By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
MAY 27, 2025 | The continual refusal of Gwinnett County government to recognize and work with the new City of Mulberry is foolish and uncalled for. It might even be dangerous for Mulberry citizens if Gwinnett County departments fail to respond to certain activities in Mulberry.
So far this standoff seems to be nearly one-sided with the county dragging its feet. However, City of Mulberry officials must make sure that they take every step to continue dialogue with county officials to come to a quick conclusion concerning the differences between the two governments.
What type of situations are at bay?
A letter from a Mulberry resident to GwinnettForum this week throws some light on the situation. Here is the letter in its entirety, with the name of the letter-writer removed.
The letter states:
Mulberry is in maroon
Several months ago, I called the Gwinnett County Building Department because someone is polluting the 50 acre lake (Duncan’s Lake) in my subdivision. It has been brown instead of blue for maybe three months now. This is highly unusual. In the past, brown water has been the result of nearby construction without silt fencing (or failing to maintain silt fencing) on one of the creeks which feed our lake.
This has happened once before and the County was very responsive. They inspected and quickly found the culprit, and our lake cleared within a few weeks. But this time I was told that Gwinnett is not doing any inspections in Mulberry! This is incredible. There is so much construction going on right now. Without inspections??? Whew!
Governor Brian Kemp signed Bill 138 recently. I have been told that it mandates that all counties must continue to provide full county services to new cities for two years. Gwinnett has apparently decided to ignore this new law. I believe they have filed another lawsuit, just one of many they have filed against Mulberry.
Sen. Clint Dixon has been highly critical of Gwinnett’s behavior.
The letter succinctly expresses only one problem that is occurring that is affecting residents in the city of Mulberry. Certainly there are more incidents around that require the county to take care of county problems for the 40,000 citizens of Mulberry. Having a large number of residents only emphasizes the many different incidents that can develop in this bottleneck of governmental services.
One of the two entities must take the first step in bringing harmony to the current rift between Mulberry and county officials. It doesn’t have to be such a gridlock as we see between Russia and Ukraine. So far, such a meeting has not been scheduled. If neither of the two governments (the county and Mulberry) will take the first step to invite each other to the table, GwinnettForum offers to host both governments to such a meeting.
Governments: please send to GwinnetForum three suggested dates that you can meet, and Gwinnett Forum will find a neutral site and develop an agenda for a successful gathering. This meeting will be private, and only for the county government delegates, recognized media, and a facilitator.
As the saying goes: “Ball in your court!”
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