As residents debate the idea of creating a new city out of north-central DeKalb County, Mike Jacobs’ name comes up as often as that of the would-be town.
The Republican state lawmaker launched the Brookhaven cityhood movement earlier this year with a bill that would allow a referendum on incorporation as early as July.
But Jacobs has since remained the public face of the effort, even as a citizen group formed to fund a study that concluded in November that Brookhaven would work. An articulate attorney, he is often the go-to guy for questions about incorporating in general and Brookhaven in particular.
That leaves supporters and opponents alike crediting him for fashioning the proposed city. And it means that whether the Legislature approves a vote, and how voters react, is likely to ride as much on Jacobs as anything else. If Brookhaven fails or succeeds, Jacobs will likely get the credit or blame.
“It’s all about Mike, all the time,” said Chamblee Mayor Eric Clarkson. “My recollection is people were asking about being part of Dunwoody and Chamblee, annexed into existing cities, not creating a new one. But that’s not where he took it.”
Clarkson, a fellow Republican, supports Brookhaven as a concept but not its proposed boundaries. The map that many credit Jacobs for drawing gobbles half of the Sexton Woods neighborhood while leaving the rest in Chamblee. Residents there and Clarkson had expected to ask to become part of Chamblee, as their neighbors in Huntley Hills did successfully last year.
Jacobs, 36, deflects that criticism and more withering accusations by noting that residents on the Citizens for North DeKalb study group paid the $27,000 for a feasibility study and drew the map based on input from other residents. His job is just to convince fellow state lawmakers to allow for a public vote.
“I understand the desire of some people to make this a personal issue,” he said. “But my intent is to tee up the issue and step out of the way. It’s up to the voters to decide.”
But if he understands his polarizing effect, it may be because Jacobs has been no stranger to controversy in his four terms in the state House.
Elected as a Democrat in 2004, he often bucked the party line on votes before switching parties in 2007. His first year in the House, he voted to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries to move the Dunwoody area from a Democratic to a GOP district.
But more than sheer politics, Jacobs is known for using his state perch to challenge issues in DeKalb. He rankled county officials his first year with two unsuccessful bills: one to change the state open records law to weaken the county’s defense in a public records lawsuit regarding DeKalb-Peachtree Airport.
This year, his proposal to limit how much counties can charge in fees and fines for properties on foreclosure registries ran out of time in the session’s final days. The proposal was prompted after DeKalb became the first county in Georgia to create and charge for a foreclosure registry. It could still be considered in the upcoming session.
That record draws respect and criticism in equal measure, sometimes from the same people.
“I respect his choice to stand up and take a position,” said Tom Weber, a quality control technician for Delta Airlines from Hillsdale. “The problem is, he is talking about looking out for Brookhaven and not for what’s best for all of DeKalb County.”
Weber said he plans to vote against cityhood because he is not convinced taxes will go down, or even stay the same as they are with the county. But Jacobs’ history of challenging the county has some residents skeptical of his motives in pushing Brookhaven.
The county commission recently voted to ask the Legislature to delay a cityhood vote until a study can assess the impact to the rest of the county. State rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, pre-filed a bill to allow for that delay. It is expected to earn support from the county’s legislative delegation when lawmakers convene in January.
Julia Sellers, a teacher who lives just across the street from Brookhaven’s borders in Clairmont Terrace said she and other feel there is a rush to make a decision “without investigating all the options.”
Sellers wouldn’t get a chance to vote on cityhood under the current borders, though she said she and many neighbors identify with Brookhaven. If the area incorporated, she expects her neighbors would ask to be annexed in, even if they feel alienated by Jacobs now.
Jacobs expresses sympathy for those residents who might want in on the city. But he said that proposal and all the details for a map and services have been driven by constituents who saw the benefits when Sandy Springs and Dunwoody incorporated in 2005 and 2008, respectively.
Supporters, too, have expressed frustration at how much opposition and controversy is based on personal reactions to Jacobs and not the proposal itself. In public meetings, opponents often refer to “Mike’s plan” and even “Jacobshaven” rather than any grassroots effort that launched the initiative.
Though Jacobs will be central to getting the bill through the Legislature, they hope that a soon-to-form citizen advocate group will draw attention back to the viability and reasons for cityhood.
“The lack of representation has been a real concern here,” Linley Jones, an attorney who supports cityhood said, noting Jacobs is just one of two local politicians from the Brookhaven area. “He has taken the ball and run with it, but only because we have been begging him for years to explore a cityhood option for this part of town.”
Jacobs, a married father of three, said he expects to spend his energy lobbying colleagues at the Capitol to allow for a public vote. The spotlight, he said, will shift to ideas about services and taxes as more residents hear about the University of Georgia study that said Brookhaven could be a viable city.
The study found that Brookhaven could run without raising property taxes above the rate now levied by the county and may generate a $3 million surplus. It also would increase police presence and grant more local control over zoning and planning issues.
“It’s been very strange to me how personal and negative this issue has become,” Jacobs said. “This is ultimately a community conversation and ultimately a decision that will be made by voters. By the time that happens, I doubt any individual legislator will be a factor.”
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Meet Mike Jacobs
Age: 36
Personal: Wife, Evan. Children, Jonah, Eli, and Samantha.
Work: Bankruptcy/litigation attorney.
Political: Elected state House of Representatives, 2004. Chairman, MARTA Oversight Committee; vice chairman, House Judiciary Committee.
Brookhaven study: www.citizensfornorthdekalb.org
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