Hiding behind a cloak of secrecy and turning their backs on the principle of Georgia’s open meetings law, Blue Ridge’s elected officials have adopted a resolution seeking annexation of several miles of two highways.
Speaking at a February 5 town hall meeting originally announced only to discuss parking, Mayor Donna Whitener said that citizens were in favor of annexing Highway 515 from the current city limits at the Toccoa River bridge all the way to the Forge Mill Crossing intersection. She said the same about annexing Highway 5 all the way from Blue Ridge’s northern boundary to Highway 2 at Gravely Gap. Right of ways along both routes are included.
Council members Nathan Fitts and Rhonda Haight voted in favor and Robbie Cornelius, who did not show up at the meeting, voted by phone to side with passing the resolution.
The only discussion included Whitener’s comments of citizen support and the presentation of the annexation resolution by City Attorney James Balli.
Where were these people who wanted the annexation? They were not at the meeting or, if they were, they didn’t speak.
A secret, back room deal involving city officials is likely at the heart of stretching the city limits beyond any reasonable imagination.
And the plan ignores the safety of Blue Ridge residents.
Annexation will mean the city’s police department will be required to patrol the highways involved. At any time, officers will be over 8½ miles from the farthest two points of the city limits – from the Highway 515/Forge Mill intersection to Highway 5 at Gravely Gap. The distance from Forge Mill to the southern city boundary on Highway 515 is nearly 7 miles.
This severely delays officers’ response times to the current city limits, especially the downtown area and residential districts where the heaviest concentration of citizens exist. But Whitener, Fitts, Haight and Cornelius did not bother to talk about this point, a solution, or even open it for discussion.
And what about any concerns the county might have? Again, no public discussion.
And what about infrastructure? What happens when someone along the route is annexed into the city limits and demands city water and sewer? Again, no public discussion.
Talk over annexation has obviously been carefully tucked away from public view with a plan to bring it in the back door. There had been no mention of the subject in a city council meeting.
The February 5 town hall meetings, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon, had been publicized to discuss parking. Two agendas were put out for the meetings. The first had no mention of anything but parking, making it easy to look past the second.
The Georgia open meetings law outlines how meetings are to be announced, agendas posted and what may take place at special meetings such as the town hall session. The city seems to have met the letter of the law in those requirements. A judge might think otherwise, but the question of particulars would be one only the courts could decide.
City leaders ignored an important point. Notice “must be sufficient to reasonably apprise a concerned party of an upcoming meeting and must not be misleading,” according to a summary of the law prepared by the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and the Office of the Georgia Attorney General.
With no talk of annexation, but a big build up of the parking topic, there is no doubt the public was mislead. This is not government for the people, it is taxation without representation.
The annexation resolution is to be presented to State Representative David Ralston and State Senator Steve Gooch to be taken before the state legislature for passage. Ralston and Gooch should view the bill for what it is – a slap in the face to Blue Ridge residents and state law – and send it back to the city council. That move should include the message to do it right and quit the smoke and mirrors politics.
Ralston and Gooch are now all that stands between old fashioned political secrecy and fair, open government in Blue Ridge. Their actions will show whether or not they believe in a government for and by the people.