The push to make the Buckhead business section of Atlanta a separate city is picking up steam and will be on the agenda for the 2022 General Assembly. It will debate and consider whether to pass enabling legislation if proponents fulfill basic cityhood criteria required by state law.
Concerned residents have just formed a Committee for a United Atlanta to, according to its press release, “communicate and educate on the dangers of the attempt by some to separate selected portions of Buckhead from the city of Atlanta. Prominent attorney Linda Klein and former State Rep. Edward Lindsey will co-chair the campaign. Rick Warren, principal at Price Waterhouse Coopers, will serve as treasurer.”
“The anger regarding the violent crime wave in Buckhead is justifiable and we are all outraged. Something must be done to address this crisis. However, separating from the City of Atlanta is not the answer. We must reform city hall and elect candidates this fall who will lead, listen and be accountable,” said Linda Klein. Bill White, chairman and CEO of the Buckhead City Committee, says his group has filed two bills in both houses of the General Assembly to attain cityhood. “We have filed for divorce and that is final,” he says. Tired of watching crime go up with a mayor that won’t back up law enforcement officers, White said “a dead and dying Buckhead is the end of Atlanta and we are taking control of our own destiny with this movement,” White said.
Any new city in Georgia — and there have been about a dozen created since Sandy Springs came into being in 2005– requires passage of legislation by the General Assembly and approval of the governor. The issue then goes to the voters inside the proposed city limits. So Buckhead cityhood proponents and opponents will be working all this year and into January to build support.
Proponents also say they will secure a university to conduct a feasibility study, in accordance with state law, that concludes a new city would be able to provide and/or expand basic services at a lower cost than what residents currently pay in Atlanta city taxes.
