Save Tucker!

In an email sent to its supporters this week, Lavista Hills Alliance announced that it is closing down some of its operations and suspending some of its campaign activities.  They also alluded to a long-forgotten challenge they once made to the accuracy of the vote that sent Tucker toward incorporation and sent them home empty handed.   According to the email, which was forwarded to us by an anonymous source, Lavista Hills' leaders are still holding out hope that the state department will issue some kind of a final report, telling them whether or not they found any fraud in connection to their allegations against the DeKalb Board of Elections and its Superintendent, Maxine Daniels.    Save Tucker! followers may also recall that we, too, had questions regarding the fairness of some of the voting procedures taking place in DeKalb, mainly the allowing of candidates onto ballots without properly verifying their stated place of residence.  We  ha...

During the fight to save Tucker and learn about whether a city was the right way to go about protecting our borders from hostile Lavista Hills / Lakeside City advocates, we emailed and spoke to many state and county officials.  There were time when they were forthcoming and seemingly understanding.  Other times we were completely ignored.  We were so busy that we did not always have time to post our emails for our followers to read, or we were waiting to post them once we received a response.  But, some of our questions didn't receive responses and they remain as doubts in the minds of many.  To let you know about the work we tried to accomplish, as we run across emails that we think you would like to know about, we will post them on the blog.  We have XXX'd out the names of private individuals to protect the privacy of ordinary citizens.  Politicians, however, are public figures and so we have left their names and emails in tact.   Here...

Lavista Hills Alliance wants  you to report potential fraud to them and then they will tell the proper authorities. That's: YOU ------->    LAVISTA HILLS ALLIANCE ==>  PROPER AUTHORITIES The County Interim CEO wanted employees to blow their whistles for Mike Bowers and then he would alert the proper authorities if he found anything.   That is:  WHISTLEBLOWERS --------------->  MIKE BOWERS ------------> PROPER AUTHORITIES Do you see the potential for problems with the above scenarios?  Save Tucker! would like to recommend another approach.  It would go something like this: YOU ---------------->  PROPER AUTHORITIES    or WHISTLEBLOWERS ===============> PROPER AUTHORITIES In the current scenario with the "unsecured memory card" being located and then checked for possible fraud, however, we don't really see where there is a need for anyone to be contacting any authority othe...

The three year battle is over and a new chapter begins for the residents and future politicians who live here in Tucker, GA.  The community that was almost completely divided by the efforts of a neighboring community and hindered by the antics of its own county commissioner is now the official city that many people already thought it was.                                                                          The city of Tucker, reaching east from Interstate 285, would cover more than 33,000 residents in three districts, with two council members elected from each district. Credit: Map data @2015 G...

Residents in North / Central DeKalb County will vote today at their regular polling locations.  Voting will include referendum questions regarding the incorporation of the city of Lavista Hills or the city of Tucker if you live inside the designated boundary areas. Please review this blog site and other sources of information so you can make an informed decision.  Thank you for paying attention to this important issue! Save Tucker!  Wrong Map.  Wrong Leaders. No New Cities.  Not Now.  Not Like This. For the latest video from Save Tucker, click here:  https://youtu.be/Zu9gioH4peo

Lavista Hills Donors Revealed  Save Tucker! edited this story slightly from its original text submitted by DeKalb Strong, a group opposed to the incorporation of new cities in DeKalb County, GA. Lavista Hills raised eyebrows back in August by holding a $500 'suggested minimum donation' event , where they actively solicited money from vendors who do businesses with cities.    Mary Kay Woodworth was quoted as saying, "We think it is great that they want to invest in us before we invest in them."  But, handing over government contracts to vendors simply because they "paid in advance" to receive them is exactly the kind of system that we have in DeKalb already.  No request for proposals.  No bids.  Just good old fashioned "wink-wink. nudge-nudge." deals made among business buddies.  How does one justify running a campaign all about "local control" while accepting money from companies that are not even located in our c...

The new cities of Lavista Hills and Tucker will be voted on this November 3, 2015.  Residents who say they hope to escape from county problems will be disappointed to learn that the same people who have been accused of corruption in the county are behind these new cities and have pitted the two areas against each other intentionally.  Otherwise, the residents would have no reason to incorporate unless they feared "takeover" from the other side or surrounding cities.  Those fear tactics should not be tolerated and are, in fact, illegal under federal law.  Don't vote for a city if you are not sure who will be leading it and what they intend to do.  We can continue to get along with our neighbors and stop the fighting and destructive competition that keeps most people's focus on each other rather than the true thieves funneling money to their own friends and family networks.  DON'T JOIN THEM by approving the ridiculous boundaries and poor ser...

More than two years ago,  Save Tucker! posed questions to the Lakeside City Alliance, as you will read in the post below that was originally published in the Tucker Patch.  These questions were a combination of all questions submitted to us on our Save Tucker! Facebook page as well as questions the organizers of Save Tucker! had for Oliver Porter and the Lakeside City Alliance. Now called "Lavista Hills," and slated for a referendum vote on Tuesday, November 3, this group will be meeting once again to answer questions tonight at Lakeside High School. You can read our questions below and decide if they were ever answered to your satisfaction.  If not, you might have a chance to ask them one last time if you decide to attend the meeting.  But you must submit them in advance to: ann@repscottholcomb.com . Just remember, you are under no obligation to sign in or provide any personal contact information at this meeting.  If you do, you ...

Reasonable people, like Ed Ewing from the Amberwood neighborhood, have serious questions about the methods by which city advocacy groups determined that there was an actual, real problem identified that cities will now fix. If you share this and other concerns, please show up to vote No on Nov. 3.  The city groups have a lot of people convinced that a city will help them.  There must be enough skeptics willing to show up and vote no or else we will all find out the hard way that neither Lavista Hills NOR Tucker  will be viable cities without raising our taxes.  In reviewing the public comments portions of the Tucker, Lakeside and Briarcliff meetings before the House of Representatives back in 2014, we found some speakers who made some excellent points (and others who didn't make much sense to us at all.)   We'll post some of those transcribed comments here and others we will post on our YouTube channel in case you want to catch up with all the things that...

It seems that congratulations are in order for two of Tucker's most "upwardly mobile" residents:  Ben and Sonja Szubski, active promoters of the city of Tucker effort since it started.  We wanted to make sure our readers were aware of how there is a real and very serious connection between the leadership driving this city effort, and the development groups seeking to tear down and destroy (so they can then buy cheap and rebuild) what we know and love about Tucker. First, here is the announcement from JE Dunn Construction: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ Ben Szubski Joins JE Dunn Construction as Project Manager Press release from the issuing company Monday, June 30th, 2014 Ben Szubski is extending his 18-year career in construction by joining JE Dunn Construction Company as a project manager, the company announced. Szubski’s responsibilities at JE Dunn include cost control, issuing and maintaining subcontractor contra...

Guess who is on your Tucker-Norhtlake CID Steering Committee? It's none other than Mary Kay Woodworth.  She's done so much for our area already (read: sarcastic) by starting a city movement that divided residents based on arbitrary boundary lines then pitted them against each other and against their friends inside the perimeter. The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners and the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) have approved the comprehensive Master Plan created by the Tucker-Northlake Community Improvement District (CID) to identify opportunities to create a vibrant, walkable and economically thriving Tucker-Northlake. The document will serve as a blueprint for the future commercial development of the area, and was created following months of site visits, market studies, community meetings and public input solicitations by consultants Sizemore Group of Atlanta. It identifies one- and five-year priorities for the 2,600-acre study area, as well as suggested long-term projects...