An effort to reconstitute a dormant human relations commission in Cobb County will come before county commissioners on Tuesday.
Chairman Mike Boyce is proposing the creation of the Cobb Council for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation, with the intent to “develop proactive solutions embracing diversity by collaborating with government and community stakeholders to make Cobb County a more inclusive and enjoyable place for all citizens to live, learn, work and visit.”
Council members would be appointed by commissioners, and several organizations also would have appointed members, including the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, the Cobb chapter of the NAACP, the Cobb chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Cobb County Bar Association and Kennesaw State University.
Additional members who “represent the diversity within Cobb County” would be chosen by council members, and those in county government leadership positions “will serve as subject matter experts as issues/opportunities arise.”
The proposal to create the council comes after commissioners approved an anti-racism resolution in June, following protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Last month, faith and community leaders gathered to offer a message of hope and love after anti-Semitic graffiti was found spray-painted in neighborhoods in East Cobb.
It was at that event, at the Temple Kol Emeth synagogue in East Cobb, that commissioner Bob Ott said a new appointed body was in the works.
The former human relations commission dissolved due to what he said was veering away from its mission.
That panel was formed after Cobb commissioners approved a resolution condemning “the gay lifestyle” in 1993. That came about when then-commissioner Gordon Wysong of East Cobb objected to county arts funding that included the Theater in the Square, which had been showing a play about a gay relationship.
The anti-gay resolution caused a national media frenzy and prompted Atlanta Olympic organizers to pull volleyball matches slated for the Cobb Galleria Centre and a torch relay route in the county before the 1996 Olympics.
The issue dogged Bill Byrne, the county chairman at the time, as he ran for his old seat in 2012 and he had to answer to it when he ran for commissioner in 2014.
Among those involved with the human relations commission was Rabbi Steven Lebow, recently retired from Kol Emeth, who organized a protest against the anti-gay resolution on the Marietta Square.
The proposed Council for Justice, Peace and Reconciliation would serve under the direction of Cobb County Manager Jackie McMorris and included in its mission is the following:
” . . . identify opportunities across a broad spectrum to assist in the education and mitigation of systemic, institutional, and structural racism. It shall provide opportunities for members of the community to participate in small group discussion, anti-racism training, and access resources to foster and improve open and honest communication among governmental entities, Cobb County residents and employees. It shall inform the community about the goals of CJPR and encourage organizational and community partnerships through conferences, workshops, and special events.”
You can read the agenda item here and the proposed resolution here.
The Cobb commissioners meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
You can watch online on the county’s website, as well as its Facebook and YouTube pages and on Cobb TV23 on Comcast Cable.
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More election year pandering!!! Proposals like these are being pushed all over the country, by left wing, socialists. They are NOT designed to promote unity or equality. They have pre-determined, undisclosed recommendations and demands. that the BOC and School Board, will be obliged to enact. While some may have good intentions, I wish that the Commissioners would at least do some actual research, before passing this propaganda. They won’t. Cobb citizens should not be brow-beaten, but should flood email boxes, and PACK the BOC meeting. It is time to push back, before it’s too late!
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus is all I can say. Lockdown, protests, masks, price inflation, riots, murdering cops, low rent housing forced into affluent neighborhoods, round-a-bouts for Cobb. It’s insane. And there is no one to vote FOR in our local elections.
Do white people count among the diversity in Cobb?