Comments on: Annexation Decision Pushed Back to January

By: Wanting to be Annexed

Wanting to be Annexed — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 22:50:14 +0000

I certainly understand the issue with the schools, and empathize. I have friends that are teachers in Decatur City Schools. There will be a layoffof staff in January, There are several other options to to deal with the 2,000,00 shortfall for 2009-2010. My sympathy is with them. My neighborhood has so few kids that the impact would be minimal, just five streets, not all of Annexation Area 5. But, I love Decatur and wouldn’t want to be the cause of its downfall, which I don’t think we would in any way be, if it is decided that our tiny residential area would be annexed The City Council said that annexation of residential would have a positive effect on income for the city over the long haul, but it would strain the schools with the economy as it is. My reaction was to ME not all of the others posting. I think people have genuine concerns on both sides of the issue. Whatever happens we will all be fine in Decatur and the annexation areas. I love my neighborhood and will live here for a long time.

By: StephenDecatur

StephenDecatur — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:01:19 +0000

Wanting… it’s not about undesirables at all. No one I know thinks any of the neighborhoods in question are undesirable. As a matter of fact it appears to be the other way around. The northern neighborhoods seem to think that City of Decatur is undesirable.

It’s a math thing. NO residential brings in enough taxes to cover it’s usage of services, particularly school services… unless it’s a bunch of million dollar mansions on 1/4 acre with no kids, no fires, no need for garbage pickup and not crime. You are taking the comment of one person who was probably trolling and applying it to 20,000 people.

By: Wanting to be Annexed

Wanting to be Annexed — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:08:18 +0000

Me, I have a better idea. Put up a fence around the city and don’t let any “undesirables” in. Most of these “undesirables” keep the businesses in the city making profits, though. Then you can get on the city council to rule the eutopia since you know city management so well.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 18:46:43 +0000

me, if you think our City government needs fixing, run for office or go for an appointment to one of the many volunteer City Boards and Commissions.

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:56:39 +0000

You may be right about the value of annexation, me, but given that the matter hasn’t even come up for a vote yet, how has it exposed weaknesses in our political leadership? Are you suggesting that exploring the issue and initiating the public dialog was a bad thing?

Personally, I’d prefer our leadership explore all possible solutions, then let us judge them based on the decisions they make. I’ll be reserving my assessment until Jan. 20.

By: me

me — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:31:48 +0000

This annexation is completely ill-advised and has served to expose weaknesses in our city management and political leadership.

Good on the school board for approaching the issue professionally and then taking a stand on the basis of realistic data and projections.

There are many good reasons beyond the impact on CSD for current city residents to oppose the absorption of those neighborhoods, which won’t cove the costs for their share of city services, much less relieve the tax burden of current residents.

By: StephenDecatur

StephenDecatur — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:36:45 +0000

Well, they are redistricting kids to save money and because everyone with kids seems to be showing up in Decatur lately b/c the schools have such a good rep.

And… I gotta be fair…. the CSD report is mostly graphics (while the city’s is mostly text – I guess they haven’t learned to do graphics yet) and was prepared by the GA State Mapping Project. … CSD didn’t do the work.

Like I said… CSD has their issues… they probably do over think a lot of things and they certainly are more fond of being on the “cutting edge” than I am. However, the city seems to be just the opposite. They really, really need some new blood over there… badly. Maybe we could shift a couple of school board members to the Commission and a couple of Commissioners to the school board and it would all balance out.

By: Cranky old timer

Cranky old timer — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:25:11 +0000

What I still can’t understand is that we are being told that without annexation, we will have higher taxes. It is my understanding that many people in the MW/FH areas do not want Decatur taxes to begin with. The school system now says they can’t handle the annexation if it happens, that they will be overtaxed (as in physical plant). Now we have an impasse. I think we need to go back to the drawing board, and it’s going to take longer than a month. We need to demand that this takes as LONG AS IT TAKES to make sure everyone is satisfied (notice I didn’t say happy, since that’s a relative term anyway, especially when you’re working on compromises).
Thanks again for everyone’s insight.