(APN) ATLANTA — On April 18, 2017, the voters of the City of South Fulton, the newly created city in south Fulton County, elected a self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist, khalid kamau, to the District 6 South Fulton City Council seat. His name is lower-cased in the Yoruba African tradition to show that community is emphasized over the individual. While […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta’s boundaries are growing, as more unincorporated neighborhoods in DeKalb and Fulton Counties are successfully annexing into the City of Atlanta, opting to use the petition method provided for by Georgia law, instead of seeking voter referenda. Most recently, the City of Atlanta annexed the community of South Oaks, a small residential area in south Fulton, […]
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With additional reporting by Barbara Payne. (APN) ATLANTA — Voter referenda for proposed cities of LaVista Hills and Tucker, both in north DeKalb County, are moving forward to be on the November 2015 ballot, despite a conflict between the proposed maps for LaVista Hills and City of Atlanta annexation of Druid Hills neighborhood. City of Atlanta annexation efforts […]
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With additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA — The first year of the 2015-2016 legislative session featured a heavily contentious debate over whether to make South Fulton its own city, out of the remaining portions of unincorporated Fulton County; or whether to allow part of that area to annex into the City of Atlanta. As proposed, both […]
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With additional reporting by Anna Simonton and Matthew Charles Cardinale. Photograph by Steve Eberhardt. (APN) ATLANTA — The Georgia General Assembly wrapped up the 2015 legislative session on Thursday, April 02, 2015. There were a few progressive highlights in the majority-Republican Legislature, including a solar power lease agreement bill; a limited medical cannabis bill; and more flexibility for MARTA […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — Three proposed cityhood referenda bills–Tucker, La Vista Hills, and South Fulton–are zooming through the General Assembly. All three bills have passed the Georgia House in advance of last Friday’s Crossover Day, which was March 13, 2015, and are up for consideration by the Georgia Senate. The cityhood bills were introduced on Monday, March 02, 2015; passed […]
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(APN) ATLANTA — The City of Atlanta’s lobbyists at the Georgia Legislature last week circulated a map proposing a major expansion of the southwest quadrant of the city further to the west, through the annexation of a significant portion of unincorporated south Fulton County. While the City had been previously exploring annexation of the Sandtown and Loch Lomond communities, […]
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With additional reporting by Barbara Payne. Map courtesy of Andre Walker. (APN) ATLANTA — The remaining unincorporated areas of Fulton County, all located in south Fulton, are slowly being gobbled up by mostly under-the-radar annexations. The City of Union City annexed 8.2 acres and an additional one acre last year. Now, Union City is looking to annex more, […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Atlanta Progressive News has compiled a legislative scorecard for State Representatives and State Senators representing areas wholly or partially in Fulton and/or DeKalb Counties. The Scorecard is available as a Google Spreadsheet here: bit.ly/1kpZ1Bq The Scorecard grades legislators on ten specific votes during the 2014 Legislative Session. APN plans to add to the Scorecard in […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — Once again, it was not exactly a banner year for progressive legislation down at the Georgia General Assembly. Atlanta Progressive News followed the General Assembly in depth this year, including coverage of several bills. Previously, APN published our wrap-up of Crossover Day, which was on March 03, 2014: http://atlantaprogressivenews.com/interspire/news/2014/03/06/georgia-legislature-crossover-day-overview.html The Crossover Day wrap-up article contains […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — The City of South Fulton legislation, HB 704, failed to pass the State Senate this year, despite having previously passed the House and a State Senate Committee. This was surprising to some. Being backed by State Rep. Ed Lindsey (R-Atlanta), it seemed like HB 704 would sail through considering the kind of support Lindsey has […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — After a forced compromise with proponents for a City of Tucker, SB 270 has been tabled by State Rep. John Meadows (R-Calhoun) in the House Committee on Governmental Affairs. At the beginning of the Session, it seemed that Lakeside was the only plausible bill out of three different attempts to incorporate out of unincorporated DeKalb […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — House Bill 704, to create a referendum on the incorporation of the City of South Fulton, is moving along; and is expected to make the November 2014 ballot this year. On March 13, 2014, the bill passed the State Senate State and Local Government Operations Committee. Some amendments were added to the proposal that […]
Read more(APN) ATLANTA — On February 20, 2014, the City of South Fulton, HB 704, passed the House and is moving on to the Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee. This vote was almost unanimous, with 163 yeas and two nays. The only two nays were State Reps. Sharon Beasley Teague (D-Red Oak) and B.J. Pak (R-Lilburn). While the […]
Read moreWith additional reporting by Matthew Charles Cardinale (APN) ATLANTA — The Georgia House Government Affairs Committee approved two controversial pieces of legislation–restricting the early voting period in municipal elections to six days, and allowing a voter referendum on the creation of a City of South Fulton–during its meeting on Monday, February 18, 2014. HB 891 – PASSED […]
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