Dunwoody’s mayor and City Council approved Nov. 13 the hiring ConnectSouth lobbying firm for $70,000 for 2018 state legislative support.
ConnectSouth has been used by the city since it was founded to represent its priorities and concerns at the General Assembly, Chris Pike, Finance Director, states in a memo. The $70,000 approved this year is an increase of $5,000 over 2016 and 2015 rates.
“As with many professional services contracts, the value grows as the relationship grows,” Pike stated in the memo to the mayor and City Council.
The mayor and council at the Nov. 13 meeting also approved a resolution outlining its General Assembly legislative priorities for 2018 including: continuing toward the goal of passing a constitutional amendment to make way for independent school districts; look for existing bills or opportunities to raise the $1.50 E911 fee to cover costs of technological advances in the E911 industry; to watch for legislation from cell phone companies that attempt to reduce a city’s zoning authority and regulate right-of-way, traffic poles and other means the companies want to use to increase their capacity; and keep an eye on property tax policies following the Fulton County appraisal issues that may not help the city of Dunwoody.
The city also wants to push for an update to the Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. According to a memo by Pike, the biggest complaint his department receives each year is from businesses objecting to the process of complying with the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act.
Disappointed that there is no mention of ensuring that we do not see tamping down “religious liberty” as an issue for the city, as that is a factor in attracting new employers to the area. Ditto on guns – the City should be more proactive on gun control matters, especially as our population density increases.