While Dunwoody voters will not see a bond referendum on their ballot in 2022, the City Council expressed a desire to get moving quickly for a possible referendum next year.
The council began discussing a bond referendum, or a voting process that would allow voters to decide if a city should be authorized to raise funds for specific projects through bonds to be paid back over time, at its annual council retreat earlier this year. The council voted to create a Capital Prioritization Committee in April, tasking the committee with refining a list of capital projects ahead of a possible referendum. The committee is made up of Councilmembers John Heneghan, Joe Seconder, and Catherine Lautenbacher.
The committee and larger City Council have met multiple times over the past few months to debate the merits of putting a bond referendum on the ballot in November of 2022. At a July 15 meeting, the prioritization committee voted 2-1 to recommend to the council to not move forward with a bond in 2022, believing the city did not have enough shovel-ready projects.
The committee recommended denial on a bond and did not present a possible project list to the City Council at its July 25 meeting. Multiple council members expressed disappointment over the fact that they did not get to review a list.
“I don’t disagree with where we are today. I do believe that more time is needed to fully vet all of the projects on that list,” Councilmember Tom Lambert said. “But the committee was tasked with presenting a list. It wasn’t a bond recommendation committee.”
Lambert said that moving forward, he wants to make sure that the responsibilities of any committees are clear.
“By failing to complete the mandate and provide a list, you in essence usurp that decision from the rest of mayor and council,” he said. “I think that’s the decision we would have arrived at, but moving forward I want to make sure that any committees we have tasked with these types of projects are clear on the scope of what their responsibilities are.”
At the July 15 prioritization committee meeting, the committee began discussing how to move forward with a possible bond referendum in 2023. Lambert requested that the council have a possible project list ready for council review by the next retreat in February or March of 2023.
Councilmember Stacey Harris agreed with Lambert about moving forward and also said that she was disappointed about the fact that the full council did not get to see a new project list at the July 25 meeting.
“I kind of feel like my voice wasn’t heard either,” she said.
Councilmember Rob Price said he agreed with Lambert and also that he would like to try and move forward with both trail and park projects. The council has previously spoken about only moving forward with park projects.
“I hope we can come up with a clear schedule with milestones so this will keep moving forward, that we can hone our project list and really use this as an opportunity to get some public feedback on the kinds of things that they want,” Price said.
Mayor Lynn Deutsch said the city will work to better define the bond process moving forward.
“My intention is to bring back a lot more information in the next month to six weeks, or two or three meetings from now, about next steps,” she said.
