Republican state Sen. Randy Robertson of Cataula (at podium) is among the lawmakers who support the creation of the “City of Buckhead City.” He is pictured at a 2021 event in Loudermilk Park. (Jenni Girtman for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
By Patricia Murphy, Greg Bluestein and Tia Mitchell
News and analysis from the politics team at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The supporters of Buckhead’s potential secession from Atlanta have testified that they’re fueled by public safety concerns. But a citywide divorce could effectively doom the massive new police and fire training center now planned for the Atlanta police and fire departments.
The reason is embedded in Senate Bill 113, the “City of Buckhead City” de-annexation legislation that was introduced last week and cleared a Senate committee vote Monday on party lines despite opposition from law enforcement, Atlanta officials and many Buckhead residents.
In this aerial view, land owned by the city of Atlanta is shown, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, in unincorporated DeKalb County. The Atlanta City Council approved plans to lease the land to the Atlanta Police Foundation so it can build a state-of-the-art police and firefighter training center. (Danny Karnik/Associated Press)
SB 113 lays out lawmakers’ plans to transfer government services and assets from the city of Atlanta to the proposed “City of Buckhead City.”
Under the terms, all of Atlanta’s assets outside city limits would be divided between the new municipalities or sold, with the proceeds being shared on a pro rata basis.
That would presumably apply to the sprawling campus proposed for 85 city-owned acres nestled in unincorporated DeKalb County. The controversial project has been targeted by left-leaning activists, but has generally found support among the conservatives, including those who back Buckhead cityhood.
Beyond that provision, there’s also the question of whether Atlanta would still be able to pay its $30 million share of the first $90 million of the estimated cost of the project if its tax base is carved up by the process.
Atlanta officials and public safety leaders issued a string of statements last week warning that splitting the city into two municipalities would backfire by hobbling Atlanta’s efforts to combat crime.
Dave Wilkinson of the Atlanta Police Foundation said law enforcement needs a “state of the art training center.”
“We ask state lawmakers to advance a pro-public safety agenda that keeps Atlanta united,” he said, “and protects our ability to provide best-in-class public safety training.”
Dave Wilkinson, Atlanta Police Foundation President and CEO (left) and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickson both oppose the creation of a “Buckhead City.” (Jason Getz/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Billy Linville of the Committee for a United Atlanta said, “This is self-destructive legislation that would cause great harm to the city of Atlanta, Buckhead residents, and the state of Georgia. He added: “It will irreparably harm the business reputation of the state and create legal and political chaos.”
A leader of the CEO of the Buckhead City Committee said they are “100% in support of the construction underway,” but oppose the use of Atlanta police officers to patrol the area as “glorified armed security guards for the construction site there.”
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A sign in support of the creation of a “Buckhead City.” (AJC file photo)
FIRE SALE. Also embedded in the “Buckhead City” de-annexation legislation is the prescribed process of selling city of Atlanta assets to a newly created “City of Buckhead City,” at rock bottom prices.
How rock bottom?
The bill sets the price of the land for Buckhead parks at $100 per acre, including Chastain Park and Memorial Park, where nearby one acre lots can sell for as much as $1 million per acre.
The legislation would also let the “City of Buckhead City” buy fire stations for $5,000 each, and buy any Atlanta-owned buildings in Buckhead, such as schools, for $1,000, including all of the fixtures inside. Some fire stations could also be leased for $10 per year.
The water system serving the entire Buckhead area would be available for purchase at $100,000, while the sewer system would be sold at the same price.
State Sen. Jason Esteves, D-Atlanta, opposes the creation of “Buckhead City.” (Hyosub Shin/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
To cover those costs, the legislation would also divide up cash in Atlanta accounts to be divided between the two municipalities and divide up some, but not all, of the city’s bond obligations.
Every Democratic member of the Legislature who represents Atlanta is against the divorce proposal. Two of them, state Sens. Jason Esteves and Josh McLaurin, sit on the Senate State and Local Government Operations committee that cleared the measures despite Democratic opposition.
“I represent Buckhead, so I know that residents across Atlanta have legitimate concerns about safety and public services,” Esteves said. “The creation of a ‘Buckhead City’ does not provide solutions, but instead would throw our public safety, education, transportation, and fiscal programs into chaos without any viable plan to move forward.”
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Georgia Sen. Matt Brass speaks, R-Newnan, chairs a committee panel that will hear Senate Bills 113 and 114. (Alyssa Pointer/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
WHAT’S NEXT: If Senate Bill 113 and Senate Bill 114 are passed by committee today, they’ll go to the full Senate for a vote.
But not before being heard by the Senate Rules Committee. That panel is chaired by state Sen. Matt Brass, a Republican from Newnan, who also co-sponsored both bills.
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Forewoman of the special purpose grand jury of the Donald Trump inquiry, Emily Kohrs, poses for a photograph at the The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s newsroom on Tuesday, Feb 21, 2023. The special grand jury met for almost eight months and heard from 75 witnesses. (Miguel Martinez/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)
JUROR FUROR. The bizarre interviews with special grand juror Emily Kohrs have become so ubiquitous they were lampooned at the end of the cold open on Saturday Night Live over the weekend.
Former President Trump addresses residents of East Palestine, Ohio following this month’s train derailment pic.twitter.com/3VjKqe081Y
— Saturday Night Live – SNL (@nbcsnl) February 26, 2023
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TRUMP FATIGUE. In a series of focus-group styled interviews, reporters from The Washington Post recently visited Georgia and four other battleground states to gauge former President Trump’s support among Republican voters headed into the 2024 election.
In a series of focus-group styled interviews, reporters from The Washington Post recently visited Georgia and four other battleground states to gauge former President Trump’s support among Republican voters headed into the 2024 election. (Reba Saldanha/Associated Press)
In Georgia, the Post reporter visited metro Atlanta’s once-solidly Republican northern suburbs. Here is an excerpt of a dispatch from Sandy Springs, which has turned a brighter shade of purple:
Rusty Paul, 70, the GOP mayor of this booming and affluent suburb north of Atlanta, looked out of his sprawling glass-walled office on a recent afternoon and pointed toward parts of his city where voters increasingly slam doors — literally — in the faces of Republicans who are door-knocking.
“Donald Trump single-handedly dropped a big bottle of dye in this area and changed it from red to purple,” Paul said. “I’ve talked to so many of my constituents who told me, ‘I voted Republican my whole life, but Donald Trump, I just won’t do it.'”
Instead, Paul said, his constituents are looking for someone like DeSantis. “They want someone with the policies without the edge,” he said.
– The Washington Post
The AJC recently took a deep dive on where Georgia Republicans stand today.
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The Georgia state Capitol in Atlanta. (Curtis Compton/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
UNDER THE GOLD DOME, Legislative Day 24:
– 7 a.m.: Committee meetings begin;
– 10 a.m.: The House gavels in;
– 10 a.m.: The Senate convenes.
– On our radar: Crossover Day, Monday, March 6
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Georgia State Capitol museum educator Sophia Queen, talks about a painting of former President Jimmy Carter during a group tour on Tuesday, February 21, 2023. (Natrice Miller/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
DATELINE: PLAINS. The AJC has a team of reporters and photographers in Plains to document the town and the people where former President Jimmy Carter has resided nearly his entire life.
Follow our ongoing coverage online at ajc.com/jimmy-carter.
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President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver remarks today at the White House celebrating Black History Month. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
– President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver remarks at the White House celebrating Black History Month.
– The U.S. House has votes scheduled for this evening.
– The Senate will continue its annual tradition of having a designated member read aloud President George Washington’s 1796 Farewell Address. Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, will do the honors this year.
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Stacey Abrams is part of a part of a bipartisan coalition monitoring Nigeria’s presidential election. (Nathan Posner for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
ABRAMS’ NEW ROLE. Stacey Abrams continues her work as part of a bipartisan coalition monitoring the presidential election in Nigeria.
Results are starting to come in, but technical issues and sporadic violence delayed voting in some polling places.
Abrams sits on the board of the National Democratic Institute and is in Nigeria as a part of an NDI team, along with the International Republican Institute, to monitor elections in Africa’s most populous country.
“@NDI & @IRIglobal teams remain on the ground in states with extended polling,” she wrote on Twitter. “Grateful to them and other observation teams across Nigeria. And deepest admiration for those poll workers determined to deliver the right to vote to their fellow Nigerians.”
Attending @YIAGA press conference evaluating the ongoing Nigerian elections. Voting has been extended today in states or polling units that faced election violence or technological issues. Next presser after results released. More to come as #NigeriaDecides2023.
— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) February 26, 2023
Separately, Abrams now has a new website, StaceyAbramsCreates.com, which focuses on her work as an author and producer, rather than candidate or activist.
Former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker remains in the news for campaign spending. (Daniel Varnado for the AJC)
WHAT WE’RE READING:
- Fox News: “Herschel Walker’s curious case of $595K in private jets and a donor-owned car wash”
- The Wall Street Journal: Another turn in the COVID lab leak story.
- The New Republic: “The U.S. Senate Has Three Buildings. Why Is One Still Named for a White Supremacist?”
- Rome News-Tribune: Greene ‘national divorce’ tweets coincide with PAC fundraising campaign
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State Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania, and his rescue dog, Nugget, on the Burns family farm. (Courtesy photo)
DOG OF THE DAY. It’s lawmaker week at the Dog of the Day, when we’re featuring the bipartisan buddies of your local elected officials.
First up is Nugget Burns, the 14-year old rescue adopted as a puppy by state Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania.
We’re told Nugget and her siblings were thrown into the Etowah River near Dahlonega as puppies, but quickly rescued. Her name comes from the Gold Rush region of the state where she was found.
Nugget now lives on the Burns’ family farm in Sylvania and helps feed cows daily, even when her person is working at the state Capitol.
Send us your pups of any political persuasion —and cats on a cat-by-case basis — to [email protected], or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to [email protected], [email protected] and [email protected].
Read the original story on AJC.com.
