Buckxit won't happen in 2022
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
The effort by some residents of Buckhead to split from Atlanta and create their own city won't happen in 2022.
Driving the news: House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) said Friday he is opposed to legislation that would put a cityhood referendum on the November ballot.
- Ralston joins Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, the leader of the state Senate — cutting off all possible avenues for the legislation.
Yes, but: There's always next year.
Buckhead City Committee chief executive Bill White announced last month he was starting a $1 million PAC to fund pro-Buckhead candidates up and down the ticket this year.
What they're saying: "The problem of how we got here is not solved — that being the crime problem — and I’m going to be watching to see what actions are taken by the leadership of the city of Atlanta," Ralston told the AJC.
“Since taking office I have said, repeatedly, that we will remain one city with one bright future. I am thankful for the support of Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, Speaker David Ralston, members of the Atlanta delegation and all the other state leaders who have sat down with me. They have given me and my administration the runway we need to take off, and we will continue in our work to move Atlanta forward.”— Mayor Andre Dickens
- If approved, Buckhead City could have punched a $116 million hole in Atlanta's budget and more than $200 million in Atlanta Public Schools' revenues, according to a report paid for by the Buckhead Coalition.
- Squashing the effort was high — if not at the top — of new Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens' immediate to-do list after taking office in January. He was joined by an army of influential Buckhead civic leaders, residents, businesses and even architects in opposing the secession.