Almost a year to the day after Georgia House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration announced his plans to lead legislation to create a new city in northeast Gwinnett County, he and others are now working to guide the city Mulberry into full operation.
The first-ever city council elections for Mulberry were held Tuesday during the General Election, with four of the five seats being decided and the fifth headed to a December runoff. Efstration (R-Auburn) says he's hopeful for the city's future.
"Performing the functions of allowing local control over planning and zoning without imposing a property tax on residents has always been the goal of this city," Efstration said. "I'm very excited for Mulberry, I think it's going to be a tremendous success in the future and I look forward to watching these newly-elected council members serve in their roles."
The city's existence has and continues to be the subject of numerous lawsuits from both public and private entities. Currently, Gwinnett County has multiple lawsuits outstanding looking to strike down the State Senate bill that created the city based on what it considers to be an unconstitutional charter.
Both the county and area resident Stephen Hughes, who has filed numerous lawsuits of his own, have argued that the charter is unconstitutional because it does not allow for the city to levy property taxes. Efstration said he's hopeful to see a resolution to those suits to allow the city to move forward.
"None (of the prior lawsuits against the city) have been successful," Efstration said.
In addition to leading the legislative push for the city's creation, Efstration was also appointed by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to the city's transition team. The team was tasked with doing preparatory work to get the city off the ground until a city council could be sworn in.
"The purpose of (the transition team) is to allow for that period between the city being passed by the voters and the council actually taking office so that recommendations can be made to the council and they can get right to work," Efstration said.
One of the four council members who was voted into office Tuesday night was Michael Coker, who was elected to the District 2 seat. Coker, an attorney, has also been heavily involved in the city's creation, heading the organization Citizens for Mulberry and offering legal council in defense of the city in the above-mentioned lawsuits.
He said he has spoken to the three other candidates who won council races outright Tuesday night and they plan to begin meeting quickly.
"The next steps are basically getting the services set up for the new city. The city has taken over three services, planning and zoning, code enforcement and then stormwater management," Coker said. "The transition team has been working to solicit bids for these particular services, and now it will be up to the council to start working with these contractors to implement these services over the next couple of years."
The city occupies the northeast corner of Gwinnett County, stretching from Hall County and the town of Braselton southward to nearly the city of Dacula. Efstration and Coker said the next hearing in the Gwinnett County lawsuit involving the city is scheduled for early December.
