Buckhead Secession Co-Sponsor Joins City Movement From Gwinnett

ATLANTA — More help is on the way for the Buckhead secession effort.

Last week State Sen. Clint Dixon (R-Gwinnett) signed on as a co-sponsor of the legislation to create Buckhead City, adding to the unveiling of the Buckhead City Committee logo.

Bill White, CEO of the BCC, said Dixon’s inclusion on the bill brought with it influence on several levels at the Gold Dome.

“This is significant because Senator Dixon is Governor Kemp’s floor manager in the Senate,” White told Patch in an email.

Dixon also sits on the Senate State and Local Operations Committee that oversees, among other things, laws regarding municipal organization and powers and statewide legislation that applies to cities. He is one of four Republican members of the committee, whom White tweeted have or would likely support the bill.

The movement to leave Atlanta started with a group of business and community leaders, rankled by growing crime and their perception of an imbalance in City tax allocation, began seeking community support to study the possibility of a split.

Despite pushback from some Buckhead leaders like members of the Committee for a Unified Atlanta and Buckhead Coalition president Jim Durrett and vocal criticism from Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottom, former Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell and Atlanta Police leaders, the BCC was able to win support from Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) and State House Rep. Todd Jones (R - South Forsyth) to pen legislation that will go on the floor of both houses in the 2022 session.