YES! YOU VOTED NO!
THANK YOU DEKALB COUNTY VOTERS!
71,690 VOTERS HAVE AGREED SO FAR!
NO CELL TOWERS ON OUR SCHOOL GROUNDS!
VICTORY BY 60% OR MORE!
DeKalb Voters Say No to Cell Towers on School Property
Article below from The Patch
By Jonathan Cribbs
1:02 am
DeKalb County voters said they don't want cell phone towers on public school properties Tuesday.
In a nonbinding resolution – part of Tuesday's primary election – more than 60 percent of residents voted no to the question: "Should the local or independent school system of DeKalb County or a charter school in DeKalb County place or operate a telecommunications tower on any elementary, middle or high school property?"
Of 114,804 votes counted early Wednesday morning, "No" took 71,690 votes – all preliminary returns. More than 5,000 absentee ballots have yet to be counted.
The resolution will have no legal bearing on whether the DeKalb County School System continues to pursue construction of cell phone towers on school property. The school system upset a number of school communities in north and south DeKalb County last year when they agreed to let T-Mobile build nine cell phone towers on school properties across the county for up to 30 years.
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NEXT UP: MAJOR CONCERN FOR LOCAL TOWER WORKERS IF T-MOBILE DOES NOT BACK OUT OF THE CURRENT DEKALB COUNTY SCHOOLS CONTRACT
The Resolution May Not Have Legal Bearing,
but it has a Moral Lesson That Should Not be Ignored
And, that leads us to the next order of business... the nine approved schools that have now been reduced to eight total signed lease agreements... when will T-mobile get the message that we do not want them to build cell towers on our school grounds? When will they exercise the "out clause" that only they can do and escape any futher financial obligation to the school system as the inability to gain a permit is a just cause for the lease termination. They wrote the lease, so they likely expected that it might be possible to get this far and have to back out. So, what are they waiting for?
And, we need more than just a promise from our current board of educaiton that they will not entertain these cell tower offers again. If Montgomery County, MD, can get a resolution passed by their board, then so should we!
If they plan to build eight or nine towers before school starts on Monday, Aug. 13, that sounds like an impossible timeline. And, in fact, T-mobile and ATT are actually well-known for trying to pressure their workers to make unrealistic deadlines. That pressure has led to many tower workers losing their lives trying to meet the demands of their $10 - $11 / hour job. For more on this subject, see the in-depth article titled: In Race For Better Cell Service, Men Who Climb Towers Pay With Their Lives.
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| Tower climber Jay Guilford poses atop a cell tower. He was one of 11 climbers to die while working on AT&T jobs during a wave of cell service expansion from 2006 to 2008. Photo courtesy of Bridget Pierce. |
What can we do to make sure our local construction crews are safe? We must continue writing and calling the office of the CEO, Planning & Sustainability, Public Works and our County Commissioners. We have to tell them to put an immediate moratorium on all cell tower construction countywide so that it will not be possible for the towers to go up in an unrealistic time frame.
And, if the permits are not in place, we need to ask our represenatives to tell us the truth - will these permit applications be accpeted? Will there be a chance for public comment? What is being done to disucss alternative methods of provding service to our county WITHOUT having to take up valuable school grounds and pay off our corrupt school board members?
If the ballot question was writen by the telcomm industry and its lobbyists, then we are very proud to see that their plan to find out where the opposition might be located has backfired. Instead, it will show us where there may be corruption and that, when motivated to work together, our county CAN come together for the sake of our children!
"We're so proud of everyone who helped make this happen! Good job DeKalb County! We will continue to fight to see that your rights are protected and your voices are heard!"
-- Cheryl and Paul Miller, Founders, Get the Cell Out - Atlanta
Cheryl & Paul,
ReplyDeleteWhat a VICTORY!!!! God is good and so are concerned parents and citizens who are looking out for the very best of our students and neighborhoods. A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to you both!!!