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A consolidated Fulton / Atlanta will be very difficult to pull off. But something needs to be done to fix the problems of duplicated services between counties and cities it is very inefficient.
I don't think it is politically going to happen soon. But I think we need to consolidate the inter few metro counties into one large "Atlanta county" and have 100% municipalized with cities filling it up. The county would handle relatively little services but would allow for better management of regional issues, and the issues like the differences between north and south Fulton could be reduced by granting cities more control.
Any consolidation or annexation by either a city or county needs to be done with a careful eye on the specific goals and consequences. Bigger governments are by no means a guarantee of more efficient or responsive services.
That being said, I would have no problem with folding Atlanta public schools into a better school district. The legions of highly paid administrators at Fortress APS would erupt but at some point we're going to have to put the education of our children first.
The Georgia cities that have merged with counties have been the only cities of note within their respective counties. Not only the north Fulton cities, but you have the historic cities in South Fulton as well. Do East Point, College Park, Hapeville, Fairburn, Union City, and Palmetto just give up their history for this?
Look at Columbus, Macon, Athens and Augusta... no other cities of note. In the case of Athens and Augusta, the cities of Winterville and Bogart remain in Clarke County apart from the consolidation as well as the cities of Blythe and Hephzibah in Richmond County. If Atlanta were to do this, it would basically by an oblong annexation of the remaining parts of unincorporated South Fulton.
Incorporated cities just don't give up their charters on a lark.
Well that was kinda my point. Hephzibah and other cities are in these counties with consolidated governments.
I would of course imagine that none of these cities would give up there charters.
Would be interesting to see a map of what the area would look like and how many square miles would that be.
If this were to happen I am pretty sure the portion of Atlanta in DeKalb would be left out of the mix. The precedence for this is the recent Macon/Bibb consolidation. Macon city limits previously extended into neighboring Jones County (albeit a small section, nothing like Atlanta in DeKalb). As part of the consolidation with Bibb, this portion of Macon was de-annexed. That portion is now considered unincorporated Jones Conty, so I would wager that Atlanta in DeKalb would revert to being a portion of unincorporated DeKalb.
I did not know that about Macon now not in Jones County.
Well that was kinda my point. Hephzibah and other cities are in these counties with consolidated governments.
I would of course imagine that none of these cities would give up there charters.
Would be interesting to see a map of what the area would look like and how many square miles would that be.
Assuming all of Fulton goes to Atlanta? 534 square miles of Fulton County + 13 square miles of Atlanta-in-DeKalb = 547. Population would be just over a million residents probably.
Well that was kinda my point. Hephzibah and other cities are in these counties with consolidated governments.
I would of course imagine that none of these cities would give up there charters.
Would be interesting to see a map of what the area would look like and how many square miles would that be.
Those are TINY little municipalities in Clarke and Richmond Counties; in North Fulton, you're dealing with some of the largest and wealthiest cities in the state, so no ... Atlanta-Fulton consolidation is not a possibility.
I think this is the only logical solution given the way the state has set up the powers that be in cities and counties. Fulton County needs to give up ALL municipal services and just do the basic things a county should do. Let the remainder of South Fulton go to Atlanta and the other south Fulton cities. As far as schools, Being that Fulton is so spread out, the county ought to divide into two separate school districts, a north and a south, or let the remaining part of south Fulton merge with Atlanta city schools and allow the parts north have their own system. If this were to be allowed, you wouldn't hear any more rumblings of Milton County being re-established.
It does seem that dividing the Fulton County school district into two separate districts in the north and south would be a no-brainer.
But one reason why the north and south ends of Fulton County continue to be united into one school district despite the large geographical separation between the two ends of the district is because the wealthy and predominantly-white north end of the Fulton County school district loves to pull a very-large amount of athletic talent from the much less-wealthy and predominantly-black south end of the Fulton County school district for the big-2 sports of football and basketball (the 2 sports which help schools raise lots of money from boosters, supporters and well-to-do alumni...if the school is actually old enough to have any well-to-do alumni).
It is much-easier for boosters at wealthy North Fulton high schools to bring in top athletic talent from South Fulton without having to move that talent and their families into a school's feeder zone if the north and south ends of Fulton County stay merged together into one district with two separate geographical pieces.
Though being in a different school district doesn't stop wealthier high schools in Cobb and Gwinnett counties from pulling talented football and basketball players from less-wealthy and predominantly-black areas in South Fulton and DeKalb counties.
It is because of the easy access of North Fulton high school athletic programs to athletic talent from less-wealthy and predominantly-black areas in South Fulton that North Fulton interests may not necessarily be in as much of the hurry to have their own separate school district as they sometimes may profess to be.
Any consolidation or annexation by either a city or county needs to be done with a careful eye on the specific goals and consequences. Bigger governments are by no means a guarantee of more efficient or responsive services.
Exactly. Bigger government doesn't necessarily mean better government. There is such a thing as too big of a city/county.
Assuming all of Fulton goes to Atlanta? 534 square miles of Fulton County + 13 square miles of Atlanta-in-DeKalb = 547. Population would be just over a million residents probably.
As I mentioned before with the example of Macon, you cannot have a consolidated city/county and then those limits cross into another county's territory. Either Atlanta in DeKalb would cease to exist or that portion of DeKalb would have to be seceded to the new consolidated county.
All in all, the way things are now, this ain't gonna happen.
Well that was kinda my point. Hephzibah and other cities are in these counties with consolidated governments.
I would of course imagine that none of these cities would give up there charters.
Would be interesting to see a map of what the area would look like and how many square miles would that be.
Remember when Johns Creek, Milton and Chattahoochee Hills all were incorporating about 7 or 8 years ago? There was also a push for a city of South Fulton, it was the only new city in Fulton to go down to defeat by referendum. This is the only portion of Fulton to reamain unincorporated. If Atlanta consolidated with this part, there wouldn't be much to add to Atlanta really. Union City, Plametto and Fairburn did some extensive annexations in expecatation that they would be landlocked if South Futon became a city. So you would have a funny looking limb growing out of the bottom left corner of Atlanta snaking its way to the southwest between the Chattahoochee and South Fulton Parkway. There are probably some islands of unincorporated Fulton east of Fairburn and Union City that would go to the city too but would be anomolies in as there would be no direct connection to the city. I am going off the map in my head but I think you have a pretty continual line of incorporated city limits going up 85 from Palmetto to East Point with no break in between any of them.
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