State lawmakers heard the message loud and clear at a hearing on the city of Brookhaven: supporters just want the right to vote while opponents want the cityhood movement to slow down.
Brookhaven residents flocked to the capitol Jan. 31 to speak at the Government Affairs Committee of the Georgia House of Representatives’ second hearing on the proposed city of Brookhaven.
Several elected officials also spoke, including Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-DeKalb, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Elena Parent, D-DeKalb, DeKalb County Commissioner Jeff Rader and DeKalb CEO Burrell Ellis.
Jim Eyre, who lives in the Ashford Park neighborhood, said there are too many questions to to move ahead with the creation of a city.
He called the feasibility study “flawed” because it uses the cities of Dunwoody and Johns Creek as comparisons.
“These peer cities are much younger,” he said. “The older things are the more they break. Clearly the feasibility study did not reflect the cost to maintain the older infrastructure in Brookhaven.”
Linley Jones, a member of the advocacy group BrookhavenYES said if residents don’t have the opportunity to vote on incorporating a city in July, it may be too late because neighboring cities have expressed interest in annexing the property included in the proposed boundaries.
“We just want the right to vote,” Jones said. “Choose an opportunity for self-governance. Choose an opportunity for self-determination. It’s just American.”