Incorporating DeKalb not the way to go

I attended a community forum held by DeKalb County and CEO Ellis. The forums are a chance for citizens to give input on what the county can do to better serve it’s citizens in the next five years. This was the second of five to be held in various parts of the county. The biggest concern from many in attendance was public safety which is at the top of my mind as well. The one issue that came up that peaked my curiosity was the talk of annexation, and incorporation. One person stood up and made a statement about the possibility of Tucker pursuing incorporation. The speaker warned that another situation like what happened when Dunwoody decided to incorporate would cause even more harm to the counties coffers and hurt South DeKalb specifically. Others spoke of the possibility of cities in DeKalb annexing more of the unincorporated parts of the county, again shrinking funds that provide services to unincorporated citizens. Some spoke of incorporating the rest of DeKalb in order to stave off the cities taking more residents, and other areas incorporating. The CEO spoke in favor of exploring city-hood as an option that would bring additional resources to the newly created city. Many in the crowd seemed to fear the result of more incorporation or annexation in DeKalb. I for one am not against the cities expanding their boundaries if that is what the citizens to be annexed want. More local control of public safety, zoning, and other issues works beetter than having out of touch commissioners decide what an area needs, and they do not live work or even drive through the area. I have also expressed in a previous post that certain parts of South DeKalb should consider incorporation. I cannot fathom that a city of DeKalb would be any more responsive to it’s citizens than the present government is. More money and more resources will not equal quality service or responsive government. A government that is closer to the people has proven to be much more responsive, and do a better job for the citizens living there.  Given the option of incorporating the rest of DeKalb, and having an incorporated South DeKalb, I would go for the latter. That way I know the people who represent me at least has an idea of what needs to be done to increase the quality of life in my neighborhood. That’s not to say I would not be for incorporating DeKalb if that were the only option, but it is definitely not at the top of my list.

There are three forums left see the dates and locations here