This is a shout out to folks who are about to get sucked up in the "New City" movements in East Cobb and Buckhead: Just Do NOT Do It. If you're in a rush to find out why just do a some quick internet browsing and you cannot help but conclude there may be a dumpster fire in your future.
These impending city fuster-clucks are more likely to impact East Cobb than Buckhead as the latter is already part of a city, but there are significant issues that will blindside most voters. After it is too late. Before then, there are things that can be done.
Demand transparency. You won't get it but you must insist. Relentlessly. You must see past the intentional, deceptive diversions. The biggest will be "economic viability" proven by a "study" that is commissioned by the city advocates to prove just that. For Buckhead this is a no-brainer as it has the most wealth per acre of any place in Georgia. East Cobb is another story, but just remember: the study is bought as is the conclusion.
Resistance requires intense, unwavering focus. On the city charter. That is the document that will destroy your life. It will define city organization and operation in such a way that it benefits the big money behind the effort, developers and businesses, at the expense of those who live in the community. It will create a bureaucratic organization with minimal oversight by any elected official. If you need a model, look at a local school district. Run by educrats (for educrats) with your school board representative sidelined, reduced to a mere observer though with a better seat than you. Your city council and mayor will be much the same, and this is now such a common organizational structure it has a name: a "weak-mayor" city government.
This is your lever. Demand a form of government where elected officials, elected by you, have direct operational responsibilities. No "city manager." Instead a city administrator who reports to, and works at the pleasure of, the elected mayor. Same for the chief of police as well as other top level bureaucrats. Councils with real staff and real responsibilities for creating, advocating and passing ordinances. You must insist on leadership that can be changed, by your vote, if the city turns its back on those who voted it into existence. Without this "local control" is just a meaningless phrase they like to use.
You must also ensure that the city charter prohibits the creation of a Developer's Authority with the capability of removing property from the tax roles and also prohibited from the practice of money laundering: Payments In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT). To prevent the destruction that out-of-control developers will rain down on your community they must be de-funded. If you do not do this your community will fill with unwanted developments that bring traffic and crime all the while draining money from your schools. For East Cobb these schools are crown jewels of the community. Don't throw them away.
You also need to stay on top of how the city charter can be modified or re-written. In most new cities this is done by some appointed administrators or bureaucrats with no credential or capability requirements, subject to unknown influences and operating without transparency. Demand that any revisions to the city charter go before the voters, in a referendum, before being submitted to the state. Just like the vote to establish the city in the first place.
These are your levers and your vote is your fulcrum. But make no mistake, if you waver in any of these demands you will get one, and only one, vote. Don't waste it supporting others' ambitions to ruin your life.
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