The City of Briarcliff Initiative is guided by the principle that clear borders and clean government will lead to a better city for all. An inclusive, inside-the-perimeter city with logical borders, Briarcliff is the best way to improve local government, promote economic growth and enhance the quality of life in DeKalb County.
Our recent University of Georgia economic study confirms Briarcliff is not just feasible but financially strong, with a projected multi-million-dollar annual surplus. Our projected surplus is far greater than the surplus of any other proposed city. Briarcliff will have funds it can use for better police protection, better-maintained parks, better roads, sidewalks, planning and development — with no increase in tax rates.
Briarcliff’s greatest strength is its common-sense approach. Our map is understandable and welcomes everyone in our region. We exclude no neighborhoods, and we do not reach out to grab any commercial property or park without the nearby people. Competing proposals cherry-pick commercial properties while excluding nearby residents. That is unfair to those left out, and it creates borders that are difficult to govern.
Briarcliff includes Emory and Mercer universities, DeKalb Medical Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — institutions that define our community. But more importantly, the Briarcliff map allows residents of the entire area to vote on cityhood. None of us should be denied the right to vote, and we urge all who agree with us to contact members of the Georgia Legislature.
The status quo in DeKalb is unacceptable, and a delay in the creation of new cities only perpetuates the problems. Briarcliff will help all of DeKalb by bringing local control to police, planning and zoning, and by relieving the county of the cost of providing these services in the Briarcliff area. City council members who live in, and understand, Briarcliff will make better decisions than the current county administration, where each county commissioner represents more than 110,000 people.
Our city charter will require an independent auditor, an ethics board, transparency in government and respect for historic neighborhoods — policies that will result in smart economic growth. Most tax revenue will continue to go to the public schools and the county. Some revenue will shift to Briarcliff, but even modest economic growth will result in a net gain for the entire county.
The next step is up to the Legislature, where we look forward to explaining Briarcliff’s advantages.
Some have suggested our proposal is just an effort to block the competing Lakeside proposal. That suggestion is not just insulting, it is completely false.
Our volunteers have invested thousands of hours because we believe Briarcliff is a better idea. Like the other proposals, we raised more than $30,000 to fund our effort, but unlike the others, we can proudly point out that 99 percent of our donations came from individuals and neighborhood groups, not from businesses hoping to profit from a future city.
Briarcliff is a bipartisan community, and our initiative is an effort by Democrats and Republicans working together to improve DeKalb. Briarcliff is the best way to use tax dollars efficiently, and the best way to allow everyone the right to choose. Rather than focus on differences, we want to work with the county and the other cities to enhance the lives of our residents and the functioning of DeKalb.
Many DeKalb residents, from Decatur to Dunwoody and from Atlanta to Stone Mountain, enjoy the benefits of cityhood. The rest of us must depend on a county administration that is too often inefficient, unresponsive and corrupt. This is simply unfair. Why should city government be denied to the Briarcliff area? New cities can be, should be, and must be part of the reform solution for DeKalb County. The time is now, and the city of Briarcliff is not just better for all, it is the best for all.
Allen Venet is president of the City of Briarcliff Initiative.
