Solution:

elections would be feasible.

The Milton Municipal Election Committee consisted of six members. One was Milton resident Mark Amick, who was subpoenaed last June as part of a Fulton County investigation into Republican attempts to overturn the 2020 election. City staff couldn’t account for how Amick was nominated to the committee.

Using the Milton election study as a guide, an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) involving Milton, Johns Creek, Roswell and Alpharetta is in the works that will propose one regional election superintendent oversee all the cities’ 2023 municipal elections. But cities will still need to hire their own election manager.

The Alpharetta City Council approved its own election superintendent Jan. 23. That same evening, the Johns Creek City Council confined the discussion to its work session.

So did the Roswell City Council, but the topic resurfaced the following night at the Roswell Community Development and Transportation meeting. The discussion sparked a special-called Roswell City Council meeting for Jan. 30 to further examine elections.

The Milton template

The Milton elections committee estimated that the city’s cost to run its own municipal election this fall would be $72,254 in the first year, saving Milton at least $114,090, based on the charge sought from Fulton County. With one-time startup costs out of the way, subsequent years are estimated to cost $56,589.

The cost projection was based on a number of state-regulated components.

However, the cost is also rooted in the committee’s preferences, such as exclusively using paper ballots.

While the Milton elections committee recommended paper ballots, Mayor Peyton Jamison could not confirm whether that would be the case.

Jamison said the election superintendent would look at all viable options once appointed.

There’s been some confusion as to whether the cities would conduct identical municipal elections if the IGA were to be approved.

Senior staff from Alpharetta, including City Administrator Chris Lagerbloom, met with Milton Deputy City Manager Stacy Inglis Jan. 24 to pore over details of the city’s election plan. Alpharetta Assistant City Administrator James Drinkard could not say whether Alpharetta is committed to follow the exact Milton template. For one thing, he said, Alpharetta is a much larger city.

“We have to think through those things,” Drinkard said. “There have been some conversations of all the cities having one elections superintendent, but I don’t know if that requires we have to follow the exact template of Milton.”

At the Roswell City Council Jan. 23 work session, officials discussed a possible partnership with their “sister cities,” and what an intergovernmental agreement might look like. There was some indication among some councilmembers that Roswell would follow the same template as Milton if they signed the IGA.

However, Roswell City Councilwoman Sarah Beeson took issue with the uniformity because of Milton’s decision to use paper ballots. Beeson said paper ballots are concerning for a “city of our size.”

With a population of 92,500, Roswell has more than twice the residents of Milton.

Johns Creek City Councilwoman Erin Elwood also raised the concern over paper ballots at its council work session.

With the expectation that Milton’s election study will set the IGA’s precedent, Elwood said “What Milton has come up with works for Milton. I don’t think that works for Johns Creek.”

Polling locations were another concern raised at both the Roswell and Johns Creek council work sessions.

Quick deadline

While Milton took more than a year to formulate and adopt a local election plan, Johns Creek City Manager Ed Densmore told councilmembers that Fulton County must have the city’s decision by March 1.

Johns Creek Mayor John Bradberry and most councilmembers were optimistic about the endeavor, but Councilwoman Elwood kept her feet on the ground at the Jan. 23 work session.

“Truly, I am very concerned about our decision affecting the legitimacy of this institution,” Elwood said.

AMBER PERRY/APPEN MEDIA

Johns Creek City Councilwoman Erin Elwood presents slides showing registered voters and voter turnout at a Johns Creek City Council work session Jan. 23. The Johns Creek City Council, along with elected officials from other North Fulton cities, discussed the possibility of running their own municipal elections that same night.

She said the discussion and questions are being framed “reactively.”

“We are asking the question, ‘How do we have our own election in 2023, eight months from now?’ Elwood said. “I think the question that we should be asking, and it’s our duty to ask, is if we want to take control of our elections, what does that look like? And how do we define success?”

Elwood said she’s talked to election voter protection activists.

“They’re scared about 2023. But they actually are not that opposed to 2025,” she said.

Instead of focusing on a quick decision, Elwood said she wants to see resources, like time, spent on negotiating with Fulton County. Elwood said it’s probable Fulton County will come down on cost like they’ve done in previous years.

Johns Creek City Councilman Chris Coughlin recommended the city pursue negotiation concurrently with efforts to explore self-run elections this year.

The City Council will reassess the situation once the deadline arrives, Bradberry said, but “in the short term, I think that there’s a bigger risk if we don’t investigate and pursue.”

The March 1 deadline came as news to Roswell Mayor Kurt Wilson, though, who at the Jan. 24 Roswell Community Development and Transportation meeting said he hadn’t spoken to the Johns Creek mayor all week.

The night before, Roswell officials voiced their hope to push through election discussion in time for the November 2023 election.

Alpharetta City Administrator Chris Lagerbloom shared the same sentiment at the Jan. 23 City Council meeting.

“We’re not afraid of the challenge, and I’m confident in our team to be able to do this,” Lagerbloom said.

— Managing Editor Pat Fox and staff reporters Delaney Tarr and Shelby Israel contributed to this story.