200 meet to push city of Buckhead

Buckhead. A city?

On Thursday, the Fulton County Taxpayers Association came to one of the tony north Atlanta neighborhood’s finest restaurants to make its case that area residents should break away from Atlanta and create their own city.

Most of the 200 people in attendance gave hearty applause as a speaker complained Atlanta’s government and school system are fiscally irresponsible.

“The city of Atlanta, in my opinion, is broke, and if we don’t do something about it, it’s going to get worse,” said Glenn Delk, an attorney who lives in Buckhead.

In the past, the idea of Buckhead breaking away from Atlanta has been cocktail chatter at best. But the topic went citywide in late June, when the association sent glossy newsletters pushing the idea to about 50,000 households throughout the affluent community.

There is already one town called Buckhead in Georgia. It’s in Morgan County, about 60 miles east of Atlanta. The population is 251.

Proponents envision a city of Buckhead would include about 70,000 people. Its boundaries would stretch roughly from the Atlanta city limits in the north to I-85 in the south and the Fulton-DeKalb county line in the east to the Chattahoochee River and Marietta Boulevard in the west.

Some community leaders say Buckhead seceding from Atlanta would be a big blow. The community is home to shopping malls such as Lenox Square and Phillips Plaza, some of Atlanta’s ritzy hotels and larger businesses, and many of the city’s most expensive residences. Community leaders say Buckhead contributes about 45 percent of Atlanta’s property and sales taxes.

So far, most elected officials have shown little interest in the idea. They say it will critically harm Atlanta’s tax base and create racial strife. “Buckhead is mostly white and the city government is mostly African-American. There are people who try to run from something like this,” said Sam Massell, president of the Buckhead Coalition and a former Atlanta mayor.

This is not about race, Delk told the crowd Thursday. “There is only one color that matters in this debate,” he said. “That is green.”

Delk and others say Atlanta could survive financially without Buckhead. The group wants state lawmakers to pass legislation that would let residents decide whether they can create their own city.

State Rep. Ed Lindsey (R-Atlanta), who represents Buckhead, said that would be tough because it would require approval from the majority of state lawmakers who represent Atlanta. Most of them, Lindsey has said, are unlikely to support such legislation.

 ELIZABETH LANDT / Staff
Map outlines the proposed Buckhead boundaries.
Source: Fulton County Taxpayer Foundation