Sides begin debate
Legislators will get first say
by Keith Laing, The Brunswick News
Glynn County residents turned to the Bible and patriotism to make their stands Tuesday on whether St. Simons and Sea islands should be allowed to shun county control and become a new city.
“We are our brothers keeper, (so) St. Simons Island should continue to help finance the rest of the county and keep sharing our wealth. Incorporation destroys that because of selfishness and greed,” Roger Frobe, a 20-year St. Simons Island property owner opposing incorporation, told about 100 people attending a town hall meeting convened by state legislators.
Among the arguments against allowing St. Simons and Sea islands to keep their tax money at home in a new city is the effect it would have on raising taxes elsewhere in the county to make up for lost revenue.
But whether the islands ever would get to the point of becoming a second city could hinge on who would be allowed to vote on creating it in the first place.
“If the Founding Fathers said that the whole British Empire would have had to vote on (America’s) independence, we’d still have King George on our money,” said Jack Sullivan, a 10-year St. Simons Island resident who is a member of a pro-incorporation group, explaining why he favors an island-only vote.
Glynn County delegates to the Georgia General Assembly – Sen. Jeff Chapman, R-Glynn County, Reps. Jerry Keen, R-St. Simons Island, Roger Lane, R-Darien, and Cecily Hill, R-St. Marys – who must unanimously back an incorporation resolution in the Legislature for the issue to go to a citizen vote, organized the forum Tuesday to help them decide what to do.
A key part of that resolution would be who could vote on the issue – all county voters or only those on St. Simons and Sea islands.
Chapman had previously said he favored a countywide vote because of the effect a new city would have on the rest of the county, but Keen cautioned during the meeting at Coastal Georgia Community College that no decisions have been made.
“That’s still to be decided through the listening process,” he told attendees. “Whatever the delegation decides, we have to decide as a group. Whatever we decide will have to have unanimous consent, and I’m confident that within the coming weeks we can come up with a consensus position.”
Chapman said Tuesday that he had yet to decide whether incorporating the islands is right for Glynn County. He said much thought would go into that decision.
“The information gathered here, and as we move forward (will be taken into account), but there’s no one item I can think of that would cause me to make a decision (either way),” he responded to a question on what factors will influence his decision.
Should residents ever get to vote their sentiments on a city, Keen wants the process to slow down and to be as wide open as possible.
Organizers of The Coalition to Incorporate St. Simons and Sea Islands have said they want a citizen vote in July so that a city that could be formed would elect a city council in November and begin operation in 2007.
Keen said Tuesday he did not like that schedule.
“I believe that a vote of this magnitude should be held when there’s the highest turnout possible, and that’s the general election,” Keen said near the close of the meeting. “I personally would like to see a vote on this in November, if one is to be held.”
In addition to telling the full General Assembly who would be allowed to vote in a local referendum, the county delegation also must have a proposed charter. The only one that exists now is a proposal from the pro-incorporation coalition. The legislators must either adopt that one or draft their own.
The next step for them, Chapman said, would be to discuss among themselves the positions and information presented at the meeting Tuesday. Chapman, Keen and Lane also will have to brief Hill, who did not attend the forum.
The meeting Tuesday was, in effect, a public hearing to brief legislators on the underlying issues of incorporation and to give them a sense of public sentiments on it.
“This is not a debate about incorporating or not incorporating,” Keen told the crowd, composed mostly of St. Simons Island residents, based on a show of hands. “That decision cannot be made by us. If it comes to a vote, it will be up to the voters.”
To help them decide if voters will get that chance, the legislators heard a presentation from representatives of the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute, which produced a study more than a year ago on the financial feasibility of creating a second city in Glynn County.
The study predicted that the total amount of taxes paid by St. Simons and Sea island residents could be more than $3 million less than now if a new municipality would be created, but acknowledged that the remainder of the county could lose more than $8 million in tax revenue.
