together website and make a donation towards funding the feasibility study.

The Peach Pundit at the Town Hall Meeting

A Snapshot of the DeKalb Cityhood Debate

The Peach Pundit posted an interesting article about Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver's town hall meeting last night, held at the Clairmont Hills Baptist Church.  You can check it out here.

A Voice Urging Restraint

From an email sent out by Tom Doolittle (You can learn more about Tom here.)

DEKALB LEGISLATORS TO HOLD TOWN HALL MEETING

Subject:  Legislation Surrounding Creation of Cities

Neighborhood leaders of groups are very important to this meeting (while not minimizing the input of individuals)

The meeting is only tangential to favoring cities in this area vs objecting to them. This is about whether the current legislated process is uniformly relevant to the entire state, is applicable to areas with no historical unity of purpose and follows current constitutional imperatives, such as home rule and the direct regulatory relationship between state and county governments. (Obviously, a person can be interested in state law without favoring or not favoring cityhood referendum results).

The City of Stonecrest

Jason Lary and his Seal
for the City of Stonecrest

The Proposed New City of Stonecrest

An article posted today in the On Common Ground News describes the proposed new City of Stonecrest, located in the far southeastern corner of DeKalb County. Led by Jason Lary, the new city has the support of Sen. Ronald Ramsey, Sr., (D) Decatur, representing Senate District 43, which includes the Stonecrest area.

The article on the City of Stonecrest can be found here.

Update:  Newer maps of Stonecrest can be found here.

Maps of Stonecrest can be found here.

The Andrew Young School

The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies is one of the two organizations prequalified to perform the city feasibility study required by the State as part of the incorporation process.  Their website can be found here.

A sample of one of their studies can be found here.  This was a study performed by AYS on behalf of DeKalb County concerning the revenue impact upon the County resulting from the incorporation of Dunwoody.

From the Fact Sheet on the AYSPS website:

A Suggestion for Tucker Together

Tucker Together's first map of the proposed City of Tucker was quite ambitious, as it crossed I-85 to include commercial development north of the highway.  This may present a challenge to Doraville, so we'll simply have to wait for their reaction.  Could be interesting.

But if we're going to be this ambitious, I say let's go all the way.  I would suggest that the City of Tucker should include additional areas west of I-285, to include Mercer University - Atlanta, the Presidential Commons office complex, and the rest of Embry Hills.  I believe these areas have much more in common with Tucker than they do with Druid Hills and Briarcliff.  The border, if moved south of Mercer University, will follow portions of North Fork Peachtree Creek and Henderson Mill Creek.  Henderson's Mill on Henderson Mill Creek has a long time connection to the Tucker community.  Its history can be found here.

So, adjacent to Tucker to the west, I am showing the proposed City of Lavista Hills as taking in the rest of unincorporated DeKalb County, inside the Perimeter and north of Decatur and Avondale Estates.  With the city boundaries as drawn, both cities will be of equal size, around 60,000 to 65,000 residents each.

A pdf version of this map can be found here.

Tucker Together

Tucker Together

A new group has been organized by the Tucker community which will be tasked with investigating the possibility of municipal incorporation for Tucker.  Tucker Together will not be an active advocate for cityhood for Tucker, but will serve as an educational forum for the Tucker community so that the residents of the proposed new city might make an informed decision.

Please go to the Tucker Together website here to register for additional information and to volunteer to help with planning and event management. Tucker Together will also be accepting donations towards the cost of a feasibility study to be conducted by either the Carl Vinson Institute or the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University.

A map issued by Tucker Together is available here.

Ode to Joy Flash Mob

You may have seen this already on YouTube, it has over 10 million hits, but it continues to be one of my favorites. Every time I bring it up, I wind up playing it at least twice, maybe even five times, I enjoy it that much.

What does this have to do with making a City, you may ask? Perhaps the City of Tucker sponsored Arts Council might pull off the same thing outside Local 7 during Tucker Days. Now THAT would be cool!

Turn the page to find the link!

An Informal Poll

Update:  

If you've paid any attention to this poll, you would've see how crazy the counts are.  Apparently this gadget on Blogger doesn't work very well as this has been a common problem.

We'll try again soon with a third party poll gadget and see if we can do better.

My apologies.

Which of the Three Cities would you prefer?

A Tale of Three Cities

A Tale of Three Cities

As a gesture of love and reconciliation, I've assembled three maps in an effort to bring together the three competing city hood efforts.  Currently, we have groups representing Lakeside, Lavista Hills (or Briarcliff) and Tucker.  Each have developed maps that overlap the others.  As we move through this process we will have to learn, at some point, to compromise.  Let this be the start of that conversation.

A pdf version of the maps can be found here.

One potato, . . .

The City of Lavista brings everyone together, into one, big, happy family.  This city takes its name directly from Lavista Road, which spans this proposed city from one end to the other.  This City would have approximately 135,000 residents.

Zero. Nada. Not Going to Happen.

Schools and the City of Tucker, Part II

Much of the interest in forming a new city is focused on the idea that a new city, or group of cities, could form a new, independent school district, wholly separate from the DeKalb County School District (DCSD).  It has been routinely and repeatedly stated by all the new city advocates that, under current law, there is absolutely no possibility of that happening.  To rephrase that, the new cities will have absolutely no effect upon the how the schools are managed, how attendance lines are drawn or how DCSD chooses to use its resources.

Zero. Nada.  Not going to happen.

So, if anyone’s interest in supporting the formation of a new city is mainly because of their hope that this could make a major difference in the local schools, they need to look elsewhere.  This thought has surfaced so many times, and has been so thoroughly discounted at every opportunity, it is difficult to understand why this issue will simply not go away.

Cluster Charter – Autonomy and Flexibility.

That doesn’t mean there are no other options. The one option available today is the Cluster Charter. The . . .