Delegation to Bring Cityhood Back into Spotlight

DeKalb’s legislative delegation is hosting a hearing Thursday on the county's cityhood movements, and it's sure to draw a significant audience of supporters, detractors and observers to the state Capitol.

The hearing, which starts at 10 a.m., will be held in room 606 at the Coverdell Legislative Office Building, 18 Capitol Square, Atlanta. The meeting is open to the public. Call 404-656-0109 for more information.

Each cityhood group will be given a short time to make presentations to the legislators.

While there has been continued discussion of the issue through the holidays on Patch blogs and other articles and an AJC forum on DeKalb cityhood, the hearing refocuses media attention on the issue before the Legislature convenes next week.

Cityhood supporters were particularly incensed by comments from DeKalb interim CEO Lee May in the AJC forum as well as in an article which cited a "growing chorus" in DeKalb wanting to put the brakes on new cities. (Subscription required). May has called for a three-year moratorium on new cities.

Also, there has been considerable backlash in comments here and on other sites after a Dec. 20 WAOK radio interview in which former DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones interviewed suspended CEO Burrell Ellis, who is under indictment on corruption charges. Both decried the cityhood movement as divisive and said it amounts to "resegregation" in a diverse county.