If appearances hold true it looks as if the vote to create the City of South Fulton will be postponed. But in the middle of the mix came a vote Thursday night by the pro-city South Fulton Concerned Citizens, Inc. (SFCC), asking Gov. Sonny Perdue to veto House Bill (HB) 725 on which the new city limits is currently based.

Further west in unincorporated south Fulton County, the vote to create the City of Chattahoochee Hills is set for June 19.
Fulton County Registration Chief John Sullivan said Wednesday the June 19 vote will likely be delayed in the absence of a signature by Gov. Perdue on House Bill 725 and a pre-clearance of the newly released map of the proposed City of South Fulton by U.S. Dept. of Justice.

Sullivan said there would be several mountains to climb in the effort leading to the June 19 vote, adding that the four week period remaining until poll time would make the vote on the City of South Fulton unlikely. The delay is based on additional factors such as a legally required time frame for advertising the election and having ballots produced.

“As far as I know the vote is delayed until September or a later date,” Sullivan explained. “Anything happening in less than 30 days is a miracle.”

A development Thursday night at a SFCC meeting puts a new wrinkle in the trek toward city-hood. The board approved a motion to ask Gov. Perdue to veto HB 725. If vetoed, the boundaries of the new city would revert back to those established by Senate Bill 552, the original bill by Sen. Kasim Reed during the 2006 session of the General Assembly that first called for the creation of the City of South Fulton, according to SFCC Chairman Sandra Hardy.

“We are hereby officially stating that the organization wishes to continue with the City of South Fulton’s formation under SB 552 which was signed by the Governor last year and whose map was approved by the Department of Justice in a letter dated November 9, 2006,” Hardy said in a Friday statement, adding that, “We certainly hope the governor will assist the citizens to achieve their desire to form a new city by vetoing HB 725.”

Another issue with HB 725 was surfaced by SFCC board member George Nicholson, a resident of the Fife community in the southernmost area of the proposed City of South Fulton. That area, along with the Oakley and Old National areas, were cut off from the remainder of the proposed city after annexations last year by Union City extended to the College Park city limits.

Referred to as an exclave rather than an island, the heavily populated areas of that portion of the proposed city are now surrounded by Fairbun, Union City and Fayette County.

Nicholson said the current lack of a signature by Gov. Perdue on HB 725 might pave the way for the controversy over the current proposed city limits outlined in HB 725 to be resolved by reverting to Senate Bill (SB) 552.

The bill was adopted and signed into law during the 2006 session of the General Assembly. SB 552 gave existing cities until Oct. 30, 2006 to complete annexations, Nicholson said. Such a move should address the creation of an exclave and prevent a substantial part of the proposed city from being cut off by the annexations.

“We can now go back to SB 552 and work with it. That’s what is best for the public,” Nicholson said. “That way there is no issue with things like islands, exclaves and service delivery.”

The vote for the creation of the City of Chattahoochee Hills, also scheduled for June 19, will go forward as planned, Sullivan said.

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