A committee in Georgia’s Republican-dominated state Senate voted 4-3 along party lines Monday to advance legislation that would allow voters in Atlanta’s affluent and predominantly white Buckhead neighborhood to create their own city through a November 2024 referendum that the rest of Atlanta would not get a say in.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Riley Bunch writes that even some Republicans are pessimistic that this new effort will make it to the ballot given GOP Gov. Brian Kemp’s good relationship with Andre Dickens, Atlanta’s Democratic mayor, as well as House Speaker Jon Burns’ own skepticism. However, this is already the furthest that “Buckhead City” proponents have gotten to making their dream a reality.
The legislation that moved forward Monday was sponsored by state Sen. Randy Robertson, a Republican whose rural west-central Georgia constituency is located more than 100 miles away from Buckhead. Democratic colleague Jason Esteves, who actually represents part of the neighborhood, was not happy, declaring, “What is happening today is that my constituents are being forced to eat a half baked pie.” Esteves went on to detail the potentially catastrophic effects that the creation of a “City of Buckhead City” (that seemingly derivative name is required because there’s already a tiny rural community called Buckhead) would have on the rest of Atlanta.
Buckhead is home to about one-fifth of Atlanta's population but produces about 40% of its revenue, and Esteves warned that its departure could badly damage the bond rating for not just Atlanta but also every city in the state. And while cityhood backers have argued that Buckhead’s secession is necessary because of crime (even though the area has long been one of the safest parts of Atlanta), its departure would likely end plans to build a major new city police and fire training center in unincorporated DeKalb County.
Buckhead was annexed in 1952 as part of an unsuccessful effort to keep Atlanta from becoming majority Black, and there have been various proposals over the years for it to depart. Much of the local business establishment has adamantly opposed the idea, though, and so does Dickens. “Now that we've got the highest bond rating, the world's busiest airport, the highest graduation rate for APS ever—now you want to leave us?” he asked earlier this month. “You can't unscramble this egg,” he continued, “This is together. You want to undo that and still get the benefit of being adjacent to the best city? I'm not going to let that happen.”
