The Dunwoody Homeowners Association is considered one of the most active and influential groups in a community facing a big question July 15: Should voters back a referendum making Dunwoody a city? Association President Gordon Jackson discussed the group's role, and incorporation.

Q: The DHA is neutral on the referendum. Why?

A: Historically, the DHA has concentrated on issues affecting the community overall, such as planning and zoning, code enforcement and traffic, from a nonpartisan standpoint. In addition, our bylaws prohibit our taking partisan positions.

Q: The association did sponsor two public forums. What was their purpose?

A: Our intent was to sponsor an opportunity for the community to obtain as much factual information as might exist in this case. We felt we had to rely on the research group Citizens for Dunwoody, which had contracted with the Carl Vincent Institute of the University of Georgia for specific studies, research and forecasts. CVI's work appeared to represent the best set of "factual" data on the issue of cityhood. In that regard, we also invited the DeKalb County administration as well as the commission to sit on the panel since Dunwoody and DeKalb County were the parties or governmental organizations affected, and the county might have information the CVI studies did not have. They chose not to participate with the exception of Commissioner Jeff Rader, who participated in the first forum. The [Perimeter Community Improvement Districts] sat in on the first and second forums. The DeKalb Chamber of Commerce sat in on the first forum.

Q: Describe the DHA.

A: The DHA traces its roots to the 1969-1970 era. We are an overall organization, and our membership comes from the area we have historically watched over —- from Ga. 400 on the west to the Gwinnett County line on the east, and from I-285 to the river —- which now includes some of the city of Sandy Springs. I think the purpose then and the purpose now are greatly similar. We are concerned with maintaining a close-knit community with a high quality of life. That's why our focus on the issues we mentioned remains the same as when DHA started. We want to protect our neighborhoods and schools, but at the same time foster a strong business environment. I think we strive for an informed balance among a lot of disparate interests and issues.

Q: What issues that the DHA is concerned with could be affected if Dunwoody becomes a city?

A: This is certainly an item a number of us have given some thought to. But at this point, our focus is to continue to be concerned about the things I mentioned. We see a continued role for DHA should the city of Dunwoody be approved. About the biggest change we see at this point is communicating with a Dunwoody City Council —- all of which would represent Dunwoody —- as opposed to the County Commission, which represents the entire county.

The question has been asked as to whether there will be a role for DHA if the city comes into being. We believe our role will remain important to the city as well.

Q: Does the association have a position on any of these issues?

A: We maintain opinions on a number of things, but we do not have any sort of paper or formal listing of DHA opinions. I think our positions are very closely gathered around the core issues we face as a community, including traffic, planning, zoning, code enforcement, schools, etc.

The overall Dunwoody community is tremendously concerned with multiple issues with schools, from concerns about what will the new elementary/fourth-fifth-grade academy look like, to how do we control apartment density given the school capacity issues.