May 22 City Council Meeting: A Bait and Switch?

The City Council met Tuesday night to receive updates from the two consultants the council has hired to help set up the city.  John McDonough, current Sandy Springs city manager, and John Kachmar, current Johns Creek city manager, took the council through the agenda: 

• Search for City Hall Office Space 
• Request for Proposal (RFP) for Banking Services
• Review of Legal Requirements and Timeline for Ad Valorem Tax Billing and Collection
• Organizational Structure of the City
• Neighborhood and Business Response Center Services 

The most enlightening and alarming item discussed  was the Organizational Structure agenda item.  The consultants provided a draft/sample budget for what it will cost to run the city.  Given the size of the staff and the services expected, they are estimating $2,869,225 to run the city.  This is nearly FOUR times the cost estimate in the Carl Vinson study touted by the Vote Yes group and State Senator and city sponsor Tom Rice during the cityhood campaign.  Alex Wright, Post 3, was visibly baffled by the idea that the two estimates were not even on the same planet.  Mayor Mason, a major player in the Vote Yes campaign, dismissed the study just short of rolling his eyes at the idea that anyone would believe it.  He said that The Carl Vinson study is not a budget it is just a feasibility study.  It was for Tom Rice and the legislature and not meant to determine the cost to run the city. 

Mr. Wright questioned the consultants throughout the tax and budget presentation.  The consultants recommended building up large reserves and contingency funds to which Mr. Wright responded, “It is against my personal philosophy to build up large reserves. I want to prevent government waste.”  The consultants scoffed at the idea that any waste would occur in government.  

At the current $2.8 million cost estimate, the city will need the full 1 mil in taxes allowed by the Charter.  All the Vote Yes promises that property taxes probably would not be needed at all to cover the expenses of the city are so quickly up in political campaign smoke.  The city council must vote on the exact level of millage that property owners will pay.  Before the vote, the council must advertise the millage rate under consideration and hold 3 meetings for the public to comment before the vote.  The consultants recommend advertising the full millage allowed by the Charter.  Councilman Wright seemed to bristle at the idea that so much would be needed given the Carl Vinson study.  The consultants assured him that it was the conservative and responsible way to go about it and their later budget discussion showed why.  The advertisement will occur on June 21.  The first hearing will be the morning of July 2, the second at 6:30 PM July 2^nd, and the final meeting and vote on July 9^th at 7:30 PM.

During this discussion, Mr. Kachmar let it be known that the councilpersons and mayor are not required to attend the hearings on the 2^nd.  They may assign staff to take down public comments.  The PCBC is greatly disturbed by the suggestion that our elected officials would delegate listening to their constituents to hired staff and consultants rather than be present themselves and hope that they all reject this suggestion.

We also hope Mr. Wright sticks to his guns on expenses and taxes.  We hope he recruits some other council-members to stand firm against the mayor and the consultants on dismissing the Carl Vinson study, absorbing the full one mil in available taxes, and on stockpiling massive amounts of money for “rainy days” and nebulous “community investment projects”.  

Other items covered in the meeting:

The consultants presented a list of properties for the council to consider renting.  They reviewed their evaluation criteria.  4 of the 5 properties are in Tech Park.  They expect to make a final recommendation at next week’s meeting.

The RFP for city banking services was provided.  Councilman Weare Gratwick, At Large Post 6, excused himself and left the room during the discussion.  Mr. Gratwick works for a bank and wanted to avoid any accusation of impropriety or undue influence on the council discussions.  The RFP will be released in the coming days.  Ms. Jeanne Aulbach, Councilperson At Large Post 4, will serve on the RFP evaluation team with the consultants and lawyer.

They ended the session with a rushed discussion of a call center to respond to citizen inquiries.  The YMCA was shutting its doors so the council was instructed to think about the kind of services they want to provide and what a call center might do for a later discussion.

Councilpersons in attendance: Jay Lowe - Post 2; Alex Wright – Post 3; Jeanne Aulbach – Post 4; Lorri Christopher – Post 5; Weare Gratwick – Post 6; Mike Mason – Mayor.  Phil Sadd – Post 1 was not in attendance.

Peachtree Corners Finalizes the City Council - Looking Ahead

Yesterday's run-off finalized the last 4 contested seats for the inaugural city council of Peachtree Corners.  Turnout was very low with less than 12% of voters going to the polls.  Here is the new city council:


Phil Sadd will represent the geography of District 1
Jay Lowe will represent the geography of District 2
Alex Wright will represent the geography of District 3
Jeanne Aulbach will represent Post 4 At-Large
Lorri Christopher will represent Post 5 At-Large
Weare Gratwick will represent Post 6 At-Large


These six folks join mayor Mike Mason in the task of setting up the new city.  They will implement the 3 services proclaimed in the city charter: Code Enforcement, Zoning, and Trash Collection.  In addition, this council is challenged to settle a border dispute with Berkeley Lake, hire a city manager and other employees, procure office space, enter into vendor contracts, etc.


With so few voters turning out in this and the last election, the new council hardly has a strong mandate for sweeping action.  We expect that the members will act carefully and cautiously before committing the city and its tax payers to irrevocable, long-term obligations.  The council has been granted great power over many by very few.  They have the power to make taxes, code enforcement, fees, etc. a burden on citizens.  They should wield that power very delicately.  


The role of the Peachtree Corners Ballot Committee will continue to be as a watch dog of the new city government.  We will work to hold our new officials to the promises made in the campaign for city hood and their campaigns for city council.  We want to ensure that Peachtree Corners sticks to the promise of "city-lite".  This city was proclaimed to be something unique among governments - forever small, unobtrusive, and inexpensive.  We will be holding you to it.

Is the Peachtree Corners City Charter a Sham?

Many in Washington look upon the Constitution as an ancient document written by a bunch of old guys with almost no relevance to today.  It is ignored or circumvented when working within its bounds is deemed too cumbersome or inconvenient.  The Peachtree Corners City Charter is the city’s “constitution”.  It describes the boundaries of the city, how the city will function, how it will add services, elect officials and collect taxes.  It clearly states that the charter may only be changed by a referendum of the city’s citizens.  But a small group of politicians just changed the charter without any such vote by the citizens.  

These politicians, including mayor-to-be Mason, the Berkeley Lake Mayor Salter and State Representative Tom Rice, met together, decided that a stretch of land along Peachtree Industrial would go to Berkeley Lake despite being ratified in the Charter as belonging to Peachtree Corners.  Bill 956 was passed by the State House on February 27, 2012.  It amended our charter by legislative fiat.  No citizen referendum.  Poof! 161 businesses are no longer in Peachtree Corners because a group of politicians banded together to go around the city’s “constitution.”  Promises were made during the vote for cityhood.  Those promises have already been broken.

Now, I believe that if a group of residents or businesses want to secede from the City, they should be allowed to do so by following the rules in the Charter and State Law.  What is shocking is how quickly Mr.  Mason and Mr. Rice directly circumvented a referendum because they saw the need to do so.  Mr. Rice has offered all sorts of “I know what’s best for you” reasons.  But rather than explain those reasons and let the citizens vote per the charter, he used his political power to simply act.  What else do these politicians think needs action and going to the voters is just too much trouble?  What do they think we need next:  Perhaps a police department, a big city hall, more tax revenue, more, more, more.  But we certainly need no votes by the citizens.  That is just too inconvenient and the voters won’t understand anyway.  They need the superior intellect of us politicians to tell them what is best!  Yikes folks.

In November, we didn’t vote to become a city because we wanted to write 'Peachtree Corners' on our return address- we voted to adopt the charter. The charter defined our boundaries. The charter was sold to all of us as having protections built into it that no other city had- it could not be changed without a referendum.  By legislative fiat, Tom Rice and his cronies just changed the charter without our vote.  This isn’t an issue of whether I pay the legal fees to fight Berkeley Lake annexation attempts, it’s much more fundamental than that.  The city we voted on in November will now no longer exist.  Is the charter still a legally binding document or not? And if it is, what good is the supposed requirement for a referendum if Tom Rice and his buddies down at the statehouse can sit down over a glass of bourbon and a good cigar and do whatever the hell they want to do anyway?  Remember that cities exist at the will of the legislature, so political friends there will allow quick changes to our Charter whenever it is convenient for them.  And the rights of we the citizens are just so much lip service.

Be sure to vote on March 6.  Be sure to pick people absolutely dedicated to protecting your right to referendum laid down in the Charter.   Do not surrender this city to the elitist “I know what’s best for you whether you like it or not” politicians.  Mike Mason looks to be that kind of politician.  Figure out who his friends are and who is a thorn in his side and make sure we have a council that will stick up for us.  Candidates, show us if you have any thorns please.  Post your comments on our Facebook Page.

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

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