Voting YES Benefits Everyone

One of the No City drumbeaters recently provided and who are struggling to maintain the DeKalb County status quo.

By using only the final sentence from a quoted statement by Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis, she is perpetuating a falsehood. I will not make judgment regarding the motive of such misrepresentation. I will leave that for you to decide.

Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis was one of the panelists at the recent town hall at Montgomery school on July 19. He was asked about the possibility of Dunwoody annexing prime commercial areas inside I-285 if Brookhaven fails to incorporate.

Mayor Davis explained that ‘Chamblee had annexed areas recently and said that high-value commercial property, such as Perimeter Summit, could draw interest from his city. His direct quote as reported in Brookhaven Reporter: “The money is in the commercial areas …” Mike Davis said. “That’s a winner for us. Do we want your neighborhoods? We’ll talk, but we’re really not interested in your neighborhoods.”

Read that quote again. Do you see anything in his answer that would justify No City distributing this false statement?

“Our neighbors have stood against scare tactics of annexation that are also false. The Brookhaven Reporter, July 19, quotes Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis, “We are not interested in your neighborhoods.”

Ironically, by misrepresenting Mayor Davis’ quote, she reinforced what BrookhavenYES has been warning – that Dunwoody and Chamblee are not interested in more residential neighborhoods, but they are interested in annexing commercial property.

Here is what that means to you. If Brookhaven fails to incorporate, other cities will probably move to annex our prime commercial properties. (“The money is in the commercial areas …”).

As both mayors said, they do not want your neighborhood.

It is simple economics – houses alone do not generate enough tax to be attractive for cities.  If Brookhaven’s commercial zones are lost to other cities, Brookhaven will never be able to incorporate to climb out of the status quo.

And when we lose the commercial tax base that makes us a ‘donor community’ to DeKalb, we will quickly realize that DeKalb is not interested in our neighborhood either; and we will be just a distant expense for the county. We’ll have no local representation or voting bloc to affect change. We will be stuck.

Regarding the rest of her letter, she asks, "Why the rush?” Answer: because our commercial base will become Brookhaven or will be lost to another city after July 31. DeKalb has proven they are not interested in our neighborhoods and now Dunwoody and Chamblee have told us too.

She mentions ‘seniors on fixed incomes’ and young people just starting their families.’ Hello? Brookhaven cityhood will benefit everyone in the city. We all need better services and more police patrols too.

She mentions DeKalb did not raise the millage rate last week. But DeKalb can raise taxes anytime at their whim because they have no millage cap and they don’t need our approval to increase tax. Brookhaven will have a millage cap (3.35 mills) that can’t be raised unless voters approve. She assumes Brookhaven would begin on day one at its millage cap, but she fails to mention that Sandy Springs, Dunwoody, Johns Creek, Milton – all started below their cap and have stayed below their cap.

One more quote from the Montgomery School town hall meeting, this one from Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker: “I come down to Brookhaven, there’s so much emotion, I’m not sure whether I’m going to get egged or patted on the back,” he said.

It’s obvious to most of us the [rotten] eggs flying through the air our city are from the desperate No City crowd who are defending their precious DeKalb status quo at all costs, including their own integrity.

Voting YES for Brookhaven is the ‘pat on the back’ for our opportunity for local control and more efficient services including more police patrols, better parks, better road maintenance, and zoning and code enforcement, which will benefit all of us young and older.

Clayton Conarro