Top Georgia lawmakers have signaled that proposals to allow the wealthy, predominately white Buckhead neighborhood to secede from Atlanta are dead, at least for this year.
Republican House Speaker David Ralston of Blue Ridge told reporters on Friday that while he still believes crime in Atlanta needs to be addressed, he intends to give new Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens at least a year to demonstrate that he can make progress on the issue across the city.
“I’m hopeful that Mayor Dickens recognizes the importance of the problem, and I’m inclined to believe that he does,” Ralston told reporters. “But you know, we’ll be back next year if things haven’t changed a lot. So I’m looking for some forceful, vigorous action on the part of the city to tackle that problem.”
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