A public interest resource built on primary source documents, focused on structural governance failures in small Georgia cities.
Small city governments across Georgia have authority to execute complex financial transactions: sell public assets, issue revenue bonds, grant multi-year tax abatements, enter long-term lease commitments. These transactions can involve tens of millions of dollars and affect city finances for decades.
The governing bodies that approve these transactions are typically composed of volunteer citizens — neighbors serving on boards without compensation. They are acting in good faith. They are operating within the law. And they are often doing so without the professional infrastructure — independent appraisers, fiduciary financial advisors, structured review protocols — that the private sector would automatically deploy for comparable transactions.
This site documents what happens when that infrastructure gap produces measurable public consequences. The founding cases are drawn from Avondale Estates, Georgia. The structural issues are not unique to one city.
Every factual claim on this site is linked to its primary source document in two clicks or fewer. Primary sources include: DeKalb County tax records, Georgia State Properties Commission lease databases, city budget documents, DDA board meeting agendas and minutes, bond resolution packets, and official DDA communications.
Where figures require estimation or calculation — valuation ranges based on capitalization rates, present-value calculations for abatement streams — those calculations are shown explicitly and labeled as estimates. The methodology behind each estimate is described in the relevant case study.
Secondary sources — news reports, secondary analysis — are used only to establish context, not to support factual claims about transactions or figures. All transaction data is sourced directly from government records.
Documents are hosted on this site to ensure permanent accessibility. Original government URLs are cited alongside hosted copies so readers can verify documents at the source.
Open Records Requests are filed when relevant documents are not publicly available online. Pending ORRs are disclosed in the Document Library. This site's analysis is updated when new documents are received.
This site maintains a standing invitation to identify errors. If a factual claim on this site is incorrect, incomplete, or based on a document that has been misread, we want to know. Send corrections to contact@smallcitypolicy.org with the specific claim, the basis for the correction, and any supporting documentation.
Corrections that are verified will be published prominently — not buried in a footnote. The original text will be preserved with a strikethrough or annotation, and the correction and its basis will be stated clearly. This site's credibility rests on accuracy; a promptly corrected error strengthens that credibility rather than damaging it.
We do not accept corrections that amount to "you've presented accurate facts in an unflattering way." The facts are the facts. We do accept corrections about errors of fact, errors of calculation, or material omissions that change the meaning of a finding.
This is not a news organization. It does not publish breaking news or pursue tips. It publishes case studies when they are fully documented — not before.
This is not a political site. It does not endorse candidates, oppose elected officials, or take positions on questions other than the specific structural reforms described in the Reform Framework section.
This is not a site about bad actors. The officials whose decisions are documented here are not named individually. The DDA board members whose votes approved the transactions described are volunteer neighbors. This site's argument is structural: the system does not require these boards to have the professional infrastructure that comparable private transactions would deploy automatically. That is the problem. The reforms address the system.
This site does not carry advertising. It does not accept donations. It is not affiliated with any political party, candidate, advocacy organization, or business with interests in any of the transactions documented here. It is not affiliated with the City of Avondale Estates or any of its governing bodies.
The site is maintained privately. The credibility of this work rests on the documents it cites, not on the identity of whoever assembled them.
For corrections, document submissions, or questions about methodology: contact@smallcitypolicy.org
This site does not accept unsolicited tips, political submissions, or requests for coverage of specific issues. It follows its own research agenda.