Doraville city leaders voiced their opposition to several controversial bills moving through the state Legislature, including bills that would restrict absentee voting and stop cities from cutting police funding.
Mayor Joseph Geierman and the City Council unanimously passed multiple resolutions Monday to formalize their dissent. While they raised concerns about multiple specific bills, Geierman focused on HB 286, which would block cities and counties from reducing their law enforcement budgets by more than 5% in one year or cumulatively across 10 years.
“Out of all of the awful things that the state Legislature is doing this year, I think this is absolutely the worst for municipalities like ours,” Geierman said during the meeting.
Doraville, like every city in DeKalb County except for Tucker and Stonecrest, operates its own police department. Geierman, a Democrat who was elected mayor in 2019, said the bill would restrict the city’s ability to control a large portion of its budget. Currently, more than half of the city’s general fund expenses go to its police department.
“As someone who has been responsible for budgeting for a city for a number of years, it’s just very important that we have the ability to make those decisions at the local level and not have the state mandate how we spend our resources,” Geierman, who was previously on the City Council, said.
Councilwoman Maria Alexander called HB 286, sponsored by six House Republicans, an overstep by the state. Councilwoman Stephe Koontz agreed, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how unforeseen events can heavily affect budget priorities and needs.
“It’s a very short-sighted thing,” Koontz said. “I think it’s a partisan thing that’s knee-jerk to the defund the police narrative, and any kind of these preemption bills is just a bad precedent.”
Councilman Andy Yeoman sent The Atlanta Journal-Constitution a statement about the resolution, saying the bill runs in contrast to the state’s own budget last year.
“Last May, the governor (Brian Kemp) mandated state agencies to cut revenues by 14%, including $950 million to public education and $105 million for the state patrol,” his email said. “These new bills are merely impolitic posturing and are dangerous to prudent conservative budgeting and local control principles that the majority party has historically championed.”
Geierman and multiple councilmembers stressed that their opposition to HB 286 has nothing to do with a lack of support in their own department. They passed another resolution to affirm their support in their police department.
The city’s other resolution focused on two other Republican-backed bills that seek to change voting laws in the state. If both bills make it through the state Legislature, they would eliminate no-excuse absentee voting, restrict ballot drop boxes, require more ID for absentee voting and limit weekend early voting days.
Located in one of the most Democratic-leaning counties in the state, roughly 75% of Doraville residents voted for Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in the January runoff elections.
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