From December 2010:

The idea of expanding the City of Chamblee developed within the neighborhood of Huntley Hills, a local neighborhood that was divided in half by the city line. The residents who started the idea of expansion claimed that they were tired of being ignored by DeKalb County on their website, www.chambleeannexation.org.

Ideas for expanding the city have developed over the past year and went into effect when the state legislature approved putting the question of whether or not the City of Chamblee should annex the surrounding unincorporated DeKalb areas. A main concern that the residents of Huntley Hills had was the lack of security in the unincorporated DeKalb neighborhoods, with prostitution, gang problems, and shootings happening regularly, if not daily.

On the Chamblee Annexation group’s website, they pointed out a call from unincorporated DeKalb in regard to a gunshot at 4 a.m. DeKalb County police took 20 minutes to respond to the call, where they say that the Chamblee police would have taken a far shorter amount of time.

“It’s a short turnaround. We’ve only got eight weeks, but we’re well on our way to filling the 12 police positions the council approved,” Chamblee Police Chief Marc Johnson told a local newspaper. “We’ve been planning for much of the year. We’ve already been recruiting. My goal is to just protect and serve all of the city’s residents – old and new.”

As Election Day closed, it became evident that the residents of Chamblee wanted to expand, with 58 percent of the residents of voting “yes” for Chamblee annexation. The city is scheduled to expand on January 1, 2011.

Chamblee is estimated to gain about 5,000 residents, according to the City of Chamblee website. The city is expecting a few other changes to go into effect, including the 11 new police officers that have been hired to help patrol the areas that Chamblee gained.

Election Day revealed much more than the desire for expansion; it also made it clear that residents wanted a change in representation as well. Chamblee will be affected by both the new State Representative, Elena Parent, and two members of the School Board, Nancy Jester and Donna Edler. 

Parent’s jurisdiction is for District 81, which will affect Chamblee High School. As a lawyer from Virginia, her platform includes wanting a stronger education and fewer drop-out rates.

“I think that we can really look forward to seeing her at the school and seeing her involved with things at Chamblee,” said Brian Ely who lives in the City of Chamblee. “She can advocate for our causes on the state level, while giving us the resources to succeed. She expressed that she was concerned with the condition of the school; it will be a good perspective from Virginia, where generally there is better funding, facilities, and higher expectations.”

Other changes that Chamblee High School can expect to see are changes within the school board. With Chamblee advocate, Jim Redovian, defeated, the Chamblee High School administration is at a loss for words as to what to expect from the elect, Jester. 

Redovian’s loss involved rumors that the magnet program would be relocated and that the new school building would be canceled. The concerns came about because Redovian was in favor of Chamblee High School. With his loss, people were unsure of what to think about the new members of the school board and whether or not Chamblee would get the same amount of funding and attention that it received with the previous school board.

“[Jester] has been at a few PTSA meetings here at Chamblee and also has two children in DeKalb county schools,” said Principal Rochelle Lowery. “But regardless of who is on the school board, they must carry through with the new school building because it was appointed for us to get a new building by the old board.”

The assistant principal of teacher and student support Rick Blitz is confident that Chamblee High School’s position with the school board will remain constant. The school board has five out of seven returning members of the school board, verifying Blitz’s theory.

“I think that changes will be minimal,” said Blitz. “Even though [Redovian] was ver pro-Chamblee, most of the school board was reelected. They will probably keep doing things the way that they were before.”