By Michael Coker
BUFORD, Ga. | Here is a statement from Citizens for Mulberry, Inc.
Coker
Passing the City of Mulberry referendum will allow us the opportunity to bring local control back to our community.
When my family first moved to the Hamilton Mill area 30 years ago, Gwinnett County’s population was small enough that we knew our local county commissioner personally. The county commissioners understood the needs of each individual neighborhood in their district because they knew their neighbors and the residents of the community.
Today, Gwinnett County has a population larger than five U.S. states, and yet we still have the same five county commission seats in Gwinnett County. Most Gwinnett citizens never meet their commissioner, and each Gwinnett County commissioner represents over 200,000 people. No single Gwinnett commissioner lives in the proposed city limits of Mulberry, yet they are making decisions about our future.
Gwinnett County is too big for only five county commissioners to make decisions about what is best for our community. We need our neighbors to make zoning and growth decisions. Neighbors who sit in our traffic, neighbors who have children attending elementary school in trailers, and neighbors who understand the strain that uncontrollable growth has put on our community.
Majority Leader Chuck Efstration and Senator Clint Dixon have given this community a gift: the gift of a city that will allow us to control our own future. Each Mulberry City Council member will represent only 7,000 of their closest neighbors. If you have concerns about a permit for 1,000 homes on Clack Road, about a strip mall built at the front of your neighborhood, or about 600 apartments next to Seckinger High School, you will know exactly who to call to express your concern. Small, local government is always the best form of government because it returns power to the people.
When I speak with my neighbors, the City of Mulberry is overwhelmingly popular. The only ones who oppose the City of Mulberry are those who have the most to lose: the developers who want to bring high density apartments and uncontrolled commercial development to our neighborhood.
The developers will do anything to stop us, including filing a lawsuit to take away our right to vote. No court in Georgia has ever ruled that this Mulberry city model is unconstitutional, and the timing of the lawsuit, days before the start of early voting, tells you everything you need to know about the true intentions of those trying to take away your right to vote.
We might not have the developers’ money, but we have tremendous community support. We need all our community to join and vote “yes” during early voting to send a clear message in favor of local control. That is why I am asking you to vote yes for the City of Mulberry now during early voting or at your local precinct on May 21.
I grew up here, and now I raise my children here in Mulberry. Majority Leader Efstration and Senator Dixon said it best at the town hall: if the City of Mulberry does not pass, we will not recognize this community ten years from now.
You might not agree with every detail of the legislation or how the city will operate, but remember, these small details can be changed by you as a voter in the future. What cannot be changed, however, is that we will not get another opportunity to pass the City of Mulberry and to get the local control we need to keep this area as one of Georgia’s best places to live.
- Have a comment? Send to ebrack2@gmail.com
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