Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan (R-Cumming) this week assigned the legislation that could help Buckhead incorporate into its own city to a senate committee seated entirely by Democrats.
Duncan did not return The Georgia Star News’ repeated requests for comment this week.
Five of the six members of this committee, Urban Affairs, also did not reply to our requests. Senator Sheikh Rahman (D-Lawrenceville) said Saturday that committee members intend to hold a fair hearing.
“I would rather not make any other comment,” Rahman said.
“I know as much as general people know.”
Rahman said, though, that he and other committee members expect to gather to discuss the topic before the end of this month. But the senator said no one has scheduled the matter on an agenda sheet or other itinerary.
Buckhead City Committee CEO Bill White, in a statement to The Star News, said he and other committee members expected Duncan would assign the bill to this committee.
“We are very pleased with the forward motion of our various bill(s) within the Georgia Legislature,” White said.
“We remain grateful to the elected senators and representatives who will consider and vote on our bill to put BuckheadCityGA on the ballot November 8, 2022.”
Senator Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) filed the bill, SB 324. Other sponsors include Senator and declared lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Burt Jones (R-Jackson), Senator Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming), Senator Randy Robertson (R-Cataula), and Senator Clint Dixon (R-Gwinnett).
Duncan announced last April that he would not seek reelection in 2022. He said at the time that he would focus his efforts on moving the Republican Party away from former President Donald Trump.
Atlanta made national headlines last year after FOX News host Tucker Carlson described, in sometimes graphic terms, how crime rates in Buckhead have soared. Carlson also said certain of Atlanta’s politicians incited that violence.
Carlson said Atlanta leaders have made too many inflammatory remarks about Buckhead, which is wealthy. He said district residents have endured that abuse in silence. Buckhead residents account for a fifth of Atlanta’s entire budget, he said. Carlson said Buckhead residents shouldn’t have to “send huge sums of money to a city that hates them.” He blamed former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for motivating hundreds of Atlanta Police Department officers to exit the force.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star and The Georgia Star News. Follow Chris on Facebook, Twitter, Parler, and GETTR. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Buckhead, Atlanta” by Kburkha2 CC BY-SA 4.0.
