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Rep. Howard Mosby Answers Questions From Save Tucker!

Rep. Howard Mosby
The following are questions that Save Tucker! recently posed to Rep. Howard Mosby (D - Atlanta) who is a member of the House Governmental Affairs Committee.  Mosby was appointed to the Tucker/LaVista Hills (Lakeside) Boundary subcommittee that recently defined borders between the two city advocacy groups.


Q:  What is the requirement for feasibility reports with these new borders?

A:  Great question.  It is my understanding that the feasibility reports will take at least 3 months to complete and therefore may not be available for the committee to consider before voting on them.  Therefore, those requirements may be (more likely probably) suspended in order to vote on those boundaries.


Q:  What is the rule for the two year mandatory process?  Has an exception been made for these groups only, or has the rule been changed for future groups as well?  Where can the public view the actual rules if they have questions?

A:  The rule is that incorporation bills must be presented in the first year of the biennial legislative session and voted on in the second year.  Again, in order for there to be a vote in 2015, there would need to be an exception to this rule.  I personally have not seen these rules in writing, however I have been told that this is a matter of practice.  They may be introduced this session with the caveats around the decisions concerning Tucker and LaVista Hills.  The chair would have to release those rules to the public.


Q:  The borders are said to be set in stone, but what if the feasibility reports are no longer favorable?  Can the proposed city advocates alter the boundaries in order to make them smaller, for example?  

A:  It is my understanding that if the decision is made to suspend the rules, then only those boundaries set by the committee will be accepted.  Any changes would trigger using the existing rules and start the “two-year" incorporation process.


Q:  Rep. Tom Taylor and others have mentioned proposed city charter documents.   We have personally asked many times to see the proposed charter for a city of Tucker.   When will the public be able to actually see something in writing about the type of local government that the groups are proposing? 

A:  I don’t know when the charter documents will be available for review.


Rep. Mosby also added, "I wish we were not at this point where the legislature has taken the position of “resolving" this matter.  Specifically, we did not ask for this; and the rush to draw boundaries for a vote in 2015 will not produce, in my opinion, the best for the citizens of the affected areas and by extension, DeKalb County."

Thank you, Rep. Mosby, for responding to our questions!  
 

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Location: Tucker, GA, USA

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