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Who wants to join the team? I am very happy that we were able to establish a new voting area for Chamblee, even with the pandemic raging! Our new 4th District will provide representation from neighborhoods south of Buford Highway. Each area of our city has its own unique concerns and needs - I think it is imperative to have our leadership reflect neighborhoods from all over the city. Our City Council members strive to serve everyone, no matter the district. Still, the more wide-ranging our representation, the better solutions we can forge. Click HERE for maps, qualifying information, and more about this November's election.   COFFEE TALK! There’s just waaaaaaay too much happening in Chamblee for me to condense all the news into one email. Want to catch up on more? Moonbird Coffee at 5393 Peachtree Road (in the Southbound restaurant) has great drinks and breakfast burritos! I’ll be there on Saturday, August 14, from 8:00 am to 11:30 am, sitting outside, ready to chat. So….got it? Saturday August 14 8:00 am - 11:30 am Moonbird Coffee  On the evening Tuesday, August 3, neighborhoods around Chamblee will celebrate National Night Out. This event brings our Police Officers out into the streets to meet YOU where you live. I strongly believe that building personal bonds gives communities resilience through troubled times, and events like this can nurture that process. The last time this was held, in 2019, it was GREAT fun to see the different spreads out in neighborhoods all over the city as citizens turned out to welcome our officers and spend an evening socializing. If you or your neighborhood want to “host” a National Night Out event on your block, you can register at the link below: https://bit.ly/nationalnightout2021 People are getting out and about again, and that includes me! Above, you can see a sampling of the events I've been able to attend: our City Council retreat in Athens, GA; a walk along the Peachtree Creek Greenway with Rep. Lucy McBath and Brookhaven's Mayor Ernst; a police use-of-force training with Chamblee's Lieutenant Gerald Thomson; an awards night with Los Vecinos de Buford Highway (where the city received an award for our partnership with the organization). I feel an immense pride being able to represent Chamblee, and I thank you again for that honor. I am always here if you need me: klupton@chambleega.gov. Stay safe out there!  Slow Down! When citizens feel that the traffic on their residential road is getting too dangerous, they can petition the city to complete a traffic study on that street. The study will determine if a “traffic calming device" (i.e. speed bumps, road striping, islands, etc.) should be installed. This is primarily a citizen-driven process. To get approval for the study, 30% of neighbors in the affected area must agree to it. In order to install a traffic calming device, 65% of neighbors must approve of the plan before Council ultimately votes on it. The necessary signatures for this process are not collected by the city - residents do the work of organizing. Then, once a device is installed, the people within the “affected area” are assessed a $25 Traffic Calming Fee in perpetuity. Approximately $5000 per year is gathered from this tax. It does not come close to covering the cost of installing and maintaining these traffic devices. The money to maintain our streets is set aside in the budget every year, and revenues from this fee do not impact our ability to do the work needed. In light of that, I think we can consider removing this tax altogether. I was excited to discuss this idea in Council, as this was the first agenda item that I’ve ever sponsored! (Ta-da!) In the meeting, I explained why I think the tax is not beneficial, and seems to merely nickel-and-dime our citizens. Others said that the fee is a gesture of real "skin in the game" from the community. The video above is a recording of the June 10 meeting. If you’d like to hear the discussion about the Traffic Calming Fee, skip to the 1:11:00 (one hour, eleven minutes) mark of the video. I’d love to know what you think.
Sincerely, Karen 2020 and all of its COVID-19-related upheaval prevented me from reaching out and connecting with YOU, Chamblee citizens, in the way I wanted to. But now that the weather is warmer and vaccines are being given, things are beginning to open a little more. In that spirit, I've scheduled an outdoor Walk-And-Talk on the evening of May 11. Exact time and place is TBD, but I will be ready for some (masked) face time that night, and I can't wait to have some discussions about our city with you! Please plan to be there!  Yes, I'm cheering as if at a sporting event at our latest Council meeting. That's just how excited I am to be serving as your Council member! The picture above was taken in our new courtroom in the Public Safety building. Council meetings will be held there for the time being as the Civic Center is now closed and slated for demolition. Speaking of that...the ground breaking for the new City Hall was held on a rainy morning in March. I had no idea that being in elected office would grant me the occasion to pose behind the controls of an excavator. It's one of the perks, I suppose. There is never a dull moment in Chamblee, and I am truly looking forward to seeing some of you face to face (and at a safe distance) on May 11! More details to come for that event, but I sincerely hope that we can connect and that I can answer some of your questions about Chamblee! (I joked with staff about calling the event "Stump The Chump".)
As always, please email me with any concerns you may have. I am here for you. Karen klupton@chambleega.gov  We have finally had the ribbon cutting ceremony for Chamblee’s new Public Safety Building! Back in January 2020, one of my first “official” acts as a Council member was to break ground at this site. In spite of all that happened afterwards, the building was finished on schedule. The Public Safety Building will house the Chamblee PD, as well as our Municipal Court. There is a new Community Room that overlooks the parking lot, as well as a dog park and an outdoor fitness area. Once we can safely gather together, I look forward to many events in this space! (Read an article about the opening here.) The building may be completed, but there is still a “finishing touch” to come. The Public Arts Commission is in the process of selecting a muralist to paint an outside wall with a community-oriented design. The applicants for this job were amazing, and as a member of the PAC, I was thrilled to see what kind of talent Chamblee can draw! Next up is the demolition of the Civic Center, where the Court and Council meetings have been held for years. Our new City Hall will rise in its place, with more indoor and outdoor gathering spaces for the community. I'll be holding a Virtual Town Hall in the near future! You are ALL invited! I try to make my communications informative, but there is often far, far too much business to be explained in a readable email. With that in mind, Chamblee has added a space to its webpage that will provide summaries of meetings, so that you can get an idea of what is happening if you can’t attend a meeting in person. I love this idea! Right now, recaps are up from a Public Arts Commission meeting and our March Council meeting. See them here! As always, I am here for YOU. Email me at klupton@chambleega.gov and let me help! |
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