Vote 'Yes' With Me on Nov. 8

Editor's note: Following is an endorsement which was provided by the Peachtree CornersYes campaign. The opinions expressed in this letter are not necessarily those of Peachtree Corners Patch.

On November 8, 2011, there is an important vote on Cityhood for Peachtree Corners. Three leaders of our community have influenced my decision to vote “Yes.”

First is Paul Duke who developed Peachtree Corners that later became Peachtree Corners. Inc.—a community decades ahead of its time with a master plan to balance live-work-play areas in Pinckneyville, a former rural farming community in Gwinnett County north of Atlanta.

Forty-three years later, the impact of growth, change, economic challenges, congestion, zoning, and other components of high density demographics have challenged Duke’s vision of a balanced community. A vote for Cityhood for Peachtree Corners will address this.

Second is Ruth Strickland who was Assistant to Paul Duke for 20 years beginning in 1967. In 1990, she became President of Peachtree Corners, Inc., the parent company Paul Duke founded.

In June 2011 on the subject of how Duke would have voted on Peachtree Corners as a City, she stated, “He most definitely would want the Cityhood for this very reason: to be able to control the quality of life issues. As a matter of fact, he would have incorporated in the early ‘70s had the rules been different. At that time, I don’t believe a community could be incorporated if it was within a three-mile radius of another city (in this case, Norcross).”

Third is Tom Rice. For 15 years, he has represented Peachtree Corners, Berkeley Lake, and parts of Norcross as District 51 Representative to the Georgia General Assembly. Tom Rice sponsored HB 396 so that voters could determine for themselves if Peachtree Corners should become a City.

Along with Senator Fran Millar, Senator David Shafer and former Senator Dan Weber, he secured approval of the Gwinnett Delegation and the signature of Governor Nathan Deal to bring the vote forward on November 8. “Your vote is important and should be based on the facts,” Representative Rice said in announcing that he will vote for the initiative.

To learn more about Cityhood for Peachtree Corners, go to his website, www.tomrice.org. Also go to www.cviog.uga.edu/in-the-news/796 to review expenses, revenues, and services of the proposed City in a study completed by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government.

A vote of “Yes” on November 8 will bring control of quality of life to Peachtree Corners. It will help Paul Duke’s legacy of a planned live-work-play balanced community have new life and serve as a model for other architects, planners, and community leaders for decades to come.

- Dr. Mary K. Murphy