City of Brookhaven Meeting Tonight at Oglethorpe

State Rep. Elena Parent  is scheduled to host her first public meeting on the City of Brookhaven proposal Wednesday night at ’s Lupton Auditorium at 7 p.m. Tonight's forum is the third community meeting for Brookhaven and unincorporated DeKalb County residents.

In addition to scheduled presenters, Parent said she expects DeKalb County Police Chief William O'Brien, DeKalb County Parks and Recreation Department head Roy Wilson, and Chamblee Mayor Eric Clarkson, to be among invited guests on hand to help answer any municipal-focused questions from the public.

Jim Grubiak of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, Lamar Norton of the Georgia Municipal Association are the scheduled presenters on the agenda.

Parent said she also extended an invitation to her Republican colleague Mike Jacobs, who formally introduced legislation in March to give Brookhaven residents the option to form its own city.  Jacobs hosted the two previous community forums to discuss the option.

 “I’ve never run a local government, so I'm not the one to ask about the nitty gritty of running a city,” Parent said. "This session will be about presenting information in an organized way to review in detail an explanation of what services are provided by DeKalb County and nearby cities, and what services are constitutionally mandated by the county."

Parent represents District 81 which includes parts of unincorporated DeKalb County and Ashford Park where some citizens have been vocally opposed to any form of cityhood or annexation. 

Parent said she is still undecided in whether she thinks the formation of a new city or annexation is a viable option, but has been open to exploration, conducted surveys and now the forum.

Meanwhile, a Citizens for North DeKalb has formed to raise money for a comprehensive study designed to address the feasibility of cityhood or annexation.