Chamblee city council members and Mayor Brian Mock voted unanimously to approve the adoption of a resolution requesting the Georgia General Assembly to place a referendum on the Nov. 5 general election ballot that would put the annexation of the Embry Hills and Mercer areas to a vote.
The adoption of the resolution came during a special called meeting on Feb. 26 attended by Sen. Sally Harrell, Rep. Scott Holcomb and Rep. Long Tran, among other elected officials. The Georgia General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn on March 28.
The Feb. 26 meeting followed an earlier in February where Mock, together with the Embry Hills Civic Association, hosted town hall listening sessions with area residents about possible annexation.
The topic first grabbed news headlines when Chamblee officials stated they contracted services with Rosetta Stone Communications in October of 2022 to “assist with the gathering of petition signatures for the proposed annexation.” The annexation process was done using the 60 percent method, a Georgia law that requires 60 percent of registered voters and 60 percent of landowners in the area to sign the petition requesting annexation.
However, that application was withdrawn in December 2023 after Chamblee officials said, “a review of the contents in the proposed annexation application [led to the] discovery of technical deficiencies.”
Now, Chamblee officials are hoping instead to see the annexation, which would add approximately 3,500 people to the city, put to a vote as early as the end of this year.
During the public comments portion of the meeting, reactions to possible annexation were mixed with some members of the Embry Hills community expressing that they feel DeKalb County has neglected the area for years. Others, however, said they have been satisfied with the police and trash services the county provides and questioned whether Chamblee would be able to meet their needs.
Mock said that he and other Chamblee officials have been…
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