The Future of DeKalb County

How the Proposed New Cities Will Transform DeKalb County

This map incorporates the decision of the House Governmental Affairs Committee regarding the final boundaries for the proposed City of Tucker and the proposed City of LaVista Hills. Also shown are the current annexation plans for Decatur, Avondale Estates and Stone Mountain.

The talked about annexation of Druid Hills by the City of Atlanta is also included, although it has little change of ever happening. That proposal will have to be approved by the DeKalb Delegation of the General Assembly as a Local Bill, a remote possibility given how this proposal will devastate the DeKalb County School District.

Both the proposed City of Stonecrest and the City of South DeKalb are also indicated, although neither proposal is likely to be considered in the next legislative session. The city limits for South DeKalb have been adjusted from their current proposed map, in deference to the future annexatioin interests of Stone Mountain, Pinelake and Clarkston.

The recently approved annexations for Doraville and Brookhaven are fully incorporated. Note the islands now found between Doraville and LaVista Hills, as those voters recently rejected the Doraville annexation. Will they be forced into LaVista Hills? That seems to be Sen. Millar's intention.

And the Saga Continues . . .

The Brookhaven Post has been diligent in its pursuit of the truth behind the Executive Park and CHOA request to be annexed into Brookhaven. On October 17, Tom Doolittle, a contributor to the Brookhaven Post, published an account of the DeKalb Delegation public hearing, held on October 13th in the Brookhaven City Hall. The article includes several videos of the meeting, the viewing of which is its own reward. His article can be found HERE.

The Post provided a follow up article today, found HERE, which includes maps provided by the property owners of the proposed annexation, as well as a composite map assembled by The Post. 

Smaller versions of those maps are reproduced here. (After the break.)

Brookhaven Meddling . . . Again?

Brookhaven Considers Annexation South of I-85 to Include Executive Park & Children's Hospital of Atlanta

The City of Brookhaven is considering applications from Executive Park and the nearby Children's Hospital of Atlanta for annexation into the City.  As those properties under consideration are exclusively commercial, they can be annexed by Brookhaven using either the 100% method or the 60% method, both procedures allowing annexation solely by a vote of the Brookhaven City Council. The state legislature is not involved, and a referendum by residents (there are none) would NOT be required.

The annexations, if they proceed, will have a potentially serious impact on the proposed City of Lakeside/Briarcliff. I say potentially due to the fact that this area was NOT included in the proposed City of Lakeside until the very last map, engineered by Rep. Mike Jacobs (R), Brookhaven, which would be version 7 for Lakeside.  It was NOT included in the feasibility study for Lakeside. This area has always been included in the proposed City of Briarcliff proposed boundaries and feasibility study.

This is an interesting twist for Brookhaven for three reasons. First, when Dunwoody first formed, they had initially sought to include major commercial properties south of I-285, but backed off when complaints were noted that they would be depriving any future city south of I-285 from potential revenue. Dunwoody deferred to the then non-existent possiblity of a City of Brookhaven, at that point merely a twinkle in the eye of Rep. Jacobs. Second, Brookhaven found itself in a serious kerfluffle when it tried the same play with Century Century, after Chamblee had already been allowed to pursue annexation of the area by the state legislature. Brookhaven eventually backed away from that battle. And third, when the City of Lakeside's first map was issued, both Brookhaven and Chamblee pundits objected to Lakeside jumping I-85 to include revenue-rich commercial properties. Lakeside immediately deferred to those concerns.

DeKalb County Organizational Act

The DeKalb County Organizational Act

During the discussions of the DeKalb County Operations Task Force (OTF), the Organizational Act for the County has been a regular focus of their discussions. Unfortunately, there has been some confusion over the exact requirements and language of the Organizational Act, combined with the fact that only a select few members of the Task Force have any familiarity with the Act.

Confusing the matter even more, a pdf version of the Organizational Act, scanned from an original document found somewhere in the dusty files of the county's legal department and made available to the OTF and the public, differs from the version found on Municode, the official repository of all current laws for DeKalb County.

Both versions of the Organizational Act are available here and are downloadable. The version from Municode, the official version available HERE, was downloaded and combined into a single Word file, reformatted for spacing and outlining, and turned into a pdf document. This is an accurate copy of the Organizational Act as of September, 2014, but should always be regarded as UNOFFICIAL, due the circumstances of its creation, and that it is NOT being distributed by the county.

Both versions, after the break:

DeKalb County Sunday Voting

Sen Fran Millar - Racist?

Sen. Fran Miller certainly created a firestorm with his sharp criticism of interim CEO Lee May's announcement of the opening of a Sunday voting site to be opened just prior to the general election in November, to be located at South DeKalb Mall.  He was concerned that this was UNFAIR because the new location is located in a predominantly African-American (meaning Democrat and uneducated) part of the county, whereas his Republican constituency (meaning white and wealthy) in the north end of the county were being denied an EQUAL OPPORTUNITY to vote.

All told, this is very consistent with the national Republican Party's remarkable efforts to deny the vote to poor and Democratic voters at every opportunity.

Perhaps if he had looked at a map he would have realized he just should have kept his mouth shut.

But You Left Out the Franchise Fees!

Brookhaven Explains It All

Brookhaven recently mailed out a flier, titled The Facts About Property Tax In Brookhaven, to every property owner within the City limits. In an attempt to justify their position that property taxes are lower in Brookhaven when compared to adjacent areas of unincorporated DeKalb County, Brookhaven has provided a point-by-point analysis of the tax advantages supposedly enjoyed by City residents.

The Truth-O-Meter In Action!

In an article titled Claim Exaggerates Tax Savings, PolitiFact Georgia, a joint site managed by PolitiFact.com and ajc.com, took a hard look at the numbers provided in the flier and attempted to determine just how accurate Brookhaven's claims actually were. Their analysis can be found HERE.

In essense, where Brookhaven claims that tax savings for a home valued at $200,00 would be $260.84 per year. PolitiFact, in its analysis, determined that the true savings for that same home would be less than $50.00 per year. Ultimately, PolitiFact rated Brookhaven's claim as Half True.

But Where Are the Franchise Fees?

In reading the both the flyer and the PolitiFact article, we note that both groups omitted the impact of franchise fees on their city revenues, exactly how much is paid by City residents and how those fees vary between the new cities and the County. In researching franchise fees, I've found it is problematic to determine exactly how they work, who pays what, who ultimately receives that revenue, and just how it is accounted for. In general, cities may collect franchise fees that the County cannot, but franchise fees are assessed on both city and county residents, often unknowingly. Some franchise fees paid by unincorporated residents are distributed to cities statewide, but not to the County which generates them. A tricky slope indeed, franchise fees.

So what impact do franchise fees have on Brookhaven's budget? And how does that compare to the County? They're not saying, and its quite possible that nobody really knows for sure.

The flier itself, after the break.

What Do You Do When The Hired Expert . . . Isn't So Expert?

YOU SPEAK UP!

GSU Presentation to the DeKalb Operations Task Force

At the recent DeKalb County Operations Task Force meeting, held on July 16, 2014, a presentation to the Committee On Municipalization / Annexation was made by Dr. Laura Wheeler, a Senior Research Associate with the Fiscal Research Center of the GSU Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.

During her presentation, which was marred by a computer failure which kept her PowerPoint presentation from being displayed, Dr. Wheeler made several statements that some in the audience knew to be incorrect or misleading. This was disappointing to hear, considering the supposed expertise that Dr. Wheeler, and by extension, the Andrew Young School, was expected to bring to the proceedings. What is worse is that the committee members, believing her to be an expert in these matters, were highly inclined to believe that everything she referenced was true and correct. Given the minimal level of their understanding of the issues before them, and my impression that these committee members are not inclined to do their own homework, this does not bode well for the entire process.

A audio recording of the meeting can be found HERE. This is the only accurate documentation of what was said in the meeting as it was not televised or recorded by the County.

Herman Lorenz, of the City of Briarcliff Initiative, was in the audience and was equally troubled by what he heard. As Herman is one of the most knowledgeable and well-read individuals in the entire incorporation debate, his words should be heard and appreciated. His understanding and expertise on many of the issues before the Task Force would seem to go well beyond that of their hired 'expert'.

Operations Task Force - Meeting of the Committee On Municipalization/Annexation

Please note that only 5 of the 8 appointed committee members bothered to show up. (The list of committee appointments can be found HERE.) Commissioner Stan Watson, Rep. Mike Jacobs and BoE member Jim McMahan were absent. I would further note that Commissioner Watson has not shown up to ANY of the Task Force meetings.

Herman's comments, after the break.

Second Verse, Same as the First!

Clarkston Gets Its Re-vote on Annexation

The annexation in Area 1 is now scheduled for a "re-run" election on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, Election Day in the United States.

We've been closely following the proposed Clarkston annexations for a while now and earlier this week noted how the annexation question had inexplicably disappeared, given the tie vote in Area 1, and Clarkston's intent for a second vote. Having asked the question earlier this week, we now have the answers.

Clarkston had filed a petition against the DeKalb County Board of Registrations and Elections, after their refusal to allow a re-vote on the annexation of Area 1, as they maintained that the tie vote, under Georgia law, constituted a rejection of the referendum, normally requiring 50% + 1 Yes vote to pass. But as seen Clarkston's petition (which can be found HERE) they cited two reasons which justified a "Re-Run" of the vote.

1) The Bill Was Poorly Written

The local bill for annexation, HB 1128, allowed for separate votes for annexation in both Area 1 (Part 2-B) and Area 2 (Part 1-A).  Area 2 failed to pass; Area 1 was tied 35-35.  In HB 1128, you will find the following language:

Whatever Happened With the . . .

Clarkston Annexation?

Clarkston had considered annexing several areas surrounding the City, and ultimately chose to formally pursue annexation of two specific districts, one to the west, crossing over to the far side of I-285, and a larger one to the northeast. The grand annexation plans were covered in this article, The Optimistic Cartographer. The vote for annexation was held in the May 20 primary, and ultimately failed, as explained in The Voters Say No to Clarkston.

Or did it?

Each area voted in separately considered votes, meaning either area could be approved by the voters without the other. In the vote, the area to the west was voted down by the overwhelming vote of 9 No to 5 Yes. The vote in the area to the northeast, around Brockett Road, was tied at 35-35. Under Georgia election laws, for the referendum to be approved, a 50% plus 1 vote is required. A tie represents a No decision, and the referendum fails.

Or does it?

After the election, Clarkston announced that there would be a runoff election to reconsider the vote on annexation in the Brockett Road area, in approximately 4 weeks. But no second vote was held in that time frame. Although surprised a runoff was even being considered, I thought it odd that they wouldn't wait for the already scheduled July 22 runoff date, particularly since the annexation was not scheduled to actually take place until the end of the year.The first supposed date for the runoff came and went without a sound. Presumably, the re-vote WAS scheduled for the July 22 runoff date.

Or was it?

There was no other notice or other activity in Clarkston, on its webpage or on the local FaceBook pages regarding a re-vote on annexation. No campaigning, no yard signs, no rallies. A quick check on election day at the Jolly Elementary precinct confirmed that no vote on annexation was scheduled that day. It's a mystery.

Or is it?

Inquiries at the Clarkston City Hall revealed some, if not all, of the truth. Although the exact sequence of events remains unknown, apparently the DeKalb County Elections Board refused to schedule the runoff vote for annexation as was requested by Clarkston. We can only presume this was due to the 50% plus 1 requirement for voter approval. As far as the Election Board was concerned, the referendum lost, and did not qualify for a revote. A recount maybe (with only 70 votes, we already know they tried that), but not a revote. Case closed.

But wait. There's more.

The DeKalb County Sheriff Runoff Vote

Maps detailing how the runoff vote for Sheriff played out in DeKalb County.

The incumbent Sheriff Jeff Mann was running against the ex-CEO of DeKalb County Vernon Jones. The runoff was held July 22, 2014.

In the runoff vote, Sheriff Jeff Mann defeated Vernon Jones - 40,537 to 12,553 (76.36% to 23.64%). The 53,090 voters represented 13.61% of the 389,998 registered voters in DeKalb County.

A map of DeKalb County illustrating how each precinct voted.

A map of DeKalb County illustrating the percentage of registered voters who participated in the runoff election. Kudos go out to Smoke Rise and Avondale Estates!

A spreadsheet of the vote totals by precinct can be found after the break.

IT'S ALIVE!!!

The DeKalb Government Operations Task Force lives! For REAL!

Yesterday, May 29, 2014, DeKalb Interim CEO finally issued details of the DeKalb Government Operations Task Force, tasked with EXPLORING and STUDYING various issues related to county government, city annexations and new city incorporation, and HOST distribution.

Its first meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 5, 6 to 8PM, in the Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, in downtown Decatur.

Lee May's original Executive Order for the Task Force can be found HERE.

Following is the complete news release from DeKalb County with photos and links for the Task Force members, followed by a quick commentary from the City of Briarcliff Initiative's esteemed Herman Lorenz.

ETA: Changes to the Task Force membership on June 2, 2014.

Voters Say NO to Clarkston

Only 84 Voters Participated in the Clarkston Annexation Referendum

 The City of Clarkston, largely in response to the possibility of new cities close to or adjacent to Clarkston, had developed an annexation plan for two separate areas adjacent to the City. Their interest in annexation prompted both city movements for Briarcliff and Tucker to adjust their proposed borders in deference to Clarkston's interest in those areas.

The referendum vote on the annexation was held this past primary day, May 20th. The two proposed areas were considered separately, which allowed for an up or down vote for each unique area, the two were not tied together. For whatever reason, finding the results initially proved to be something of a challenge, but they are easily found today.

Both areas were voted down in the referendum. A total of 84 voters participated in the referendum, 14 in Part 1-A (6% of a registered 231 voters) and 70 in Part 2-B (from a total of 2,122 registered voters - a paltry 3% participation). The labels assigned to each area can be confusing as the map drawn by Clarkston conflicted with the published study, and none of the references were used in the bill approved by the General Assembly.  Part 1-A (Area 2 on their map) is the area to the west of the City, crossing I-285, and Part 2-B (Area 1 on their map) spans Brockett Road, to the City's northeast. Part 1-A was voted down in a 9 No to 5 Yes landslide, while the vote for Part 2-B was TIED, remarkably enough, at 35-35. In a tie vote, the No vote should prevail, as Georgia requires a 50% + 1 clear majority to be approved. I suspect Clarkston may be preparing a case to challenge the results.

Map and  formal results, after the break.

Kevin Levitas Tries To Keep It Up - Even MORE Sophomoric Ranting! (Sigh . . .)

Kevin Levitas Just Can't Stop Digging That Hole of His

On his personal blog, ex-Representative, ex-Democrat, and ex-LCA-co-chair Kevin Levitas continues to expound upon his epic failure to pass the LCA sponsored Lakeside incorporation bill in this past legislative session, and persists in blaming everyone but himself. In this particular article he is focusing on Tucker's proposed map, and what he seems to think was the motivation behind its proposed border. He couldn't be more wrong. 

I am reposting his article here, in its entirety, as a service to the Tucker community. My personal response follows.

Perusing his blog, I have three suggestions for Mr. Levitas:

1.  Man up and grow a pair!

2. Get some help on your graphics. (All images below are from his blog article. Don't blame me.)

3. Keep trying! As we all know 'Practice Makes Perfect!'

Enjoy the repartee, after the break!

Slate's David Weigel Visits Georgia. This Is What He Saw.

David Weigel, a political journalist for the on-line Slate Magazine, while generally focusing on conservative political issues in his blog articles for Slate, seems to be all over the map in his political inclinations. (You can find his Wikipedia article HERE.) I have found his articles to be required reading.

Mr. Weigel recently visited Georgia and subsequently wrote several articles for Slate focusing on Georgia politics. For a conservative, he is remarkably positive about the future prospects of the Democratic Party in Georgia, while offering some brilliantly scathing commentary about a few of our Republican candidates.

There's still hope for us yet!

Following are links to his recent articles:

Can Georgia Democrats Make the State Turn Blue Ahead of Schedule?

How Red Can You Get?

The Third Coming of Bob Barr?

Watch the Homophobic Ad That a Losing Candidate is Running in Georgia

Read What Georgia's Michelle Nunn Actually Said About Obamacare

Kevin Levitas: 'F*** Y**, Briarcliff!'

Kevin Levitas
Former LCA co-chair

Kevin Levitas is STILL upset, and STILL refuses to take responsibility for LCA's failure.

In the comment section of a COBI Facebook article, Kevin Levitas, former co-chair of the Lakeside City Alliance (and former state representative and former Democrat) makes no bones about his feelings regarding the City of Briarcliff Initiative's role in the recent cityhood hearings in the House of Representatives. In his comment, Mr. Levitas belittles COBI's efforts over the past year, and insults every DeKalb citizen who supported COBI's proposal.  We can only shake our head at this shameful fingerpointing and blame game that the LCA has presented to its adoring public.

Mr. Levitas's comment, and a response from COBI board member Keith Hanks, after the break. In this reposting, I have edited the comments into a cleaner outline version, for readibility's sake. These comments can be a challenge to find in the Facebook system.

A Snake In the Meadows

Kevin Levitas accuses Rep. John Meadows of being a SNAKE! Ooooooo, burn!

In a clever play on words, Kevin Levitas, former co-chair of the Lakeside City Alliance, takes on Rep. John Meadows, R - Calhoun, the powerful Chair of the House Rules Committee. Former representative (and former Democrat) Levitas is personally, and singularly, blaming Rep. Meadows for the 'failure' of the LCA's proposal for the new City of Lakeside to pass the General Assembly in the 2013-14 legislative session.

Rep. Meadows' power in the legislature comes from his position as Chair of the Rules Committee, where he can personally guarantee the success or failure of any bill that comes out of any House committee.  Seems to me its not all that wise to piss off one of the two or three men in the state government who can personally kill your pet project. I guess that's why Mr. Levitas is now being billed as the FORMER chair of the LCA. Oh well, business as usual for the LCA.

Read for yourself, in the article as posted to zpolitics. Click HERE for the original article.

His article, after the break.

Emory Has a Plan!

Emory and Atlanta, Sitting In a Tree, K - I - S - S - I - N - G

Well, maybe not so much - yet.  But word on the street is that Emory is certainly exploring the option of being annexed by the City of Atlanta, and have had informal talks to that end. And they already know pretty much how they can go about it.

The recent incorporation debate between the City of Briarcliff Initiative (COBI) and the Lakeside City Alliance (LCA) certainly got Emory's attention, to the point they began to internally evaluate just what their identity was, and what impact possible incorporation would have on that identity. It certainly did not help when the proposed Lakeside southern boundary was bouncing around hither and yon just north of the Emory campus. When the surprise Lakeside map that was issued only after approval by the Senate committee, Emory was shocked to see the new southern boundary actually divided the Emory Campus in half. At that point they made it clear to St. Francis of Dunwoody that that was absolutely unacceptable and they demanded that the Emory campus, and the adjacent neighborhoods, be left out of the LCA plan.  Regarding COBI and the City of Briarcliff, they were officially neutral to that proposal, as they realized there was little room for negotiation with COBI. However, that doesn't mean they did not speak privately with certain legislators in the General Assembly to make sure they privately understood Emory's position. But, by that point, the question was moot as it had become clear that Briarcliff would go nowhere as long as Lakeside remained a possibility.

Residents Fight to Save the City That Isn't There

Residents Fight to Save the City That Isn't There

An article in USA Today, featuring Tucker, its long history, its active community and its battle against the Forces of Evil, represented by the LCA and the proposed City of Lakeside, may it rest in peace.

The main article can be found HERE.

Kevin Levitas Responds to the AJC

Kevin Levitas

LCA's Kevin Levitas' response to AJC editorial/reporting staff re: one-sided article from 3/23/13: 

While I do not anticipate that any what follows will make it into a follow-up article or as part of a retraction, it is nonetheless important to have a record of the facts because the truth really does matter. I have spoken with you both you repeatedly and at length over the last year about cityhood and have been easy to reach, so shame on you for not having the journalistic integrity to engage in even remedial fact-checking before submitting your flawed piece. 

I will respond to the erroneous points raised in the order in which you presented them:

1. "[D]esperate Lakeside backers, who were watching their effort fall apart last week, drafted Jacobs to work his magic again." This is utterly false. At no time did anyone from the Lakeside City Alliance ask or "draft" Rep. Jacobs into the process. Rep. Jacobs's statements to the House Governmental Affairs Committee came as a surprise to Alliance members and, I believe, to the sponsor of SB 270. 

2. Lakeside had "an identity based around a high school district, not a historic community." One of the more tiresome notions espoused by April and other pro-Tucker supporters is the idea that Tucker is a "real" community, but other areas are not. Tucker is, of course, a strong and historic community, but the idea that our community is somehow less historic is absurd. 

My writing to correct the many grievous errors you published is not the proper venue for a history lesson, and your post-hoc education cannot “unprint” your misstatements. Nonetheless, it might be interesting for you, at another time, to examine who Greenville Henderson was, where he lived and the genesis of communities between modern-day Tucker and Chamblee. Before you went to press, you might have spoken with longtime members of our community to get some minimal background, but, as your hit-piece now attests, you chose to opt for a less labor-intensive route. 

The discussion above, however, somewhat misses the larger point, which is: for those of us who were born and raised in this part of DeKalb County, who love, who have served and who continue to serve our community, it is offensive and crass to suggest that we are somehow unequal to Tucker. You do not need to denigrate one community in order to promote another in your story. It is regrettable that you chose this path.

The DeKalb Executive Order

Lee May Issues an Executive Order for the Creation of a Task Force on DeKalb County Operations

Having lucked out and gotten their one-year moratorium by default, not merit, DeKalb County Interim Chief Executive Officer Lee May has issued an Executive Order with the purported purpose of examining DeKalb County government, county services and incorporation.

The Executive Order can be seen, after the break.