Remaining part of unincorporated DeKalb County is simply not a viable option for the Druid Hills community. DeKalb will incorporate. Politicians, from the DeKalb CEO to the statehouse, have recognized DeKalb’s rebirth and sustainable strength depend on incorporation. Economically, administratively and operationally, the county can function better with incorporation.
Annexation into Atlanta presents an opportunity to join a city on the ascent. Millennials and baby boomers alike are moving back into the city. Kirkwood, the Old Fourth Ward and Cabbagetown have been revitalized. Regional transportation initiatives and MARTA’s renaissance re-invigorate communities and investment in quality infrastructure. There are billion-dollar public-private partnerships in the Beltline, Ponce City Market and surrounding areas.
Atlanta offers better services for the money. Its fire and police departments are nationally recognized. At similar cost to DeKalb, Atlanta provides more than double the police and fire personnel. Crime in Atlanta is down 20 percent over the past 5 years.
The Atlanta City Council offers better representation than the DeKalb County Commission. This is an opportunity to have better representation through Atlanta's Neighborhood Planning Unit system and a council member who would represent 40,000 residents rather than a DeKalb commissioner who represents 140,000.
Atlanta has a global brand, as do Emory University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, located in the heart of Druid Hills. It is reasonable and productive for the three of them to be together. .
The question of Atlanta Public Schools versus DeKalb County Schools has not been, and will not be, the driving force behind our annexation efforts. But our local schools have been the organizing principle for the proposed annexed territory. Neighborhoods and communities are defined most directly by elementary schools – in terms of property value, identities, voluntarism and childhood friendships. More importantly, we believe minimizing student disruptions is most important at these early learning stages.
The reality regarding the schools is quite different from that portrayed by critics of annexation efforts.
The proposed annexation area prioritizes keeping intact the elementary school communities directly impacted — Briar Vista and Fernbank. Together in Atlanta sought a plan that would preserve its elementary school zones rather than divide them, while not violating those of other elementary school zones.
We agree our schools’ diversity is a tremendous asset that should be respected and maintained. In the short run, communities inside the TIA map lose a middle school, and those outside the map lose a high school. But we are committed to advocating for the solution the law provides for — namely, that the seven schools within the Druid Hills High School cluster can continue to operate together even if Atlanta annexes Druid Hills.
APS offers considerable advantages to DeKalb schools that make annexation a compelling opportunity. Specifically, Atlanta pays its teachers more, spends more on its students and maintains lower teacher-student ratios.
Drawing the lines and providing a transparent process and time period for education on all the facts, followed by a vote according to the annexation/new city formation statutes, is a healthy method to assess the will of the people. These issues should be decided on the ballot, not in the back rooms, on blogs or in chat rooms.
