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House Governmental Affairs Meeting on Tucker and Lavista Hills TODAY, March 3, 2 p.m.

HB 515 (City of Tucker) and 520 (City of LaVista Hills) are on TODAY's Governmental Affairs Committee agenda, March 3.  

Governmental Affairs Committee meeting is TODAY at 2:00 pm in room 606 of the COLB. HB 520 (LaVista hills) and HB 515 (tucker) are on the agenda.  Anyone who has an interest in these bills who can make it, is invited to attend.  

Otherwise, email your brief opinion to the Representatives below ASAP!  

Save Tucker! has the position that:  

1.) Regardless of whether or not you agree with the map of Tucker, one thing for sure is that we do not want to see the Tucker bill move ahead first and definitely not on a ballot before LaVista Hills makes its attempt at having a referendum pass.  If Lavista Hills fails, then we can go back to the way things were before this nightmare started. Or, we could study the "real" Tucker area  or even the originally proposed city of "Northlake." There is no reason for Tucker to move ahead of the others or, worse, by itself completely.

2.) The map is too big in some ways and too small in others.  It does not protect our zip code which is a very clearly designated area where everyone identifies themselves as being in "Tucker."   We are especially concerned about the Sam Moss Center which has always been in Tucker and will be vital if used in a future school system or for a repair station for a future passenger rail.   It should not go to any area that is considering breaking away from the county system as it is vital to the transportation system within the DeKalb School System.  The same is true for the Bryant Center on Lawrenceville Highway. It contains sensitive digital records that are the property of the state and should not be turned over to a  potential city that wants to see our school system fail so they can help get an amendment for a new one.

3.)  The map excludes a large portion of our residents who live in Gwinnett County.

4.)  The city as drawn is more about creating "Smoke Rise," than it is about Tucker.  The leader of Tucker 2015 (Auman) lists his own address as "Stone Mountain" (Smoke Rise) as did our former commissioner Elaine Boyer who was involved in the initial dispute between Tucker and Lakeside.   Rep. Mitchell also lives in Stone Mountain.  Since the records are not available for anyone to see who donated, we are unaware who contributed.

5.)   The charter document is being kept secret from the public for some reason.

6.)  The other leader of Tucker 2014/15  (Penkava) lives near the Gwinnett border and Royal Atlanta, an area that was going to be taken in by the Stone Mountain CID.  She has been directly connected to the other city groups and has kept the Tucker community in the dark.  She is also linked to the "Neighbors for Lakeside City."

 7.)  The rules of the House were originally stated very clearly and no one asked that they be changed just for DeKalb.  According to the rules, this is the year for a placeholder bill only.  It should remain as it has always existed since Sandy Springs - a two year process intended for only one city bill at a time. 

Governmental Affairs Committee Members email and phone numbers:
Chair Ed Rynders (erynders@bellsouth.net ) 404.656.6801,
Vice Chair Buzz Brockway (buzz.brockway@house.ga.gov) 404.656.0188,
Secretary Darlene Taylor (darlene.taylor@house.ga.gov) 404.656.0178
Tyrone Brooks (tyrone.brooks@house.ga.gov) 404.656.6372,
Amy Carter (amy.carter@house.ga.gov) 404.463.2248
Barry Fleming (barry.fleming@house.ga.gov) 404.656.0152,
Hugh Floyd (hughfloyd@mindspring.com) 404.656.0314,
Mark Hamilton (mark.hamilton@house.ga.gov) 404.656.5132,
Dustin Hightower (dustin.hightower@house.ga.gov) 404.657.1803,
Kidd Culver (“Rusty”) (rusty.kidd@house.ga.gov) 404.656.0202,
Eddie Lumsden (eddie.lumsden@house.ga.gov) 404.656.0325,
Ronnie Mabra (ronnie.mabra@house.ga.gov) 404.656.7859,
John Meadows (john.meadows@house.ga.gov) 404.656.5141,
Howard Mosby (howard.mosby@house.ga.gov) DeKalb Delegation 404.656.0287,
Larry O’Neal (larry.oneal@house.ga.gov) 404.656.5052,
Mary Margaret Oliver (mmo@mmolaw.com) DeKalb Delegation 404.656.0265,
Alan Powell (alanpowell23@hotmail.com) 404.463.3793,
Jay Powell (jay.powell@house.ga.gov) 404.656.5103,
Tom Taylor (tom.taylor@house.ga.gov) DeKalb Delegation 404.656.3947,
Bruce Williamson (bruce.williamson@house.ga.gov) 404.656.0152

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