Politics & Government

Darnell Accused Of Pitting South Fulton Against North

A Fulton County Commissioner asks her south Fulton counterpart to stop disrespecting her and staff, while Emma Darnell says South Fulton voters can't be told what is good for them.

Fulton County Commissioner Liz Hausmann wants her counterpart, Emma Darnell, to show her and county staff some respect, rather than continue to pit North and South Fulton against each other.

A two-minute excerpt of the more than 26 minutes of discussion on the Transportation Investment Act of 2012 is embedded with this article. Visit the Fulton County website to view the entire discussion, or the entire archived meeting video.

Hausmann sent Darnell - who represents Cascade and southwest Atlanta neighborhoods on the Fulton County Commission - a letter on May 4, two days after words were exchanged during a discussion on the T-SPLOST amendment.

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After receiving a copy of the letter, Darnell responded that no politican can tell residents what is good for them.

"No politician, including Commissioner Hausmann can tell the people of South Fulton what is good for them and that includes how to vote on the TSPLOST referendum. Give the people the facts – they will decide for themselves," Darnell said in her email in a request for a response from Patch.

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The commissioners will give ultimate approval for projects funded with the 15 percent share of the 1 percent sales tax collected in South Fulton if the measure passes on the July 31 election.

South Fulton would get an estimated $2.9 million per year for the 10-year life of T-SPLOST, if the region's voters approve the sales tax.

After getting that explanation from staff, District 3 Commissioner Hausmann told her fellow commissioners she thought that was a significant amount of funding. Darnell, however, took issue with that and interrupted, saying "It's not your place" and that she didn't represent South Fulton.

Hausmann responded to say she was an elected commissioner and she did have a say. Two days later, she sent the letter that accompanies this article, which concludes:

"I call upon you to quell your obvious animosity toward me, North Fulton, and staff in our public meetings. I respect your service to the community and ask for the same respect in return. Our community deserves no less," she said.


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