Name:   MartiniMan - Subject:   Trump, the Jedi Master Date:   5/5/2022 10:24:56 AM

Sure.  And to say from the outset, Buckhead is in a different place than Sandy Springs and if I were in Buckhead I would be all for cityhood.  Several observations from close friends that live and work in Sandy Springs.  The original team that led the effort was all for more effective government.  They were supposed to rehab an old Target store for their city hall. Instead later leaders tore down the Target and built a palace.  One of the complaints was about how awful it was to deal with Fulton County and the the spectre of being annexed by the city of Atlanta.  But from what I've been told the city of Sandy Springs is even worse.  There was also concern about high density housing being built in Sandy Springs (same issue as East Cobb).  I only suggest you drive through there to see what is happening.  There is a ton of high density housing being built.  Developers (aka big donors to elected city officials) make far more profit from high density development.  Low density developers (i.e., McMansion developers) that I know say they would rather deal with Fulton County or the city of Atlanta rather than Sandy Springs.  So the worry about Fulton Cty and/or the city of Atlanta changing the demographics of Sandy Springs with high density housing is happening in spades in the city once they placed developer friendly in positions of power.

In essence, while the intentions of the originators of cityhood were noble, once they were out of power and replaced many of the issues they thought would be resolved have actually gotten worse.  I can't comment on taxes but let's say we know based on the city govt palace they built that they are spending money like drunken sailors.  That is one of the stated concerns in East Cobb.  We are in unincorporated Cobb and the services and taxes from the county are fine so far.  But once they get ahold of $23M a year in tax revenue will they go down the path of Sandy Springs? Like I said, I am all for subsidiarity but do worry about trying to fix something in East Cobb that isn't broken.  Of course that was the case with GOP control of Cobb (something neither Buckhead nor Sandy Springs ever had).  With the high density housing in SE Cobb (primarily Smyrna) the Democrats now control county government so things could change for the worse.  But right now the case is not compelling to many people.  Buckhead not so much.