Cityhood meeting recap

Creative Loafing has a summary of the May 6 meeting on cityhood information meeting:

Close to 300 DeKalb County residents filed into the Clairmont Hills Baptist Church last night to hear lawmakers and community activists discuss the county's growing cityhood movement. 

Many citizens have remained up in arms over the past few months as community groups have introduced a flurry of new city plans. Cartographers have liberally carved out borders that, on occasion, clash with other proposals for potential cities such as Lakeside, Briarcliff, Druid Hills, and LaVista Hills, and Stonecrest.  Read the rest @ Creative Loafing

MANA board attendees report the meeting was very well run by Mary Margaret Oliver, and shared the following "take home" messages:

• "For a city to be viable, they need to get 40% of their revenue from commercial.  The City of Decatur is now at 80/20 which is why they “need” more commercial revenue.  Jason Carter bottom-lined the problem:  There just isn’t enough to go around so everyone is fighting over the same turf."

• "any new city needs to take over three services from the county at a minimum.  Everyone wants land use/zoning.  In fact the speaker form Druid Hills said that that is their only issue with De Kalb County and if that could be resolved they would be happy with the status quo."

• "The main reasons for seeking cityhood were:  Land use, permitting, zoning and parks with schools being a hope for the future."

• "The City of Decatur is moving forward with annexing the 2 commercial areas but was vague about it... The representative spoke about how low the commercial % was in COD, how their borders need to be 'straightened out'" but the comments were "vague".

Update: Another report of the meeting is available at Atlanta Progressive News.

This weather is crazy

Flood watch and weather advisory! But this squirrel knows better.

This rain's driving even the squirrels inside!

Photo and caption by Deb Elkin

Reminder: Cityhood sponsors discuss current proposals [Monday, May 6]

via Mary Margaret Oliver (District 92, GA House of Representatives):

Members of the DeKalb House and Senate delegations, including those who have introduced legislation to create new cities or annex new areas to existing cities, will hold a Town Hall meeting on May 6, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Clairmont Hills Baptist Church, 1995 Clairmont Drive, Decatur 30033, the corner of Clairmont and North Druid Hills Road.  We want all DeKalb citizens to learn about the options available to them for local governance, and how you may participate in the efforts that will be on-going this summer. PLEASE JOIN US! 

House Rules of the Georgia General Assembly require that a new city may only be created over a two year term, not in one year.  Legislation, listed below by primary sponsor, was filed in the 2013 Session that ended March 28, 2013, to give an opportunity procedurally to create possible new DeKalb cities of Druid Hills, LaVista Hills, Lakeside, Stonecrest, City of DeKalb, and Tucker.  Also, annexation bills are pending for Chamblee and being discussed for Decatur, and legislative limitations on annexations options have also been filed.  We ask neighborhood associations or groups who are reviewing current legislation, or working for or against possible new cities to describe briefly their efforts.  

WE NEED YOUR INPUT!  HOW DO YOU WISH TO BE GOVERNED? 

The meeting will provide information on the costs of planning for new cities and the resulting possible tax implications.  We will discuss procedures for legislative enactment, give a summary of ongoing cityhood activities, and learn about other governance options. 

THANK YOU!  PLEASE JOIN US MAY 6 AND LEARN HOW YOU MAY PARTICIPATE IN PLANNING FOR A NEW DEKALB!  Thank you. 

The following are bills that have been introduced and may be reviewed on the General Assembly web site by Bill number:
HB 22---Primary Sponsor Mary Margaret Oliver.  HB 22 sets out additional procedures and enhanced financial requirements for creation of new cities.
HB 619—Primary Sponsor Mary Margaret Oliver.  HB 619 passed in 2013 and allows an area in unincorporated DeKalb that adjoins Chamblee to vote to be annexed into Chamblee
HB 665—Primary Sponsor Mary Margaret Oliver.  HB 665 is a placemholder bill to create new city of Briarcliff/Druid Hills.
HB 677—Primary Sponsor Billy Mitchell.  HB 677 would create a new city of Tucker.
HB 687---Primary Sponsor Pam Stephenson.  HB 687 limits the ability to annex new areas to existing cities by geography.
SB 270—Primary Sponsor Fran Millar.  SB 270 would create city of Lakeside
SB 275—Primary Sponsor Jason Carter.  SB 275 would create new city of LaVista Hills.
SB 278---Primary Sponsor Ron Ramsey.  SB 278 would create new city of Stonecrest. 

Tri-colored female dog, purple harness, recent surgery FOUND [Apr 28]

Posted to Medlock Neighbors Facebook page:

DeKalb Superintendent releases 90-day action plan

To view the 90-day plan and other recent DeKalb County School System announcements, visit http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/. The plan lists five goals; for each, there is a descriptive paragraph and action items. The goals are:

• Address AdvanceED/SACS action items and work to achieve unconditional accreditation status;
• Develop and implement a balanced budget for FY 2014;
• Prioritize student academic achievement and career readiness; strengthen parent, adult
guardian and mentor involvement;
• Develop and implement a plan that will improve operational efficiency throughout the
district;
• Continue to rebuild trust with internal and external district stakeholders

This Saturday: ICS movie

ICS Movie

MANA Spring Clean-up [Apr 27]

Flyer by Emily Mann, MANA Social Coordinator