By Maria Saporta
A relieved Mayor Andre Dickens met with the highly influential Atlanta Committee for Progress Friday morning following the Thursday vote in the Georgia Senate that defeated efforts for Buckhead to split off from the City of Atlanta.
“Today was definitely a victory lap around squashing the de-annexation effort,” Dickens said in a brief interview after the quarterly ACP meeting held at the offices of King & Spalding. “We were all congratulatory about hey, we got it squashed.”
Dickens called it a “team effort” to defeat the creation of a City of Buckhead.
“A lot of these folks from ACP and Metro Atlanta Chamber went out of their way to make phone calls, sent emails and physically went to the state capitol to address their concerns with the de-annexation movement,” Dickens said.
ACP took out full-page newspaper ads earlier this year calling for a united Atlanta and praising the work Dickens had done to improve public safety and run the city government.
The Atlanta Committee for Progress meets on a quarterly basis — usually at the offices of King & Spalding. (Photo by Maria Saporta.)
Dickens thanked business and civic leaders for their efforts to defeat the de-annexation efforts.
“They wanted to make it clear to these state leaders that this could have implications for commerce, economics, workforce development, and taxation,” the mayor added. “These businesses are here for a reason. If this breakup of the city happens, it will end up costing more in bonds and taxes. Even the ones that have Buckhead addresses, like the largest landowner in Atlanta is Cousins. They have no desire to have two cities.”
Colin Connolly, CEO of Cousins Properties, currently chairs ACP.
In a separate interview, Connolly said there was great attendance at ACP’s private gathering on Friday, describing it as a “terrific meeting” with the mayor.
“The members of ACP have a lot of trust and confidence in our mayor based on the great…
Read the full article here
