The summer of annexation has run smoothly, until Wednesday at the Fulton County Commission. The board voted 5-1 to oppose current annexation efforts by some South Fulton cities after hearing complaints about some of the approaches being used to prompt residents of unincorporated South Fulton to be annexed into existing cities.

Commissioner Bill Edwards said the commission’s 5-1 vote to oppose the annexations under consideration Sept. 20 was based on a simple premise. He said tactics used by various South Fulton cities included a variety of scare tactics designed to convince nearby residents in the unincorporated areas to join existing cities. While Edwards is openly opposed to annexation attempts by existing cities and the formation of the two new cities in the upcoming June 2007 vote, he maintained that the ongoing prodding by the existing cities on the basis of alleged decreases in police and fire protection and the racial make-up of the City of South Fulton and its future administration amounts to nothing short of deceitful tactics on the part of existing cities. Those tactics, he said, are excuses for a more ominous motivation. That motivation is greed that results in predatory annexation.

“We are not opposed to annexation when it’s done properly. We believe that if you’re going to annex it should be done to provide better services, not because you are greedy. These annexations were based on greed and the lying has got to stop,” Edwards said. “Some of those representing the cities are being underhanded with the people and the board of commissioners.”

Edwards said the motion and subsequent 5-1 vote to oppose the annexations was more symbolic than substantive, since it carried no enforcement power to stop the moves. Such power is based largely in disputes over land use.

“Even though there was no land use dispute, we don’t agree with the annexations,” said Edwards. “We may not be able to stop them but we took a stand. But saying that, we may need to instruct the county attorney to make a recommendation for possible legal action against the cities.”

Caught up in the annexation drive are members of South Fulton Concerned Citizens (SFCC), an organization formed to promote the formation of the City of South Fulton. SFCC Steering Committee member Chuck Miller said the move by the commission was too little too late. Another SFCC member, Sandra Hardy, took a more global perspective. She viewed the annexation of thousands of acres of largely prime commercial and industrial property by Atlanta and South Fulton cities as a means of eroding the intention of the General Assembly in passing the bills that give the two new cities of South Fulton and Chattahoochee Hills a chance to exist.

“I am so disappointed in some of the political powers that be, that I have known for years, to have such a laissez faire attitude toward our rights and wishes concerning our destiny. From day one, all I asked for was to have the right to vote, whether I wanted to live in a new city, be annexed or remain in unincorporated Fulton County,” Hardy said. “But when it was very apparent that my rights were being tampered with along with my quality of life and my safety was in jeopardy, it was time to oppose the greed the municipalities were displaying.”

Countless meetings by the cities of South Fulton County have dotted the municipal landscape since summer began. At stake are thousands of acres of unincorporated land that have been annexed or are currently in process of being brought into the existing cities of Palmetto, Fairburn, Union City, East Point, College Park and Atlanta. Those cities have a legislatively-imposed timeline of Oct. 30 to annex. Once that time expires, no annexation will be allowed prior to a June 2007 vote by unincorporated residents to accept or reject the proposal to form the new cities of South Fulton and Chattahoochee Hills.

Whether pass or fail next June, the momentum to form two the new cities followed the creation of Sandy Springs and legislation earlier this year to give the Milton, Johns Creek, South Fulton and Chattahoochee Hills areas the right to form their own cities. Milton and Johns Creek voted during the summer to forego their unincorporated status and form their own cities. For the two new cities in South Fulton, the road to the ballot box nine months from now will tell the tale.

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