{"id":570984,"date":"2021-06-22T18:07:09","date_gmt":"2021-06-22T22:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=570984"},"modified":"2021-06-22T18:07:13","modified_gmt":"2021-06-22T22:07:13","slug":"atlantas-upscale-neighborhood-funds-much-of-the-city-targeted-by-crime-and-ignored-by-politicians-residents-may-declare-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/atlantas-upscale-neighborhood-funds-much-of-the-city-targeted-by-crime-and-ignored-by-politicians-residents-may-declare-independence\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlanta\u2019s Upscale Neighborhood Funds Much Of The City. Targeted By Crime And Ignored By Politicians, Residents May Declare Independence."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">38<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fatlantas-upscale-neighborhood-funds-much-of-the-city-targeted-by-crime-and-ignored-by-politicians-residents-may-declare-independence%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=570984&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1168717862.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"  style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p><span>An affluent neighborhood in Atlanta known as Buckhead has paid taxes for decades that helped keep the rest of the city afloat. Far from getting a thank-you, residents appear to be increasingly targeted by criminals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>They wonder why they should remain part of the city at all, rather than forming their own independent city where they can create their own policies and where their money will be spent protecting their citizens. But Atlanta leaders who they say never seemed to care much about them are demanding that they stay anyway.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Racial protests spurred calls to defund the police, but also coincided with an increase in crime that seemed to particularly target residents of the neighborhood, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/news\/atlanta-news\/what-would-buckhead-city-look-like-we-crunched-the-numbers\/WRIYJBY2PBCEJFKWTFK2YDWXYA\/\"><span>74%<\/span><\/a><span> of whom are white. Over the last year, aggravated assaults <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.11alive.com\/article\/news\/crime\/atlanta-police-responds-to-what-it-calls-inaccurate-report-about-buckhead-crime\/85-8ef88502-70f0-47be-9e63-89ce33521a51\"><span>are up<\/span><\/a><span> 26% in Atlanta but up 52% in Buckhead. Robberies are up 2% across the city but 39% in Buckhead, while car<\/span> <span>larceny is up 27% across the city but 40% in Buckhead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The screeching sounds of street racing are now nearly constant in Buckhead, both in the early hours of the morning and during the day, residents told The Daily Wire.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The increase in criminal activity is a stark shift for the formerly safe uptown district. The police presence in Atlanta has been slashed since last summer, when metropolitan areas around the country reeled in the wake of George Floyd\u2019s death. Riots and demands to defund the police gripped Atlanta, exacerbated by the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks in the city just weeks after Floyd\u2019s death.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In June 2020, Democratic Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms,\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/atlanta-police-department-morale-down-mayor-keisha-lance-bottoms-says\/\"><span>acknowledged<\/span><\/a><span> that morale among Atlanta police officers was \u201cdown ten-fold.\u201d Homicides <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/news\/after-historically-deadly-2020-atlanta-homicides-are-up-nearly-60-in-2021\/N63RJ5OKQZCZVOCNH2D6376S3E\/\"><span>are up<\/span><\/a><span> 58% across the city, while shootings are up 40%. Meanwhile, arrests have plummeted 43%. Bottoms blamed the rise in crime on the pandemic, saying Atlanta is seeing a \u201cCOVID crime wave.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>By December, the Atlanta police force was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.11alive.com\/article\/news\/local\/atlanta-police-numbers-2020\/85-a54ace87-bed2-4d41-87b1-150a9b877672\"><span>down <\/span><\/a><span>more than 400 officers from its \u201cauthorized strength\u201d of 2,046. More than 275 have quit the force since last summer. The department has said it intends to hire 250 new officers starting in July.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Earlier this month, a Buckhead man was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbs46.com\/news\/hurry-i-just-got-shot-buckhead-jogger-cries-for-help-in-newly-released-911-call\/article_6e004932-c865-11eb-bd7e-dbd913e02c6d.html\"><span>shot<\/span><\/a><span> in the thigh as he was jogging. The shooting appeared to be random, with the victim saying that a man simply pulled up in a car and shot him. The suspect then drove off and injured a pedestrian with his car before he was apprehended, police said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>David Shafer, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, told The Daily Wire that \u201cthere is a lawlessness that has taken over this area of the city.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cYou have police officers who are completely demoralized and who are being restrained from doing their job,\u201d Shafer said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Shafer referenced the string of shootings at Lenox Square Mall in the heart of Buckhead, where a security guard was held at gunpoint and shot by two teenagers earlier this month. Since the 2019 holiday season, there have been at least seven shootings at the mall, home to several high-end stores.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhen I was in high school I would go on dates to the movie theater in Lenox Square Mall,\u201d Shafer recalled, adding that now, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t allow my adult daughter or wife to go to Lenox Square.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Atlanta\u2019s issues with police manpower go back to at least 2018, when the police chief <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox5atlanta.com\/news\/atlanta-police-will-no-longer-respond-to-some-shoplifting-calls\"><span>announced<\/span><\/a><span> that officers would no longer respond to shoplifting calls at Buckhead stores due to an officer shortage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Buckhead has 20% of Atlanta\u2019s residents but 40% of the taxable property values that make up the city\u2019s main income source.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The notion of seceding from Atlanta appears to have been first proposed in 2008 by the Fulton County Taxpayers Foundation, which disseminated a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110726050507\/http:\/\/fctf.org\/media\/June2008-2.pdf\"><span>newsletter<\/span><\/a><span> that blared, \u201cForming The City of Buckhead Would Result In A Reduction of Taxes By Over 50%.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cBuckhead residents pay much higher taxes than our surrounding neighbors, while receiving fewer services,\u201d the now-defunct group wrote. \u201cBuckhead taxpayers are simply tired of having our votes and money taken for granted by the City of Atlanta.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Three years earlier, nearby Sandy Springs became its own city after fighting state and local authorities on the issue for three decades.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>State lawmakers filed a bill to create Buckhead City in March. The issue could show up on the ballot for Buckhead residents by November 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But even if the city leaders didn\u2019t pay much attention to Buckhead residents\u2019 needs, they did not want them to leave, which would require the city to significantly tighten its belt.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI think it is a terrible idea. I think it sends the wrong message,\u201d Bottoms <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gpb.org\/events\/news\/2021\/04\/07\/ask-the-mayor-keisha-lance-bottoms\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span> in April of the proposal. \u201cI understand the frustration, but creating a new city is not the answer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ginger Howard, Georgia\u2019s Republican National Committeewoman, said she moved her upscale women\u2019s apparel shop in Buckhead to a side street because of rising crime.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt makes me really sad,\u201d she told The Daily Wire. \u201cIn these major cities that are run by Democrats the crime is going to continue to increase if they don\u2019t support our police.\u201d She said she strongly supports the movement for Buckhead to form a new city with its own police force.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Resident Bill White is chairman and CEO of the Buckhead City Committee, which is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.becnow.com\/\"><span>leading<\/span><\/a><span> that movement. White claimed Buckhead residents feel Bottoms has \u201cviolated her oath of office\u201d by failing to keep residents safe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI don\u2019t know whether she doesn\u2019t know what to do, or she doesn\u2019t care, or it\u2019s a combination of both,\u201d he told The Daily Wire.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>White said that while he has been in Atlanta for only three years, some families have been there for generations and \u201cfeel they are part of the fabric of Atlanta,\u201d so it is \u201cvery sad\u201d and difficult for residents to understand why no one from Bottoms\u2019 administration has reached out to the community.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cYou would think that somebody from the mayor\u2019s office would reach out to us if they\u2019re so worried about Atlanta going bankrupt,\u201d White said. \u201cYou\u2019d think they would reach out to us and try to help us with these things. It\u2019s crickets from them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u00a0<\/span><span>\u201cThey don\u2019t care about us. They just want the money,\u201d White added, remarking that if Buckhead secedes, Atlanta is \u201cfinally going to have to figure out how to live on a budget.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe\u2019re going to take control of our own destiny,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An affluent neighborhood in Atlanta known as Buckhead has paid taxes for decades that helped keep the rest of the city afloat. Far from getting a thank-you, residents appear to &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2281029,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1168717862.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Atlanta\u2019s Upscale Neighborhood Funds Much Of The City. Targeted By Crime And Ignored By Politicians, Residents May Declare Independence.","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-570984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/GettyImages-1168717862.jpg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Atlanta\u2019s Upscale Neighborhood Funds Much Of The City. Targeted By Crime And Ignored By Politicians, Residents May Declare Independence.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2281029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}