Cityhood Session Focuses on Crime, Services

Lakeside City Alliance's community meeting Monday night was expected to focus on crime issues in the area near Rehoboth Presbyterian Church on Lawrenceville Highway, with two Dunwoody officials present to discuss efforts in that city.

Guest speakers Dunwoody Chief of Police Billy Grogan and former Dunwoody City Councilman Robert Wittenstein fielded a number of questions related to police and other services. However, the large crowd also had plenty of questions for LCA leaders in the 90-minute session.

Mary Kay Woodworth, asked whether the City of Briarcliff Initiative (COBI) map could "reconcile" with LCA's, told the audience that the two groups are two different efforts with different philosophies. "That's not to say theirs is right or ours is wrong, or vice versa," she said.

Referring to cityhood, Woodworth said, "At the end of the day, it's a legislative process, a political process. We feel we have the grassroots support and we will prevail."

Later, answering a similar question about working with COBI, Woodworth said LCA had reached out to a "previous iteration" of the group without success, likening the effort to inviting "a girl to dance twice" when she is not interested.

Highlights from other audience questions to Grogan, Wittenstein and LCA leaders on cityhood issues:

County services. Wittenstein praised the county's trash pickup services and water and sewer departments and was strongly supportive of the DeKalb Fire Department. Decatur is the only DeKalb city to have its own department because it is expensive, and Dunwoody is unlikely to change, he said.

Pocketbook issues. Wittenstein pointed out that power and water/sewer bills would be unaffected. Cable would continue to have a franchise fee, as it does now. Phone bills could go up $3 if the new city decided to charge a fee.

ZIP Codes. The area's ZIP codes would remain the same regardless of cityhood. The Post Office delivers mail on the basis of ZIP codes and not city names.

County survival. Specifically asked how the county could survive if areas like Lakeside become a city, Wittenstein said "we have to be careful what we do because we are the county." The problem for DeKalb government, he said, is size and the layers of management. While absenteeism is a problem, he said, so is "presentism" -- people in positions with no sense of urgency.

Forming a new city. Wittenstein was asked to summarize the advantage of forming a city within a county. "It's really all about local control, your community figuring out what is right for you," he said.

Local crime challenge. Responding to audience questions about crime in the nearby neighborhood, Grogan suggested developing a strong Neighborhood Watch program. Wittenstein added that code enforcement could play a major role in dealing with troublesome locations.

Crime in Dunwoody. Grogan said more people started reporting crimes to police after the city was formed. Crimes against property are the police's main challenge. He said Part 1 crime rose 11 percent in 2012 but has dropped 10-11 percent through October. Dunwoody police cover 12 square miles, with a night-time population of 47,000 and a daytime population of more than 100,000. Perimeter Mall has 18 million visitors a year.

That Lakeside name. Woodworth explained it was a generic name that was given to the map area, to avoid giving one neighborhood prominence over others. The group is open to a new name. Wittenstein suggested Liberty, which drew applause from the audience.

City Hall location. Woodworth pointed out that many new cities don't have "grand edifices." Dunwoody's city offices are two floors in an office park building, Wittenstein said.

LCA expects to get back a feasability study on cityhood from the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute in the next two to three weeks, Woodworth told the audience. If the study finds the cityhood proposal to be feasable, LCA would dissolve and an advocacy group would be formed.