South Fulton new city drive 'seems to be coming apart'

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By D.L. BENNETT The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 06/06/07 The group formed to push for a new city of South Fulton seems to be unraveling amid financial, political and racial pressures. Robert Eger, the Georgia State professor who helped draw up the city's revenues and cost projections, is threatening to sue because he hasn't been paid. Legal fees and other debts are mounting, and new money isn't coming in. Some original organizers of the South Fulton Concerned Citizens have left the group after being questioned about why so many "white Republicans" were helping to form a city in an area that's overwhelmingly black. The incorporation vote, once set for June 19, has been pushed back until September as the proposed city struggles to adjust to rampant annexation that has seen more than 15,000 acres gobbled up by competing cities. The SFCC once hoped to block those annexations. But Gov. Sonny Perdue dashed those hopes when he signed House Bill 725, certifying the boundaries as they exist now. The annexations of mostly commercial land have cost the proposed city future revenue-generating properties. "The SFCC is getting hammered politically and seems to be coming apart," said Eger, who is owed $24,000. "The question is, can they hold it together long enough to see this thing through. I wish I could tell you." Eger said there have been so many recent changes that "the group that I knew is no longer in existence." Additionally, south Fulton Commissioner Bill Edwards, who originally supported incorporation, has shifted gears and is fighting the new city tooth and nail. Today, Edwards is the only commissioner from the area. A new city would elect an entire council and mayor from inside south Fulton. He's hoping the SFCC will disband and agree to work with him to bolster the unincorporated area. "Their leadership has caused their problems," said Edwards. "You can put a fork in them. They are done. It's time for us to come together and govern what we've got left." Edwards' efforts against the proposed city last week made him the target of an ethics complaint by pro-city south Fulton blogger Andre Walker, who alleged the commissioner used the trappings of his office to fight incorporation. Edwards denied the allegations on Monday. Walker's blog has provided a forum for the debate, taking on such issues as race, annexation and financial viability of the proposed city. Walker said he supports the new city because it will improve local control. One SFCC member who resigned, George Nicholson, said he was disappointed a group that started out "under the big umbrella" has divided along racial and political lines. He said regardless of who left the organization, he feared he and others faced personal liability for a lawsuit the SFCC filed last year, which failed to stop annexations by neighboring cities. The other jurisdictions are seeking repayment of legal fees. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2007/06/05/0606metimplode.html