03-21-2014 Dunwoody Reporter

Inside Another opening

Dunwoody Reporter www.ReporterNewspapers.net

MARCH 21 — APRIL 3, 2014 • VOL. 5 — NO. 6

PERIMETER BU S pages 7-

INESS

11

On a fishing expedition DHS principal leaving after two years COMMUNITY 2

Stay awhile Mayor says city is ready to embrace next generation COMMUNITY 4

Bad for business? Councilman voices concerns over Arts Festival COMMUNITY 5

The right stuff Guest educators question SAT’s relevance COMMENTARY 6

Flower power PHIL MOSIER

Riley Gilmore, 4, left, and Lucy Flynn, 2, enjoy the All Saints Catholic Church’s annual Lenten Fish Fry on March 14. The event, hosted by the church’s Knights of Columbus, continues on Fridays through April 11. More photos on page 3.

Our new feature explores fun within two-hour drive ROAD TRIPS 14-15

Millar: ‘These people were not treated fairly’ BY MELISSA WEINMAN

‘Glitches’ found in latest ChatComm software test BY JOE EARLE

melissaweinman@reporternewspapers.net

joeearle@reporternewspapers.net

Brookhaven considering joining ChatComm

Sen. Fran Millar (R-Dunwoody), who’s backed bills to create each of the new cities in the metro Atlanta area, fell short in his effort to get the proposed city of Lakeside approved in the Legislature. At a March 17 meeting of the House Governmental Affairs Committee, Millar withdrew his bill to incorporate a city of Lakeside in central DeKalb County after committee members said they weren’t ready to approve it. “What you’re basically telling 70,000 people is they don’t have the opportunity to vote this year,” Millar said. Millar said he would not be bringing the bill back before the Legislature next year. “These people were not treated fairly,” Millar said. “When Republicans don’t let people vote for self determination … then shame on us.” Lakeside, Briarcliff nor Tucker will be approved before the final day

About 2½ years after Dunwoody signed on with the Chattahoochee River 911 Authority, the dispatch system still does not employ the kind of software that Dunwoody officials want to handle their fire and ambulance calls. Although Dunwoody city staff members repeatedly predicted the software would be ready at various points in the past, a test in late February found new “glitches,” City Manager Warren Hutmacher told members of Dunwoody City Council during their March 19 meeting. “The product doesn’t work, but it needs to,” Hutmacher said. “It should have a long time before this.” The delay has stirred some Dunwoody residents to appear at council meetings to complain about the city’s management of the situation and about the emergency dispatch services provided by

PUBLIC SAFETY 22

SEE NO NEW CITIES, PAGE 22

SEE ‘GLITCHES’, PAGE 21

Down, not out Baptist church struggles to survive FAITH 16

First alert