North Fulton County lawmaker wants to split from South Fulton to create "Milton County" (Atlanta: live in, move)

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

So true. Alabama manages to get by with just 67 and the states are almost the same size. Though I must admit when I was a social worker I used to complain that the counties should be smaller. I typically drove a couple hundred miles a day just seeing my clients in some counties. Now I drive through three counties each time I go shopping and never think about it. But yeah, if any state ever needed fewer counties, it's Georgia. I don't know enough about the Milton/Fulton divide, but it seems fairly similar to the North/South DeKalb issue. I'm not sure what you can do when the demographics of a county diverge this way. I wouldn't be surprised at some point if the folks up here in north DeKalb don't figure out a way to secede from the union altogether. I suspect if they don't get their way on the school superintendent issue it won't be long before they somehow create their own school system.

There has been talk that if a new Milton County is formed, the City of Dunwoody would try to join it.

And another point (and many people do not realize this)--Sandy Springs is now proposed as being a part of the new Milton County. However, Sandy Springs was never a part of the original Milton County. Go figure.

[lastminutemom]

I just don't see a logical path for N. DeKalb into Milton, though given the deterioration of the school system, I really wish I could. On top of that, Milton would have to pass a state wide vote and I don't see that happening either.

I think with the current reapportionment, if it holds, the Milton vote is likely to at least get to the floor of the state house and senate. Not sure it will pass there either.

For a while, the proponents of Milton were talking about rewarding two counties elsewhere in GA with big bucks if they would merge. No idea if this is still on the table. (the counties were hypothetical, none had ever been identified as far as I know.)

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by aries4118

There has been talk that if a new Milton County is formed, the City of Dunwoody would try to join it.

And another point (and many people do not realize this)--Sandy Springs is now proposed as being a part of the new Milton County. However, Sandy Springs was never a part of the original Milton County. Go figure.

http://www.janjonesforgeorgia.com/images/map_hd46p.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hQ21TJEKhs.../s1600/abc.jpg

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by aries4118

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There use to be a railroad/railway that went from Chamblee to Roswell by way of Dunwoody.

I wonder if there are any visual evidence/remnants of this railroad/railway...? It seems that Chamblee-Dunwoody Road may be where part of the former railroad/railway was located...

[RoslynHolcomb]

Hey, I'll never put anything past a politician. If there's enough money involved they'll find a way. I suspect that there's enough "anti-Atlanta" bias out there in the rest of the state that this would actually pass. I'm only basing this on my experiences in Alabama. Birmingham was so hated that they could've gotten a vote on burning the place to the ground passed.

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

I just don't see a logical path for N. DeKalb into Milton, though given the deterioration of the school system, I really wish I could. On top of that, Milton would have to pass a state wide vote and I don't see that happening either.

I think with the current reapportionment, if it holds, the Milton vote is likely to at least get to the floor of the state house and senate. Not sure it will pass there either.

For a while, the proponents of Milton were talking about rewarding two counties elsewhere in GA with big bucks if they would merge. No idea if this is still on the table. (the counties were hypothetical, none had ever been identified as far as I know.)

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

Hey, I'll never put anything past a politician. If there's enough money involved they'll find a way. I suspect that there's enough "anti-Atlanta" bias out there in the rest of the state that this would actually pass. I'm only basing this on my experiences in Alabama. Birmingham was so hated that they could've gotten a vote on burning the place to the ground passed.

Dunwoody to Milton County: Count Us In! | 11alive.com

//www.city-data.com/forum/atlan...on-county.html

[lastminutemom]

I think that the vote will fail because people across the state will fear the division of their own counties, etc and not want to set a precedent. In fact, I am not at all confident, even with these proposed district changes, that it will pass out of the state house and senate. Most republicans like smaller (and therefore fewer) governments.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by aries4118

There has been talk that if a new Milton County is formed, the City of Dunwoody would try to join it.

And another point (and many people do not realize this)--Sandy Springs is now proposed as being a part of the new Milton County. However, Sandy Springs was never a part of the original Milton County. Go figure.

That's the reason this would NEVER pass a Voting Rights Act test. Its just moving the whites out of Fulton County. If the line was the Chattahoochee, it would have a chance. But with Sandy Springs, its just a ridiculous waste of time.

[RoslynHolcomb]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

I think that the vote will fail because people across the state will fear the division of their own counties, etc and not want to set a precedent. In fact, I am not at all confident, even with these proposed district changes, that it will pass out of the state house and senate. Most republicans like smaller (and therefore fewer) governments.

I think Republicans, like most politicians, like what makes them money and gets them elected. After all, many Republicans claim to be for less government, yet they also want government intrusion into all manner of personal matters.

Most people like what perceive to be best for them, even when they know it's probably a bad idea. For instance, though I know this concept violates the hell out of the Voting Rights Act of 1964 and is probably unfair to a helluva lot of people I would be in favor of it if it includes Dunwoody, primarily because of issues with the school system.

As for people fearing division of their own counties, I doubt that's an issue for much of Georgia. Unless Georgia is totally different from Alabama, my guess is that the demographic divisions in other counties are significantly less stark than they are in the Atlanta metro area. Especially given the size of most of these counties. Gwinnett might have some similar issues at some point, but maybe not.

I think the biggest barrier would be the feds and the race issue. And frankly, I think that will actually motivate more people to vote for it, at least that's been my experience in Alabama. People voted against tax reform because it was framed as benefitting blacks. In actuality it benefitted poor people, but I had more than one person tell me that though it would put more money in their pocket, they were against it for that reason. *shrug* What can you do when people have this mindset? Not a helluva lot.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

Most republicans like smaller (and therefore fewer) governments.

Please tell me you don't actually believe this?