The Cityhood Campaign ... Review and Preview

After several months of bruising political combat the big day is almost here where the people will get to decide whether to create a city of Peachtree Corners.  Both the YES and NO sides have a made a big push in the last several weeks with signs, emails, flyers and even TV commercials to get out their message.  After the marketing barrage by both sides if you have not made up your mind already there is probably not anything I can say or write to influence you so I will spare everyone more words about why I think becoming a city is such a good idea. 

Instead I wanted to write about my observations of this entire process (pro and con) and also about the election tomorrow and life after the election.  I think a local sports talk show has a spot on Sunday mornings called Review and Preview (or something like that) where they talk about the college results from Saturday and look ahead to the NFL games later that day.  Kind of the same idea here……

The Campaign ...

Pro

-          What is Peachtree Corners became a little more defined for many people ... not just geographically but also the history of our area was brought to life for the first time for many people.  Particularly, who was Paul Duke and his vision. Regardless of the outcome tomorrow I think we all have a stronger sense of community from all this.

-          Civic involvement increased.  This does not mean the amount of volunteering increased for some charity.  By this I mean a political topic has galvanized probably hundreds of people on both sides of this discussion to get involved in politics.  That might mean writing something online, attending a HOA meeting or Town Hall, contributing money, putting out signs, talking to neighbors.   Instead of sitting idly by as most of us do during county wide elections regular people with busy lives got engaged in something they found important to them that they recognized would have a direct impact on their lives.  People let their opinions be heard which is always a good thing.

-          All types of concerns people had were able to be aired.  It was very surprising some of the things that came out during this campaign.  In some cases there were some long simmering issues that had bothered people for quite a while and this was their opportunity to let them be heard.  It almost reminded me of an old married couple where both people are angry about different things but it isn’t until they go see a marriage counselor that it all comes out in the open.  In most cases that is probably good.  In most cases ....

-          Our knowledge of things most of us knew very little about but probably should have known about increased.  This list includes, but is not limited to, annexation methods in Georgia, franchise fees, ad valorem tax, millage rate, code enforcement, zoning laws, city charters, Georgia Municipal Association, what you can list on your mailing address as your city, right of way rules, etc, etc. 

-          For those involved in the campaigns in any way our sense of community expanded from probably just our neighborhood to meeting people all across our area.  We met people who might have lived one neighborhood over but we would have probably never met if not for this campaign. 

Con

-          Divisions were created that almost certainly had not previously existed.  The tone of this campaign has become more and more heated as we have approached November 8^th.  That is probably to be expected.  The unfortunate thing is that the political views of the two sides are probably very, very similar and that under normal circumstances (say a Governor’s race or the Presidential race) the majority of people involved on both sides would be voting the same way.  It almost reminds me of a mini Civil War. 

I recognize that is only one ‘Con’ but to be honest, regardless of the outcome tomorrow, I think this whole process has been very beneficial to our area so I really could not come up with another ‘Con.’  I suspect economic development people in Norcross, Duluth and Berkeley Lake wish none of this would have happened as it created a scramble for commercial properties bordering their cities but beyond that I think this been a great thing for our area. 

The Future (Election and beyond) ...

It will be very interesting to see tomorrow’s results.  Many people believe the turn out will be very low as this is an off year election.  Some people have estimated a turnout as low as 3-5%.  I pulled the following results for our area off the Georgia Secretary of State’s webpage (see below).  I think the combination of strong civic duty that has been shown in historical turnout in our area (compared to other areas of the county) and the intense interest in this topic are going to create a relatively strong turnout for this vote.  There were about 650 people who attended the Town Hall back in the summer and original estimates for attendance were around 100.  There are hundreds, possibly over a thousand, of signs in private yards.  Way more than you normally see even during a Presidential election.   I think those are indicators that the local interest is quite high.

In case you are interested “Paul Duke Peachtree Corners” are all the precincts except 101, 37, 59 and 40.  Because there has been so much commentary about the borders of Peachtree Corners I thought some people would be curious if there were any differences in voting patterns or even how their precinct had voted in the last election.  I defined Paul Duke’s Peachtree Corners as the triangle wedge between Holcomb Bridge and Peachtree Industrial or as closely as the precinct boundaries allowed for that. 

2010

Precincts

R

D

T

% R

% D

Turnout%

Registered Voters

101

444

352

796

55.78%

44.22%

53.89%

1,477

37

125

301

426

29.34%

70.66%

35.97%

1,184

59

232

655

887

26.16%

73.84%

38.66%

2,294

73

548

347

895

61.23%

38.77%

59.22%

1,511

126

1,070

356

1,426

75.04%

24.96%

63.71%

2,238

22

524

298

822

63.75%

36.25%

62.02%

1,325

125

816

202

1,018

80.16%

19.84%

66.30%

1,535

63

1,005

273

1,278

78.64%

21.36%

62.40%

2,048

62

935

297

1,232

75.89%

24.11%

66.72%

1,847

121

842

445

1,287

65.42%

34.58%

56.02%

2,297

40

929

521

1,450

64.07%

35.93%

57.92%

2,503

Full City of Peachtree Corners

7,470

4,047

11,517

64.86%

35.14%

56.84%

20,262

Paul Duke Peachtree Corners

5,740

2,218

7,958

72.13%

27.87%

62.16%

12,802

Regardless of the outcome I hope the turnout is high for two reasons – 1. I think we have a civic duty to vote.  Those that don’t vote don’t really have room to complain at least in my view; 2. A high turnout will validate the decision regardless of which way it goes.   If there is a low turnout the side that lost could claim that the true will of the people was not heard because not enough people showed up.  That wouldn’t change the result, of course, but it would leave a lingering doubt about what people really wanted.

What happens after the election? 

Well, the first thing that happens is that no new YES or NO signs will be going out ....

In all seriousness what I hope happens, regardless of result, is that we will all be able to put the divisiveness created by this debate behind us and take this newly created community spirit and make our area, whether it be a city or not, an even better place than it is now. 

As any of you that have followed my writings the last several months know, I have had plenty of NO people post on my blogs about why I am wrong and why they are right.  Some have even aggrevated me a bit at times but the reality is that I have actually enjoyed the debate with them and in some cases I have learned a few things from them. 

I think the vast majority of the NO posters are hard working, civic minded, good people who are engaged in their community and want the best for our area.  We just happen to disagree on this topic.  Hopefully all my NO “friends” see the people in the YES community the same way.   

Regardless of your views on the city, I encourage everyone to exercise our hard won right to vote tomorrow.  Let your voice be heard.