(NewsNation) — Citing concerns about crime and saying they’re not getting their fair share of Atlanta’s municipal services, some residents of the Buckhead neighborhood are trying to break away from the city.
Bill White, the CEO of the Buckhead City Committee, said despite some people’s concerns, the city of Atlanta would be fine if the neighborhood seceded.
“The governor issued a statement yesterday asking questions, good questions, about what’s going to happen with the bonds we hold with Atlanta,” White said on “Morning in America.” “We’re going to pay them.”
“We have a rock-solid plan,” White said, adding that proponents of Buckhead city have worked with experts who set up municipalities in other places. “This is not a fly-by-night organization. This is run by professionals and folks like me who run businesses and employ people and who are listening to the folks at Buckhead who just want to have a vote for their own destiny.”
On Monday, a Georgia Senate committee approved two bills that would allow residents to vote on forming a new city, advancing them to the state’s full Senate.
Still, officials like Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens have spoken against the movement. In a statement to NewsNation, a city of Atlanta spokesperson said the city’s team will “continue to work with the Senate to put an end to this legislation before it has disastrous consequences”.
To them, White says, his committee polled Buckhead residents. Of those asked, 72% said they wanted to vote on making their own city, he said.
“Now, some of those 72% are gonna vote no — and I say let the best campaign win,” White said.