The Star Spangled Banner

The Star Spangled Banner

Quick Facts About the Star Spangled Banner

• Made in Baltimore, Maryland, in July-August 1813 by flagmaker Mary Pickersgill
• Commissioned by Major George Armistead, commander of Fort McHenry
• Original size: 30 feet by 42 feet
• Current size: 30 feet by 34 feet
• Fifteen stars and fifteen stripes (one star has been cut out)
• Raised over Fort McHenry on the morning of September 14, 1814, to signal American victory over the British in the Battle of Baltimore; the sight inspired Francis Scott Key to write “The Star-Spangled Banner”
• Preserved by the Armistead family as a memento of the battle
• First loaned to the Smithsonian Institution in 1907; converted to permanent gift in 1912
• On exhibit at the National Museum of American History since 1964

From the Encyclopedia Smithsonian, found here.

A hauntingly beautiful, and totally unique, rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, after the break.

The LCA Rapes the Tucker Community. Again.

The LCA Embarrasses Itself Once Again

The Lakeside City Alliance, through the despicable backroom dealings of St. Francis of Dunwoody in the Georgia State Senate, has spit in the face of the Tucker community with their most recent Bill, approved today in the State and Local Government Operations committee of the Georgia Senate.  While the Bill was fully expected to be briefly reviewed and approved in this committee, the LCA revised their map, once again, to rape Tucker of many of its long-standing neighborhoods. This in spite of the strong efforts of Tucker Together and Tucker 2014, and the passionate and unremitting voices of hundreds of Tucker residents.

The new Senate Bill 270 can be found here.

The new map for the City of Lakeside can be found, here. After several months of debate within the community, the arrogant and overconfident LCA chose to expand their map to include new additional areas well beyond the area studied in the CVI feasibility study, with a new population approaching 80,000 residents.

Following are all four versions of the Lakeside proposed map.

ETA: On February 26, 2014, at the vote for SB 270 on the Senate floor, St. Francis of Dunwoody produced a FIFTH version of the proposed City of Lakeside map. Was not vetted by the Governmental Affairs Committee, was not released to the community prior to the Senate hearing, and was not even truly presented to the Senate itself as it was solely on a single printout that floated across the chamber.

ETA: Before the HGAC meeting on March 12, 2014, St. Francis of Dunwoody revealed that a new map had been agreed to between Tucker2014 and the LCA that split the contested areas between. This agreement would have supposedly led to Lakeside being approved by the General Assembly for 2014, and for Tucker to be approved in 2015. That proposal was tabled on a motion by Rep. John Meadows (R) Calhoun, who also is the powerful Chairman of the House Rules Committee. That new map is Lakeside No. 6!

ETA: St. Francis issued a new map for Lakeside and Tucker that changed the line in the Pleasantdale area. Sigh. This is getting old. Lakeside No. 7.

Are we going to see a Lakeside No. 8 during the Monday, March 17, HGAC meeting? Stay tuned for a St. Paddy's Day surprise!

The Elephant in the Room

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 25, 2014

This article is reprinted from the AJC, January 25, 2014, addressing the issue of race and politics within the new cities in north Fulton and DeKalb Counties. A response to the AJC article from Oliver Porter follows.

New cities reignite debate over race

Updated: 10:01 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014  |  Posted: 12:00 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014

BY JOHNNY EDWARDS AND BILL TORPY - THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION

Advocates urging the Legislature to allow new cities in DeKalb County point to the success of those recently created in bringing government closer to the people and lowering taxes.

But one impact of new cities in metro Atlanta has gone largely unspoken: all have led to elected governments that are alost entirely white in counties where whites are no longer a majority.

The incorporation of new cities in metro Atlanta has had one impact that has gone largely unspoken: all have led to elected governments that are almost entirely white in counties where whites are no longer a majority. 

Almost a decade since Sandy Springs set the incorporation template, seven cities in Fulton, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties have been created. Today, 45 of the 46 elected officials in those cities are white, the lone exception being a Hispanic councilman in Johns Creek who steps down next week.

And in the history of those cities, of the 66 people elected since their inception, just one was black, a councilwoman, also in Johns Creek.

I'm Not Playing Around!

Cheryl Miller January 30, 2014 at 11:20 AM

rwf, last chance to remove the post about me from your website. I'm not playing around. Your post is false and harmful to me personally. Remove it, please.

Posted to The Tucker Patch, 1/30/2014, to a Herman Lorenz blog post, Where Are We (and Is That a Question For the Post Office?)

Check out the original article, here.

And, apparently, this article will be continued, after the break.

Three Mile Island

Three Mile Island

In 1965 the Georgia General Assembly, in its infinite wisdom, enacted a law that required a three mile separation between the city limits of any new city and the city limits of any currently existing city.  The immediate effect of this law was to prevent the creation of any city anywhere in the Atlanta Metro area.

There were several reasons behind this law. First, the City of Atlanta had been eyeing, ever since its last major expansion in 1952, the growing suburbs of north Fulton County, specifically the unincorporated community of Sandy Springs. Secondly, Fulton and DeKalb Counties had been growing in political power along with their growing suburbs, and they had become very protective of that power. So, with one blow, this law protected the future annexation interests of the City of Atlanta, and gave the two county governments an easy means to shut down any discussion of creating any new city.

City of Stonecrest, Feasibility Study Prepared by the Carl Vinson Institute

Feasibility Study of the Proposed City of Stonecrest, prepared for the Stonecrest City Alliance by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, University of Georgia, dated December, 2013, posted January 14, 2014.

Annexation Methods in Georgia

Annexation Methods in Georgia

December 19, 2001

In Georgia, there are five ways for cities to annex property inside the city's corporate limits. These methods are briefly described below:

Local Legislation Method
This method of annexation requires a local act of the General Assembly. Prior to 1996, the General Assembly could annex any property into a city simply by passing a local act amending the city's charter. In 1996, the General Assembly added a restriction on its own power to annex by local act. If an area proposed for annexation by local act of the General Assembly is comprised of more than 50% residential property (by acreage) and includes a population exceeding three percent of the city's population or 500 persons, whichever is less, then the annexation must be approved by referendum. The 1996 amendment has hindered attempts to annex large residential areas in some cities.

100 Percent MethodThis method of annexation must be initiated by the 'written and signed applications of all the owners of land" proposed to be annexed. This method may only be used to annex contiguous areas, as defined by O.C.G.A. Section 36-36-20.

Prior to the passage of HB 1439 in the 2000 Session, the 100% Method was not available to municipalities located in counties having populations of 100,000 or more. When the original legislation authorizing annexation under the 100% method was approved in the 1960s, only the cities in Fulton County were affected by this population provision. However, the number of cities and counties affected by this legislation increased with each decennial census and, based on 1990 census figures, the restrictions extended to cities located in the counties of Bibb, Chatham, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Muscogee, and Richmond.
(Continued on next page.)

 DeKalb County - Map of Proposed Cities & 
 Possible Existing City Annexations 

Map of the City of Clarkston's Annexation Study Areas