Buckhead Cityhood Planners Seek $2,500 Donations In Fundraiser

ATLANTA — What is next on the Buckhead City cityhood train?

It is time to raise money.

Buckhead Exploratory Committee, the engine on this current track toward a new city, is promoting a fundraising event on June 16, with donations of between $250 and $2,500 requested for attendance.

The call to de-annex the well-to-do neighborhood from the City of Atlanta seems to have grown from fever dream to full-fledged movement.

Last summer, the grassroots organization Buckhead Exploratory committee revived previous secession yearnings once championed by no less than former Atlanta Mayor Sam Massel.

Led by real estate broker Sam Lenaeus, the group made its pitch to the community in January, citing accelerated violent crime and street racing in Buckhead’s tony streets. Lenaeus told attendees of a virtual town hall meeting he was looking to raise “between $10,000 and $15,000” to conduct a feasibility study to incorporate Buckhead City, not to be confused with the City of Buckhead in Mor.

Fast-forward to March, just in time for the close of Georgia’s legislative session, outside-of-Buckhead GOP lawmakers Rep. Todd Jones filed HB 854 and Sen. Brandon Beach filed a companion bill, giving the movement legs. Now, if voted on by both chambers under the Gold Dome and signed by Gov. Brian Kemp, Buckhead voters will see the cityhood question on their November 2022 ballot.

And Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won't be in office to lead any City Hall defensive against the move, after announcing last month that she will decline a re-election bid this November.

Buckhead City Fundraiser

Where: Tongue & Groove, Lindbergh City Center, 363 Main Street, NE, Atlanta
When: 5-8 p.m., June 16