Sandy Springs Reporter www.ReporterNewspapers.net
Inside
Where’s the beef? Wendy’s to reopen after fire COMMUNITY 4
The plan man How to ease traffic woes COMMENTARY 12
JAN. 8 — JAN. 21, 2016 • VOL. 10 — NO. 1
All aboard?
COMMUNITY 5
More Barfield relatives voice opposition to renaming road for Mercedes BY JOHN RUCH
johnruch@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.
Several Barfield family members are opposing Mercedes-Benz USA’s plan to rename part of Barfield Road for itself. The street name, honoring an old farming family, “may not mean much to other people, and certainly not to Mercedes-Benz, but it means a lot to me and my family,” Natalie Barfield of Gainesville wrote in a Jan. 3 letter to officials. Meanwhile, there is talk of renaming another street named for MBUSA —Mercedes Drive in Montvale, N.J., where the carmaker was long headquartered until its surprise move to Sandy Springs was announced last year. In a reversal of the Sandy Springs situation, one option in New Jersey is replacing the Mercedes street name with that of an old farming family that previously owned the land, according to Montvale Mayor Roger Fyfe. “Admittedly, there were those who wanted to spray-paint the street signs the day [MBUSA] announced they were leaving. (This is New Jersey, after all.),” Fyfe said in an email. MBUSA informally notified Sandy Springs in November of its desire to rename part of Barfield Road, where its new headquarters will be constructed, as “MercedesSEE MORE, PAGE 13
Expect political ‘nonsense’ in 2016 Legislature BY JOE EARLE
New Perimeter towers proposed
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
Five highrises are proposed in a new development near the Sandy Springs MARTA station. See page 2.