I was solidly in the “Yes” camp for the proposed city of LaVista Hills from the moment I first heard about it. Having lived 6 of the past 7 years in the Briarcliff and Embry Hills neighborhoods and watching the explosion of property values and investment in nearby Brookhaven, I always wondered when it would be time for the NE corridor along I-85. The area is home to great schools, charming neighborhoods, good restaurants and convenient highway access.

We moved into the Nottaway neighborhood during the heat of the campaign for LaVista Hills and as a new (and first-time) homeowner, I was thrilled at the prospect at of a new city and increasing property values for our house.

The issues in Dekalb County were vast and still unknown, as we then began to learn over the next few months. Corruption, scandal, the approval of vast sums of taxpayer dollars with no input from said taxpayer for a soccer stadium while basic services went undone – sidewalks, potholes, water main leaks, etc. were all indicative of a government that cares nothing for its citizens. It seemed the only way to help ourselves was to change something and break away from the county in as many areas as we could.

And then, about a month or so ago, I read a few very well-thought out arguments on Nextdoor about voting “No” to LaVista Hills. One main line of thinking said that, after much time, there was finally a surge of momentum to clean up Dekalb County that had the strong potential to fizzle once a city was voted in. I didn’t disagree with this. In fact, I wholeheartedly agreed with it. And it was a great reason to vote “No” – better than false claims about higher taxes when all proposals have millage rates decreasing. Another reason was that the issues with the county would still remain in spite of a city – we can’t break out of Dekalb. That is also true.

I found myself in a very odd situation. I had been SO incredibly convinced but these reasoned, sound and well-proposed alternatives to cityhood had me reconsidering. After a little time had passed, it dawned on me that no matter how I voted, I could now safely and proudly affirm to being a TRUE Independent voter. I had finally shaken the shackles of being tied to one idea or party and was able to listen, process and consider all sides equally and potentially even change my view entirely based on new evidence, information, opinion and thoughtfulness. I hadn’t engaged in the petty back-and-forth on social media that served only to hurt other’s feelings. I had ignored the propaganda and looked at all the facts.

Deep down, I am an idealist and deep down I wanted to vote “No” to LaVista Hills because I wanted to take the opportunity NOW to improve the county, to assume and believe that it can and will be fixed. I struggled with this right up until today. The problem is that it’s up to us to fix the issues and as of yet, the citizens of this part of Dekalb County have not been active enough to do so. A local resident said that it doesn’t matter how we vote – city or no city – if we do not follow through after the voting to do the work, to be the change. He is right.

And then I came back to the quote from Albert Einstein: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

I voted “Yes” to LaVista Hills.