.MzQ5MQ.MzQ5MQ

W ILLIAM B. HARTSFIELD ATTORNEY AT LAW STANDARD FEDER.'\ L SAVINGS BLDG. ATLANTA, GA. MAYOR EMERITUS CITY OF ATLANTA Mr. R. Earl Landers Administrative Assistant City of Atlanta Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Dear Earl: I have yours of the 14th. with reference to annexation . The Act passed in 1966 would, in my opinion, enable Atlanta to annex contiguous land in DeKalb County. In the areas of North Atlanta and Druid Hills, there are many people who would come into Atlanta if given the opportunity, however, DeKalb County would probably not like to lose water customers , and I think it would take some skillful ne gotiations on t he part of t he City. However, s ince the stakes involve control of some $700,000 , 000 . 00 wor t h of city f acilities , p lus the good name of the South's greatest city, I think such high stake s would warrant an intensive campaign to bri ng thes e people in - however arduous i t might be . The Bill st at es that it is cumul at i ve, which means that you could still re l y on t he old Plan of Improvement Act of 1951 when annexing Fulton County. It is much s imp l er except you must annex by contiguous land l ots. Another vague section of t he 1966 Bi ll requires that the area be cont i guous with the pr e sent city limits f or at least 1/ 8 of the areas' aggre gat e externa l boundary. I pr esume this could easily be met in the case of Drui d Hi ll s and North Atlanta , a lthough t o me i t is r a ther vague, and, of course, bright- eyed lawyers on t he other s ide would subj ect .e very st ep of such procedure to microscop ic inspection. Why could not the c ity det a il several peopl e , without fanfare or publicity, to t hese t wo areas and a l so to t he l and l ot adjacent to Atlanta in the Sandy Springs area for t he purpose of securing s i gna t ures. Of course, it i s up to you to decide whether you want to us e the 1951 law in Sandy Springs and the 1966 law in DeKalb, or whether you wish to use the 1966 law in both counties . The future stakes are high and well worth the effort. If you will listen to me, however, any advance publicity will simply result in the officials �\VILLIAM B. HARTSFIELD ATTORNEY AT LAW STANDARD FEDERAL SAVINGS BLDG. ATLANTA, GA. MAYOR: EMERITUS CITY OF ATLANTA involved raising a public hullaballoo to prevent citizens from signing and you will then get nowhere. If it is done quietly by explaining the facts to each citizen and getting his signature, I think you would have a reasonable chance of success . Yours truly, wbh/ctb / P. s. In the case of the land lot adjacent to Sandy Springs, they already voted for annexation, and most of the parents want to send their children to Dyke s School. �