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Mayor announces Juneteenth celebration Community organizations stress value of formal event By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com
AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA
Four students in Northview High School’s Black History Club share their experiences with the club and support for recognizing Black history at the Feb. 28 Johns Creek City Council meeting. Other public comments included support for the city’s new Juneteenth event scheduled June 17 at Newtown Park, which the City Council approved at its work session earlier in the evening.
JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — A roomful of Johns Creek residents cheered and applauded news of a Juneteenth special event on the horizon following action at a Feb. 28 City Council work session. Juneteenth harkens back to the federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of the country’s enslaved African Americans. The event will be June 17 at Newtown Park. Johns Creek Mayor John Bradberry announced the news from the dais at the successive City Council meeting. At the work session, Councilwoman Stacy Skinner pointed out that the City Council was in full support of Juneteenth last year.
“Whatever happened in between then — I don’t know,” Skinner said. “But we’re excited.” The decision comes after the recommendation from the Johns Creek Arts, Culture and Entertainment (ACE) Committee, which discussed the idea at its Feb. 2 meeting. Several ideas were tossed around, such as a gospel choir, a DJ with secular music, a barbecue cookoff as well as a ceremony honoring Black families buried at Macedonia Cemetery and other historical cemeteries in the city, like Little-Terry. While Juneteenth is a federal holiday, ACE Committee members also recommended it be recognized on the city calendar. Johns Creek currently shows a blank slate for June 19, whereas nearby cities like Dunwoody and Sandy Springs have adopted the holiday. Councilwoman Erin Elwood
See JUNETEENTH, Page 7
Johns Creek pulls the plug on self-run city elections By AMBER PERRY amber@appenmedia.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — The Johns Creek City Council folded on plans to run its own municipal elections this year, throwing the ball back to Fulton County this time around. At a crowded Feb. 28 work session, councilmembers agreed that city-run municipal elections in 2023 would be too
costly of a task for city staff, carrying an estimated $1 million price tag. Based on the latest estimates from a Fulton County Commission meeting Feb. 1, the city would pay $429,252 for fall 2023 municipal elections, or $7.09 per registered voter. If the city were to have directly administered elections, city staff estimated that cost per registered voter would exceed $16. And, if the city were
to have entered into an agreement with the other North Fulton cities, cost per registered voter would be more than $17, which includes a shared cost for wages of the proposed regional elections superintendent. Some councilmembers added they didn’t want to forgo the level of service in haste. “We don’t want to disenfranchise one person,’” Councilman Larry DiBiase said.
“Our level of service has to be the same as Fulton County or better, period.” Early cost estimates Johns Creek Mayor John Bradberry provided “context” for the election discussion, noting that Fulton County had initially set the cost for Johns Creek at $11.48 per registered voter.
See ELECTIONS, Page 7