Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) dealt a blow this week to the affluent Atlanta neighborhood of Buckhead, which is trying to secede from the city of Atlanta over violent crime and become its own independent city.
Kemp’s executive counsel David Dove outlined questions about the secession proposals in a two-page memo on Tuesday, which advanced out of committee on Monday. A vote on the proposal is tentatively scheduled for Thursday.
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Dove told Senate floor leaders Bo Hatchett and Mike Hodges to reevaluate the proposal, which he warned could "retailor the cloth of governance for Georgia’s municipalities in ways that will ripple into a future of unforeseen outcomes."
Among the points Dove raised was whether a departure from the city would trigger a "widespread default" on municipal loans because the proposal would reconfigure the way that the city's debt is handled.
Dove also questioned whether schools in the Atlanta city school system would continue enrolling students from the Buckhead neighborhood. If not, he asked if students would then be sent to Fulton County schools and, if so, whether Fulton County was equipped to handle the influx of students. No response to the 11 questions Dove posed has been given so far.
Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves applauded the memo from Kemp’s office, calling the proposals to break away from Atlanta "half-baked plans that would endanger the livelihoods of all Georgians, especially my Buckhead constituents."
"I remain committed to fighting for a united Atlanta," Esteves told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will take the Kemp administration’s concerns to heart and put a stop to the dangerous 'Buckhead City' legislation."
The proposals, called Senate Bills 113 and 114, come after Buckhead residents have become targets for violent crimes. A homeless man with a long rap sheet allegedly killed a grandmother at her residence in Buckhead recently while trying to steal her Lexus.
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Residents of Buckhead have claimed that local law enforcement has not done enough to crack down on violent crimes and that the residents are not getting their tax money's worth from city services.
Although Kemp and his office are not supportive of the neighborhood's proposal, the state's Republican Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has given the movement his support. However, lawmakers in Atlanta do not support the movement.