Briarcliff and Lakeside Present Joint Statement to DeKalb County Operations Task Force

ATLANTA - July 3, 2014 - PRLog -- Two DeKalb County cityhood groups, The City of Briarcliff Initiative, and Lakeside Yes read a joint statement before the DeKalb County Operations Task Force (OTF) on Tuesday, July 2, at the Maloof Auditorium. The Operations Task Force was created by Interim CEO Lee May and is charged with making recommendations that can be forwarded to the Georgia General Assembly by December 2014.

For months both citizens and legislators have urged the two groups to communicate and work together more. Briarcliff and Lakeside have historically shared many overlapping views of cityhood, but have differed on proposed city borders. Both groups view cityhood as an opportunity to lift up the community and improve the strength of DeKalb County.

The prepared statement from the July 2nd meeting reads:

Lakeside Yes Chairman Mary Kay Woodworth read, “Lakeside YES and The City of Briarcliff Initiative appreciate the invitation to present maps to the Operations Task Force.  You have received our individual working maps, but we respectfully present this joint statement in lieu of focusing on a specific map.”

She continues, “Both of our groups presented maps during the 2014 session of the Georgia General Assembly.  However, because our current maps overlap, Lakeside and Briarcliff have agreed to collaborate with the goal of creating a unified map free of overlapping areas and respecting existing city borders and future annexation plans.  We respect the compromise map between Tucker and Lakeside as the starting point of this collaboration, and we respect the inclusive approach of the Briarcliff map.  We will continue to work with our sponsors, Representative Jacobs and Senator Millar, residents and business owners in our community to reach the goal of local control and governance for this community. We invite the advocates of the city of Tucker to join with us so that we can present two cities with a clear path to cityhood prior to the 2015 session of the General Assembly.”

City of Briarcliff Imitative President Allen Venet read, “We are committed to working together because we agree on almost every issue except boundaries, and boundaries can be solved.  As we refine our map, we are soliciting neighborhood input, and we will work with state, county and local elected representatives of both major parties and with the existing cities of DeKalb County.”

He Continues, “We seek to unite, rather than divide, to improve government operations not just in our region of DeKalb but in the entire county.  The residents of unincorporated DeKalb deserve, and with respect we demand, the opportunity to form new cities that will become destinations where business and families can flourish.  The time has come for us all to cooperate, north and south, inside the perimeter and outside, city advocates and county officials.  We all share DeKalb County, and we all know the challenges we face.  Cities are an important part of the solution.”

He concludes, “We welcome your questions and your suggestions.”

More updates from the City of Briarcliff Initiative can be found on https://www.facebook.com/briarcliffga  and http://briarcliffga.org/.

About City of Briarcliff Initiative:

The City of Briarcliff Initiative, Inc. is a non-profit corporation chartered under the laws of the state of Georgia. The group seeks to enable residents to form a new city government in central DeKalb County that would serve all people within the community and promote the health, welfare, and safety of the general public.