A Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge has ruled that a vote on whether or not to create the proposed city of Mulberry in the northeast part of the county can move forward after a lawsuit sought to strike it from the May 21 ballot.
Judge Miriam Arnold-Johnson ruled in favor of keeping the measure on the ballot Thursday afternoon after an emergency hearing in a lawsuit brought forward by Stephen Hughes. The suit alleged that the proposed city's charter was unconstitutional since it does not allow for the city to levy taxes.
Arnold-Johnson ruled that while the vote can move forward, questions of the charter's constitutionality could come back to the courts if the city is created by voters. Hughes said that decision provided him some vindication for the lawsuit.
"We opposed this because they came in saying you will not have a property tax because it's in the charter, and now there's a constitutional question as to whether that is so," Hughes said after Thursday's hearing. "So, if someone votes 'yes' based on the information they were given and then the measure passes and it's found to be unconstitutional, then what they voted for was not what they got. That was the whole purpose of me bringing the lawsuit."
Attorney Bryan Tyson, who represented the group Citizens for Mulberry in the hearing, said he felt Judge Arnold-Johnson made the right decision.
"This is not the right time or the right forum to hear this kind of challenge. We need to leave that to the voters to make the choice," Tyson said. "After the voters decide, then we can deal with these legal issues later."
Judge Arnold-Johnson's decision came after Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr filed an opinion to the court arguing that the lawsuit was improperly filed. Carr said in that filing that the vote should move forward.
Citizens in the area of the county between the Hall County line and the City of Dacula will now have one more day of early voting on Friday before election day on May 21.
