Wishing you a Happy Holiday and a Joyful New Year
Dear Friend and Neighbor:
The Committee for a United Atlanta wishes you a Happy Holiday and a joyful New Year.
2022 has been a challenging year, but also a year of progress for our Buckhead community and the City of Atlanta. Indeed, there are many reasons for optimism and positivity for 2023 and beyond.
We are pleased to see that in his first year in office Mayor Andre Dickens has made steady progress in reforming city hall, rebuilding trust in our communities, and achieving great long-term success to improve the quality of life for everyone. Buckhead residents and community and business leaders have seen him working with us to respond to our concerns.
While every life is precious and any loss of life or trauma is tragic, violent crime in Buckhead is down, with crime overall in our area down 13% from this time last year. However, it is still too high and all of us must work with the mayor and police chief, Darin Schierbaum, to develop solutions to further assist in this effort.
As you know, since the pandemic crime has risen throughout our country, including the entire metro-Atlanta region. That is why we are pleased that Mayor Dickens has partnered with Governor Kemp, and the Atlanta Police Department with the Georgia State Patrol, to share public safety resources and intelligence. The mayor has also committed to collaborating with the federal government on additional resources and with other mayors on creative best practices.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families of victims of violent crimes this past year, and we remain committed to working closely with the mayor, city council, APD, and our fellow residents to help make everyone safer in their homes, businesses, and community.
The following are just some of the public safety accomplishments made during this year by the Dickens Administration:
• Hired more police officers and increased their pay, with bonuses and take-home cars
• Hired a permanent police chief, Darin Schierbaum
• Enhanced training and recruitment of police officers
• 911 wait-time has been lowered
• Opened an additional police precinct in Buckhead Village
• Added more cameras to capture illegal activity
• Made arrests of gang leaders
• Achieved significant reduction of ‘water boys’ in our community
• Closed a number of illegal nightlife operations and reduced nightlife violence and nuisance
• Cracked down on ‘party house rentals’
• Made Lenox Square, Phipps Plaza, and Buckhead Village safer, thanks to the efforts of the property owners and APD
• Provided youth in our city with supervised evening activities, including a basketball league for teenagers.
We have witnessed Mayor Dickens interacting daily with the police and regularly attending their morning roll calls. His first phone call every morning is with Chief Schierbaum. It is critical that he supports the APD and has their backs. By doing so, morale in the department will continue to rise.
In addition to public safety, other matters concern Buckhead residents, such as zoning, integrity and transparency at city hall, street repairs, and taxes.
Great progress has been made on these issues as well, such as:
• Preservation of single-family zoning
• Activation of the ‘Pothole Posse’
• Repaving underway on Buckhead streets
• Additional streetlights in Buckhead and throughout the city
• Closure of the homeless encampment on “The Hill” near GA-400 and I-85
• Pick-up of garbage is on schedule
• A fiscally sound city government, with the highest bond rating in history
• An honest and transparent government with no ethics violations
• Enhanced park maintenance and trail investments
• New business investment in Buckhead and the city
Although these successes are hopeful news for all of us, we cannot rest and need your help as fellow Atlanta residents in continuing the progress. The challenges we face, especially as it relates to violent crime, are real and we have a right to be concerned and at times frightened.
That is why we must remain united and continue to work together with Mayor Dickens, APD, and our city leaders to keep us on the right track so we have the city we want and deserve.
That is how we worked through difficulties in the past and that is what we must do now.
Creating a new Buckhead City is not the answer, as it will harm Buckhead residents and businesses by:
• Paying higher taxes, especially for water and sewer
• Being responsible for substantial underfunded pension commitments for public employees and bond obligations
• Having no neighborhood public schools for the children to attend, as APS owns all public schools in Buckhead and the Georgia Constitution prevents creating new school districts
• Damaging business investments in Atlanta and the metro region; businesses do not invest in uncertain, politically volatile environments
• Cripple the remaining part of Atlanta’s ability to sustain economic development and combat crime which will make everyone in Metro Atlanta, including Buckhead, less well off economically and more vulnerable to crime
• Creating greater social unrest.
As the General Assembly convenes next month, we will be in communication with you and may ask for your outreach to your legislators. In addition, as always, we need your thoughts on how to improve our community.
If you do not have a yard sign and would like to have one, please let us know and we will deliver one to your home.
Thank you for being great citizens and caring about your community.
Once again, Happy Holidays.
Sincerely,
Linda Klein & Edward Lindsey
Co-Chairs
Committee for a United Atlanta
