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.