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The new city I was elated a few weeks ago to see that a few of our south Fulton readers made the time to post blogs on our website, both pro and con, in response to a column I wrote advocating the formation of the City of South Fulton. Participation from south Fulton residents by blogging on our website is something I hope will continue and grow in the future. With the website getting about two million hits per month, it is a great way to have your say in a manner that tens of thousands of viewers will see and, perhaps, provide their own response. And whether we all agree or disagree on a given topic, it’s as critical as ever that people make their voice heard. Given the topic of city-hood, it was not overly surprising that the column attracted a few bloggers. And blogger responses to the “Form the City of South Fulton” opinion column weighed in on both sides of the issue. As for me, I first became aware of the potential formation of the two new cities in south Fulton more than two years ago. Like some of you, I attended a gathering of about 1,000 south Fulton residents at GICC in November 2005. I was impressed with the large majority of people in the room who wanted to strike out on their own course and have local control over their own destiny without the help of the commissioners in development and other matters. (By the way, “local control” cited by one blogger is term used on myriad public issues nationwide. It was not the brainchild of those pesky SFCC members, or those in Chatt Hills, who dared to want their own city.) It was shortly after the GICC meeting that I made up my mind. And in subsequent months I watched as nearly everyone lined up against the few pro-City of South Fulton residents who initially spoke out for city-hood. The attorneys and officials in some of the existing cities that annexed so much of south Fulton in 2006 made a point of constantly bad-mouthing the new city, casting cleverly articulated doubt with lawyerly ease. Our legislators didn’t help much by not catching a scriveners error that messed up the works in SB 552 in 2006 and by providing the timetable for annexing to be extended well into 2007. Then there is Fulton County Commissioner Bill Edwards, the most continuously outspoken opponent of the new city, who told residents of the Oakley Township Homeowners Association Monday night to “vote no” on Sept. 18. In short, proponents of the new city have been battled at every turn by money and power. In a way, residents’ struggle to form the City of South Fulton reminds me of other struggles I’ve witnessed. One of those was in the rural counties where I used to report, where a small group of residents, vastly outnumbered by money and power, fought successfully to keep county commissioners from selling the Subtitle D landfill to a trash behemoth that would have taken it regional. And it reminds me of the hundreds of “developmentally disabled” people with whom I worked for 20 years, in advocacy for those who have no voice, no respect and virtually no rights. Neighbors’ cries of not wanting “that kind in my neighborhood” was standard fare on the palette of intolerance, often used to paint a landscape in hues of suspicion, anger and fear. I learned long ago that struggles exist everywhere. So far in recent Fulton County history, four geographic areas have gone to the polls to vote on city-hood. All four, 100 percent, voted overwhelmingly in favor of forming their own cities. Not one single area wanted to remain in unincorporated Fulton County. Does that tell you something? And now in south Fulton County, the day of reckoning is finally here for the City of South Fulton. The vote to decide its fate will be taken on Sept. 18. Who will benefit if the city fails? In my opinion, the Fulton County Board of Commissioners for one, since they will continue to control (woops, there’s that word again) the development in what’s left of unincorporated Fulton; some developers for another, the ones that may otherwise find themselves on the short end of the stick if their fate becomes linked to a mayor, council and planning commission that will doubtless be much more scrutinizing of high density developments. If you doubt this, I suggest you speak with some of the long-term residents of south Fulton who have, for years, begged the commission to stop the density, residents who insisted that the South Fulton Parkway be protected. I find it as no surprise that some of those residents are the same ones who today are promoting the new city. login to post comments | Ben Nelms's blog
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