Sent out by the City of Decatur…

DM Exclusive: In tonight’s State of the City Address, Decatur Mayor Bill Floyd will call on Decatur residents to support changing the way the city elects it’s mayor, from one who is currently elected by his/her fellow commissioners to one who is popularly elected by the city’s voters.

Mayor Floyd sent along this snippet from the speech he will give tonight at 6pm at the Decatur Courtyard By Marriott Conference Center, which gives some insight into his call for the change…

The municipal landscape in DeKalb County is changing. In recent years we have added the City of Dunwoody and Chamblee has annexed a large area north of their old city limits to meet up with Dunwoody. There is legislation pending which calls for a referendum for the annexation of another large area south of Chamblee stretching south to I 85, and also legislation is pending to allow the Brookhaven residents (from Fulton county line east to Dunwoody and Chamblee and south to I 85) to vote this summer on becoming DeKalb’s newest city. I expect both of those to pass and the voters to approve them. Legislation is awaiting the Governor’s signature to annex into Decatur and Avondale Estates the unincorporated area that exist now between the two cities. Decatur could go, in just a few short years from DeKalb’s largest city to its 4th largest.

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