Resident: Dissolve Canton

Is the privilege of living inside the worth more than $900 a year?

That’s the challenge the new City Council received Thursday night from the first public speaker of 2012, Jeff Jones.

Married with two children, the five-year city resident said he is paying $932 a year more to live in Canton than he would to live nearby in unincorporated Cherokee County. And the difference could grow as the city institutes scheduled increases in water rates to pay down its reservoir debt.

“Families are paying a very high price for the terrible mismanagement of past administrations,” Jones said.

His solution: Dissolve the city.

“Outrageous problems require dramatic action,” he said.

What is the value of living inside the city? Should Canton dissolve itself? Let us know in the comments below.

Jones, a Cobb County employee, said he’s prepared to lead a grassroots movement to compel this City Council to be the last in Canton’s nearly 180-year history.

Cherokee would absorb the city’s assets, and the burden of the debts would be spread over nearly 10 times as many people countywide.

“What additional benefits do I have as a city resident that the county residents do not?” Jones asked the council.

Mayor Gene Hobgood suggested the answer starts with lower insurance and garbage rates, and Council member Bill Bryan said it is unthinkable to dissolve Canton.

But he took the challenge seriously.

“Why should a young family live in Canton?” he said. “I don’t have an answer myself.”