Outside the Box - October

Object: 2002 Petition in support of a referendum to incorporate the City of Sandy Springs

Collection: Eva C. Galambos Papers

The population of Sandy Springs, an area roughly fifteen miles outside of Atlanta, Georgia, boomed after World War II. With a sizable influx of new residents and land development, by the 1970s major highways connected Sandy Springs to metro Atlanta. But when the city of Atlanta attempted to use a state law to force annexation of the area, residents offered fierce resistance.

In 1975 residents established the Committee for Sandy Springs, a group dedicated to incorporating the city. In 1977 the Committee, led by president Eva Galambos, amassed 8,500 signatures petitioning for a referendum on incorporation. Atlanta legislators blocked the resolution using a procedural requirement that all local legislation be approved first by a delegation of representatives from the affected area. In 1988, another petition was submitted calling for referendum - this time with 19,000 signatures; once again it was blocked. Beginning in 1989, every legislative session included the introduction of a bill in the Georgia General Assembly to authorize a referendum on incorporation and each year it was defeated.

In 2002, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and the Committee for Sandy Springs attempted to reach a compromise, in the form of a tax sharing plan. The Committee submitted the petition shown here, containing approximately 23, 000 signatures, but yet again the petition for referendum was defeated. After years of delay, the procedural rules previously used to prevent a vote by the full chamber were changed so that the bill was handled as a state, not a local, bill. The Sandy Springs referendum bill was approved by the Assembly and signed by Governor Sonny Perdue. On June 21, 2005 area residents voted 94% to 6% in favor of incorporation.

More on Eva C. Galambos...
Eva C. Galambos donated her files on the creation of the City of Sandy Springs to the Russell Library in 2008. Galambos is co-founder and former secretary of Sandy Springs Revitalization, founder of Sandy Springs Clean and Beautiful, chairwoman of the services committee for the Sandy Springs Council of Neighborhoods, former chairwoman of the Fulton County Public Housing Authority, and founder of the Sandy Springs Civic Roundtable. She has served as mayor of Sandy Springs since its incorporation in 2005.

October's “Outside the Box” object will be on display in the lobby gallery of the Russell Library, open 8:30 am – 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday, until November 1st. For further information on the Eva C. Galambos Papers , please contact russlib@uga.edu or visit http://www.libs.uga.edu/russell/.

Post by Kat Shirley, Head of Arrangement and Description, and Jan Levinson, Assistant Outreach Archivist, Russell Library