Newspaper Page Text
Brookhaven
Reporter
www. Reporter Newspapers, net
NOV. 27 - DEC. 10,2015 • VOL. 7 - NO. 24
Inside
Parking it
New academy seeks location
COMMUNITY 7
Best dressed
Shop helps clothe the needy
AAAKING A DIFFERENCE 27
A SPECIAL SECTION, PAGES 15-26
Lets
give it
a try
before
we buy
At left, Madeline Martin, 6,
and her sister Claire, 9, right,
play with toys while checking
out the St. Martin’s Episcopal
School Fall Bazaar on Nov. 14.
The event included a silent
auction, games, a bake sale
and vendors, with proceeds
benefiting the school. See
additional photos on page 33.
PHIL MOSIER
Brookhaven
mayor orders
ethics review
of councilman’s
school job
Bf JOHN RUCH
johnruch@reporternewspapers.net
Brookhaven’s mayor has or
dered an ethics review of City
Councilman Bates Mattison
taking a paid job at Brookhav
en Innovation Academy, a
new public charter school that
he and the council helped to
create.
“The mayor and council
would like to clarify and have
a better understanding of any
legal, ethical or charter prob
lems, violations or conflicts of
interest for Mr. Mattison to
serve as both a Brookhaven city councilman and
director of the BIA,” said Mayor Rebecca Chase
Williams in a written statement. “That is why I am
calling for an independent inquiry into the ques
tions.”
Mattison said there is no conflict between his
council position—where he is also mayor pro
tem—and his new job as BIA’s executive director,
which pays $60,000 a year. But, while he disagreed
with the need for the ethics review, he “consent
ed...because it will put the issue to bed.”
“It came out of nowhere for me,” Mattison said
of the mayor’s call for a review. “Even though it’s a
little bit painful to go through...at the end of the
day, I hope it does what it’s intended to do, which
is to clear the issue and show we operate accord-
SEE MAYOR, PAGE 6
Bates Mattison
City officials welcome idea to bring back Flowerland
BY DVANA BAGBY
Architect Andrew Amor hopes to bring back Flower-
land, a garden so grand it once drew tourists to an area that
now is part of the city of Brookhaven.
Amor presented his ideas for ways to “restore Flowerland
to its glory” during a Brookhaven City Council work session
meeting on Nov. 17.
Flowerland was part of the estate of Dr. Luther Fischer,
whose mansion still stands off Chamblee-Dunwoody Road
behind a condo development on Fischer Way.
In its time, Flowerland had 487 varieties of flowers and
16,000 different plants, Amor said. “It became a regional at
traction at the height of the blooming season,” he said.
ITe proposed the city revive the gardens as a park and
tourist attraction.
Amor’s plans for Flowerland include restoring the origi
nal gardens, constructing a sawmill to serve as a visitors’ cen
ter, having a covered bridge near the sawmill, and also cre
ating a pioneers’ homestead and a Native American village.
The developments would pay homage to the history of
the land, he said. No costs were mentioned for the proposal,
The proposal was greeted warmly by some council mem
bers.
“I’m excited because this brings together everything from
AMOR ARCHITECTURAL CORP.
An architect wants to restore
Flowerland, part of Dr. Luther Fischer’s
estate off of Chamblee-Dunwoody
Road, to its former “glory.”
SEE CITY, PAGE 35
