City of Briarcliff Initiative Optimistic for Georgia Legislative Session

ATLANTA - Jan. 14, 2014 - PRLog -- The City of Briarcliff Initiative announces its Georgia Legislative Session readiness. The group recently published results of an independent financial feasibility study by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia. The study showed the proposed city of Briarcliff is the most financially feasible cityhood plan, in addition to providing the most city services, when compared to other currently proposed cityhood plans for central DeKalb County.

The Briarcliff executive board is bipartisan, containing members with Georgia ties to the Democrat and Republican communities. The board has recommended strong audit controls, including an independent auditor and ethics board as a core component of its cityhood charter. Briarcliff has been critical of DeKalb County for hesitating over a three year period to install strong audit controls at the county level.

On January ninth Allen Venet, President of City of Briarcliff Initiative made a presentation to a joint meeting of the DeKalb Delegation at the state capitol in Atlanta. Venet championed Briarcliff’s balanced financial approach, presented how Briarcliff can partner and benefit the county, along with petitioning for using logical borders to create DeKalb County cities that do not cherry pick commercial zones at the expense of excluding nearby residential neighborhoods.

Keith Hanks, member of the executive committee comments, “Briarcliff has proven to be the most financially feasible city, in addition to being the most inclusive city with its borders. We feel this is a winning combination that both Republicans and Democrats in the Georgia House and Georgia Senate can rally behind.”

Hanks adds, “Briarcliff recently completed a successful presentation in front of the DeKalb Delegation on January ninth. The Delegation’s feedback was positive and Briarcliff’s presentation was used as a benchmark that other cityhood presentations were judged against. We see Briarcliff as a dynamic twenty-first century approach to smart growth that respects historic communities. Briarcliff proves a city in Georgia can be designed bipartisan, satisfying the needs of both sides. We look forward to continuing to present Briarcliff to additional elected officials in the Georgia Legislature.”

The destiny of the Briarcliff cityhood bill will be determined over the next few weeks. Legislators expressed interest in mediation among competing cityhood groups to clean up overlapping borders. Legislators also mentioned that constitute feedback has included pro-cityhood positions, calls for a cityhood moratorium, in addition to other residents wanting more annexations to established cities.

To learn more about the City of Briarcliff Initiative, including how to contact your elected officials, visit http://briarcliffga.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/briarcliffga.

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.