REPRINT of OCT. 2011 Response from CEO Burrell Ellis' Office

(click headline for the full story)

Did you know?

The WHO/International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified radio frequency electromagnetic fields as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B), the same category that includes exhaust fumes from automobiles. So, why do our schools appear to be concerned about one, and not the other?

Here is a reprint of the response we received on October 18, 2011 to an email sent to CEO Burrell Ellis.  We asked him to please explain the process by which the towers would be approved or denied so that we could participate in the public input portion of the process.

The claims that the school system is exempt are not correct.  We later showed the commissioners a Supreme Court case decision that proved the exemption only applies if the land being leased will be used for educational or public purposes, not proprietary (profit-making).

This is the response we received:

To:  Get the Cell  Out - Atlanta

From:  CEO Burrell Ellis' Office

Sent: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 2:39:30 PM

Subject: RE: cell tower at MLK Jr. H.S.
Dear (Get the Cell Out - Atlanta):

Your email has been forwarded to the Office of CEO Burrell Ellis. Thank you for writing and expressing your concerns. After discussing with Planning staff, we have learned that the school system is exempt from county zoning ordinances, and that the towers are to be located on school system property, of which the CEO or BOC has no oversight or jurisdiction. ...

However, in the event that a permit application is filed, the County performs an inspection of the site, but has no approval authority on the erection of cell towers.*
I hope this information is helpful.

Sincerely,
Special Assistant, DeKalb County Government
330 W. Ponce De Leon, Decatur, GA 30030
office: (404) 371-6304 | fax: (404) 371-6291 |

(* we believe the author meant "on school property" because otherwise this statement would be incorrect They do have the approval authority of all other cell towers. At GTCO-ATL, we believe they should have the same authority for cell towers at schools. Just because the school is exempt should not mean that the business that is building a for-profit structure on leased property should be allowed to 'inherit' that same exemption... should they?)

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Dear Residents and taxpayers in DeKalb County:

If you are like us, it probably does not make you feel very happy or safe to know that cell towers, which are huge structures normally seen only in Industrial locations or along Interstates far away from homes or schools, can be constructed in the middle of a residential community, on public school property that's actively being used for education of children, the group of people most susceptible to possible harm from RF Radiation.

These dangerous towers that emit radiation and contain HAZMAT materials at the bottom are normally expected to meet the approval of the county commissioners and pass the zoning and permitting authorities which involves public notice and comment. But, at least here in DeKalb County, the cell companies can avoid all the red tape including paying property taxes as long as they go up on school property. They do not have to follow any criteria that has been set forth to protect the public and maintain property values.

They only need approval from a school board that's willing to lease its property to them. And, this, too, can be accomplished without notification to the public. The people being affected by the decisions - the children who attend the schools and the people who pay the taxes to support the school - are completely left out of the process by which the decision is made.

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If you are not satisfied with a government that is leaving you out of the equation, we suggest you try to voice your concern at the next Community Council Meeting for your district.

Community Councils are advisory groups of DeKalb County citizens that review applications for land use map amendments and zoning applications such as special land use permits, rezones, and amendments to the text of the zoning ordinance. There are five Community Councils, one for each Board of Commissioners district.

The Councils meet every other month if there are zoning or land use map amendment applications for property within their district. Meetings are held at neighborhood libraries or other County facilities, and are facilitated by DeKalb County staff.

At the Community Council meetings, the public has an opportunity to discuss zoning or land use map amendment applications that will eventually be decided upon by the Board of Commissioners. After the Community Council meetings, the public has opportunities to comment on applications at public hearings that are held by the Planning Commission and by the Board of Commissioners.

For details about when the next meeting will be held for your zone, click here:

http://www.co.dekalb.ga.us/planning/pdf/calendars/ccSchedule.pdf. 

We suggest you try to talk to them now BEFORE a cell tower shows up next door to your home or at your child's school. Let's get some answers and try to make our system work the way it was supposed to work - to protect the citizens, especially those who are too young to have a voice to speak up for themselves.

Please help us stop T-mobile wireless towers at our schools! 30 seconds to sign to stop 30 years of radiating our children! http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/GTCO-ATL/

Posted 27th October 2011 by GETthe CELLoutATL

Health Canada Issues Cell Phone Advisory

Warnings to cell tower workers posted on the gate to a transmission tower base. 
Can you kids read and understand what this sign is telling them to do?

On October 4, 2011, Canada joined Israel, Germany, India, France, Finland, Russia and Switzerlandin recommending that children under 18 limit their cell phone use. In response to the World Health Organization announcement that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields are a possible human carcinogen (in the same class as DDT, lead, and chloroform), Health Canada (Canadian federal government agency) issued a proactive advisory to encourage kids under 18 to limit cell phone usage, text rather than call, and use hands-free devices, More information is at http://tinyurl.com/3ts8sgn.

We Must Have Been Sleeping...

... because the California PTA made a formal RESOLUTION in 2001 to oppose cell towers and wireless devices in schools.    Here's the text for the wireless resolution from California if you would like to read it.

Here comes Georgia TEN YEARS LATER and our PTA says what?  "We don't take sides on issues like these."  Really?  Tell that to California.  They are light years ahead of us in education, safe use of wireless, going green, solar power... maye it's time to move!  Oh, that's right!  Those darn property values won't let any of us go anywhere right now, will they?

Well, while you are stuck in DeKalb similar to the way that drivers are now stuck in worse  traffic thanks to the NOT-SO-HOT lanes, at least you can enjoy a few good short films, courtesy of the Caliornia PTA.  Pinch me when the Georgia PTA gets on board and stops trying to pretend like they aren't hiding the cell tower money somewhere. 

The one exception to this 'teasing' of the PTA is Briarlake.  They may have agreed with Womack in the beginning, but they sure did a 180 degree turn when they realized they were not fairly representing their community thanks to a little publicity courtesy of GTCO-ATL.  Last we heard they were drafting a resoltuion.  I asked if they would then give it to the state PTA and I got a laugh.  The Briarlake parent told me, "I don't think they are that serious." 

So, what does it take to get serious?  We are!   Are you? 

Public Exposure: DNA, Democracy, and the Wireless Revolution and Electromagnetic Radiation: A Scientific Overview Part One (30 minutes) Part Two (30 minutes)

Electromagnetic Radiation: A Scientific Overview by the late Dr. Theodore Litovitz, physicist, Catholic University of America (24 minutes)

Avaliable only online, "Electrical Hypersensitivity and the Health Risks of RF Exposure from Antennas" Talk by Magda Havas, Ph.D., professor and environmental scientist, Trent University, Ontario, Canada Part One (20 minutes) Part Two (21 minutes)

Wise Words

"Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong, when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy or too frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice."
— Robert F. Kennedy

Can You Hear Me Now?

So this is what they meant by RF radiation?

Happy Halloween everyone!

If you want to read about something really scary, check out the mention we received on the DeKalb County School Watch: http://dekalbschoolwatch.blogspot.com/2011/10/pta-president-admits-prior-knowledge-of.html.

If you cannot trust your PTA to look out for the health of the children, then you have to make sure YOU are keeping up to date with school board decisions yourself. If you can't make the meetings, then you can always watch them on Comcast Channel 24 live or reveiw them a couple months after the fact on the school board's website. The next meeting will be held on Nov. 7 at 6 p.m.

To review the vote on the cell tower that happened this past July, click this link: http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/pds24/vod/ , locate the July 11, 2011, work session and business meeting link andd click on it to begin the video. Once it starts, you can skip to 2:41:30 in the video.

Favorite GTCO-ATL Petition Comment of the Day

From the DeKalb County petition opposing cell towers at all schools, including: Brockett Elementary, Medlock Elementary, Meadowview Elementary, Martin Luther King, Jr. High School, Jolly Elementary School, Lakeside High School, Briarlake Elementary School, Flat Rock Elementary School, Princeton Elementary School, Narvie J. Harris Elementary School and Margaret Harris Comprehensive Center. Our Favorite Petition Comment of the Day is:

"I do not appreciate DCSS's commercialization of the school system by "renting out" the school property for cell towers. This smacks of endorsement and should not be allowed by ANY government entity. Since the elected school board officials don't seem to have the sense to run the board properly, I hope the county zoning officials will step up to the plate. I also encourage all parents to research who voted for and against this decision and take that research to the polls during the next school board election."

You could be picked as our next "Petition Quote of the Day" by simply signing the petition to help us tell our county school board and zoning officials how we really feel! Just go to: www.thepetitionsite.com/1/GTCO-ATL before the next school board meeting, Nov. 7, so we can include ALL the comments in the copy that will be hand delivered to them at the meeting! Thank you!