ALPHARETTA, Ga. — North Fulton County mayors and city officials discussed forming an elections authority that would oversee municipal elections in the future.
Such a move would wrest city election oversight and operations out of the hands of Fulton County, which bills the cities for its work.
The North Fulton Municipal Association meets monthly, except during the summer, and includes elected officials and senior staff from the six North Fulton cities.
The informal luncheon provides city leaders an opportunity to discuss broader issues involving the county and other agencies, like Fulton County Schools, the Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta Regional Commission and MARTA.
The March meeting drew five of the six North Fulton mayors. Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul did not attend, but City Manager Eden Freeman and Councilwoman Melissa Mular were in attendance to represent North Fulton’s largest city.
The group raised the question of how North Fulton cities could coordinate efforts to form an umbrella agency to oversee municipal elections.
Roswell Mayor Kurt Wilson said the time is now to discuss hiring a superintendent to set up and manage the local elections process for the six North Fulton cities.
He also said city representatives would meet later in the day to discuss “the desire and political will” for coordinating elections.
“We let Milton take the lead, and there was a lot to it,” Wilson said. “If we were involved with elections on a municipal level, we’d want to do it with our sister cities.”
With local elections returning in 2025, other North Fulton cities are looking to Milton for guidance. The city was the first North Fulton city to break from the county’s long practice of overseeing and operating municipal elections.
“We have a book, in this book we have pages that say how not to do it right and pages…
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