City of Decatur not interested in annexing Medlock Park neighborhood

From Lynn Ganim, MANA Acting President 

Many people in the Medlock neighborhood have expressed interest in, and in some cases hope for, being annexed by the City of Decatur. On September 21 MANA Board members met at our request with Decatur Mayor Jim Basket, Commissioner Fred Boykin and City Manager Peggy Merris to discuss the City of Decatur's expanded annexation map (now engulfing the Medline LCI study) and its impact on the Medlock neighborhood. We repeatedly expressed our concerns that Decatur’s interest in our surrounding businesses has negative effects on the viability of any new city that may include us. It seems unfair that Decatur's interests should have priority over those of other County residents who will be negatively impacted by Decatur's annexation plan. We also asked if Medlock should include annexation into the City of Decatur as an option for our neighborhood in our upcoming survey.

The gist of Decatur's response is that they are not interested in annexing the Medlock neighborhood or any other significant residential area because of the effect on the Decatur schools. There were no qualifications in their response. That door (or should we say “gateway”) is not open to us.

Decatur representatives emphasized their desire to control the main “gateways” to their city, with Mayor Baskett expressing dismay over the DeKalb County-approved development of Suburban Plaza as an example. The elephant in the room: why didn’t Decatur move to assume stewardship of these “gateways” a mere few years ago when they were underdeveloped? The first annexation wave came following the announcement that Suburban Plaza was to be redeveloped; the expanded map followed the Medline LCI study completion. City of Decatur officials did not express concern over the effect of their plans on other areas of the county, including Medlock, except to say that the moves towards municipalization in the county had impelled their decisions.

Decatur acknowledged that individual homeowners adjacent to the proposed commercial annexation areas can request to be included. Individuals included in the annexation plan who wish to be excluded can request to be removed. See Decatur’s annexation page here.

It appears that at this point our choices include being annexed into Atlanta (assuming Clairmont Heights and Druid Hills also decide on the same course of action), being included in a new city (whatever compromise Lakeside and Briarcliff or the legislature determines,) or remaining in a possibly dramatically smaller unincorporated DeKalb County.

We face complex choices involving many variable and unknowns. Soon we hope to distribute summary information sheets to make it easier for everyone to see what is involved in each of our available choices. We will also conduct a survey, as legislators and others are very interested in having a reliable record of our opinions. MANA is working diligently on survey design and distribution logistics; we will follow soon with additional information and survey timelines.

New ways to support fundraising at Laurel Ridge Elementary

Laurel Ridge Elementary has some new ways you can help support the school's educational mission - both are quick, free, easy, and allow you to turn the shopping that you're already doing into additional dollars to support local public education.

For those who are smartphone users, Shoparoo offers an easy way to scan receipts using the free Shoparoo mobile app that turns pictures of your shopping receipts into cash donations for Laurel Ridge. It doesn't matter where you shop or what you buy - every receipt adds up to funding that can help support your local elementary school.

After testing the app, it seems pretty easy and folks at the school are telling me that the dollars are already starting to add up. Receipts from stores that sell grocery items return instant cash to the school (think Publix, Target, Kroger, convenience stores, dollar stores...) and receipts from other retailers earn entries for cash prizes.

More details are available at the Shoparoo website.

Kroger Community Rewards

Another great opportunity for folks to help Laurel Ridge Elementary with fundraising that is easy and painless.  Kroger will donate a percentage of your purchase to Laurel Ridge through your Kroger Plus card!  Just create an account and choose Laurel Ridge as your community partner. Use the following link to start earning money for Laurel Ridge today!

https://www.kroger.com/account/create

1.     Select your preferred store which may be:

        2205 Lavista Rd Ne, Atlanta, GA 30329 (Toco Hills Store)

        2875 N Decatur Rd, Decatur, GA 30033 (Dekalb Industrial Store)

2.    Enter your Kroger Plus card number.

3.    Scroll to the bottom of the page to “Community Rewards and choose Laurel  Ridge as your school!

 

That’s it!  Laurel Ridge earns money every time you shop at Kroger and use your Kroger Plus Card!

We've mentioned Box Tops for Education and Coke Rewards at several of our past community meetings - these are still a great fundraiser for Laurel Ridge Elementary, so don't stop collecting! You can either bring them to a community meeting or contact Tanya Myers at medlockassoc@gmail.com for pickup.

Old stuff is new: vintage sales around town

The AJC alerts us to 3 vintage sales happening around Atlanta.

One of the sales will take place later this month in front of the Decatur High School, sponsored by www.therevivalofvintage.com:

"10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 27-28 in front of Decatur High School, 310 N. McDonough St., Decatur. Free. (Free parking at DeKalb County Courthouse deck at East Trinity Place at Commerce Drive.) 

The Country Living Fair is one of three national shows, attracting 150-plus vendors from across the country, organized by the home design magazine that moved this year from New York to Birmingham, Ala. The sprawling outdoor marketplace offers a wide range of treasures: shabby chic decor, architectural elements, jewelry and clothing, primitives, garden pieces and folk art and crafts." Read the rest @ AJC

WABE on annexation

via http://www.decaturga.com/Modules/ShowDocument.aspdocumentid=5373
Red/pinkish areas labeled A-D denote areas Decatur wants to annex; yellow/orangeish
areas are in Avondale Estates' annexation plan. Medlock neighborhood labeled in yellow.

In "DeKalb Cityhood Movement Affects Decatur's Annexation Plans," Lisa George at WABE (Atlanta's NPR station) reports on annexation hopefuls vying for commercial properties along North Decatur Road (Suburban Plaza, Scott Blvd. Baptist Church/Fuqua Development, Medline LCI study area, and Emory Commons/Clairmont Rd businesses). Referring to unincorporated residents:

“If they’re shopping in that shopping center, then and that shopping center is going into a city, then they should go into that city,” says Allen Venet. He heads the City of Briarcliff Initiative, which is now working with the Lakeside group to draw borders for a new city that will likely touch Decatur. 

“We hope to be able to draw our map in a way that complements them as best as we can,” Venet told WABE. “That may not be exactly agreeing with them. We may think that, if they take certain areas, they should go beyond and take some more people, but we’re still working on that.”  Read on or listen  @ WABE

Notes from MANA community meeting with Councilman Alex Wan, Atlanta District 6

MANA community meeting with Councilman Alex Wan, Atlanta District 6, September 17, 2014

Announcements by Lynn Ganim, acting MANA president:

This meeting is part of a series of meetings where MANA is reaching out to public officials to better understand how our neighborhood may be impacted by annexations or by new cities that include us or happen close enough to impact us.

• We have reached out to identify a County representative but have not been successful
• To learn about Commissioner Gannon’s Blueprint for DeKalb, attend Sept 30 meeting 
• The interim CEO has appointed an operations task force that meets weekly at the Maloof Bldg; citizens are welcome to attend
• MANA’s Oct 7 meeting will feature Rep Mary Margaret Oliver, who has been closely involved with recent cityhood proposals and will explain the legislative process
• MANA will conduct a survey (house to house) to better understand our residents’ concerns and preferences

Councilman Wan has represented ATL District 6 since 2010. He grew up on the area, and attended Clarkston High, GA Tech School of Engineering, and completed his MBA at U Penn. In addition to his Atlanta appointment, Mr. Wan also works as director of development for Emory University’s libraries. Mr. Wan clarified that at this meeting, he is representing the City of Atlanta and District 6 and that he is not part of the Emory governance team (that would handle any cityhood/annexation discussions). Extensive meeting notes follow.

Update from the Druid Hills Charter Cluster

An update was posted by the Druid Hills Charter Cluster initiative earlier this week. Although state law requires that the refiled petition be taken up by the DeKalb County school board for their vote on approval or non-approval, agendas for board has over the past several months have noticeably avoided this task.

So... what to do? DHCC advocates are suggesting that if you would like to see the process move forward to an affirmative vote, consider sending a handwritten note. The most effective folks to lobby are probably board members who voted not to approve the petition initially but who will be rolling off the board and may be more willing to shift their thinking on the refiled petition (Ms. Karen Carter, Mr. David Campbell, and Dr. Michael Erwin). E-mail is also OK but these tend to get lost in inboxes and handwritten correspondence may stand out more. You might also consider copying Superintendent Thurmond on your correspondence so that he can develop a sense of community support for the initiative.

Handwritten notes can be sent to:
1701 Mountain Industrial Boulevard
Stone Mountain, GA 30083

E-mail addresses for board members can be found here.

From DHCC:

As talk and organization around the concepts of new cities and annexation continue to grow, the Druid Hills Charter Cluster remains focused on one issue and one issue only: approval of the DHCC by the DeKalb Board of Education for the benefit of our seven cluster schools. It is true that approval or denial of the charter will have real implications for any cityhood or annexation efforts. In light of these growing discussions in our greater DHCC community, the DHCC would like all stakeholders and elected decision-makers to keep the following points in mind:

• DHCC has the support of all seven school councils and the communities they serve.

• DHCC represents the most diverse school population in DeKalb County.

• DHCC's Petition meets all the requirements of a conversion charter petition, as noted by DCSD and the State of Georgia.

• Charter clusters, such as the DHCC, keep all the local property tax dollars generated within a given high school zone in DeKalb County, and allow the value of those dollars to be allocated equally, on a per pupil basis, across DeKalb County. The creation of new school systems or the annexation of territory into an existing independent school system takes the local property tax dollars generated within that same high school zone out of the DeKalb County Board of Education's budget.

• Failure to approve the DHCC could result in some portion of the cluster tax base being annexed into the City of Atlanta, the City of Decatur, and/or incorporated by one or more new cities expected to be approved for referendum by the General Assembly in early 2015.

• DHCC provides a governance structure and petition commitment to improve the performance of ALL seven schools in the cluster.

• DHCC accepts 100% of all cluster resident students and available capacity is open to ALL DeKalb students by lottery. DHCC has no ability to exclude any student within its attendance zone and no ability to exclude any student from any where in DeKalb whose enrollment is determined by random lottery.

• DHCC includes new programs and enhancements to existing educational programs NOT available any where to current DeKalb students.

• Truly empowering school-house level principals and teachers with the flexibility, autonomy, and authority to determine the instructional pacing, curriculum, assessment methods, enrichment programs, and even daily and yearly calendars that best serve their students will result in greater professional satisfaction for our teachers, increased accountability, and sustained improvements in achievement and growth for ALL students.

• The cluster-level accountability that comes with flexibility and autonomy AND the expansion of school choice via the state-mandated, county-wide lottery that will be offered at each and every cluster school with capacity, will foster healthy and productive competition among our creative, dedicated principals and teachers, leading to better service to, and outcomes for, students throughout DeKalb County.

• DHCC follows precisely the funding rubric outlined by state law and, as a result, drives a much greater percentage of per pupil funds to classrooms and teachers than the status quo.

The DHCC is a good idea for all students within DeKalb and approving it is the right thing for the DeKalb Board of Education to do for DeKalb County students. Share your voice and your opinion with every official elected by residents of DeKalb County.

September views of the neighborhood

With the recent rains (and rains and rains), the Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve pond actually gained some puddles....

And the mushroom season continues with plump, jolly mushrooms popping up everywhere. Prime real estate for smurfs!