A bill that would have called for a referendum to create the City of Lakeside was withdrawn this afternoon, meaning that the dream of a new municipality in north DeKalb County is dead for 2014.
An angry Sen. Fran Miller (R-Dunwoody) withdrew the bill during the House Governmental Affairs Committee after it became clear that tandem bills to create a City of Lakeside and a City of Tucker would not move forward together because of legislative rules. The arrangement for the two cityhood bills to move forward together was arrived at last week following the tabling of the Lakeside bill.
“I will not bring the bill back next year,” Millar promised. “This is very disappointing to me. I don’t get it.”
Millar said Lakeside had 75 meetings, followed the process and now 70,000 residents would not be able to vote on their own self-determination. “Shame on us,” Millar said before he withdrew the Lakeside bill.
Rep. Buzz Brockway (R-Lawrenceville) said he wished a way could have been found for both bills to move forward. “It’s too risky,” Brockway said. “The fix would cause more problems than it would solve.”