The Jolt: ‘Buckhead City’ vote could stop police training center
The supporters of Buckhead’s potential secession from Atlanta have testified that they’re fueled by public safety concerns. But a citywide divorce could effectively doom the massive new police and fire training center now planned for the Atlanta police and fire departments.
The reason is embedded in Senate Bill 113, the “City of Buckhead City” de-annexation legislation that was introduced last week and cleared a Senate committee vote Monday on party lines despite opposition from law enforcement, Atlanta officials and many Buckhead residents.
SB 113 lays out lawmakers’ plans to transfer government services and assets from the city of Atlanta to the proposed “City of Buckhead City.”
Under the terms, all of Atlanta’s assets outside city limits would be divided between the new municipalities or sold, with the proceeds being shared on a pro rata basis.
That would presumably apply to the sprawling campus proposed for 85 city-owned acres nestled in unincorporated DeKalb County. The controversial project has been targeted by left-leaning activists, but has generally found support among the conservatives, including those who back Buckhead cityhood.
Beyond that provision, there’s also the question of whether Atlanta would still be able to pay its $30 million share of the first $90 million of the estimated cost of the project if its tax base is carved up by the process.
Atlanta officials and public safety leaders issued a string of statements last week warning that splitting the city into two municipalities would backfire by hobbling Atlanta’s efforts to combat crime.
Dave Wilkinson of the Atlanta Police Foundation said law enforcement needs a “state of the art training center.”
“We ask state lawmakers to advance a pro-public safety agenda that keeps Atlanta united,” he said, “and protects our ability to provide best-in-class public safety training.”
Billy Linville of the Committee for a United Atlanta said, “This is self-destructive legislation that would cause great harm to the city of Atlanta, Buckhead residents, and the state of Georgia. He added: “It will irreparably harm the business reputation of the state and create legal and political chaos.”
A leader of the CEO of the Buckhead City Committee said they are “100% in support of the construction underway,” but oppose the use of Atlanta police officers to patrol the area as “glorified armed security guards for the construction site there.”
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FIRE SALE. Also embedded in the “Buckhead City” de-annexation legislation is the prescribed process of selling city of Atlanta assets to a newly created “City of Buckhead City,” at rock bottom prices.
How rock bottom?
The bill sets the price of the land for Buckhead parks at $100 per acre, including Chastain Park and Memorial Park, where nearby one acre lots can sell for as much as $1 million per acre.
The legislation would also let the “City of Buckhead City” buy fire stations for $5,000 each, and buy any Atlanta-owned buildings in Buckhead, such as schools, for $1,000, including all of the fixtures inside. Some fire stations could also be leased for $10 per year.
The water system serving the entire Buckhead area would be available for purchase at $100,000, while the sewer system would be sold at the same price.
To cover those costs, the legislation would also divide up cash in Atlanta accounts to be divided between the two municipalities and divide up some, but not all, of the city’s bond obligations.
Every Democratic member of the Legislature who represents Atlanta is against the divorce proposal. Two of them, state Sens. Jason Esteves and Josh McLaurin, sit on the Senate State and Local Government Operations committee that cleared the measures despite Democratic opposition.
“I represent Buckhead, so I know that residents across Atlanta have legitimate concerns about safety and public services,” Esteves said. “The creation of a ‘Buckhead City’ does not provide solutions, but instead would throw our public safety, education, transportation, and fiscal programs into chaos without any viable plan to move forward.”
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WHAT’S NEXT: If Senate Bill 113 and Senate Bill 114 are passed by committee today, they’ll go to the full Senate for a vote.
But not before being heard by the Senate Rules Committee. That panel is chaired by state Sen. Matt Brass, a Republican from Newnan, who also co-sponsored both bills.
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JUROR FUROR. The bizarre interviews with special grand juror Emily Kohrs have become so ubiquitous they were lampooned at the end of the cold open on Saturday Night Live over the weekend.
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TRUMP FATIGUE. In a series of focus-group styled interviews, reporters from The Washington Post recently visited Georgia and four other battleground states to gauge former President Trump’s support among Republican voters headed into the 2024 election.
In Georgia, the Post reporter visited metro Atlanta’s once-solidly Republican northern suburbs. Here is an excerpt of a dispatch from Sandy Springs, which has turned a brighter shade of purple:
Rusty Paul, 70, the GOP mayor of this booming and affluent suburb north of Atlanta, looked out of his sprawling glass-walled office on a recent afternoon and pointed toward parts of his city where voters increasingly slam doors — literally — in the faces of Republicans who are door-knocking.
“Donald Trump single-handedly dropped a big bottle of dye in this area and changed it from red to purple," Paul said. “I've talked to so many of my constituents who told me, ‘I voted Republican my whole life, but Donald Trump, I just won't do it.'"
Instead, Paul said, his constituents are looking for someone like DeSantis. “They want someone with the policies without the edge," he said.
The AJC recently took a deep dive on where Georgia Republicans stand today.
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UNDER THE GOLD DOME, Legislative Day 24:
- 7 a.m.: Committee meetings begin;
- 10 a.m.: The House gavels in;
- 10 a.m.: The Senate convenes.
- On our radar: Crossover Day, Monday, March 6
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DATELINE: PLAINS. The AJC has a team of reporters and photographers in Plains to document the town and the people where former President Jimmy Carter has resided nearly his entire life.
Follow our ongoing coverage online at ajc.com/jimmy-carter.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver remarks at the White House celebrating Black History Month.
- The U.S. House has votes scheduled for this evening.
- The Senate will continue its annual tradition of having a designated member read aloud President George Washington’s 1796 Farewell Address. Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, will do the honors this year.
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ABRAMS’ NEW ROLE. Stacey Abrams continues her work as part of a bipartisan coalition monitoring the presidential election in Nigeria.
Results are starting to come in, but technical issues and sporadic violence delayed voting in some polling places.
Abrams sits on the board of the National Democratic Institute and is in Nigeria as a part of an NDI team, along with the International Republican Institute, to monitor elections in Africa’s most populous country.
“@NDI & @IRIglobal teams remain on the ground in states with extended polling,” she wrote on Twitter. “Grateful to them and other observation teams across Nigeria. And deepest admiration for those poll workers determined to deliver the right to vote to their fellow Nigerians.”
Separately, Abrams now has a new website, StaceyAbramsCreates.com, which focuses on her work as an author and producer, rather than candidate or activist.
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WHAT WE’RE READING:
- Fox News: “Herschel Walker’s curious case of $595K in private jets and a donor-owned car wash”
- The Wall Street Journal: Another turn in the COVID lab leak story.
- The New Republic: “The U.S. Senate Has Three Buildings. Why Is One Still Named for a White Supremacist?”
- Rome News-Tribune: Greene ‘national divorce’ tweets coincide with PAC fundraising campaign
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DOG OF THE DAY. It’s lawmaker week at the Dog of the Day, when we’re featuring the bipartisan buddies of your local elected officials.
First up is Nugget Burns, the 14-year old rescue adopted as a puppy by state Sen. Max Burns, R-Sylvania.
We’re told Nugget and her siblings were thrown into the Etowah River near Dahlonega as puppies, but quickly rescued. Her name comes from the Gold Rush region of the state where she was found.
Nugget now lives on the Burns’ family farm in Sylvania and helps feed cows daily, even when her person is working at the state Capitol.
Send us your pups of any political persuasion —and cats on a cat-by-case basis — to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
About the Authors
Patricia Murphy is the AJC's senior political columnist. She was previously a nationally syndicated columnist for CQ Roll Call, national political reporter for the Daily Beast and Politics Daily, and wrote for The Washington Post and Garden & Gun. She graduated from Vanderbilt and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Tia Mitchell is the AJC’s Washington Bureau Chief and a co-host of the "Politically Georgia" podcast. She writes about Georgia’s congressional delegation, campaigns, elections and the impact that decisions made in D.C. have on residents of the Peach State.
