Dunwoody Trails Prevent Parks Improvement

Barbie and James Bond Flop at Dunwoody Polls

The $60 million Dunwoody Bond was voted down by voters across the city yesterday.  The Bond failed to gain 50% of the votes in 10 of the 13 voting precincts throughout the city.

The biggest turnouts and the largest 'NO' margins were in precincts with major projects (mega sidewalk/paths or overwhelming park amenities) in said precincts.  

Why did the Bond fail?  Many reasons - but perhaps not the most cited reason (taking on debt).

Council members Harris and Seconder, both very supportive of the Bond, easily won their races.  What's that mean?  The translation is that voters appreciate the efforts and work these two put in on council, but do not support the Bond for one or more reasons.  The Bond wasn't lost because voters do not approve of the mayor and the six council members.  (However, a handful of 'Yes' zealous Bond advocates DID motivate people, probably 500 swing voters, to vote NO due to their aggressive social media presence. Thanks Trv and T-na😜)

Lots of talk in town about why the Bond failed.  The Yes crowd spouts about misinformation being circulated by old white guys.  It's funny to hear that a bunch of old white guys supposedly outwitted the progressive young ABetterDunwoody crowd on the socials.  On a side note, A Better Dunwoody was formed a decade ago and was primarily a blog.  It posted some good things happening in the area.  You can view the site and see how it looked in 2013 using the WayBackMachine. The site was scrubbed and repurposed earlier this year, under new management.

The Bond did not fail because the fear of adding too much debt; it failed because the mega-wide concrete paths were being shoved down our throats. The 'Parks' movement got hijacked by a handful of Dunwoodians when PATH Foundation starting promising free money.

If the Bond was $20-$30 million and had a good plan for improving existing green space (Austin, Vermack, Brook Run, and Waterford) it would have passed.

Wildcat Park
A small, neighborhood 12 acre park became a regional attraction with a  hodgepodge of unwanted amenities.  Splash pads, 100+ asphalt parking spots, and basketball courts (more asphalt) are not amenities most people in this area want.  For those within walking distance of this park, a Family Pool and tennis memberships are less than $750 a year in several neighborhoods.  The approved plan for this park was too much stuff in too little of a space. Council needs to do a major redo on the Wildcat Austin Park rendering on their next attempt. Limit parking and make this a local park, like Waterford.

Homecoming Park
Another small park for the local neighbors to enjoy - a much better design than Wildcat Park.  (Now that the Bond failed will city continue to violate its own ordinance and have people living in a city owned building?) Too much parking and not much was planned here.  

Wide Trails Killed the Parks
Most people do not want these mega-wide concrete roads paths in front of or behind their homes. Kingsley voted NO more than any other voting district.  Why?  Because they do not want the invasive concrete roads paths in their neighborhoods and in their yards.

Softball Fields?
Leading up to the election we heard whispers from city hall and from local wannabe celebs of a special land deal in the works for girls softball fields.  Rumor was some land at GA State (Perimeter College).  Any validity to these rumors, or a tactic to snag votes? Is that deal off the table?  Haven't seen it mentioned today.

During the Bond campaign we heard ridiculous claims from elected officials and proponents that businesses will not move to Dunwoody unless we add mega concrete paths.  The voters of Dunwoody know better.  The decline in occupancy in Dunwoody's Class A office space is not determined by acres of park space nearby. Connectivity within the PCID is important to the PCID, not to a homeowner in Mill Glen.  The PCID has done a good job implementing sidewalks there.  

We also heard that Dunwoody will lose families if the Bond failed.  Not true.  It's  the schools that attract (or repel) families.  Thousands of kids grew up here in Dunwoody, and thousands more will in years to come.  Keep the crime low and the schools safe and families will continue to choose Dunwoody as their home. 

Another repeated issue was that Dunwoody was falling behind cities like Alpharetta and Milton.  Really?  Go sit on GA 400 South in the mornings and tell us how great it is to live in Milton. If the Bond failure bothers you, there are dozens of realtors here that can sell your home quickly.  You moved here because of the location and the nice, quiet neighborhoods.  Dunwoody PD does a great job here.  A quick look at Zillow and no new listings today.

What's next?  Hopefully city council and mayor abandon the wide concrete paths (and the PATH Foundation) and instead focus on small/local park amenities and normal-sized sidewalks. The political class loves to spend other people's money, so look for Trails and Bonds 2.0 soon, in some way or another. The city should find better citizen spokespeople next time. There is a large group of us who supported the 2008 Parks Bond and did not support this version.  

Instead of a Bond, the city could meet with Long Tran and start the process for a $.01 sales tax to support Parks.  The penny sales tax requires Georgia legislative approval (the State).  This is a consumption tax and not a huge long-term debt on homeowners. Our city leaders and Bond promoters encouraged us to vote YES on the DeKalb SPLOST.  This is a county-wide penny tax for projects.  If the penny tax is okay for the county, why not Dunwoody? On the downside, Dunwoody is at the high end in the state for sales tax rates.  We have MARTA, HOST, Schools.  An added penny would probably put us near the top, statewide.  I doubt current council has the stomach for this and Rep Tran may not have the connections to get this approved. (Dunwoody has three State reps, each with a slice, buy Long T has the bulk of it).

If Mayor and Council (and the project-hungry city manager) want to stick it to us with the unwanted concrete paths and go for the full $60 million, look for them to announce the study of Special Service Districts.  These SSDs do not require you and I to vote - council can do this on their own.  They create a Park District (city-wide, or maybe homeowners only, exempting the PCID) and add it to our annual tax bill.  Either way, the YES crowd is already at work, forever looking to spend other people's money.

I really hope the City of Dunwoody rethinks their plan for each site and drops the mega-wide concrete paths. And build four-foot sidewalks.