ATLANTA – The fever to create new cities across metro Atlanta has cropped up on the coast, but supporters are frustrated by the slow and cautious approach of legislators.
Unlike many of the metro-Atlanta cities where legislators have been eager to advance the effort, St. Simons Island and Sea Island is represented by three Republican legislators who live on St. Simons but are intentionally taking their time.
“There are a lot of people that I hear from that live on Saint Simons that don’t agree with incorporation or that want to move real slow on this,” said Sen. William Ligon, chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus.
Rep. Jeff Jones feels the same way.
“This is such an important step, and we’re binding the citizens of Glynn County forever, that it requires thoughtful, deliberate action,” he said.
The third legislator, Rep. Alex Atwood, has tried his best to avoid the issue because he is running countywide for judge, and many county residents oppose a new city.
To George Ragsdale, president of the pro-incorporation Citizens 4 St. Simons & Sea Island, delay only increases the risk of more of the type of unsightly development and traffic congestion that prompted the incorporation movement to begin with. Creating a city has been discussed for more than two decades, he said, so he’s pressing for immediate action.
“We have developed an opinion based on the behavior of the last few months that our legislators don’t want to do anything,” said Ragsdale, who led the effort that incorporated Milton in Fulton County.
During the early part of the legislative session, he and other supporters met with the legislative trio and thought they had a commitment from Jones to introduce a bill creating the city. They gave him a draft, but Jones balked because, he said, it would have given too much power to the new city council to raise taxes and duplicate services.
That angered Ragsdale and other supporters.
“Our group, based on the experience in February and March, doesn’t have a lot of faith that the legislators will deliver on what they promised,” he said.
Supporters of the city were unsuccessful in recruiting anyone to run against either man. Ligon and Jones, who also represent voters in the county, face no challengers in this year’s election but are showing sensitivity to county residents all the same.
Some advocates for the city allege the two lawmakers have other reasons, noting that Ligon’s law practice rests heavily on real estate and Jones received campaign contributions from the management of the Sea Island Company, owners of a posh resort opposed to the city.
Asked if he had a conflict of interest, the senator noted that he also wants St. Simons to retain its character and not lose it to homogenized commercial development.
“I don’t see that incorporation or not incorporation is not going to affect the real-estate industry that much,” he said. “Even if you incorporate, that is not going to stop development. There are property-right laws that ensure that does not deprive people of their rights if you incorporate.”
Citizens 4 St. Simons & Sea Island grew tired of waiting and convinced Rep. Tom Taylor, R-Dunwoody, to introduce a bill in the waning moments of this year’s legislative session that ended in March. Taylor waited so late that the
bill never entered the legislative process or got assigned to a committee.
The point of introducing it was to start the clock on a two-year rule in the House that halts consideration of bills until the second year to give the public time to learn the issues. Waiting on Jones to introduce a bill next year would delay incorporation, and Ragsdale warns that most of the vacant land could be gobbled up by speculators or developers by then.
Taylor’s involvement adds a few twists. First, it’s unusual for a legislator from outside the county involved to introduce so-called local legislation, but Taylor says he’s uniquely qualified since he has been involved with getting his own city incorporated.
The second twist was Taylor’s arrest last month for driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit and three exchange students in the car. Taylor vows to get re-elected, but the incident weakens an ally of the city’s supporters.
Another legislative ally, Rep. Joe Wilkinson, R-Sandy Springs, got muscled out of his re-election by powerbrokers in his district who argue, ironically enough, that Wilkinson spent more time at his St. Simons vacation home than taking care of his own constituents.
Wilkinson’s interest illustrates why the fever to incorporate spread from metro Atlanta to the coast. Many of the residents of what would be the new city were once residents of Atlanta, like Ragsdale. Plus, there are many current Atlanta residents with second homes on the islands, and although they can’t vote in the incorporation referendum, they pay taxes there.
Indeed, one early meeting of incorporation supporters last year noted that only 17 percent of the full-time residents of Glynn County live on the islands, but they represent 60 percent of the county’s tax base.
The potential revenue loss is the major reason to go slow, Jones and Ligon say. It could force the county to raise taxes. That could be determined by a study the county commission asked the Georgia Institute of Technology to conduct.
If higher taxes are predicted, Jones insists that all county citizens get to vote on incorporation – not just those within the bounds of the proposed city.
“To me, otherwise, it’s taxation without representation,” he said.
That Georgia Tech study is the next milestone.
“I’m waiting to do anything until that study,” Jones said.
In the meantime, tempers are wearing thin.
Ligon says the tactics and comments of incorporation supporters are beginning to backfire.
“The way it’s been handled has hardened some opinions in the community. There are some people who might have been open to incorporation who are having second thoughts,” he said.
And Ragsdale also acknowledges the need to mend fences.
“We’ve got to get over the distrust of each other,” he said.
