The Big Experiment
Source: Lynn Peisner, American City and County, November 2006, Vol. 121 no. 12
On June 22, 2005 leaders of Atlanta’s Sandy Springs community had a seemingly insurmountable task before them. Sandy Springs would be incorporated within the year, marking the end of a 30-year struggle between residents and Fulton County, but it had fewer than six months to implement the kind of government residents had been demanding. By December, volunteers with very little political experience would create one of the first “contract cities” in the United States, hiring one company to operate and manage all city services except fire, police, and 911. The five-year contract costs the city and average of $27 million per year for the first two years, and by many accounts has delivered on promises of more responsive government.