No time to write a full post and probably not much of my own insight to add anyway, but if you live in metro Atlanta and particularly in Fulton County you need to read this article (login).
It’s not just Sandy Springs.
Across Fulton County, a wellspring of dissatisfaction seems to rise so strongly that the County Commission chairwoman says she can’t go anywhere without getting an earful.
“For decades, the Board of Commissioners has clearly not been meeting the needs,” Karen Handel says. “That’s why we have this intense discontent. I heard it on the campaign trail. I hear it both north and south. I really see it as a citizen revolt.”
That unrest has Fulton County on the verge of unraveling, 70 years after it was created by the merger of three struggling counties. If Sandy Springs residents decide to incorporate June 21, the county fears that $68 million could be sapped from its coffers.
Two other unincorporated areas of the county — Johns Creek and Milton — also are considering becoming cities unto themselves.
“The perception that Fulton County doesn’t work is part of the racial, social dynamics that are just fierce,” says state Sen. Vincent Fort (D-Atlanta). “It doesn’t reflect so much on the quality of the service but the people who are on the outs. Whatever it’s based upon, it’s real. Sometimes it’s rabid.”
Once Sandy Springs incorporates, it would be in everyone’s best interests to go ahead and consolidate Atlanta/Fulton County. The Fulton County Democratic Party is currently organizing townhall meetings in order to raise awareness about such an event, which may happen within the next 5 years.
There was some provision to allow our area to incorporate as well — to become the City of Ocee and the City of Milton, respectively, I think. Which I can see. Because Milton was annexed during the Depression ( I think) because as a rural (at that time) county, it was struggling. We’re not rural anymore, and our white-flight Repugnicrat neighbors are, uh, not happy about where they think their tax dollars are going.
Not sure about the incorporation of cities and whatnot, but I think it only makes sense to bring back the old Milton County. I believe there was also a Campbell County, on the other side of what is now Fulton. Might as well bring it back, too. I think it would be beneficial for all.
And that is my 2 cents on the matter, at 2:00 AM!
Old Campbell County went bankrupt which is why it was merged into Fulton County, and the thing is that the old county seat of Campbell County, Fairburn, hasn’t changed much since Campbell County went defunct, so I wouldn’t mind seeing South Fulton consolidated into Fayette County.
The best plan I’ve heard about all this is to let North Fulton become Milton County, or whatever and, in the South, merge Fulton, Dekalb, and City of Atlanta into one municipality. That way, the North gets the autonomy they desire and the Southern half, which would contain downtown Atlanta would be big enough to still wield influence.
Someday, I would think it wise to consolidate to a weak regional government with strong precincts — smaller than boroughs, bigger (and sexier-sounding) than neighborhood planning units. All these municipal and county governments throughout the metro area add up to an awful lot of service duplication and waste. But at the same time, I’d hate to think of how much worse off we’d be if Atlanta were one big regional municipality.
I know a lot of people in unincorporated North Dekalb who would not be thrilled at Fulton, Dekalb, and Atlanta merging into a single entity. It’s hard for me to imagine something that huge happening anytime soon.
I was thinking even bigger than that. It’s complete daydreaming, and would have more issues to work out than your average NFL game has commercials. But still, for where the Atlanta MSA has gone over the past couple of decades, our political boundaries limit our progress too much.
Agreed with Tony and that will the be the most probable result. As of now, that’s the only proposal people are discussing.
Joseph, have you heard people talking about incorporating merging DeKalb with Atlanta/Fulton?
I think this issue popped up last year. I don’t remember if it was Vernon Jones, or some county commissioner, but someone floated the idea of incorporating Dekalb county into one big city-county. I think is similar to what was done in Athens-Clark county.
The proposal wasn’t too popular in the North Dekalb areas where I know people–mainly Tucker, Northlake, and around Doraville. These people are not typically all that happy with county government as it is, and are pretty much against expanding its power any more.
The proposal was also not too popular among the cities in Dekalb, which would have no room to grow if this happened. The ability to annex land was finally given back to cities in Dekalb last year, and they’re not too eager to give it up. I think that this Dekalb-City idea was ultimately nixed by our county legislators. I’m kind of hazy about the details, but remember several conversations about this.
As for the Fulton-Dekalb merger, it’s hard for me to imagine Dekalb politicians wanting to subsume their interests into the larger Atlanta political machine. They’ve got too much to lose to want the merger, and I really doubt anyone in my neck of the woods wants to be incorporated into the city of Atlanta.
Like I said, I don’t see it happening anytime soon.
Joe:
John Sugg has written about the need for a regional government a few times in Creative Loafing. Last year, he wrote:
I’m not necessarily against a full-scale re-imagining of local government. If that happens, though, I think that it has to entail the creation of something completely new, rather than just shuffling around counties/cities that already exist.
For me, one of the nice things about living in a small city is that it is fairly responsive to me as an individual citizen. I wouldn’t get that if I lived in a city like Atlanta. Balancing the need for a local government that is responsive to citizens with the public’s need for a unified approach to growth and planning is going to be a difficult, but necessary task before any reorganizations can succeed.
The idea of merging fairburn with fayette doesn’t sound half bad. Cut off the top of fulton to bring back Milton, and leave fulton as everything north of Union City. Maybe then the fulton side of milam rd might have fewer potholes.
I think if they decide to go ahead with annexing doraville it will be a huge mistake. PLEASE vote NO NO NO !!!!