New cityhood proposal would make Buckhead mayor one of highest paid mayors in U.S.

ATLANTA — A new Buckhead City movement bill proposed by a Georgia lawmaker would make the mayor of Buckhead one of the highest-paid mayors in the country.

The new plan, proposed by a Republican lawmaker from Columbus, would give the Buckhead mayor a salary of $225,000 a year. This is more than what the mayor of Atlanta made last year and over five times what the mayor of Sandy Springs makes.

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The bill is just another part of the proposal to separate Buckhead from Atlanta, which has residents split.

“It would just create more animosity towards Buckhead,” resident Travis Gilbert told Channel 2 Action News.

Both supporters and opponents of the plan said crime is a huge issue, a roadblock that came up when the topic was discussed in 2022.

“Buckhead is all about the best of the best so we want to attract the best,” Buckhead realtor Sherry Jolly said. “As a realtor, some people I know have trouble moving to Buckhead because of the crime.”

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Buckhead City Committee member Bill White sent Channel 2 Action News a statement saying, “All we are asking for is the right to vote on our destiny and, when successful, implementing our plans that will vastly improve public safety and the quality of life.”

Anti-Buckhead City activists said things in the area are improving and that leaving Atlanta would undo that progress.

“Under Mayor (Andre) Dickens, crime was cut by 14% in Buckhead in 2022 and he currently has the highest bond rating in the city’s history,” Billy Linville, a member of the Coalition for a Unified Atlanta, said. “We’re stronger when we’re together, from a business perspective, from a political perspective, and from a social perspective.”

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“I’m very disappointed to see the reintroduction of a proposal to dramatically bifurcate the city of Atlanta. Even more troubling is the content of the legislation with its focus on the salaries of potential elected officials as opposed to providing basic city services,” Council member Michael Julian Bond said in a statement to Channel 2 Action News. “We’re in a time where the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia is truly experiencing greater coordination and collaboration. We’re moving as one Atlanta to address and solve the problems that are shared and impact us all. This effort is a giant leap backward from a legislator who doesn’t even represent our community.”

Dickens pointed to crime in the city being down, and polls showed Buckhead residents opposing the idea of leaving Atlanta.

Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns told Channel 2 Action News last month that he wanted to give Dickens’ crime-fighting plans more time before moving on the bill.

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