June 12, 2017

The Milton Coalition has achieved two important milestones that serve as a good segue into today’s post.

• Our re-launched blog has received 1000 new hits over the past 3 weeks. In total, our two blogs have been viewed over 6000 times by citizens.
• Our Petition for Smart Land Use and Good Governance reached 1900 signatures. Just in the last 3 weeks, over 100 Milton voters have signed.  In total, the Milton Coalition’s 2 petitions have garnered over 2331 unique voter signatures.

Why is this meaningful?  We believe that the 2011 Milton city election is a good reference point.  That was Milton’s last competitive city election.  Milton’s city elections occur in odd-numbered years, when there generally aren’t any state or national races.  This means that the only the most informed and most committed voters turn out . . . people like you that read blogs and that sign petitions.  In 2011, about 3,300 voters showed up at the polls in Milton.  So 2,331 Milton voters (70+% of the total votes in 2011) pledging to vote against politicians that do not uphold principles of smart land use and good governance is powerful.  And we have every reason to believe that these citizens will show up at the polls . . . and get their friends and neighbors there also.  Our metrics show our supporters take action at 3X the rate normally associated with citizen advocacy groups.  Our hope is that eventually 3,300 people will sign our petition . . . 100% of the votes cast in 2011.

We are seeing the power of citizens in the current people’s revolt against arbitrary and inflated property tax appraisals.  Last week, in Alpharetta, many hundreds of taxpayers passionately expressed their displeasure at Commissioner Bob Ellis’s town hall meeting.  On June 14^th (at 7 pm), Commissioner Liz Hausmann will host a town hall meeting at Johns Creek High School’s auditorium.  Based on the Alpharetta turnout, the venue was changed to ensure enough capacity for citizens.  Citizens need to once again show up in great numbers and with attitude.  The chief appraiser and some members of the Board of Assessors are going to attend.  The following day, these same government officials will meet to decide whether to roll back appraisals to 2016 levels.  The dissatisfaction of citizens over the unfair tax increases needs to be fresh in their memories as they deliberate about whether to rescind the 2017 appraisals.

Citizens, we get the government we deserve.  If citizens educate themselves and engage, we get better outcomes.  We have seen this time and again in Milton.  Petitions, writing to elected officials, and showing up & speaking at meetings with elected officials does make a difference.  The Milton Coalition is committed to providing a platform for citizens to easily learn about and engage on the issues that matter most in our city government.  Only through organized action can we achieve good governance.  As always, thanks for your ongoing support.

Tim Becker

The Milton Coalition