No Buckhead City Legislation Will Go Forward For November 2022 Ballot

ATLANTA, GA – Buckhead cityhood will not happen this year, lawmakers said.

Georgia House Speaker David Ralston on Friday signaled an end to the push for legislation to separate the affluent community from the City of Atlanta late last week when he announced that if the Senate won’t take up the bill, neither will the House.

“It takes two chambers to pass a bill,” said Ralston, who Channel 2 Action News reports will not bring the bill for a referendum to the House floor. “The Senate was very clear and I respect their decision.”

Just a day before, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan voiced his opposition to efforts to form the new city, ending the chances of the bill coming out of that chamber of the Georgia General Assembly.

Ralston held out the possibility of revisiting the issue in next year’s legislative session, however.

“I’m going to be watching to see what action is taken by leaders here in the City of Atlanta,” he said. “We’ll be back next year if things haven’t changed a lot if the problem of how we got here is not solved.”

Heeding that warning, and after opening a Buckhead police precinct that will house at least 11 officers by this Spring, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens in a statement said that he would use the time to improve crime in the area.

“Since taking office I have said, repeatedly, that we will remain one city with one bright future,” Dickens said. “I am thankful for the support of Lt. Governor Geoff Duncan, Speaker David Ralston, members of the Atlanta delegation and all the other state leaders who have sat down with me. They have given me and my administration the runway we need to take off, and we will continue in our work to move Atlanta forward.”

An email from Buckhead City Committee board members Leila Laniado, Sam Lenaeus, Jamie Ensley and Bill White lamented the stall to their plans but vowed to continue work to create the new city.

“It is not uncommon for incorporation bills to take longer than one year to clear the legislature. Sandy Springs, LaVista Hills, Tucker, East Cobb, Stonecrest and Mableton all took longer than a two-year term to pass the legislature,” the email sent to Patch said. “Brookhaven took three years and Eagles Landing took two years to pass. There are still 38 days left and we hope to convince our legislators to change their minds. We are not stopping or slowing down at all. We will continue to make our case to Speaker David Ralston, Governor Brian Kemp, Senator Butch Miller, and to Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan.”