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Buckhead Reporter
Pedal pusher
All aboard?
Perimeter monorail discussed in 2011 COMMUNTY 5
Getting ‘better’
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Sen. Isakson talks VA care COMMUNITY 14
JAN. 8 — JAN. 21, 2016 • VOL. 10 — NO. 1
COMMUNITY 3
Buckhead Village transforms as development spreads BY JOE EARLE
joeearle@reporternewspapers.net
SPECIAL PHOTOS
For this winter edition of our semi-annual Education Guide, Reporter Newspapers introduces its first “20 Under 20,” a special feature adapted from our sister publication Atlanta INtown. Meet this group of extraordinary young people who are working to improve their communities. The section begins on page 15.
Expect political ‘nonsense’ in 2016 Legislature BY JOE EARLE
joeearle@reporternewspapers.net
Rep. Scott Holcomb says it’s simple. With a presidential primary scheduled for Georgia in March, “there’s likely to be a lot of nonsense” during the coming session of the state General Assembly, the DeKalb Democrat says. Political posturing is “already out there,” Holcomb said. His prediction for the 2016 Legislature? “I think it’s going to be a year not terribly impressive in terms of legislative accomplishment,” he said. “The shadow of the presidential primary is going to weigh heavily on the Gold Dome. You’re just going to see a lot of nonsense.” Still, state lawmakers are bound to do something during the 40 days they meet and debate the state’s business, even if it’s only to approve a state budget. And as legislators prepared for the start of the 2016 Georgia General Assembly,
set to start Jan. 11, there was plenty of new legislation being talked up. Local lawmakers said they expect to spend much of the session arguing over hot-button statewide issues such as gambling, the state budget, funding for education and merit pay for teachers. “I think it’s going to make for an interesting year,” Rep. Beth Beskin (R-Buckhead) said. “I really think education is going to be one of the big ones this year.” The proposal to allow casino gambling in Georgia “will be taken seriously,” Rep. Joe Wilkinson (R-Sandy Springs) said, but he and several other local lawmakers seemed unwilling to predict that it would pass this year. “I don’t see that happening in this session, particularly in an election SEE LAWMAKERS, PAGE 7
When Mehmet Ozelci’s family first opened a restaurant in Buckhead’s Village about 15 years ago, it was a different kind of place than it is now. “Back then, if we had 40 people enter the restaurant in an entire day, it was an OK day,” he said. “We didn’t have too much of what you’d call a real clientele.” But the place has changed. Things are bigger, brighter, busier. The nighttime party scene has moved on and pricey shops have moved in. The 24-year-old Ozelci has watched the village at the heart of Buckhead grow and grow up: High-rise offices, high-rent apartments, fancy restaurants and international shops now tower above the village’s streets. As the neighborhood changed, the Ozelci family’s restaurant, Cafe Agora, outgrew its space. The family moved the restaurant a couple of blocks down East Paces Ferry Road about 18 months ago. It now occupies a building Ozelci estimates is five or six times larger than the one it started out in. But Ozelci, who now helps manage the cafe, believes the growth in his business comes from the neighborhoods around the village, not the towers rising around him. He says he doesn’t expect the new buildings will translate directly to big changes in his business’ bottom line. “A little bit, but not as much as people say,” he said. Still, he welcomes the changes. “The more restaurants, the better,” he said. “We’ve been SEE VILLAGE, PAGE 13
Mehmet Ozelci, who helps manage the Cafe Agora, welcomes changes to the Buckhead Village area.
JOE EARLE