The whole "mini-city" idea is white vs. black. If this were an all-white county, it'd (only) be rich vs. poor, but racial politics add another layer here. The state needs to regularize this process and stop the wealthiest parts of the county from taking their toys and going home.

Really? Isn't that, at its core, a racist question... no matter who asks it? Is the city of Atlanta too black. Come on people. The problems leading to a desire to create the city of Lakeside (a desire I do not share, though I live in its proposed boundaries) is NOT a question of race. It is a question of character. Duplicitous behavior on the part of leadership is an abomination regardless of the color, age, sex, or any other divisive way of looking at people. When are you people going to get this distraction and recognize that both our county leadership and our school board leadership has been, and still is unworthy of our support. The moment you mark this as an issue of race you bind subsequent leaders with a stereotype that limits their ability to freely lead with class and character. Please...

Really??? This is the best ya'll can come up with? And you want us to take this website seriously?

This is a pretty poor topic. I agree with Tom. How about a story on the other group trying to make a city or even a story about what Lakeside could base there model after.
This is just trying to throw gas onto a fire for no reason other than to see a reaction.
I really wanted a to see the real topics discussed - not this.

How about a deep dive onto the pro's and con's of adding a police force, parks and rec, and zoning?
Should the boundary be from 285 to Toco - is that really the community?

Tons of questions that could be discussed.

Jonathan,

Can you explain what you mean by "too white"?

Also, Do you know if there are any polls on the patch asking if any DeKalb cities are "too black'?

Jonathan,
You are WAY off the mark with this question. I'm disappointed.

What a crock. If Mr Cribbs doesn't like the people who live here, or would like to force some people to move, just say so! And while he's at it, could he please force some people in Decatur to move out because it's too "black"; And maybe Chamblee has too many Asians. Mr Cribbs will have a busy time.

This is like mentioning religion at a neighborhood cocktail party. People jump without really considering the question and implications. I think the topic gets at the core of what divides us and obviously many experts, sociologists, educators and researchers think so because entire conferences are organized around racial divisions.

Maybe its too sensitive for neighborhood civic ("good news" boosterism) media outlet. If you want uniformity of thought, read (and be led) by the Dunwoody Crier. In my view, this community is capable and ready for this topic. For intellectual capacity and diversity of thought this place is second to none.

Race is one subject (maybe not "issue" per se) that is at the core of the city-making DEBATE, if only to fully examine the motivations behind it. Jonathan might come up with another question about motives later. The subject is newsworthy--it has been mentioned, even if tangentially in articles about other cities.

The important thing is not that the area's pop differences can't "work" as a city, nor that new affluent cities want separation from adjacent areas with higher pops of different ethnicity. It is a Democrat black-led county government that is considered incompetent and marching to the beat of a different drum. The city-making leadership has always been white and Republican.

BTW--the demog of the current Lakside map is about the same as Sandy Springs, but nowhere near as white as Dunwoody.

Unreal! DCS and DC are in quicksand and residents have just had enough. Incompetence is incompetence. Enough already with the cheap shots of racial divides. All DC communities should rise up and expose the thievery, corruption and irresponsible behaviors. Not enough are doing it. If those of you who have had it, have two options: move or do something about it. Stop bit***ng and get off your complaining behinds and go to Plan B. Lakeside has every right to get on with it and make life better. We have all waited for DCS and DC to improve....still waiting. Stop the race bating, every child in DCS is being hurt, every property is impacted, every resident has a responsibility to do something. If it continues this way, we may have more communities springing up like spring flowers. Doing nothing is hoping for a better outcome by doing the exact same thing. I applaud Brookhaven, Lakeside, Dunwoody, etc. at least they are alive and know they deserve better. Get off your behinds and do SOMETHING!

If we asked then I guess we already knew the answer. It's not the demographics of the govt or the type of govt. It is the people we elect. We can break down DeKalb to a level where every street is its own municipality but that act will not eliminate the problems. If the NEW and more govt goes bad then what?

In the interest of not responding to each question that's been directed at me, I'll just respond once right here. People seem to think the poll question is inappropriate and that I raised it here to stir the hornet's nest. Not the case. A few things:

1) Make sure you've read the second paragraph of this post and Levitas' quote. That's the primary reason I asked the poll question. He raised the issue, so I asked the question. Pretty simple.

2) Even if Levitas didn't ask it, I might have asked down the road anyway. Demographics are a potent and important part of this larger issue and will be raised in myriad other ways over the course of this cityhood exploration, I'm sure. The question in the headline may be worded in a blunt way, but, first, it's a headline, and, second, It merely echoes what Levitas claimed some legislators in the Gold Dome were saying.

3) A few comments are saying I have some position on this. I do not. And for that matter, I don't have any opinion about cityhood either. For someone so involved in all of this, you won't find a person less likely to be affected by it. I'm single, I don't have children and I don't own property around here. You can safely assume I see this issue objectively and dispassionately.

Don't see that racial percentages have any bearing here. Qestion is whether a local nighborhood can form as a city to have some local control over use of its resourses. Think we need bettr police protection, more and better public parks and better zonng decisions. Those are the real issues.

What does "sufficiently diverse" mean? and who decides?

With our county going down the tube, we sure don't need to spend any more time discussing the most tired topic of white vs black or black vs white. As Chris Christy would say: SHUT UP! We have one of the worst school systems anywhere, and we are wasting time? While we type and respond, the DCS BOE is spending more of ALL our tax $$ going to court. They fall asleep in meeting, blow every penny of textbook $, illegally spent Title1 $, reduce technologists and underpay them, teachers have salaries from year 2000, teachers will leave, residents will leave and kids will fail. The only ones THRIVING...THRIVING, are the long list of SUPERINTENDENTS, their cronies and the DumbAsDirt BOE President. Please, all take a one way trip to Nepal, I would even contribute to that venture.

New poll question:

Is DeKalb County not black enough?

Your poll is a joke, provides no information to the community.

There goes the patch, deleted from my bookmarks.

What is joke is the idea of group of white folks trying to land grab and create some false cityhood idea to serve their own racist protectionist ideas! Work within the system to make it better for all.

Jonathan, at times, some questions are best left alone. It may have gotten the Patch some press, but we as a people have not grown as much as we may think. Many issues go right down racial lines, no matter how much we don't want them to. The biggest issue for me is that DC used to very prosperous, with an outstanding school system and many newcomers to Atlanta made sure they moved to DC. Today, that is not true and things have gotten so BAD, that children from all corners of the US and the world are getting a marginal education in DC. Not because our kids can't learn, not because teachers are bad, but because the lost $$, stolen$$, lost and stolen textbook $$, technology $$, teacher salary $$, infrastructure and crappy building $$, INFLATED ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF $$$$$.... but, because they are ALL bleeding us to death. We are all losing out and anyone who has options ought to fight, move or become another city or homeschool, or go to private school. Fighting has basically not worked. The former Super and current BOE were so thick skinned, brazen and entitled to hold their breath and spend more $$ in legal battles. Race is the least of our issues right now. The quality of EVERYTHING in DC is at stake, and it looks sooooooooo grim.

Did Jesse Jackson visit the Patch today? Sounds more like a question he would ask. A sad day....

Jonathon - You were obviously trying to "stir the hornets nest" when you wrote this headline. If you weren't, you're judgment is far too poor for you to write them.

Kay Clark~ I think exactly the opposite: DCS has squandered away $ for teachers, salaries basically frozen since 2000, tech, books, infrastructure, libraries, teacher materials, everything related to schools, teaching, and educ kids. Yes, DCS is TOO TOP HEAVY with additional layers of administrators. Compare other systems and you will not find such waste of $$. Remember, Atkinson was sending 9 principals to Mercer for PhDs with RTTT $. Title1 $ was stolen!! Want more? Can't find anything BOE & Supers did that benefitted our kids. Out damn spot!!!

Kay, HA is absolutely right!
Do you seriously want to reward people that fail our children! DeKalb County is not getting the job done, so yes administration & teachers are making too much money, for the product they are giving to the tax payers! The answer is not to throw more money at the problem, but to make better use of the monies they receive. This starts with DBOE to stop wasting, stealing and throwing money away!
Kay, do we really need to tell you how much money the DBOE has wasted?

Advice taken. However, the details have been common knowledge for everyone within a 3000 mi radius and beyond. Their acts have been carved into granite, marble, written on parchment, rice paper, iCloud, translated into 60+ languages, etc. Sweeping statements? The details are also too long and will take up everyone's GB.
Lakeside would still be part of DCS, but at least they are getting off their behinds and are doing SOMETHING. Thanks for your help.

Kay, obliviously Radio, TV & internet are not your styles of communication either. Otherwise, you would know the amount of waste and corruption that has been going on for years in the DeKalb County school system!

But hey, if you have been living under a rock for years, I can’t help that, and I will not debate a rock either!

GES, I'll just assume that being able to make succinct statements of fact aren't your style.

I'm not sure why you assume we are "debating." I don't believe that I've defended DBOE at any point. I've simply asked for factual information to But that's cool. Continue on with your sweeping statements, lack of factual information and assumptions (insults?) about your neighbors all while not doing so under a real name.

Like I said Kay it would be a wast of time, it is all public information, do your own leg work--let your fingers do the walking!
FYI, that is my real name, as I always use my initials. I know my neighbors around me and thank God you are not one of them!

Right. Working with facts is a waste of time, but generalities aren't. Makes total sense. The insults are also quite classy.

How about this, you ignore me and I ignore you? That can make for great neighborhood relations.

Can we come to some kind of agreement here? Don't we all agree nothing good can from a city filled with too many white people? Oh, and the rent is too damn high?

I am very concerned about this issue and will be present at tonight's meeting. One thing should be made clear. The creation of a city called Lakeside, will not impact the school system. All of the schools will remain as DeKalb county schools. I do agree with the headline. All of the cities that have been created lately have been in the affluent areas. There have been no efforts in the less affluent areas. That does break this down into a racial issue.

Marv:

I think it's obvious that any new city is likely to be in the more educated and affluent areas. That's not a positive or negative; it's just a fact. If you look at the unincorporated area of DeKalb, you're going to find lots of relatively affluent areas. The less affluent demographic areas appear to already be in the existing cities, or immediately around them. Some of those areas have been considered areas for annexation to the existing cities.

If people of a community want to incorporate, what does it matter what race tgey are. I see this as a non-issue and keep womdering why it is even being brought up.

I don't know why it's obvious that new cities would only be in affluent areas. The only thing that seems obvious about that is they have more money and want to keep it so they want to split off from the rest of county. Almost all of southern DeKalb is unicorporated and less affluent than Northern DeKalb. In addition you could draw a line at Memorial Drive and find that the North is white and affluent and the South is African_American and non-afflfuent. That is an over-simplification but I think it does demonstrate part of what is going on with the drive to create new cities,

Marv, Sounds like you just want to make it into a Racial issue, where there is not one. Why is that?
I do not know where you live, but here there are middle class Black and white people, plenty of both types around me, some are even of Hispanic & Asian decent. I have even seen 2 Native Americans, if you include me! I would like to see more Native Americans around town though!
I will agree with you that southern DeKalb is less affluent than Northern DeKalb, but I have seen some poor white people living there too!
You might want to work on your Racial insecurities Marv.

Marv - I'm not sure I'm getting your point. I already know it's wrong to be white and earn a good living. But is it also wrong to want to keep what you've earned?

Marv:
I don't want to beat this to death. But there is nothing stopping anyone anywhere from getting a group together to create a city. If that's a group in this area, it's going to be on average well off (if you ignore their mortgages). If it's a group south of Decatur it's probably not as well off. But if they want to do it, more power to them.