DeKalb School Watch blog readers are an important support system to help shape public opinion on the cell-towers-on-public-school-property issue. Here is the latest information regarding upcoming legislation:
First. State Representative Karla Drenner’s House Bill 1128 will be presented at Noon Monday, February 27, 2012 by the Environmental Committee. Here is the text in PDF form: http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20112012/122316.pdf.
WHAT: Environmental Committee Presentation of HB1128 to the Local Delegation
WHEN: Monday, Feb. 27, 12:00 Noon
WHERE: Room 415 of the Coverdell Legislative Office Building, across the street from the Georgia State Capitol.
CALL TO ACTION: Contact your state representatives to ask they support this bill and place it on the priority list to make the agenda this week!
As many people as possible must attend this hearing! Please call your friends and neighbors and ask them to attend this hearing. Their support for this legislation is critical!
House Bill 1128, which keeps cell towers off school grounds, also is retroactive! Please call or email your state representative TODAY to show your support and ask that House Bill 1121 be considered a priority for the agenda this week. If House Bill 1121 is not on this week’s agenda, it will be another YEAR before it can come up before the full delegation for a vote!
More information on HB 1128 is posted here:
http://www.getthecelloutatl.com/#!/2012/02/2011-2012-regular-session-hb-1128.html
Second. Sen. Jason Carter has legislation to address the zoning loophole being exploited by the DeKalb County School Board and T-Mobile. Sen. Carter needs Republican support to get it on the agenda Monday. He needs a co-sponsor from the other Republican side. Please call and/or e-mail Sen Fran Millar (R) and ask him to support this bill as a co-sponsor: fran.millar@senate.ga.gov (404) 463-2260
Sen. Millar has already stated he is against cell towers on school grounds, so he is the best candidate for a co-sponsor that we are aware of at this time.
WHAT: Town Hall Meeting on Cell Tower Issue by Rep. Karla Drenner and Sen. Jason Carter
WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012 — 6:30pm-8:30pm
WHERE: Knollwood Elementary School, 3039 Santa Monica Drive, Decatur, GA 30032
Re-cap. Rep. Drenner is sponsoring House Bill 1128 to ban cell towers on school grounds because of concerns about radiation safety. Sen. Carter is working on zoning legislation in the Georgia Senate that would accomplish the same goal. So, we have two shots at stopping the current towers and protecting our schools for the future! Please get involved! These two pieces of legislation are currently written as RETRO-ACTIVE so they WILL help the current 9 schools!
dekalb school watch two 
IMPORTANT UPDATE: Apparently, Chuck Sims has held up the Drenner legislation in committee. Read on:
Please contact Chairman Chuck Sims to let him know that HB 1197, the
bill that would prevent the placement of cell phone towers on DeKalb
County K-12 public school property going forward, deserves to be voted
on by the full House of Representatives.
chuck.sims@house.ga.gov
404.656.7855 – Office
Attend a public hearing on Monday, March 5 to show Chairman Sims that
the residents of DeKalb County (politely) demand that HB 1197 be heard
by the full House, rather than be held in his committee and not
allowed to move forward in the legislative process.
Monday, March 5, 2012
11am-1pm
Coverdell Legislative Office Building (CLOB) Room 606
18 Capitol Sq SW, Atlanta, GA 30334
Do not forget that you will need your photo ID to pass through
building security.
Here is a link to Google maps that may be especially helpful if you
have never been to the Coverdell Legislative Office Building. It
pinpoints its location on a map and includes a photo of the outside of
the building: http://g.co/maps/h6xmx
Background information:
The bill that would prevent the placement of cell phone towers on
DeKalb County K-12 public
school property going forward, HB 1197, has been stalled.
Link to HB 1197:
http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/en-US/display/20112012/HB/1197
Ten signatures of members of the DeKalb County legislative delegation
were required to move the legislation forward for consideration, and
Rep. Drenner obtained 14 signatures from members of the delegation.
However, there is (and I just learned about this myself, so please
bear with me) one more step the legislation had to go through before
it could be considered by the full House of Representatives. It must
pass through the House Intragovernmental Coordination Committee:
http://www.house.ga.gov/Committees/en-US/Committee.aspx?Committee=94&Session=21
The chairman of this committee, Rep. Chuck Sims, has decided that HB
1197 should not be heard by the full House of Representatives. We need
your help to respectfully change his mind.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions. Thank you for
your continued support. Let me know if you would like a copy of the
media release that went out about Monday’s hearing.
Michelle
Michelle Castleberry
Aide to Rep. Karla Drenner