Cupid speaks out on Cobb cityhood bills, local redistricting

Cobb chairwoman cityhood redistricting — *Lisa Cupid speaking to the House Governmental Affairs Committee in January.*

Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid spoke out Wednesday against fast-moving cityhood efforts in the Georgia legislature and bills by Republican lawmakers that would override local redistricting efforts by the county’s legislative delegation.

Cobb spokesman Ross Cavitt sent a statement late Wednesday afternoon from Cupid, who said county officials have hired a consultant to evaluate the financial impact of legislation that could create four new cities, including one in East Cobb.

Those bills would also call for referendums in Vinings, Mableton and Lost Mountain in West Cobb. According to initial filings of those bills, those votes would have taken place in November.

But like the East Cobb bill that just passed the House, the other bills have been revised to move up the referendums in May instead.

When she spoke at a House committee meeting last month, Cupid told lawmakers the county needed time to assess the financial impact of new cities that might be created.

She also said then she wasn’t opposed to new cities but “I’m opposed to persons having to vote and not having clear and accurate information beforehand.”

In her Wednesday statement, Cupid said that “the county understood that some of these initiatives could appear on the ballot in November.

“The impact analyses cannot be completed by the May primary, so I and staff will be much more active in assessing our impact internally and in educating citizens, both in city limits and outside, about the financial impact in Cobb.”

She said while she’s “not here to thwart efforts towards determining the future of one’s community,” she wants to “ensure some sense of transparency and to better educate Cobb Citizens, more broadly, about how cityhood can impact all here.”

At a committee hearing Wednesday to consider the Lost Mountain and Vinings bills, Cobb Deputy County Manager Jimmy Gisi said the county government will be creating an “awareness campaign” detailing current county services, especially those that the proposed cities would be providing.

Of the four, only East Cobb would provide police and fire services, after the initial bill called for planning and zoning, code enforcement and parks and recreation.

Public safety services were included in a financial feasibility study issued in November, but did not detail specific costs for personnel salaries, staff training and equipment.

At the East Cobb bill’s House committee hearing, Cobb Public Safety Director Randy Crider said that given that the proposed East Cobb fire department would have only two stations serving a city with 25 square miles, “how much are we going to be relied on to provide support?”

The East Cobb bill was given its first reading in the Senate on Wednesday and was referred to the State and Local Governmental Operations Committee.

The committee is scheduled to meet at 12 p.m. Thursday to consider that bill. You can watch it live by clicking here.

The Vinings and Lost Mountain bills were reported favorably out of committee and will likely be scheduled for a House floor vote next week. The Mableton bill was filed Jan. 10 and has had a second reading but has not been scheduled for committee action.

On Tuesday, State Rep. John Carson, a Northeast Cobb Republican, filed a bill to redistrict the four district seats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners in dramatically different fashion than Smyrna Democrat Erick Allen, the Cobb delegation chairwoman who would keep those lines similar to what they are now.

Carson’s bill would put the two commissioners representing East Cobb—Republican JoAnn Birrell and Democrat Jerica Richardson—in the same district.

The commission’s three Democrats, including Cupid, supported Allen’s map, but Birrell and Republican commissioner Keli Gambrill were opposed.

In her statement late Wednedsay, Cupid said that while Carson’s map would likely keep a 3-2 Democratic majority, “his iteration of the map occurred without communication to the full Board of Commissioners. It is unclear to me if he consulted with the local state delegation regarding his proposed map.”

Cupid further said that “no pothole is seeking an R or D for resolution. His map certainly undermines the respectfulness of elected leadership of this county when it fully draws someone out of an area that they have been elected to represent. It also furthers political polarization when districts must be drawn that are either Republican or Democrat and not a combination of both which can result in balanced thought within the leaders that represent them.”

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