Sweater weather?
Aug. 5 — It’s Cathy from Rough Draft with my weekly newsletter on Tucker. It’s been a beautiful few days weather-wise. It may be time to switch out my summer leggings for my fall leggings. The benefits of WFH cannot be emphasized enough.
🚔 In this week’s newsletter, we have a story about a feasibility study that shows that Tucker could benefit greatly from having its own police department (did you hear that, Nicky’s Undefeated and Village Burger?). We also discuss a candidate forum for Tucker’s upcoming Nov. 4 election, information on help for DeKalb’s rising water bills, a little tidbit about Tucker’s claim to Hollywood fame, and upcoming events.
Have a great weekend,
Cathy
🛍️ Don’t miss shopping at Rhea Lana Decatur Druid Hills consignment event, Sept. 6-12. Our events are ONE WEEK only! Want to shop early? Click here for a FREE Silver pass for TODAY, Sept. 5! SPONSOR MESSAGE
The argument for a Tucker police department
🚔 A newly released feasibility study conducted by the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police (GACP) has concluded that Tucker could establish its own police department, providing significantly faster response times and more community-focused service at a lower cost than its current arrangement with DeKalb County Police Department.
The study, commissioned by the Tucker-Northlake Community Improvement District in January with additional funding from an impressive group that included the Tucker Summit CID, Tucker Civic Association, Tucker Business Association, and Tucker Main Street Alliance, “analyzed two years of 911 dispatch data, interviewed business and civic leaders and compared Tucker’s current policing structure with those of neighboring cities,” according to a release from the Tucker-Northlake CID.
The key findings were disturbing. DeKalb 911 dispatch times were 4.9 times longer than response times in Dunwoody and Brookhaven. Also this: Tucker property owners paid $15.9 million in 2024 for county police services — more than Brookhaven ($15.0 million) and Dunwoody ($14.3 million) spend on their own police departments, despite the fact that both cities have larger populations.
The study will be discussed at a public forum on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at Northlake Church of Christ from 7-8:30 p.m.
I talked to Northlake-Tucker PCID Executive Director Matthew Lee shortly after the study was released. Here’s a story about our conversation about the study.
Taste the Town: Alpharetta Restaurant Week is back!
SPONSORED BY AWESOME ALPHARETTA
🍽️ Alpharetta Restaurant Week is the perfect time for patrons to try a new restaurant or revisit a favorite!
🍣 With over 60 participating restaurants, this is the area’s largest Restaurant Week event, featuring special menus from local Alpharetta restaurants from Oct. 11-18.
Get informed about council, mayoral run
✅ The Tucker Civic Association and Tucker Business Association (TBA) are holding a mayoral/city council election candidate forum on Thursday, Oct. 9 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Northlake Church of Christ, 1625 Cooledge Road, according to an announcement from the civic association.
“Come hear all the candidates express why they are running for office, their visions for our city, and respond to questions about Tucker’s future,” the announcement said.
The photo above, from the Tucker Civic Association, is from its 2023 debate.
Want to know more about the candidates? Read our election guide here.
WRAP may help with water bill sticker shock
💧Here’s something of importance to Tucker residents as well as the rest of the county. DeKalb County Government and the Urban League of Greater Atlanta (ULGA) have launched the Water Rate Assistance Program (WRAP), a new initiative aimed at helping income-eligible households manage water and sewer bills.
The program officially begins as the county’s planned 10 percent water and sewer rate increase goes into effect, a Sept. 3 news release said.
The increase marks the first phase of a long-term strategy to upgrade the county’s aging water and sewer system. DeKalb CEO Lorraine Cochran-Johnson announced (pictured above) shortly after taking office that the county will implement a 10 percent rate adjustment each January over the next decade to fund critical improvements.
➡️ Find out the income requirements and how to apply here.
🛍️ Don’t miss shopping at Rhea Lana Decatur Druid Hills consignment event, Sept. 6-12. Our events are ONE WEEK only! Want to shop early? Click here for a FREE Silver pass for TODAY, Sept. 5! SPONSOR MESSAGE
Football news and notes
🐅|🐶 Tonight the Tucker Tigers host the Lithonia Bulldogs in a 4-AAAA division matchup. In 2024, the Tigers walloped Lithonia by a score of 34-0, but Lithonia is 2-0 with convincing wins over Redan (36-0) and Lithia Springs (40-3).
Last week the Tigers dominated the Chamblee Bulldogs, winning 44-7. Quarterback Jace German was 8-for-17 for 106 yards, and ran for 81 yards.
The action starts at 7 p.m. If you can’t make it, the game is being streamed on YouTube.
🏈 Speaking of big games, Tucker has been selected as the first city to host an official game-watching party by the UGA Alumni Association for the Georgia-Tennessee game on Sept. 13.
According to an announcement by the city, fans can congregate at the Church Street Greenspace for the game.
“Pack your own tailgate or buy from a variety of food and drinks vendors, pick up some city and UGA swag, then relax and enjoy the game,” the announcement said.
Full disclosure: I graduated from UT when dinosaurs roamed the earth, but I was more a fan of the team’s mascot, a bluetick coonhound named Smokey (pictured above) than the team.
🧡 Kick-off is at 3:30 p.m. but you can set up your blanket and chairs earlier. One more fun fact: Smokey, the full-sized UT mascot, has his own Instagram account.
Tucker in film
🎬 Zach Cregger’s “Weapons,” is described by our esteemed arts and entertainment reporter Sammie Purcell as “one more step forward in the broken promise of suburbia – a horrifying, ultimately funny yet brutal treatise on the so-called safety of these so-called communities.”
The plot is as such: one night, somewhere in suburban America, 17 kids – all but one of the students from Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) third-grade class – got out of bed at exactly 2:17 a.m. and ran off into the night.
Thirty days later, the review says, there are still no leads (and the police are like, so embarrassed about it, says the unnamed child narrator who bookends the film). As widely reported, Tucker’s own Brockett Elementary (renamed Maybrook Elementary School for the movie) was the site for several of the scenes in the movie.
👓 Read Sammie’s review of the film here.
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