A City is Born ... What Now?

Well, it’s finally over….  The people have spoken and we will have a city of Peachtree Corners starting July 1st.  I’m too tired to write any flowing paragraphs so here are my random thoughts……

-          A battle well fought by the No campaign.  In only a few months they created a seemingly well-oiled machine out of thin air that conducted a very effective campaign both online and on the ground.  This race ended up being way, way closer than many thought it would be back in early summer. 

-          As feared the “outer” precincts of the city (areas that wouldn’t have been considered part of the Paul Duke Peachtree Corners) rejected the idea of the city.  All the core precincts voted Yes with the exception of precinct 121 which may gone No due to the effective influence of many of the No leaders who lived in or near that precinct.  

-          Much work will be needed to bring a sense of community to a very large city that contains areas that currently do not feel much affiliation with the idea of a city of Peachtree Corners.  Leadership based on consensus building and inclusion will be critical to successfully meeting this challenge. 

-          The overwhelming sense I got from talking to people in person, exchanging emails and responding to comments online is that the voters do NOT want a government that is going to do anything except provide a quality product at a low cost.  Any talk of spending one red cent more than absolutely necessary is sure to end a political career before it can even get started.  I think this is an area where both Yes and No sides can agree and divisions can be healed by having a common goal to work toward. 

-          The elections for the mayor and council seats are in early March…. About 12 weeks.  It will be very interesting to see who jumps in.  Will there be a large number of people who jump in with the result being that council members get elected with a relatively low percentage of the total votes or will there be a general lack of interest in running with the result being just a few candidates because the powers of the council are very, very limited relative to a full service city?

-          Turnout was about 38% assuming the number of registered voters was about the same as last year (about 20,000).  Turnout in the 2009 off-year election was 14% and turnout last year for the Governor’s race was 52%.  Relatively speaking there was a LOT of interest in this issue.  Whether your side won or loss this type of interest is a very good thing.  Let’s hope that the civic energy generated by this fight can now be continued moving forward and channeled toward common goals and projects that will make our area an even better place to live.

-          Last but not least a job well done by the Peachtree Corners Yes leadership team to shepherd the idea of a city of Peachtree Corners across the finish line.  The current political environment is extremely hostile to the idea of adding a new government however many good reasons supporters were able to provide.  The environment could not have been more challenging.  Throw in an extremely effective grass roots opposition group that tapped into the public’s outrage about government and it is a real testament to the leadership’s determination and dedication that this initiative was successful.

We now have a city.  What will we make of it?  That question reminds me of a story about Benjamin Franklin in the after math of the drafting of the U.S. Constitution.  As he was walking from the Convention a local resident asked him

“Well, Doctor, what have we got—a Republic or a Monarchy?”

Mr. Franklin responded
  “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

Clearly our situation is not quite so dramatic but there are similarities.  The U.S. Constitution was delivering something to the people which had never been tried before – a republic that covered a large land mass and contained a relatively large population.  Previous republics had been primarily small city states and ones that grew larger all failed. 

Our vote on Tuesday has delivered us something not seen before in Georgia or maybe even in the U.S. – a limited service city with restraints enshrined in its charter to prevent government growth.  Can we keep what we have created and make it work or will it too morph into something that will, like our republic from 1789, be unrecognizable to people in future generations.  Let’s hope we can learn from others mistakes and do a better job.