Politics & Government

Buckhead Cityhood Endorsement Comes From GA Ag Commissioner Black

U.S. Senate candidate and state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black believes Buckhead residents should "vote on their own future."

U.S. Senate candidate and state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black stands just above the parking lot where teens trying to break into a car were shot, one fatally, but the owner. Black believes Buckhead residents should "vote on their own future."
U.S. Senate candidate and state Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black stands just above the parking lot where teens trying to break into a car were shot, one fatally, but the owner. Black believes Buckhead residents should "vote on their own future." (Marcus K. Garner | Patch)

ATLANTA — The highest-ranked public official went on record Monday endorsing the push for Buckhead cityhood.

Saying he wants to solve the issue of rising crime, Georgia Agriculture Commissioner and Republican Candidate for U.S. Senate Gary Black gave his endorsement Monday afternoon at Peachtree Battle Shopping Center, near the site where Atlanta Police say a man shot a pair of would-be thieves breaking into his car Friday, killing one and wounding the other.

“I just believe it's time Buckhead residents have an opportunity to vote on their own future,” he said during a press conference. “For decades, Atlanta politicians have taken tax dollars from Buckhead while turning their back on their needs. There’s an opportunity to change that. Today, I became the first statewide elected official in Georgia to support a vote on Buckhead cityhood.”

Find out what's happening in Buckheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Standing on the shaded hill with the Ace Hardware store where the auto break-in victim emerged from before encountering the men he shot as the backdrop, Black wax on about why he endorsed the Buckhead movement.

“This ACE Hardware store behind me had its windows smashed out by the 'mostly peaceful protestors' during last year’s riots while city leaders were attacking police and the Atlanta City Council nearly voted to defund the department. Atlanta has hundreds of unfilled positions within the police department. I think I know why. It’s hard to recruit and retain police officers when they know that the politicians running things don’t have their backs. When they risk illegal firing. When their funding is always in jeopardy.”

Find out what's happening in Buckheadwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

That is, until a security guard working at the Peachtree Battle Shopping Center puttered up the hill in a golf cart and asked Black and the assembled media entourage to disperse.

“Property management does not want a press conference on their property without their permission,” the guard, decked in a tan uniform with a black baseball cap and armed with a handgun and a Taser told Black.

Black, who grew up in southwest Atlanta and now lives in Commerce, will be the first statewide elected official to sign on to the Buckhead City movement, joining state legislators Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) and House Rep. Todd Jones (R-Cumming), who co-sponsored the bill to bring a referendum for the move, along with State Sen. Clint Dixon (R-Gwinnett), who joined last month.

The state’s top agriculture official is also the first candidate in the 2022 Republican primary to unseat U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock to give an official stance on the Buckhead cityhood movement, ahead of opponentsHerschel Walker, Kelvin King and Lathan Saddler.

The Buckhead City Committee, which has spearheaded the movement, awaits the results of a feasibility study, that Black said was being conducted by UGA and “is coming out soon, if not imminent.”

Asked why his constituents in other communities who lack the available resources Buckhead has are not garnering his attention or support to find solutions to crime, Black said he was responding to the will of the people of Buckhead.

“I believe if people have the will for self-determination, that they ought to be able to come together and solve their own problems,” he said. "That's what they're trying to do. I believe they should have this opportunity.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Buckhead