No Brookhaven, but Ashford still a possibility

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By April Hunt

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Goodbye, city of Brookhaven, at least for now.

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A committe said residents of north-central DeKalb County should be allowed to vote this summer on whether to create a city. However, the city would be called Ashford and not Brookhaven.

Brant Sanderlin, bsanderlin@ajc.com A committe said residents of north-central DeKalb County should be allowed to vote this summer on whether to create a city. However, the city would be called Ashford and not Brookhaven.

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A House committee agreed Tuesday that residents of north-central DeKalb County should be allowed to vote this summer on whether to create a city there. But over objections of state Rep. Mike Jacobs, the Republican from the area leading the cityhood fight, the name will be Ashford.

“It’s not just snobbery. It’s history,” said House Majority Whip Ed Lindsey, a resident of the Atlanta section of historic Brookhaven, a 100-year-old community where many residents argued they want to retain that name.

Name aside, Tuesday’s vote clears a major hurdle for supporters of creating a new city, which overnight would become the largest in DeKalb and the 16th largest in the state.

The legislation allowing that vote on July 31 is expected to easily clear the House Rules Committee, which will put it on the calendar for a vote by the full chamber.

Jacobs said he was disappointed by the name change but alluded to a possible return to the original Brookhaven moniker by the time the legislation makes its way to the Senate, which also gets a vote.

So far, opponents of the new city have failed to slow down its march to a referendum. That includes an effort by state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, to table the bill until lawmakers can hold a hearing on her proposal to formalize in state law how cities can be created.

Oliver also failed to garner enough support to move the cityhood vote on Ashford from the primary election this summer to the general election in November.

As it stands, if voters approve a new city, they will return to the polls in November to elect their first mayor and city council. That gives the city time launch in December and capture 2012 property taxes to pay for operations for the coming year.