About Sandy Springs reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 2020)
10 | Commentary Facebook.com/TheReporterNewspapers ■ twitter.com/Reporter_News Our mission is to provide our readers with fresh and engaging information about life in their communities. Published by Springs Publishing LLC 6065 Roswell Road, Suite 225 Sandy Springs, GA 30328 Phone: 404-917-2200 • Fax: 404-917-2201 Brookhaven Reporter | Buckhead Reporter Dunwoody Reporter | Sandy Springs Reporter www.ReporterNewspapers.net Atlanta INtown www.AtlantaINtownPaper.com Atlanta Senior Life wwwAtlantaSeniorLife.com CONTACT US Founder & Publisher Steve Levene stevelevene@reporternewspapers.net Editorial Managing Editor John Ruch johnruch@reporternewspapers.net INtown Editor: Collin Kelley Editor-at-Large Joe Earle Staff Writers Dyana Bagby, Hannah Greco Creative and Production Creative Director Rico Figliolini rico@reporternewspapers.net Graphic Designer Quinn Bookalam Advertising Director of Sales Development Amy Arno amyarno@reporternewspapers.net Sales Executives Jeff Kremer, Janet Porter, Cory Anne Charles Office Manager Deborah Davis deborahdavis@reporternewspapers.net Contributors Robin Conte, Carol Niemi, Judith Schonbalc, Jaclyn Turner Free Home Delivery 60,000 copies of Reporter Newspapers are mailed monthly to homes in ZIP codes 30305,30319,30326, 30327,30328,30338, 30342 and 30350 and delivered to more than 200 business/retail locations. For delivery requests, please email delivery@reporternewspapers.net Honored as a newspaper of General Excellence © 2020 with all rights reserved Publisher reserves the right to refuse editorial or advertising for any reason. Publisher assumes no responsibility for information contained in advertising. Any opinions expressed in print or online do not necessarily represent the views of Reporter Newspapers or Springs Publishing, LLC. Commentary / Looking into the political crystal ball for 2020 What does the new year - and new decade - have in store for local communities? We asked local leaders to dust off a crystal ball and predict the biggest local issues in 2020 and how they might play out. For more of what each had to say, see ReporterNewspapers.net. Andy Bauman Sandy Springs City Council H We will continue to face many conse quential local and re gional issues in 2020, including the im pact of countless in frastructure projects, managing growth, and, for many, ris ing cost of living (particularly housing and healthcare). In my view, however, the big gest challenge will be the political polariza tion, tribalism and incivility that perme ates into our daily lives. The 2020 national and statewide elections, I fear, will only ex acerbate the divisions within our society. In our own lives, whether as family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, or serving in leadership roles within our community, we can practice and model civ il discourse, and we can listen to opposing views with respect, courtesy and empathy. This should not be construed as a call for complacency in the face of injustice, or an abandonment of principles or vigorous po litical debate and advocacy. But we have a lot of issues to work on, and we will all be better off when we can work on them to gether. Mayor Lynn Deutsch Dunwoody The update of the Dunwoody Village Master Plan will be completed shortly. The city has had re cord-breaking partic ipation in our pub lic input process. Our community is ready for changes to the area. I am hopeful that citizens will have confidence that the city is moving in the right direction with the Village and other commercial areas by the end of 2020. Dunwoody will take over the old Austin school property in early 2020. The old Aus tin site will become a park shaped by an ex tensive public input process. We are work ing with neighboring cities to connect our various trail systems to enable residents the ability to walk or bike between our communities. The biggest challenges facing our com munity are related to the DeKalb Coun ty School District and the 1-285 managed lanes project. I have begun conversations with leaders across DeKalb about the need to work together to make improving the school system a priority. I will continue to advocate for Dunwoody with the Georgia DOT to mitigate the impacts of this mas sive project. Bob Ellis Fulton County Commission Property taxes have long been a sig nificant concern of Fulton County resi dents, and we have made great strides in reducing the tax bur den on our citizens. I was very pleased that the Board of Commissioners voted to re duce the millage for the fourth year in a row, and I look forward to realizing fur ther reductions in coming years. Residents also saw significant tax relief through a cap on property tax increases implemented in 2019, while our senior citizens realized ad ditional tax reductions with the expansion of their homestead exemptions. Lastly, we were successful in resolving Fulton Coun ty’s property tax litigation with the state Department of Revenue in the favor of Ful ton taxpayers. Our efforts will not stop there, as we are looking to identify additional opportuni ties for property tax relief in 2020. Among other things, the county will work with the Georgia Legislature to simplify and im prove the homestead exemption and ap peals process. Plans are also in place to expand educational programs to help prop erty owners better understand the process and protect their homeowner rights. Mayor John Ernst Brookhaven * In 2020, I’m look ing forward to con versations on how to accomplish the re cently adopted ATL’s Regional Transit Plan so we can move for- V ward on increasing transit options and re duce traffic in our region. Also, as a parent of two public school students, the DeKalb County Schools redistricting will be a top ic of conversation in 2020. As for local Brookhaven issues, 2020 will bring many traffic intersection im provements and park construction proj ects. Motorists who may be inconve nienced during construction periods will be rewarded with better commute times afterwards. Sidewalks and paths are also included in these projects so we will have more walk-bilce options to get around. Park improvement projects will occur throughout Brookhaven’s park system in 2020 as we work to complete our Park Bond projects at a rapid pace. Highlights include the new pool facilities at Briar- wood Park that will be completed by sum mer 2020 and Lynwood Park master plans will be finalized with community input. State Rep. Betsy Holland D-Atlanta The most pressing issue facing the state Legislature is the state budget. Our only con stitutional require ment as legislators is to pass a balanced budget each year. We have to find a way to responsibly fund critical programs throughout the state, even in the face of the governor calling for deep cuts in spend ing. School safety counselors, foster care, correctional facilities, public health agen cies and domestic violence centers are just a few of the places where these cuts could have devastating impacts. My personal priority will be talking about affordable housing - how can we re duce the burden of property taxes, manage development responsibly and help seniors stay in their homes? It’s bound to be a long, complicated path, but I’m convinced the state, county, city and school system can work together to find solutions. By forging a path to more affordable housing in our community, we can reduce traffic conges tion and strengthen our local businesses. Linley Jones Brookhaven City Council As metro Atlan ta continues to grow, I expect our biggest issue in Brookhav en will be traffic vol ume and congestion. Our mayor and City Council will continue to proactively address these issues by implementing the traffic studies created by traffic consultants and city staff based on broad citizen input. Much progress has already been made in improvements based on the Ashford- Dunwoody Corridor Study, such as inter section improvements like those at Nancy Creek Drive, and more improvements are on the way throughout the corridor The traffic challenges mount as we are surrounded by increasing density, but here in Brookhaven we are succeeding at smart growth and planning by following the feed back of the community as reflected in the character areas adopted last year. This en sures that any development is in keep ing with the community’s interests to the greatest extent possible. State Sen. Jen Jordan (D-Atlanta) Georgia’s mini mum wage is $5.15 and the federal min imum wage is $7.25. ss
