How to Run for Office in Peachtree Corners

If you are a concerned citizen with the skillset that adds value to the community, are willing to put the time and effort in shaping the newly formed city into a model for others to follow, and want prevent the runaway government we are witnessing throughout the land, allow us to help level the playing field.

Peachtree Corners Ballot Committee (PCBC) is committed to leveling the playing field. PCBC is an all-volunteer group of concerned citizens in Peachtree Corners, committed to watching over the new city government and ensuring it is something truly unique in government - forever inexpensive and unobtrusive to its citizens. We intend to hold all candidates and eventual city officials to the promises of a City-lite government.

The PCBC invites all candidates to submit a bio along with answers to our standard candidate questions.  We invite everyone to participate in a podcast interview to be included on this site.  All candidates must register with the County Elections office by November 30^th.  Check us out at www.peachtreecornersfacts.com

Hurry! In order to run for office you must register (qualify) by noon Wed Nov 30!!

The Gwinnett County Election's office announced that qualifying dates are all day Monday, Nov. 28 and Tuesday, Nov. 29; and Wednesday, Nov. 30 until 12 noon.  The qualifying fee to run is 3% of the desired post's salary.  So for Mayor, the cost is $270.00 or 3% of the proposed $9,000 annual salary.  For those wishing to run for one of the 6 city council seats, the cost is $240.00.  You must go to the Gwinnett Elections Office and pay by check or money order before the deadline.  The election will be held in March.

There was no mandate

The election to create the city was not a mandate.  Had 500 of the yes people voted no the city would have been voted down, however it is what it is, and now we must all work together to ensure that the future remains bright.  We will not allow for any political machinery to prevail in this election.  PCBC intends to facilitate to all citizens of Peachtree Corners the facts, and allow them to decide.  Our promise is that if you are able and willing we will facilitate the access. 

Posted By: Jose

Questions for the Candidates

1. How do you envision The City of Peachtree Corners in 20 years?
2. What is the biggest problem we have to solve to get there?
3. What changes in zoning from the current County Codes would you propose?  How do you propose to manage and enforce them?
4. What changes in permits and fees from the current County process would you propose?  How do you propose to manage and enforce then?
5. What changes in the garbage plan from the current County service would you propose?  How do you propose to manage and enforce them?
6. What office space do you think is appropriate for the City government?
7. What do you think is the best use of the land across from the Forum?
8. How many full time employees will the city need to manage city operations, Zoning, Permits, Fees, Enforcement, Fines, etc.?
9. What is your position on taxes?
10. How would you propose the issuance of City Bonds?  When would you find it appropriate?
11. How will you incorporate the views of the disparate communities that now make up Peachtree Corners?  In particular, the communities that are very skeptical of the value a city government can bring?

We invite all candidates for Mayor and City Council positions to respond.  Send your responses and a short bio to info@peachtreecornersfacts.com  We will publish them here. 

Want to Run for Office in the New City of Peachtree Corners?

The Gwinnett County Election's office announced that qualifying dates are all day Monday, Nov. 28 and Tuesday, Nov. 29. And Wednesday, Nov. 30 until 12 noon.  The qualifying fee to run is 3% of the desired post's salary.  So for Mayor, the cost is $270.00 or 3% of the proposed $9,000 annual salary.  For those wishing to run for one of the 6 city council seats, the cost is $240.00.  You must go to the Gwinnett Elections Office and pay by check or money order before the deadline.  The election will be held in March. 


If you decide to run, please email us at peachtreecornerscommunity@gmail.com


Posted by: Ali

Thank You

Thank you to those that read the charter and learned about the structure and rules governing the new city of Peachtree Corners.  It was a close race, much closer than most predicted.  The No-side garnered 44% of the vote.

The challenge going forward will be to bring the disparate communities that now live under the Peachtree Corners moniker together as a single city.  Whoever becomes the new mayor and city council will need to be cognizant that there is a large population that is skeptical of the value of having a city.   To have a truly vibrant and cohesive community, the new leaders will need to work to bring that value without the usual costs, bureaucracy, and other trappings of government many are so disenfranchised with.

We wish the community and its future leaders the best in tackling that challenge and making Peachtree Corners a truly different and successful form of government for all the people it serves.

Posted By: Ali

Government Closest to the People

The mantra from the Peachtree Corners City proponents is “Government Closest to the People is Best”.  This sounds good on the surface, but the opposite is actually true.  The closer we are, the less we need government at all.  As Thomas Paine argues in “Common Sense”, government is only needed when the community is so large that we can no longer get together neighbor to neighbor and business to business to solve our problems.  Our world today is rich with technologies that help us communicate and thus shrink our community.  Common sense says why go to the expense and bureaucratic inefficiency of establishing a government close to home?  

The Peachtree Corners Ballot Committee believes that:

• The best government is one that does only what people cannot do for themselves and governs the least.
• Government is best when it is large enough to do the job with economies of scale and yet close enough to listen to the needs of the people.

Clearly, with today’s means of transportation and high-tech communications, access to those in government by the governed is real time.  Distance has no impact.  

Government needs to be large enough to provide economies of scale.  Otherwise its costs are higher than the benefit they can provide.  Government becomes a liability and a nuisance to the community, crowding out the private sector, the real engine driving prosperity.  Peachtree Corners City is too small and its focus to narrow to matter.  It only offers power to a few and more trouble than it’s worth to everyone else.  

In the immortal words of Thomas Paine, “Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil”  

Peachtree Corners is a blessing because we are free of excessive government.  Vote No on November 8^th and keep it that way.

Posted By: Jose

What Will You See At the Ballot Box - Sample Ballot

There are two items on the Ballot on November 8th.  First, the SPLOST.  This is a one penny sales tax to support Gwinnett County Schools.  The other is the incorporation of Peachtree Corners as a city.  Here is what the ballot is expected to look like.

Local City Council Increases Franchise (Utility) Fees

East Point City Council has increased utility cost for residents by $47/mo over objections by the mayor.  The mayor has filed a lawsuit against the council for violations of the city charter.  Read the full AJC story here.

Peachtree Corners in the Transition Phase

Gwinnett’s largest city, there will be a “transition” phase.   Section 8.11 of the Charter discusses this phase and what powers and authorities the transition group will have during this period.  Beginning on page 32, it reads:

During the transition period, the governing authority of the City of Peachtree Corners:

(1) Shall hold regular meetings and may hold special meetings as provided in this charter;

(2) May enact ordinances and resolutions as provided in this charter;

(3) May amend this charter by home rule action as provided by general law;

(4) May accept gifts and grants;

(5) May borrow money and incur indebtedness to the extent authorized by this charter and general law;

(6) May levy and collect an ad valorem tax for calendar years 2012 and 2013;

(7) May establish a fiscal year and budget;

(8) May create, alter, or abolish departments, boards, offices, commissions, and agencies of the city; appoint and remove officers and employees; and exercise all necessary or appropriate personnel and management functions; and

(9) May generally exercise any power granted by this charter or general law, except to the extent that a power is specifically and integrally related to the provision of a governmental service, function, or responsibility not yet provided or carried out by the city.

We are particularly alarmed by items 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 in this list because it provides a means for the transitional group to change the charter, incur debt, and set up all sorts of departments, commissions, etc. that the City will be forced to honor and fund through more taxes, permits fees, and the like.  All the while, they may accept gifts and grants for their favor to whomever is providing said gifts.

Please read the Charter before you vote.  You are not voting on or for the people currently supporting cityhood and their pretty postcards.  You are voting on this document.  It and the politicians using it are what will ultimately rule us.   

Posted by: Ali

Cities Have Limited Control Over Zoning Given State Law

The AJC's Patrick Fox wrote an article titled "Zoning Change Rankles Johns Creek Neighborhood"  in the Friday edition of the AJC:

Close to 200 Johns Creek residents turned out recently in opposition to a zoning request to allow a 268-unit apartment complex in the city's Technology Park area.

J.C. Flex won unanimous approval to build the complex on a 24-acre site between Lakefield Drive and Technology Circle. That was after residents from two nearby subdivisions flooded City Council members with emails opposing the request. 

They left disappointed. Click to Read More

Peachtree Corners - The Friends and Family Plan

Section 3.11 of the Charter (page 16) allows for the city council to create jobs for their friends and family at will.  No referendum is needed to establish boards, commissions, and other authorities.  The Mayor will appoint the personnel.  The charter is designed for cronyism at its best.  Here is section 3.11:

(a) The city council shall create by ordinance such boards, commissions, and authorities to fulfill any investigative, quasi-judicial, or quasi-legislative function the city council deems necessary and shall by ordinance establish the composition, period of existence, duties, and powers thereof.

(b)   All members of boards, commissions, and authorities of the city shall be appointed by the mayor and council for such terms of office and in such manner as shall be provided by ordinance, except where other appointing authority, terms of office, or manner of appointment is prescribed by this charter or by law.

(c)  The city council by ordinance may provide for the compensation and reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses of the members of any board, commission, or authority.

The Yes-side really does not want you to read the charter.  The pretty postcards present the story as they want you to believe it.  The Voter That Knows Votes NO!  Please read the Charter and vote on November 8^th. 

Posted By: Ali

Is My Neighborhood in the Proposed City?

The Proposed City encompasses a lot more land area and neighborhoods than most people realize.  These Neighborhoods and areas will be part of the City of Peachtree Corners should the referendum pass next week:

The proposed city encompasses all the neighborhoods that are members of the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association and vast area beyond that.  Those areas have had little or no communication that they are about to be ensnared by this new city.  Mechanicsville, Lynwood Forest, area of Winters Chapel are all going to be gobbled up to support the new city and the UPCCA elites who wish to control their destiny. 

Please review the city MAP and check your address.  If you are in, read the Charter and know what you are going to pay for.  Then Vote on November 8!