New cityhood movements have been in the news in recent years, and now there are stirrings that some residents want sections of Augusta-Richmond County to secede from their consolidated city to form a new one.
These activists will conduct a public meeting this Sunday evening and are asking people, according to an announcement, to “come and share your thoughts on the pros and cons of creating a new city.”
Wright McLeod, an organizer of the meeting, was interviewed yesterday by WGAC-AM talk radio host Austin Rhodes. McLeod, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress and the state House in past years, is specifically talking about secession by the Summerville residential section of Augusta which includes Augusta University. But it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility for other west Augusta neighborhoods (which could include the famed Augusta National Golf Club) to be included. Some argue that the more land mass (and tax base) that could be stretched, the better.
This two-year process, though, would be an uphill fight for proponents. Any new city in Georgia — and there have been about a dozen created since Sandy Springs came into being in 2005—ultimately 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 new cityhood proponents will first have to figure out a map of the new city limits and then they would have to then build support locally as well as with key state lawmakers.
Proponents would also have to raise money and 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 Augusta-Richmond County taxes.
Add into the equation, too, are that issues ranging from taxation and inadequate services to poor governance by the current city leadership would stir quite a rancorous debate.
