Doraville neighbors take city to court saying it relies too heavily on tickets to boost revenue

DORAVILLE, Ga. — A group of Doraville residents took the city to court Thursday because they say the city relies too much on tickets to boost revenue.

One woman told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington that she faced multiple fines and possible jail time over a crack in her driveway.

“Just one day all the sudden you’re the Doraville driveway criminal,” Hilda Brucker said. “It hit a point of ‘I don’t want to live like this.’”

On Thursday, she, along with a number of other Doraville residents, went before an appeals court to challenge the city’s alleged reliance on tickets in order to create revenue.

“Our side is that Hilda and the other residents in Doraville did not get a fair game when they knew the judge, the prosecutor and law enforcement in Doraville all needed to convict them just to pay the city’s bills,” said Joshua House, Brucker attorney.

In 2016, Bruckner learned the city fined and then issued three citations against her because she failed to repair the concrete in her driveway.

“They charged me because they said my driveway was in disrepair, but they had never asked me to fix my driveway,” Brucker said.

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Most Georgia cities do generate revenue from tickets. But in Doraville, Washington found tickets and fines generate 24% of the city’s operating revenue.

Brucker said she received paperwork that said she violated city code enforcement.

The city then ordered her to make the repairs or face probation or even jail time.

That’s when Brucker got a lawyer. The charges were dropped.

Still, she and other residents filed suit. They believe the city drums up baseless charges against its residents just to get money.

“You’re living in fear and I think that was the biggest thing, I was living in fear,” Brucker said.

She told Washington that she hopes that fear will go away when the court makes a decision early next year.

As for the city of Doraville, a representative told Washington that the city does not comment on pending litigations.

RELATED NEWS:

Doraville woman nearly jailed over crumbling driveway files federal lawsuit Four people are suing the city after receiving what they say are excessive fines and hope their federal lawsuit can make a difference nationwide.

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